Hello my dear, faithful readers. It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry for that.

I'm in France now, and you have the ever lovely Gwen to thank for this chapter. She just about made me sit down and write. So now Chapter 48 is finished and I can post!

Thanks for all the reviews, as always. I have chosen a prompt for the short story I've promised you (and I've started writing it!) because the prompt was so, so perfect I couldn't resist.

More about my travels below, here's the chapter!

Chapter 45

Cedric Diggory moved through Safe House Three carefully, treading lightly on the thin carpet in the living room. It was barely morning, and the sun had yet to pierce the windows in the foyer. To his surprise, the fire was still crackling heartily, consuming a healthy pile of firewood. When he went to check why it hadn't been banked, he started. Hermione Granger was sitting on the couch, staring into the flames, an empty look in her eyes.

Against the threadbare green of the old furniture, she painted a sad picture. Her hair was an explosion of messy and frizzy curls and there were deep bags under her eyes. Her legs were drawn up onto the cushions, and she was hugging them to herself.

"Hermione? Are you okay-"

"It's over," she said flatly.

Cedric took a seat in the armchair, concern running through him. "What do you mean-"

"It's over," she repeated. "Sev- Professor Snape and I."

So that's why she looks like death warmed over, thought Cedric. "Oh."

Her gaze went from the flames to his face. "Are you going to say anything to anyone?"

"Um- no. There's no point if it's done, right?" His own words felt odd and clumsy to him. "I wouldn't have said anything even if you were still seeing him."

Something terrible crossed her face. "You seemed very upset last night."

Cedric flushed. "It's not every day you run into a former professor of yours fu- um- with one of his students." He passed a hand through his hair. "I was pretty damn shocked."

Hermione tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling. "Yeah. I guess not."

"It's, um- it's over, though?" asked Cedric.

She still refused to look at him. "Yeah. It wasn't going to last anyway, I suppose. Once we got back to Hogwarts, you know."

Cedric frowned at her. "Are you okay, Hermione?"

Finally she looked at him again. Her eyes still seemed empty. "Do I look okay?"

"You look like you stayed up all night," Cedric said truthfully. "I didn't mean to-"

"You were a catalyst for an explosion that was waiting to happen," Hermione interrupted, her eyes suddenly like ice. "Don't think anything more of it." She stood, turning her back to him to climb the stairs up to the second floor, and their rooms.

Two hours later, when Cedric was eating breakfast in the kitchen, Hermione reappeared. Her hair was neatly braided, her clothes were clean and ironed, and color was back in her skin. Her eyes were bright and happy, and she looked younger than she had since he had known her.

"You look better," he said slowly, to the stiff back that faced him.

"Glamours," she replied. "I'm moving into Headquarters."

He squinted at her as she turned. "You're really good at those- even my mom still has shimmers when she moves."

"I've been doing them every day for the last several years," she said dully. "You get enough practice and..." she let her voice trail off.

Cedric sighed, leaning against the counter. He felt awkward, but like he had to say something. "Are you sure you're okay, Hermione?"

"Yes, of course I am," she said. This time she put effort into a bright tone.

Bullshit, thought Cedric. He raised an eyebrow. "You may look fine but you sound like someone ran over your Kneazle."

"I don't need to talk about it, or anything," said Hermione sharply. "You walked in on something that had nothing to do with you."

She turned to go, but he lunged and grabbed her arm. "I don't know what it was, but I know that he hurt you," Cedric said quickly, and softly. "Hermione, people in the Order were worried about you, that you were becoming more like him. Maybe this is a good thing- and I know you're hurting and I know it's partially my fault and for that I'm sorry."

"I'm fine," she said again, more forcefully. She yanked her arm away. "I have to go."

"So I'll be here all alone?" asked Cedric. "Is anyone else going to be here?" He didn't like the idea of being alone in the Safe House, with only house elves for company.

Hermione started. "Uh- no. I'm going to be in both places."

"At the same time?" Cedric asked, confused.

When Hermione grinned at him- and actual smile- his confusion deepened. "Exactly."

She felt hollow.

It was a dull kind of feeling, as if she was normal on the outside and just missing everything on the inside. Emotions, pain, worry, guilt- all of them were behind the shields she had built inside her mind. Her emotions were a mess, but they were a mess that was locked off from the rest of her.

Hermione only just remembered to enlarge her trunk before entering Grimmauld Place, pulling it along behind her as she entered the big old house. There was no need for Ron to be asking questions about who had done the magic for her, and she didn't want to have to bother an 'adult' with doing the simple spell work for her. As soon as she crossed the threshold, the painting of Sirius' mother began to shriek. "Mudblood! Filth entering my house and home-"

Calmly, the witch drew her wand and stepped close to the painting, meeting the flat oil eyes with her own. "Be quiet or I'll douse you with turpentine."

The Black matriarch sniffed haughtily. "Silly girl. There are protections in place that you could never get through-"

"Watch me," Hermione threatened, voice cold.

The pattering of footsteps on the stairs alerted her to Ron, Harry, and Ginny, with varying degrees of pleasure to see her on their faces. Mrs. Weasley appeared from the sitting room, followed by Viktor.

"Hullo, everyone," she said, forcing herself to sound bright and happy.

Ginny hugged her first, then Harry, and finally Ron. "Mum didn't say you'd be here too," Ginny said, throwing a confused look at her mum.

"You aren't, right Hermione?" asked Molly nervously. "You were staying at-"

"But I'm not now," Hermione said coolly. "Professor Dumbledore said to come here in the morning, so here I am! Ginny and I can share again, can't we?" She flashed a smile, hoping that it didn't ring fake.

"No," said Mrs. Weasley, at the same time Ginny replied, "Yes!"

Viktor laughed. "Who else would Hermione share with? I would offer, but I am sure that you would disapprove."

Mrs. Weasley looked so horrified that everyone snickered. "No, of course she'll stay with Ginny," she said huffily. "Of course. Boys, help Hermione take her things up to her room, and Ginny, come help me lunch started."

When Viktor took Hermione's trunk, picking up the heavy bag easily, Mrs. Weasley flapped her hand at him. "I was talking to Harry and Ronald, Viktor, you really don't have to-"

"I am wanting to, Mrs. Weasley," Viktor said politely, flashing the woman a quick smile as he moved toward the stairs. "Really, it is no problem."

Hermione followed him, Ron and Harry trailing behind her, jostling each other on the stairs. The sounds of their bickering were ignored by Hermione, who was concentrating on the broad back in front of her.

Severus had made her stop her relationship with Viktor when she had been barely seventeen. God, those days had been so awful. She had felt like she was trapped in her own head half the time. Being two places at once, keeping track of everything that was happening, but telling no one. There had been no one to talk to, not Harry who was concentrating on the Triwizard Tournament and Ron who had been angry at them- and once they had reconciled it was worse, because Ron would talk to Harry and Harry to Ron and there was really no reason for her to be there at all.

Then Viktor had appeared- wonderful Viktor, who had watched her in the library and shyly asked her to go to the Ball with him. He was an international sports star- who would have believed that Hermione Granger had attracted the attentions of an international sports star? Not Hermione. The attention had been glorious. Secret meeting in the library, where they had just talked. Talked about themselves and their childhoods, talked about the differences between their schools, talked about their hopes for the future. For one solitary hour everyday, Hermione was in heaven.

And then the Yule Ball- she spent hours wrestling her hair into submission, dressed in a gown that had been a bit too expensive, and she had floated into the Great Hall on the arm of Viktor Krum. The looks of surprise on the faces around her gave her a vindictive triumph- yes, she was a swot and a bookworm and not particularly pretty, but still she had been the one who had captured the interest of Krum. For a few hours it had been wonderful, until Ron had brought it crashing down.

And soon, Severus had brought it crashing down as well.

Was he jealous, even then? Hermione asked herself bitterly, before discarding the question. No, of course not. He hadn't started thinking of her in that way until after the Third Task. That was when he had stopped calling her 'Miss Granger.' Well, had stopped until the night before anyway.

She shouldn't think of Severus. Thoughts of him pushed against the barrier she had raised, pushed against it and threatened to break it. The pain rose suddenly, and it took all she had to push it back.

They were at the landing, and Viktor was asking what room Hermione would be staying in. The words flowed over her for a moment, unheeded, before Harry responded, pointing to the farthest room down the hall.

Concentrate, Hermione chided herself. Just wait until you are alone. Give yourself a minute, and then get on with your goddamn life. Don't let this break you- you are stronger than this. You aren't the kind of girl to let a man break you completely. Push it away. And don't let on to Ron or Harry- or Viktor- that something is wrong.

"You can just leave it on the floor, Viktor," Hermione said, smiling at the older boy. "I'm going to start unpacking- if I hurry I can probably finish before lunch."

Harry sat on Hermione's bed, and Ron on Ginny's. "Mum was so mad that we had to come here," he said glumly. "You should've seen her, Hermione."

I did, Hermione thought, a trickle of amusement sliding behind her wall. "I'm sure Dumbledore thought everything through," she said primly. "If he thought this was best, it was."

"I wish I had been at that meeting," said Harry, his tone echoing Ron's. "I'd rather be at the Burrow too. If he's still making decisions about my life-"

"Do you know why you are here?" asked Viktor gruffly.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then up at the Quidditch player. "That's right- you were at that meeting," Ron said. "Why'd they move us?"

"Emmeline Vance is dead," Hermione answered quietly, the sound of her trunk popping open almost louder than her voice. "That's what I heard anyway."

"Blimey," murmured Ron. "Vance- I've seen her."

Harry was frowning. "Me too. She was one of the people who picked me up from the Dursley's last year."

"She knew information about you, Harry," Viktor said. "That is why she was being killed, and why you have been moved."

If it had been any other day, Hermione would have shot Viktor a glare. There was no reason Harry needed to be blaming himself for deaths he could do nothing about. Today, however, she just started moving clothes from her suitcase to the dresser, ignoring the mirror- which advised her to use some Sleakeazy's on her hair- and Harry's tight face.

"So how long are we going to be here?" asked Ron. "Do you know, Hermione?"

"Dumbledore told my parents that I wouldn't be back before school starts, but I don't know," Hermione answered smoothly. "We might go back to the Burrow." She hoped they wouldn't. The lack of privacy would drive her crazy.

For a while it was quiet, and the boys just watched Hermione unpack, making her feel uncomfortable. If they would just go she could use her wand be done in a flick and a swish.

From the open door, they could hear Molly's voice float up. "Ron! Get down here and set the table!"

The redheaded boy groaned. "Yes, Mum!" he called back.

"I'll help," Harry offered.

Ron slung an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders as they left the room. "Knew you were good for something, mate," he said as they left. "I think Mum made sandwiches. It's always sandwiches in the summer."

That left Viktor and Hermione alone in the room, something that they were both immediately and acutely aware of. Hermione gestured at the door, using wandless magic to close it. In a moment, her wand was in her hand and in another her clothes were all neatly in the drawers, and her trunk slid under the bed easily.

"There," she said, folding her arms. "That was much easier."

Viktor nodded, saying nothing. He moved closer to her, making Hermione step back. She looked at him nervously, trying to read his face. His eyes told her nothing, and the lines of his face were a mystery to her.

"How have you found your stay here thus far?" Hermione asked, trying to make conversation. "I'm sure Mrs. Weasley is a wonderful host."

She got a smile from him. "She wants to stuff me with food and make me marry her son's intended," he said, a hint of derision in his tone. "It is always loud there." He moved even closer, and Hermione took a step back, leaning against the wall by the door. "I am glad to be here, Hermione."

The way he said her name, accented and low in his throat, made Hermione bite her lip. This wasn't good. It was too close to the manner in which another man had, until recently, also said her name.

She tried to fake through it. "I'm also glad you're here," she told him. "It's always nice to see an old friend."

Something changed in his face. "Is it still that way, then?" he asked, looking at her intently.

"What way?" she asked. She knew she was lying, she knew it and she couldn't meet his eyes because of it.

He gave her a twisted, crooked smile. "Things have changed, Hermione. We are no longer schoolchildren. All the excuses you gave me so long ago- we live in the same place now, we have the same goals. You are of age, I am of age. I will fight in this war with you- I will not condemn you to a life as a- a- what did you say?"

"A Quidditch groupie," Hermione said, raising her head to look at him. "That wasn't the life I wanted then or now."

Krum nodded, reaching out and taking her hand. Hermione let him, apprehension rising in her belly. "Hermione, please. Give me a chance. If you again say to me you just want to be my friend, then I will be your good friend. But I am wanting to give you more than that."

It would be so easy to say yes. Already she missed the feeling of being wanted, of being loved. Of being held, of being kissed. If she said yes, that would show him- he wasn't the only man who would ever want her, despite the traitorous thoughts that had run through her head all night. And Viktor was handsome enough, and he had been good to her while they had been together. There was no harm in it, not really. Except- except there was. Even now she could recognize that it wouldn't be fair to her or to Viktor.

His hand was had a nice, calloused weight in hers, but it felt too wrong. Hermione pulled away. "I can't, Viktor," she said, looking at the floor again. "And I am still in school. I have two more years left."

"I will wait for you," said the Quidditch player. "I will-"

Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head. "I can't, Viktor," she said again. "At least not right now. With the Order and the war- I can only focus on so much. It wouldn't be fair to you."

Krum sighed, a look of defeat on his face. "At least I have tried," he said, then offered her a weak smile. "A friend I will be, then."

Hermione opened her arms, hugging Viktor quickly. "Thank you," she told him, then let him go. She opened the door, slipping out of the room and leaving Krum behind her.

A day later, Hermione slipped through the illusion of Safe House Three and into the house proper, breathing in the quiet and calm. Thank goodness. She didn't think that she could stand another moment under Molly Weasley's watchful eye.

Now was the time. She had been building up her courage to do this, to talk to Severus properly, and each time she had reached for her wand to tap the watch and alert him, her courage had failed her. They needed to talk, more than they had last time. What had happened then wasn't the two of them talking, it was Severus talking at her.

Resolved- her hands still trembled, but at least they obeyed her- Hermione tapped her watch quickly, watching as engraved letters appeared then vanished.

We need to talk.

The number three on the watch had illuminated at the same time- he would know where she was. Now all that was left to do was wait. The two chairs by the fire were empty, but Cedric could return at any moment. She retreated to her room to wait for him.

She didn't have very long to wait, but it was still enough time for her stomach to churn uneasily and her heart rate to speed up. When she heard the light knocks at her door, she stood quickly, banging her knee on her desk, and went to answer. Her palms were sweaty and her hands shook.

But when she saw his face, Hermione's breathing calmed. This was Severus. It would be alright- the harsh lines of his face might have seemed ugly to someone else, but they calmed her and comforted her.

"Come in," she said, hazarding a small smile.

It wasn't returned. "We can't do this in your room," he snapped. "The practice room."

A cold edge of fear entered the space between her ribs. The smile fled her face. "As you wish," she murmured to his back, already retreating down the hallway. She followed him to the practice room quietly, her nervousness returning.

The practice room, thanks to magic, didn't smell like the usual Muggle combination of sweat and rubber. Instead, it smelled like the cleaning potion the house elves used, and something faintly like Severus' own cologne. Hermione was half sure that particular smell was all in her own head, just a memory of being in here day after day with him, the smell of Severus sinking through her memories of the room into its actual presence.

"You said we needed to talk." Severus faced her, his arms crossed over his chest. "I thought I had made myself clear yesterday."

"You made yourself perfectly clear," Hermione replied, voice as strong as she could make it. "I was having a harder time getting my thoughts out."

His eyebrow arched perfectly, a scowl staining the neutrality of his face. "Then get them out."

Hermione mirrored his posture, crossing her own arms across her chest. "You didn't give me a chance to speak yesterday, Severus, so if you interrupt me now I'll Silence you and tie you to a chair."

"You'd have to get me first," he snapped.

"Don't try me," Hermione hissed, her face turning terrible. "I will, Severus, you know I will."

Their eyes met and it was a battle of wills- he didn't slip inside her mind, but the steeliness of her gaze told him exactly what she was thinking. Knowing that she was serious, he did the only thing that he knew to do- wave a hand at her sarcastically, telling her wordlessly to go ahead.

She let out a quiet breath. "You were making all the decisions yesterday," she told him, still meeting his eyes. "You decided that this was too dangerous, and we couldn't do it. But you didn't give me a choice." She stressed the last word. "I think that we can make this work."

"How?" he spat. "How on earth-"

"Shut up," she said, voice going cold. "Last time I'm warning you."

His scowl deepened, but he remained quiet.

"I think that we can make this work," Hermione repeated again, more forcefully. "We just have to be more careful. We don't mix work and play- when you visit to give report, it's that and nothing more. When you visit just to see me, it's just that. We separate that part of our lives. I can compartmentalize, you can compartmentalize- we just separate the two lives. You've done it before- you have Severus the Death Eater and Severus the Order Member- why can't Severus the Man exist too?" She held a hand up, hastily adding, "Rhetorical question. But think about it. I've been able to separate Hermione the Adult and Hermione the Child, and I could add to that as well. We- we just make it work. We try again. We don't give up." She took a step closer to Severus, keeping her gaze neutral, refusing to plead with him. "What do you say to that?"

Severus closed his eyes for a long moment, remaining silent as the moments ticked by. Hermione could hear her heart beating in her chest, the blood rushing through her ears.

"No."

All the air fled her lungs, and for a moment all she could do was gape at him. "What?" she managed, when she had regained her senses.

"No," Severus repeated again. "We can't. I can't. Maybe you could split yourself into a third person, but two is more than enough for me. I only have so much energy- what I would take away from each of my performances to give you time and attention could be what would get me killed at the Dark Lord's feet."

"Severus-" Hermione tried-

"I said no!" he roared. "Gods damn it all above, Hermione, I can't do this anymore!" He turned away from her. "Do you think I want to be killed because all I can think of when I am in front of him is your face as I tell you that we just kissed for the last time?"

"I didn't kn-"

"Of course you didn't bloody fucking know!" shouted Severus, and when he turned back to her his face was burning with rage. "You were in my mind and clouding my thoughts and when he looked inside my head he found you."

Icy fear ran down her back, but Hermione said, "I don't care."

"You should," said Severus darkly. "I explained it away this time- thinking of Draco's task- but I won't be able to the next. The next time, it's my head or yours."

"Mine?" She felt stupid, so stupid...

Suddenly he was stalking toward her, grabbing her face, holding his chin with harsh fingers. "Your pretty little head," he sneered. "Because if it comes to a choice between saving my skin and giving you up to the Dark Lord, which do you think I'd take?"

It was just the sounds of their breathing- his panting, her fluttery breaths.

"You wanted a choice, Hermione?" His voice was still velvety smooth around her name, making something in her stomach clench. "Here's your choice. Severus Snape or Harry Potter." He leaned in close, making her think he might kiss her before his lips went to her ear. "Because they won't have to torture a single thing out of you because I can make you give it to me in a heartbeat. What I don't already know, that is."

She pushed him away from her, tears burning at the back of her eyes. "Don't say such horrid things to me," she whispered. "You can't fool me, Severus- I know the kind of man you are and this isn't it!"

"It could be." His voice was cold. "So easily it could be."

Anger and sadness were rising in her, fury that felt like when she had been seven and had gotten lost outdoors in January and her entire body had felt numb until she had been found and brought inside and the heat made her veins explode with fire and ice at the same time. The anger was cold, the sorrow was heat. She wanted to hurt him, she wanted to make him suffer, she wanted to fling her arms around him and cling tightly as she wept.

"You know what would be easy?" she cried, her voice going unnaturally high. "What would be easy would be to go up to Viktor Krum right now, wake him up, and tell him that I changed my mind. What would be easy would be to kiss him. What would be easy would be to encourage Ron's crush. What isn't easy is loving you and I do that despite all of this bullshit you come up with because-" her own words faltered in her mouth. His face was impassive, staring at her with no feeling.

"Finished?" he asked. "Trying to make me jealous won't work, Hermione." It was the first time he had said her name in the conversation, and it felt like something had popped near her heart. He moved closer to her, his hand reaching out to stroke her jaw.

"Severus-" she tried to say, but his thumb pressed her lip.

"I have resigned myself to the likely event that you won't wait for me, that even if you did that the probability that this war ends with both of us alive and in love with each other is slim. I'm not holding you to anything, Hermione. Go be with Krum if you want Krum." There was a tight pain in his eyes the belied his words, but he pressed on. "Just- just keep focused on your work as well. If you want out of all of this, just talk to Dumbledore. Sort out your priorities, figure them out, and then make sure that what you are doing is in the best interest of the Order." His voice was smooth and soft, his hand on her face was warm.

Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, pressing her eyes closed to stop the tears that were starting to leak. She could feel as his other hand went to her face, as he tried to brush away her tears with his thumbs.

"Don't cry." It wasn't like when Harry or Ron pleaded with her not to cry- when they did it there was always a faint note of panic, the sense that they were scared by her tears. Severus just sounded defeated, exasperated almost. "Miss Granger."

When she opened her eyes, his face was distorted through tears. He wiped at her cheeks again, holding her face with both hands. "I am doing this for you, for the Order, and for myself," he said finally, looking down at her.

"Although not in that order," Hermione spat at him. "Fuck off, Severus." She pulled away from him and turned her back. Taking deep breath to calm her self, Hermione used all of her strength to pull the emotions away from her mind, to lock them behind a glass wall. She could see them, still, but the tears stopped and her heartbeat returned to normal. She pushed her magic at her face, wiping all traces of her tears away. Only when she felt calm, dangerously so, did she turn to face him.

"You don't want to do this anymore, we don't," she said, folding her arms and meeting his eyes. "And we do it on my terms. We still work together, but we interact face-to-face as little as possible. You leave reports- detailed reports- on my desk. I do the same for yours. I don't want to see your face or hear your voice outside of Order meetings. You don't get to kiss me, and then say you regret it, you don't get to give me gifts or check up on me because you are concerned for my safety. We have a strictly professional relationship. Am I clear, Professor Snape?"

As she spoke his face had changed from open to hard, and his eyes had gone harder than she had ever seen them. "Crystal, Miss Granger."

She nodded sharply. "Then leave."

With a sneering nod, he swept out of the room.

Albus Dumbledore peered at the missive in front of him, frowning slightly.

… I can't quite tell if she's still as upset as she was...

… at least he isn't visiting Safe House Three as much as he used to...

...She pretends she's okay and works all the time...

The girl's misery hadn't been his intention at all, and in fact he hadn't expected the level of despair that had been reported to him.

I did everything right, thought the Headmaster wistfully. I tried to separate them easily- putting Cedric with her at the house, bringing back her old flame, assigning her a mission she couldn't tell him about... it shouldn't have come to what it did.

But the quality of her work was as good as it had ever been, as was Severus', even if he was taking risks.

For the Greater Good. It's all for the Greater Good.

Now, at least, Molly and Moody were more on his side than ever. Even if the strange friendship between Severus and Hermione had been broken, at least it was all for the Greater Good.

The rest of July created its own terrible pattern for Hermione Granger. Splitting her time between Grimmauld Place and Safe House Three created a set of complicated logistical problems, which she had to navigate. At least Cedric didn't ask too many questions- he just accepted with quiet awkwardness that she was literally in two places at one time.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place meant lying awake next to Ginny's quiet snores and occasional sleep talking at night until she fell into fitful sleep. More than once she awoke in a cold sweat, terror pinning her to the bed with half remembered graveyards and halls filled with dusty prophecy still creeping at her mind. Worse were the nights she awoke with lust pulsing between her legs and her breasts heavy, and his name on her lips.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place was also dusting and washing and homework, playing chess and reading books in the library all afternoon. Spending time with Harry and Ron didn't annoy her as much as it used to. Instead, it was comforting to have a thread of normalcy, something that had remained constant since she was twelve years old. Krum and Ginny were new additions, which was also nice. Viktor was willing to play chess with Ron or gobstones with them all, but was also a presence with a book in the library when they were all together. Ron got over his hero worship quickly, and before long, Viktor was teaming up with Harry and Ron to play pranks on the girls.

However, Number 12 Grimmauld Place was also the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, which meant using her Time Turner to attend meetings as one version of herself sat with Ron and Ginny and complained about being left out. It meant a steady stream of Order members trickling in and out the door, including Severus Snape.

She saw him three times.

The first time was at the meeting and she had time to prepare. Hermione made sure to have Harry on one side, Viktor on the other, and Tonks in front of her. It meant she was at the far end of the table from Severus, which was the way she liked it. For the entire meeting she took notes, concentrated on the reports in front of her, and gave her own report in her normal clear, calm voice. He had only spoken once, to say that he still had no information about what the Dark Lord knew about Harry's defenses, and his voice had rippled through her painfully.

The second time was at Safe House Three. Snape had gotten into the habit of asking Dobby to leave his report on her desk. At least twice she had been sitting at her desk when Dobby appeared, handing her the scroll of parchment. Both times her heart had shuddered knowing that he was just a floor below her, so close. But the second time she actually saw him she was entering as he was leaving.

They had stopped in the portrait room, just looking at each other. He broke the silence.

"Miss Granger." He nodded his head sharply, his nostrils flaring.

Hermione swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Professor Snape," she replied.

He went through the wardrobe and she the portrait and that was all.

The third time was in Grimmauld again, right before a meeting. He had been early for some reason, too early, and had seen Hermione laughing with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Kurm. Ron and Harry had been holding her arms as Ginny and Krum mercilessly tickling her. Their eyes had met and he had sneered at her before sweeping into the kitchen.

But other than that, her life was Severus-free.

At Safe House Three Hermione flitted in and out as required, grateful to have a quiet workspace when she needed it. There she compiled reports, researched Horcruxes, and made plans for her mission. She saw Cedric occasionally, but never for any real length of time.

She read book after book on Horcruxes, on Dark Magic, on spells that made her feel unclean. Some of the pictures haunted her dreams, so she tried not to sleep as much. Sometimes the urge to try a spell, just one, would come over her and she would have to stand up and put her wand on her bed or desk, anywhere away from her hand, so that she wouldn't give in to the temptation.

Nights when she worked late over reports, it was hard not to wish that a certain man would show up with a knock on her door as he had so many times before. It was hard not to tap her watch with her wand and ask him to come and see her.

All she had of him were the scrolls of parchment with spidery handwriting that told her exactly what she needed to know and answered all the questions she could possibly think to ask.

The task that Dumbledore had set her was coming along marvelously- by the end of July she knew three possible locations of the cave that Tom Riddle had lured the Amy and Dennis to. She and Dumbledore had talked it over, and were quite sure that at least one Horcrux would be hidden inside the cave, once they could locate it.

Dumbledore also informed her that he was working on another angle, one concerning the Gaunt property, and that he would inform her when he knew more. That irked her a bit- his need to keep everyone in the dark unless absolutely necessary bothered her to no end- but she brushed it off.

The first week of August, Hermione and Bill Apparated to each location, testing them for residual magic. The first that they visited showed nothing; the second looked promising until they figured out that it wasn't human magic, but mermagic.

The third, however, was almost deceptively quiet, the entrance hidden in the wall of a cliff that was nearly impossible to reach. It was only the fact that it was the last one that made Hermione instant on investigating carefully, which resulted in a disturbing discovery. A wall in the cave that demanded blood for passage- it reeked of Tom Riddle to Hermione, reeked of a power hungry boy and a power hungry youth.

"This is it," she told Bill. The man's face was barely visible in the dark of the cave, where the sunlight from the entrance had all but died. The sunlight lingered faintly on his earring, sending small reflections across his handsome face. "We found it."

Bill breathed out heavily. "I can feel some nasty stuff behind this wall," he said, frowning. "Real nasty stuff. We should be prepared for everything."

Hermione nodded, then led the way out of the cave. "I'll meet with Dumbledore now, and we should plan the attack sometime within the next week," she said, turning her face up to the sunlight and the spray of salt. The cliff looked over the sea, jagged and impossibly steep.

"We found the cave where Tom Riddle took those children all those years ago," Hermione told Dumbledore, quiet pride in her voice. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. It seemed an odd beverage for the middle of an August day, but Scotland was no where near as warm as it should have been. She appreciated the warm and comforting beverage, especially after the frankly creepy cave.

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat, his eyes twinkling at her softly. "This is why I had such faith in you, Hermione. I knew you would not rest until you had found it."

Hermione smiled softly at him. Once upon a time that praise would have made her beam at him. But, even in the sunny office with Albus smiling at her, she couldn't forget the sheer panic in Severus' face and body the night he had bade her come to him and avoid the portrait. Albus Dumbledore was not a man to be underestimated. As pleased with her as he might be currently, there was no telling what might happen if she displeased him tomorrow. "I want to plan to recover the Horcrux next weekend. Sunday should give us enough time to prepare."

"I agree," said Dumbledore. "Very well. Sunday it is."

And so ends Chapter 45.

So, obviously, this isn't something that's just going to be resolved in a few chapters. Although don't despair, I love happy endings. It is something that needed to happen, and something I've been planning for a long time. Don't give up!

Your excerpt:

Hermione glared down at him. "I thought we were going to pretend that it had never happened. Why are you here?"

He glowered at her. "What is happening on Sunday?"

About my life: Italy was fun, but tiring. I did five cities and two countries over four weeks (and all of the traveling was on the weekends). The course itself was great and I got to seriously pig out on some of the best food of my life. We got so much good food. Four course meals at least twice or three times a week. The people on my trip weren't the greatest, but I had fun. Now I'm in France, with my cousin, and things are going alright. Tuesday I leave for Malta, so any good luck you can send my way would be awesome, as would any tips from professionals out there on how to conduct a good research study.

Once I get home, hopefully I'll be able to write more. Just hold out for about four more weeks. Thank you to everyone whose stuck with this story so far, through good and bad, and especially to those who go the extra step and review and send me messages and just care so much about the story.

Please leave a review! We are almost at 2,000 and you know what that means (story!). Have a good rest of June, people. :)