"This is it," they both said in unison as they stood at the large, looming gates of Hogwarts that dwarfed the two of them by their sheer size. Black painted iron twisting and turning too and fro creating the heavy gates made hundreds of years prior still standing the test of time; the castle off in the distance almost calling to them, beckoning them to walk its halls once again but it almost seemed as if an eerie silence shrouded the grounds of the castle as if the castle were sad.
Hermione shuddered against the cool breeze sweeping hastily off the lake and whipping around them. Her curls of brown blowing softly around her face almost framing it; autumn was coming in bitter and early this year. The cold air nipping at her nose with vigour and she wrinkled it as her hair tickled it.
Severus pushed the heavy gate open and the groaning it emitted rent the air which was quickly blown off onto the wind and stepped back, allowing her to step through and followed quickly pulling it shut behind them. She led the way for a few steps before he caught up easily. Their feet lightly crunching the gravel below as they padded up the long driveway. Severus was a little pissed they didn't have a Thesteral there waiting to ferry them up to the castle and he knew it was a giant fucking middle finger from them all; of course, they would hate him after this; as far as they were aware he did, in fact, kill Dumbledore but of course there were always three sides to every story. His, theirs and the truth and he hoped that one day they would open their eyes to the truth and all he had been through to help Dumbledore.
The past few days had been strange, to say the least. The two had been almost inseparable at his home, mostly because she needed protection from that filthy heathen Pettigrew. The two of them slept together in the same bed but that was the extent of their relationship if you could call it that because that is all they literally did was sleep. Every now and then she would wake up to a stray arm over her torso or her with a hand on his leg but deep down she knew that was just their unconscious, sleeping minds doing that and not them consciously making a decision so technically it meant nothing; not that she really felt anything for him anyway. She did wonder what it would have been liked to kiss him that one time they were alone and Lupin walked in, but no other chance had come up or rather Severus had never opened himself up like that again.
She often wondered if she took the wrong path by following along blindly like a well-trained dog that bounded two steps behind its owner when she had given him back his wand and let him go. She had been so caught up in wanting revenge on Harry and the order for doing the wrong thing, that the thing she thought was the right thing ultimately could have been wrong as well. Yes, she knew he was innocent but at the same time, Voldemort now assumed she was Severus's and to an extent now his prisoner and that was dangerous beyond measure. Voldemort was a maleficent master who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted and if that meant killing her, then he wouldn't hesitate for one second and there was nary a thing she could do and she doubts Severus would stop him, either.
She wondered what everyone's reaction would be when she turned up totally unharmed and somewhat safe at Hogwarts when she had been missing for the past week. She knew news travelled fast and the staff of Hogwarts would ultimately know Snape had run off with her and they would assume she was forced and held at wand point rather than going on her own accord and she wondered what retribution he would be at the end of once they arrived together.
The two walked in utter silence, arm brushing against arm every few steps but neither even really noticed because they had been in such close proximity of late it just felt natural, although their relationship wasn't healthy in the least; she knew that. It wasn't normal to be trotting along willingly with a Death Eater. Was he really a Death Eater? She was confused and that didn't happen often. She knew she should be wary of him but at the same time she had no idea what side he was really on; perhaps he was just neutral. It wasn't normal to be running around with your Potions Master outside of school either, and it certainly wasn't in the realm of normality to like his company more than you should.
She sighed haughtily as they continued to walk the path, the castle growing closer with every step they took until they were standing at the foot of the stairs. They both stood idly contemplating entering or not. He looked at her and she at him, "Ready?" His voice a strained whisper that almost floated off on the cold breeze as he contemplated turning and running from here. Surely, they could go into hiding and emerge when all of this was over. Severus was a slippery as he was smart and slinking between the shadows and hiding in plain sight were skills of his, so it wouldn't be hard; he had no idea why he wanted to take the girl with him though.
She nodded softly, barely registering that she had done so and they climbed the stairs together slowly. Step after step drew them closer to their Severus pushed the heavy wooden door open and ushered Hermione in and stepped in behind her. She wasn't expecting a welcoming party and she was not really expecting Death Eaters there either and she swallowed hard, stepping half a step closer to Severus. Lightning-fast he reached out a hand pressing it into the small of her back to stop her tripping over his foot and righted her.
"Are you ok, Miss Granger?" Minerva barked in a deep Scottish brogue stepping hastily towards the girl tutting and visibly checking her over. "Did he hurt you?" she asked softly hoping he wouldn't hear.
"I'm fine, thank you." She smiled meekly at the woman who stepped back in line with the other faculty who all looked white as sheets and noticeably uncomfortable and she wasn't sure if that was because Severus was there, the Carrows or the fact it certainly did look like Severus had taken off with Hermione.
"Pray to tell Severus, Why have those… D-Death Eaters been placed within the walls of Hogwarts?" Minerva spat with venom, inclining her head to the Carrows who looked as if they wanted to tear her throat out with haste and there would be zero regrets.
"I'm just the messenger Minerva so don't shoot me but they are here by order of the Dark Lord," He spoke slowly, pronouncing every word articulately to get his point across. He didn't want to deal with frivolous issues he had no bearing over and no ability to change.
"You can't just have them roaming the halls scaring the children Severus!" She protested heavily with a few half-hearted nods from the other faculty.
"I don't make the rules, Minerva." He waved his hand airily dismissing her completely. Honestly, what did she want him to do? Send them packing back to the Dark Lord where they would just be sent back again? He honestly didn't want them here either, but he had little to no say. He was merely playing this game to survive and see out the other side if this even came to an end. Dumbledore always told him to trust the plan and wait but right now he wasn't sure there was any plan and waiting wasn't going to do anything. He had to be proactive and put his best foot forward and play the game to come out trumps.
"Isn't that Potter's little bitch?" Alecto Carrow spat out, taking a keen interest in Hermione for no reason at all, looking down her nose as if Hermione were dirt on the ground beneath her boot. Stepping forward towards the young girl she grabbed her chin roughly and forced Hermione to look up at her. "Or is she your little bitch now, Snape?" Heavily hooded eyes swam with question as she shot a glance to Severus wanting confirmation, but nothing was answered. "Fucking a filthy Mudblood? That's low, even for you."
Hermione didn't really know this woman, but she knew who she was. She looked a few years her senior and had the strength behind her. She wasn't exactly lithely framed and had some muscle behind her. She struggled to pull from her tight grip on her chin until Severus stepped in and snatched her back towards him putting an end to the assault.
In an instant his eyes turned dark and stormy; angry. "If a single one of you even touches a single hair on that girl's head, I will tear your teeth out one by one, slit your throats and bleed you out like a slaughtered lamb. Don't you dare try to put it over me and go behind my back to do so because I will hunt you down until the end of time. She is a prisoner of the Dark Lord and I am sure he would hate to see you two fuck something else up for him," his voice so dark and cold it sent shivers down Hermione's spine, his tirade at the Carrows that he immensely disliked but had to put up with due to the nature of the beast. His chest rose and fell hard with anger. How dare she call Hermione a Mudblood and what made her think she had the permission to belittle her? Wait. Why the hell did he care anyway?
"What, need her close to suck your cock?" Alecto barked smartly, a small smirk tugging at the corners of her lips revelling at her quick wit and humour, not even recoiling once at his threat.
"What? Would you rather be sucking it instead, Alecto?" He snarled, curling his upper lip in distaste. He would much rather have his cock sucked by a Hippogriff… It would probably be safer.
Amycus snorted. "She'd need a potion, a magnifying glass, a map and a hell of a lot of luck in locating that," he barked with laugher haughtily.
Hermione flushed beet red at the exchange of heated words that were being exchanged in front of her. She had never heard such talk before in her life, nor had she even been privy to any sexual banter of any kind and here they were just freely throwing words around as if it were second nature to them. Hermione was unsure if Harry and Ron talked like that but if they did, they never did so in front of her and with good reason; Molly would have clouted them for being so uncouth.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Snape said coolly. "I assumed it would be nice for her to suck someone else's rather than her own brothers every night." Hermione noticed a small flick of smugness cross his features but it had vanished just as quickly.
Hermione's face was still flushed red but she couldn't help feel a pang of something, maybe jealously that he would even think of suggesting he have any sexual relations with the other woman and he wouldn't even touch her when she was lying in bed beside him every night. She wouldn't be totally against it, not by a long shot. She liked him enough and felt comfortable enough to sleep beside him and she wouldn't stray from the idea IF that ever happened and he instigated it but as it stood, she wasn't brave enough to start anything for fear of rejection and she really wanted to wait until she was in love with someone before offering herself to them and she certainly didn't love Severus, not by a long shot.
She was just starting to mature sexually, and she often had thoughts and urges that she would push down into the deepest part of her soul and quash any feelings she may have and it worked just fine. Often she wondered what it would be like to kiss someone, really kiss them, throwing caution to the wind and releasing any inhibitions and just going for it, lips on lips battling for supremacy and coming out totally breathless at the end and then wanting to go again.
"And what about Miss Granger?" Minerva's Scottish brogue snapped her out of her thoughts and back to reality. Her cheeks flushing a soft shade of pink at the thoughts she had just run through her mind.
"What about her?" Snape asked in an upward inflection, eyebrow slowly raised in question.
"Will she be attending classes, Severus?" She almost snapped back at him.
He hadn't honestly thought of that. He wanted to keep her safe for all intents and purposes that she was now a prisoner of the Dark Lord and for no other reason what so ever, and what would the other students think? He wasn't going to let her be free prey hanging around in the Gryffindor dorm with the Carrows skulking about. Even with the very direct warning he had given them, he didn't trust them as far as he could pick them up and throw them.
"Do you want to participate in classes?" He looked just so at her still standing beside him and he noticed a spark awaken in her eyes.
"Can I?" Her eyes as bright as the torches that lined the walls of the castle as hope tangled in her voice.
"I suppose," he sighed, resigned. What else would she do around here anyway? Not that is was going to be a barrel of laughs now anyway and she may just eventually change her mind after a few lessons anyway when she found out they were being run to the Dark Lords specifications and not to the true curriculum.
"Thank you!" She beamed. At least even if she was his "prisoner" it didn't have to feel that way.
"Come, Hermione," Minerva whispered under her breath stepping forward and reaching for the girl ushering her forward with haste. Severus lightning-fast reached a hand out, pressing it against her torso so she couldn't go any further. Dark stormy eyes staring down Minerva for a few seconds before the woman stepped back in line.
"She stays with me for the interim under orders of the Dark Lord. Safekeeping and all that." He lied. The truth was he maybe just a little bit liked having the girl around for company and right now, she was the only one who showed him any semblance of comradery and mateship if he were being honest. She didn't judge him and she spoke to him as if he were equal and he liked that. The fact of the matter he was lonely and perhaps she was the type of company he wanted to keep if and when this was over. He was tired of the evil and the corrupt. He was bored of the pretentious and the obsessed. He just wanted a friend that was none of those. A friend who was normal. A friend like Hermione.