"You're still here?" Severus asked in an upward inflection as he pushed the door to his home open surprised Wormtail was standing before him looking as pathetic as ever. The man looked more like a rat than the last time he had laid eyes upon him. The silver hand Voldemort had bestowed upon him glowed magically in the dim light of the house. A reminded of the sacrifice Wormtail had made for a master that couldn't have given two fucks about him.
"You're alive?" Wormtail uttered under his breath surprised, with a tilt of his head. He was certain Severus had been killed by now and who was this with him? The Granger girl. His breath caught in his throat as thoughts began to dance through his head. He could see it now how much esteem his master would hold him in if he were to drag her to one of their meetings like a valuable prize.
Severus stood back and ushered Hermione in through the grubby wooden front door of the quaint home. The moment she set foot in there a musty smell assaulted her nostrils and she screwed her nose up slightly but tried to hide it by scratching her nose. The house smelled as if it hadn't been aired out in a very long time and that the carpets had probably been wet at one stage and left to try to dry on its own accord.
The small wooden hallway was well worn by the years' worth of footsteps upon it wearing the wood so smooth it had no traction left. A staircase to the left led to inky darkness into the unknown and past that three doors held steadfastly closed down the narrow hallway.
She eyed Wormtail apprehensively and looked down her nose at him as if he were little more than dirt on the ground and she stepped closer to Severus, her body heat radiating against his back. He sucked in an involuntary breath as her body pressed against his softly.
"You bring a prisoner?" Wormtail stepped even closer to Hermione who in turn tried to shift her body further behind Severus to get away from the wandering gaze of a man so vile, it made her stomach churn.
"None of your business." He shot an arm out sideways as a barrier between the benevolent before him and the girl trying with all her might to distance herself from the wretch before he ended up assaulting her with his filthy claw-like hands. Long yellow nails growing out of nail beds, pointy at the ends like putrid little rat claws.
"Our master would benefit from someone with her knowledge of Potter. I say we take her to him this instant. Unless of course, she isn't your prisoner?" His eyes grew wide and Severus was sure it wouldn't be long before he was salivating all over Hermione at the mere thought of the glory she could bring him at the behest of Voldemort.
"Or, you could mind your own business and not tell nor suggest to me what I should and shouldn't do," he snapped harshly and watched at the plump man recoiled back violent.
"But our master needs to know!" Wormtail protested in a whiny tone, stamping his stubby foot against the wooden floorboards like a petulant child.
"I will deal with our master. Not you, Wormtail," he snarled. A hand lightning-fast reached out and lifted Wormtail up just high enough he was resting only on the tips of his toes within Severus's grasp.
" I will go to him and I will let him know in due time and until then, you are not to even lay a single fingertip on the girl or I will tear you limb from limb with my bare hands." The grip tightened on Wormtail's shirt before Severus dropped him unceremoniously back onto his feet and watched him scurry back from whatever hole he has clawed his way out of.
"Come." Severus inclined his head sideways and began to effortlessly climb the stairs two at a time with his long legs as he rummaged around in his pocket for his wand and lit the end, the inky blackness coming to life under the hazy wand light.
Dim light bounced off well-worn walls showing the wallpaper peeling and curling lazily upon itself. Some already met its fate on the ground to be trodden upon and long forgotten and others still clinging to the wall as if it was their lifeblood.
She noticed they walked past three doors, each as unassuming as the last before he skidded to a halt and opened a door at the end of the short hall and pushed it open and ushered her in quickly before slamming it shut behind them.
She exhaled sharply as her eye cast critically around the room and she was glad that it was kept better and cleaner than what she had seen. Shoulders slumped and she relaxed visibly she made a beeline for the large bed pushed off into a corner and flopped down upon it with nary an ounce of grace before laying backwards, legs over the edge and she was now staring up on the white ceiling.
Silence hung thick in the air and she was almost certain his eyes had been boring into her for the entirety of the silent period they were now sharing. Not that she minded. She was… comfortable around him somewhat and right now in this crazy world where nothing was normal, she could rely on Severus to be the same person he was when he woke up to when he laid his head down and went to sleep.
"I better go…" He trailed off abruptly breaking the almost peaceful silence that she was beginning to find soothing. She heard his heavy footsteps trail off across to the farthest corner of the room and then come back again after a cupboard had slammed shut. "I need you to stay in this room for me, Hermione. It's the only place you will be safe should things go... awry."
She noticed his tone was stone cold and almost had a hint of worry weaved intricately through it, but she couldn't be sure because Severus was so stoic usually.
"What's that supposed to me-" she sat bolt upright on the bed and stopped mid-sentence before swallowing hard. Hands began to shake slightly at the man before her now dressed no longer as the Severus Snape she knew but instead a Death Eater she felt she needed to fear.
"I have to go and see him." He exhaled hard. He really didn't want to. "It is better to hear from me that you are in my company than Wormtail because his stories can be quite colourful if I do say so myself. I don't know if Vo- he will want to see you but just be prepared if he does. Stay in this room and this room only and you will be safe from that wretched heathen sniffing around out there. He is here not by my choice so I cannot fix that right now."
She rose to her feet and walked slowly around him inspecting every last inch of the costume that now clad his tall form reaching out a hand her soft fingertips gently grabbed the sleeve of the garment rubbing it between her fingers to get the feel of the material before letting it go and continuing around him till she was facing him once more.
"Good luck, Severus." She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and let it linger there which is something she would have never done before she had gotten to know him better for fear he would tear it off.
Stiffening beneath her touch he tilted his head just so to see her hand placed upon him. How peculiar he thought to himself. How peculiar that she didn't recoil in disgust when she was touching him.
A leather-clad hand reached up gently without even a second thought, landing on her pale cheek he held her gaze steadfast and he couldn't help but have his mind wander to the time not all that long ago they almost shared a kiss and he couldn't help but wonder what path they would have taken if they had have.
"I better go." He pulled his hand from her cheek as if it were red hot fire and slung through the door leaving her there with little to do than bide her time.
o-o-o-o-o
Hermione tossed and she turned as she lay in Severus's bed atop the grey comforter unable to force sleep to lull her into its clutches. She had watched as the sunset outside of the window and give way to twilight and then the darkening of midnight and he still wasn't back. She didn't like this. She didn't like this one bit.
Was this normal for Death Eaters to be gone this long? What if something had happened to him on his way back?
She punched the pillow hard over and over again as if it would comfort her and drag her to sleep but it was futile because her mind still ran and he never arrived.
Ha. Who would have thought Hermione Granger would be upset that Severus Snape wasn't anywhere to be seen. It was funny how the world worked because it wasn't that long ago she loathed him and relied heavily on her friends and the tables had somehow turned and she hoped eventually Harry and Ron would come around but she doubted it.
She cast her mind to what would go down when they worked out both Her and Severus were gone and she smirked just a touch. Oh, to be a fly on the wall. Of course, Harry would fly off the handle as usual and vow to find her and poor, poor Ron would get swept up in whatever Harry wanted him to do.
Heavy footsteps walking up the steps she froze on the bed, her breath caught in her throat not daring to move because she had no idea if it were him. What if they had killed him and come for her? What if she was next?
She strained her ears trying to listen for some familiarity to the person walking up the steps but she couldn't distinguish any defining characteristics through the door.
Biting her bottom lip hard and still not breathing she heard the handle rattle gently and open. She exhaled the breath she had been holding in. It was Severus.
Mask in hand he softly padded over to the bed, kicked off his boots and sat on the edge of the bed.
"He wants us to go to Hogwarts," he whispered before hanging his head in his hands as if defeated and the weight on the world hung solely on his shoulders.
"Hogwarts!" She exclaimed a little too happily. Finally, some familiar in this otherwise shitty time. "And what does he want to do with me?" She sat up and skidded across the bed throwing her legs over the edge and sitting beside him.
"He wants me to gain your trust in a hope you will spill your guts about everything Harry Potter and the order. He is under the assumption I took you at wand point and you are uncompliant and unwilling to divulge anything as of this moment."
"And Wormtail? He clearly saw that wasn't anything close to the truth."
Severus waved a dismissive hand. "He isn't held in high esteem right now in our circle, so his opinion matters not."
"And what are we doing at Hogwarts?" She asked in a curious upward inflection. Her legs swinging gently backwards and forwards over the edge of the bed as she waited for an answer.
"I've been appointed as Headmaster," he forced out as if it were poison in his mouth. "Voldemort has full control of the ministry and all that is associated with it. He wants me to go and report everything back to him."
She felt her blood run cold. That couldn't be a good thing. That wasn't a good thing. Her head began to spin, and her mouth run dry. Had she picked the right person here? Should she had let herself be led away by Severus Snape? Voldemort obviously trusted him enough with something of that magnitude and here she was following him along like a puppy and never gave it a second thought.
"I just have one question," She asked him, worry and accusation heavy in her voice. "Are you on the good side or are you on the bad side?"
He sucked in a deep breath and sat silently on the bed unmoving. Thoughts swirled through his head as he tried to piece everything together slowly in his mind.
Shifting slightly on the bed he turned to face her. "Honestly, Hermione, some days I don't even know."
A/N: I can't believe I have been so slack in updating my stories lately! Although I guess now we are in lockdown for at least the next 90 days here in Australia, if not more, I have plenty of time to update everyone.
-Aliasmel1