A.N.: Hello my lovely readers. Here's another chapter for you. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on this story. It means the world to me.
This chapter was betaed by my lovely friend, multilingualism.
Chapter 23: Disappointing you
Winter holidays were the best ones in their life, Fred and George decided, even though Hermione probably saw that differently with her parents gone. Their father had survived being attacked by Voldemort's snake and would make a full recovery. And on top of that, they had been able to hold Hermione in their arms for five blissful nights. Five nights of cuddling, secretly smelling her hair and daydreaming about how it would be if they could both have her.
But now it was time to go back to Hogwarts and even though Fred and George usually did not mind going to school, they didn't feel like going back at all this time. Not only that Umbridge and her Educational Decrees waited for them, but also there were the NEWT exams on the horizon. This meant that they wouldn't have much time developing more joke products and no chance to spend time with Hermione or even hold her again. And both were things they desperately wanted to do. But first, they'd read through the books Sirius had lent them, because if they were lucky then there really was a way for both of them to have her. If Sirius was to be believed, their uncles had done it and they hadn't been shunned by society. And that fact gave Fred and George hope that there was a solution for their mutual crush on Hermione.
"Lavender is back!" Parvati's voice pulled them out of their thoughts. They had just entered the common room after arriving from the train station but when their heads snapped up, they could see that a large group of students had gathered in front of a lost-looking Lavender Brown. The girl interestingly didn't seem to enjoy this sudden attention at all, which definitely was a new thing.
"No, I don't know what happened to me," she answered somebody's question in a desperate voice. "And I don't know anything about being the Open Link. What's that supposed to be anyway?"
The group of people looked at her with a gasp. But Fred pulled George to a sofa in the back of the room, while he followed the conversation with half an ear. Then he murmured to his brother: "I bet she's been obliviated, by whoever had her, which can only mean that she's not the Open Link."
George nodded. "Yeah. But I mean, we're pretty sure who had her, right? So if she's not the Open Link, why's she still alive? Not that I'm complaining, Merlin no, but it just doesn't seem like his style."
"Not really, no," Fred said with a thoughtful expression. "On the other hand she's a Pureblood and he probably doesn't want to step onto their toes. And… think about it, Georgie. If she's not the Open Link, then somebody else is. What would happen, if he had just killed her and then captured the real Open Link? What do you think his chances would have been to convince this other person to work with him?"
His brother hummed thoughtfully. "Good point, Freddie. Whoever it is, does know Lavender, maybe not as a friend but from seeing her in the hallways."
"Yeah," Fred said. "The question is: if she's not the Open Link, who is? Dumbledore will be keen on finding him or her now, as he has seen what happens if somebody else finds the Link first."
"Which leaves us with quite an urgent task," George concluded and got up. "Let's go to our dorm, Freddie. You still got the book where you noted all the bets, right? Let's go through it again and note everything important, we can learn from it."
"Good idea, brother," Fred replied and was on his feet a moment later. "Whoever it is, Georgie, we need to save him or her. And that means not only protecting him from You-Know-Who but from our dear High-Inquisitor, too. Because the woman is almost as bad, even if she tries to hide it behind pink bows and huge smiles."
George shuddered. "Yeah, but I somehow get the feeling that she'll show her true nature pretty soon. I wouldn't be surprised if there will be some new Educational Decrees by tomorrow."
"Wanna make a bet how long it will take her to make an Educational Decree that explicitly forbids using our products?" Fred said with a wide grin when they walked up the stairs to their dorm. "People would probably want to have them anyway. Could even be good marketing."
George grinned. "I say two weeks."
"Then I'll say ten days," his brother answered with a smug smile. "But we'll have to start selling them, soon. What about tomorrow? Let's just finish going through my book tonight and talk to Dumbledore first thing in the morning. And afterwards, we'll reward ourselves by selling some of our stuff. How does that sound, Georgie?"
His twin clapped him onto his back with a wide smile. "Sounds brilliant, Freddy, absolutely brilliant!" Their upcoming NEWTs were promptly forgotten. There were more important things for them to do, after all.
ssssssss
So Lavender was back, Hermione thought when she slowly walked down the corridor after her last lesson on Monday. It had been Emotional and Attachment Education with Professor Umbridge, but somehow the last hours didn't feel like a lesson at all, more like some kind of Inquisition. It was obvious that their High Inquisitor had drawn the conclusion that Lavender Brown was not the Open Link, which only left her more determined to find the wanted person once and for all. But of course, nobody knew anything, well nobody but her and she kept her mouth shut. Which led to a very frustrated and more and more bad-tempered Professor Umbridge. At the end of the lesson, Lavender had left the room in tears and Parvati had stormed out right after her, in the hope to console her friend. Hermione knew that this was only the beginning and suddenly she was glad for her Occlumency lessons with Severus because they didn't only help her to hide her memories, but also to get her feelings under control. Now that everybody was looking for the Open Link again, she couldn't make any mistakes and so she tried being her usual, over-enthusiastic self. And at least Ron and Harry seemed to be buying it.
"Merlin, Umbridge can be really scary," Ron mumbled and rubbed his head. "It's not Lavender's fault, that she can't remember anything. Seems like she was obliviated or something."
"Yeah," Hermione agreed with a sigh. "Which means that Umbridge won't get any answers from her. What do you think how long it will take her to realize that? Because then she'll try to get answers from the other students…"
Harry groaned. "Merlin, I really don't want to be in the centre of this woman's attention. I swear, the toad hates me! And I don't want to know what she'll try to get her answers from us. Not that we had any, to begin with."
"Yeah," Ron said with a snort. "Because obviously, my prediction that it was Lavender was wrong. Do you think I'll have to pay back Fred and George now?"
Hermione shrugged. "It's not like you could pay them back, anyway. Or do you have any money left?"
"Not really, no," her friend replied with a shake of his head.
"Well, then they'll just have to give up this nonsense of taking on bets, right? And I mean, who says that the next person claiming to be the Open Link is correct this time? Or if Professor Trelawney makes another prediction?" Hermione couldn't hide the amusement in her voice when she said this and by the snorts of her friends, she could tell that Ron and Harry felt the same. But before any of them could say anything in return, they had reached the Gryffindor Common room. There their attention was immediately pulled to the two redheaded pranksters that stood in the centre surrounded by a big crowd of students.
"Fever Fudge? What's that for?" a little third-year asked and looked at Fred with wide, excited eyes.
The redhead snorted: "Gives you a fever, obviously. Enough to get you out of class and when you're back to the common room, you take one of those," Fred announced and held up a small green toffee. "It's the antidote. Just take it and you're right as rain."
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed and worked his way to the front of the crowd. Harry followed him slowly, but Hermione remained at the back of the crowd and watched the twins' marketing show with growing anger. Because as soon as her eyes fell on the Nosebleed Nougat she knew exactly that this was what they had taken when she helped them to get to the Infirmary a few weeks ago. They had tricked her, had even convinced her to skip class with them. But even worse: she had been worried about them, worried over nothing! Why had she been stupid enough to believe them? Merlin, she really was an idiot!
"Fred, George! Give me some of the Nosebleed Nougat, will you? I'll use it to get out of Binn's class tomorrow," Ron announced when he finally reached the front of the queue.
Fred looked at him with a grin. "Sure, little brother. This will be 2 Sickles, then."
Ron looked at his brothers with a crooked grin. "Can't I have one for free? I'm short on money you know? And I'm your brother after all…"
"And we're trying to start a business, little brother. So no free samples for you, I fear," George said and patted his brother's shoulder. "Sorry, Ronnekins." Ron looked at them with a scowl, turned around and marched back to Hermione.
"I can't believe it! I'm their brother!" he complained and looked back at his brothers that eagerly pocketed their newly earned money with matching grins on their faces. And Hermione didn't really feel like defending them in front of Ron right now. In fact, she didn't feel like talking about Fred and George at all - or to them.
"I'll be in my room," she replied with a shake of her head. "It's impossible to do my homework here, as long as your brothers use the Common Room as their joke shop. And I really need to finish this essay for Professor Snape."
Her friend groaned. "Don't remind me. I was kind of hoping we could do this one together. You could come to our dorm and we could do it on my bed. What do you say?"
Hermione wanted to say no because she was three times faster without having to help him. But Ron was her friend and so saying no was not really an option. She sighed. "Alright. Let's go then."
Ron looked at her with a wide grin. "Yeah. Because you don't look like you'd want to buy something from them." He motioned with his head towards his brothers.
She shook her head with a snort. "No, skipping class isn't really for me, I guess."
Ron nodded with a smile and said: "I guess not, but considering the fact that I'd be lost without you and your notes that's a good thing."
ssssssss
Severus knew he was fucked as soon as he felt the Dark Mark on his arm burn. After the return of Lavender Brown to the castle, he had known that the Dark Lord would call him sooner or later, but he'd rather hoped for later. But it wasn't to be.
With a sigh, he donned his heavy Death Eater robe and grabbed the mask that he had hidden away in his wardrobe. It only took him a minute, until he was on his way through the castle towards the Hogwarts gates. The longer he waited the angrier and more impatient the Dark Lord would get. And Severus guessed he was both already, to begin with. Luckily Severus didn't meet anybody on his way to the Apparition point and so it was only a matter of a few minutes until he landed on the cold, dark marble floor of a house that was not Malfoy Manor. And Severus realized that he didn't have an idea where he was at all. By the size of the room he was currently in, the house was huge. There were large windows along the wall to his right side, that were made from glass of different colours. Severus could imagine that they would paint the room in beautiful colours when the sun was shining outside, but as it was dark right now they only reflected the hundreds of candles, that some poor house-elf must have lighted around Lord Voldemort.
"Ah Severusssss," his Master's voice greeted and even though it sounded almost happy to see him, he knew that it was only a bluff. "I am glad you decided to follow my invitation."
He wanted to snort. As if he ever had the choice to not follow his master's call. He would have been a dead man if he had decided to do so. Well, he probably still was, if the feeling in his gut was anything to go by.
"My Lord," he replied and kneeled down with a bowed head. "It is my pleasure to serve, My Lord."
"So you say," the man in front of him replied and suddenly Severus could detect a strange undertone in it. "And still you haven't given me any useful information at all, those last days. Why is that, Severus?"
"My Lord? As you have somehow gotten hold of the Brown-girl, I had hoped that you had finally secured the Open Link. But as My Lord didn't call me, I decided to wait for further instructions, as I surmised you wished to persuade the girl alone," Severus tried to explain, but he already knew that it was for nought. The Dark Lord was angry and he was looking for somebody to punish, somebody to vent his anger on. And today this somebody was him.
"But this girl was a fraud," his Master hissed and Severus could feel his cold eyes studying him, "which you must know, as I had the grace to send her back."
"My Lord was very generous," Severus replied and waited. He didn't have to wait long.
"So I was told. But I am tired of being disappointed, Severus. So tell me, what news do you have on the Open Link?"
Severus closed his eyes to gather his strength. Because he knew what was coming after he had given his answer: "I have ruled out a majority of the students, my Lord. But there are still about 15 that I am not sure about."
"15 you say?" Lord Voldemort said and his voice got more and more agitated. "That is not enough, Severus! There needs to be a way to narrow it down further. You disappoint me. You have to try harder, much harder. But it appears you need a bit of convincing to do your very best. So you will learn what it means to disappoint the Dark Lord…"
Severus didn't reply, as it wouldn't have changed anything. Instead, he balled his hands and shut his mouth tightly, in the hope to not bite his tongue again. One of his fellow comrades had once managed to almost bite it off under torture and that had been a messy thing to heal.
"Crucio!"
He heard the hissed words, before the curse connected with his chest a moment later. For a few seconds he managed to remain to kneel upright, but then his body sagged to the side and started convulsing. He could only hope that his Master indeed decided to let him live a bit longer because there was still so much he wanted to teach Hermione – his friend. Severus had never expected to find a friend again after Lily but somehow he had. And now that his whole body was burning with pain, his mind went out to her and clung to the memory of Hermione's smile and the feeling of her arms around his body, when she pulled him into a hug. And somehow it made the pain a little more bearable for him.
ssssssss
Hermione knew that something was wrong. She had just started to ready herself for bed when she was suddenly packed by a strange feeling of uneasiness and worry. Without knowing the reason for it, she suddenly felt restless, needed, but that didn't make sense. Who would need her at this time of the day and why would she suddenly be able to feel it?
But then the puzzle pieces clicked together, when she remembered that there was indeed a person, she had a special connection to. Severus, she realized, was connected to her through the link and suddenly she knew that it was him, who needed her. Merlin, what had happened to him that she felt this nagging restlessness and alarm through the bond? Had he been called to You-Know-Who? Probably. Because who else would try to hurt her friend?
But what could she even do? She couldn't call for help, as he probably wasn't even at the castle right now. If she went to the Headmaster she would have to admit how she knew that Severus was in trouble, to begin with. And that was something she couldn't do if she wanted to keep her secret.
The uneasy feeling in her stomach got worse and before she realized what she was doing, she threw on her robe again and stormed out of the room.
"I forgot something downstairs," she hastily explained to her dorm mates, before she closed the door behind her. Severus needed her and so she would be there for him, as soon as he arrived. And until then she could only pray and try to send him strength and energy through their Link.
"Keep him safe," she begged her magic as she flew down the stairs to the Common Room. It was still packed with people, but they were all too busy to realize that she climbed through the portrait hole after curfew. At least that was what Hermione told herself because there were two sets of brown eyes that followed her with a curious expression. Only a moment later their redheaded owners leapt to their feet with an excited grin on their faces. And with a nod to each other, they followed her silently into the corridors.