"What do you mean they were spotted in Hogsmeade?" Hermione's shrill voice dragged him back to the reality he needed to be in right now instead of his mind spinning like a top.

It had only been three days since she had ambushed him in his own sitting room and let him finally take her as he had wished, and in the three days, that had since passed she couldn't imagine ever losing him because she realised that perhaps she really did actually love him and he loved her, and now her heart was racing and her head was spinning knowing that soon, she could actually lose him and she was unsure if her young heart could take such a painful blow right now.

Jogging to keep up with Severus's brisk pace as he took two steps at a time from his office, heading towards the Great Hall where all the students were told to congregate in the interim. She fell in step beside him.

"Voldemort is coming, Hermione. He knows Potter is heading straight for the castle and plans on cornering him within it and killing him."

She grasped his hand and spun him around with all the force she could muster up. Chest heaving, eyes stared worrisome into his own, and he saw the absolute deep-seated fear in the depths of her eyes as she searched his own for a sentiment of the hope she was needing.

"Let us go. Run. Please, Severus. If something happens to you… A life without you is a life not worth drawing another breath upon."

"Hermione," he drew a steadying breath, trying to piece the right words together in his head before he spoke them to her. "Hermione. I told you I would choose the option in which you were the safest and this is the right one. We cannot run away from our problems no matter how badly we want to. The other night when I came back to you after the meeting-" He stopped talking and slid a finger ever so gently under the chin, angling her head up just enough to look back in her eyes once more before continuing. "-I asked him no matter what happens to me, that he spares you and he agreed."

"And you believe him?" She snorted scornfully.

"I've got no choice but to believe him, for it is the only thing keeping me going, knowing no matter what- No matter what happens that you will be safe. If he reigns supreme and I die, I can die with a semblance of hope that you are cared for. If we run and he wins, he will hunt us down and slaughter us in cold blood. If we run and the light wins, they will track me down and I'd be tried for murder and treason. If we stay and the light wins, again, same fate. There is no happy ending for me, Hermione. There never was and I've known and come to realise this years ago. I've made my proverbial bed and now I must lie in it."

Tears glistening like wet diamonds in the corner of her eyes, she blinked them back as best she could. "So, no matter what happens, I will lose you?" A tight lump in her throat caused her voice to quiver substantially as she spoke.

"Yes. But you survive and that is all I've wanted. That's all I care about, Hermione. From the start of this relationship, I knew all along I wouldn't be coming out of the other side and that is why I distanced myself from you. Because I didn't want you to experience the heartache that I have felt before. Feelings, however, seem to have a mind of their own and despite me trying to keep you away at arm's length you fell for me and me just as hard for you."

"No! I won't accept that!" Shrill words reverberated off the castle walls echoes harrowing as they flittered down the hall. Tears fell down her cheeks with no restraint and he wiped his thumb over the moist skin of her right cheek with his thumb softly.

"Hermione. You are young and you are worthy of more than me and what I can afford you. It may just be a blessing in disguise that I may not be around much longer because you deserve everything and so more that I cannot give you."

"Never say that, Severus." She sniffled heavily as a sob tore right through her body. She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him right about now.

"I know truth is a reality that is hard to bear but it is for the best." He sighed solemnly. Dropping her chin he fished around in the pocket of his robes, pulling out a silver heart-shaped locket on a long matching chain. Grasping her right hand in his left, he placed the necklace in her hand tenderly and closed her fingers around it tightly.

Recoiling her hand as if he were on fire, she opened her fist to look hesitantly at the locket he had given her. Confusion etched on every line of her face as she tried to piece together the purpose of the gift.

"Time heals all wounds, Hermione," were the only words he spoke before dropping a chaste kiss on her forehead. "We must go now."

He turned on his heel and walked away.

Dropping the locket deep in her jeans pocket, she didn't have a second to spare and could dwell not on his meaning. Instead, she trotted behind him like the obedient witch he had very much become. Tears still staining her cheeks, she had no choice but to follow him towards the unknown because she sure as the sun rose every morning and set every night wasn't missing out on anything.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Their eyes locked in the heat of the moment and he could see fear and longing deep with chocolate orbs that watched helplessly as he vanished from her sight after a short-lived battle with Minerva. The last thing he heard was a choked sob strangled in her throat as he left her there, standing in the middle of the Great Hall with the rest of the school, including Potter and Weasley.

His heart tore from his chest at the look of utter betrayal on her face as he vanished from sight and that would haunt him forever, knowing their last moments together were when they were being torn apart.

"Where is your mighty savior now, Hermione?" Harry bit, pulling her from her anguish-induced stupor, still staring at the spot where he vanished. "He's left you to serve the god he helped make and loves to worship."

"Shut up, Harry!" Hermione screamed so loud; the entire castle fell in hushed silence. None dared break the sound of silence that hung heavy and thick in the air. All trying to process how their Headmaster had just simultaneously fought and spared McGonagall.

o-o-o-o-o

Legs stepping the fastest they ever had in her life, she moved with purpose through the cast. Air caught in her chest as she tried to make sense of what was happening and what might happen from here on in.

Runnings against the flow of students, she needed to get away from them all. She needed to distance herself from Harry and Ron. The weight of a thousand eyes felt as if they are pressing in on her the moment Severus left in a spectacular fashion leaving her behind and she knew, she just knew they were judging her and her inability to know that he was a terrible person and chose Voldemort over her.

It was no secret that she and Severus had some semblance of a relationship going on, but no one really knew to what extent. They knew she was his pet and would trot along behind him wherever he went with any give chance, and he seemed to tolerate her beyond measure of other students, so to see him leave without her and hear her hallowed screams through the hall it confused them all. He would never have done that under any other circumstance. He would have never left her behind.

She wanted to get back to his office; she wanted to his away until this war was over and her anxiety caused her heart to race tenfold.

Climbing the stairs two at a time, she pushed the door to his office open. Walking in, she slammed the door hard and leaned against it, panting as she did so.

"I was wondering if you would come here," a most familiar voice drawled from a darkened corner and she whipped around to see Severus standing there watching her with interest.

"Severus!" she exclaimed loudly. Sprinting towards him, she launched herself into his arms, legs wrapping tightly around his waist she pressed her lips hotly to her own as if they were the lifeblood she needed to survive.

He pulled back slightly; arms wrapped around her body, holding her like she was about to be torn from his grip. "I can't stay long. I just wanted to make sure you were ok and let you know I would never leave you behind intentionally like this. At the moment though this is the safest place you can. Follow Potter and Weasley wherever they go. They need the brains of their operation in order for us to win." Pushing an errant curl behind her ear, he watched her intently with a love deep in his eyes.

"Us to win?" She echoed emptily. "Who is us? Whose side are you on?"

"Always yours, Hermione. I would follow you into hellfire and beyond if it meant I could be with you." He pulled his gaze from her own.

She noticed a few stray tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he did so, and her heart skipped a beat. "I love you," she whispered into his ear, resting her head on his shoulder as she did.

"I love you too, Hermione." his voice wavered as he replied. Trying to choke back tears and be strong for her, he thought it would be easier to hide his emotions from her than it currently was.

"I've got to go," He choked out, pulling her from the embrace they were sharing and placing her back on the ground. "If anything happens to me, remember, you were the one in life I've ever loved the most."

She stood stiffly, watching as he left again and with him a piece of both her heart and her soul.

A/N: Just a quick filler chapter for you all. Slowly we are coming to an end.

-Aliasmel1