Summary: What does Severus think of all of these crazy dreams?

A/N: I'm off to Denver for Leaky Con, so you all get an early update. Whoot, whoot! Thanks for reading.

Chapter 7

A balding, middle-aged man and a short, mousy woman appeared in the campground. The man immediately fell to the ground, unconscious. The woman knelt beside him and shook him.

"Harry?"

It was Hermione's voice. They had used Polyjuice to appear at Godric's Hollow and had barely escaped Nagini and Voldemort. Hermione withdrew her wand and began waving it over Harry, trying to determine his injuries. He had a snake bite on his forearm, and something was very wrong with his chest. She quickly unbuttoned his coat and shirt to examine him.

She grimaced as she saw the Horcrux locket embedded there as if it had become a part of him. Reaching down, she tried to pull it off him. It wouldn't budge. She sat back on her haunches as she thought about what to do. The first thing was to cast a warming charm, as they were out in the cold. Standing, she tried to lift Harry to drag him into the tent, but he was too heavy for her. Levitating him, she had him precede her into their shelter. She floated him to his bunk and laid him down on it. Their Polyjuiced bodies were returning to normal. Hermione could see some black hair growing on Harry's head where the man's bald spot was. She watched as the transformation finished for both of them and saw Harry back in his body.

Leaning down, she opened Harry's eyes and looked deeply into them. She brought her empathic feelings to the forefront of her mind and whispered, "Transferi."

She was in his head. Hermione gasped. She could see what Harry was seeing–what Voldemort was seeing–and what he was thinking! She saw the evil man run across the bedroom and scream as he watched Harry and her disappear into thin air. She could feel his fury but also felt Harry's pain due to the snake attack.

She concentrated hard, pushing the horror that was Voldemort's memories away so she could concentrate on Harry and his injuries. She moved through his mind and his body; her mind reaching out within his to find anywhere he was injured. She saw the Horcrux stuck in his chest and worked to release it from an internal angle. Slowly, the pendant loosened and fell away. Hermione pulled out of Harry's mind and used her wand to repair the skin burns that the pendant had left. Soon, his chest was healed, and Hermione concentrated on the snake bite in his arm. Soon, that too was healed.

Hermione braced herself as she reentered Harry's mind. Voldemort's memories were constantly in the background as she reentered Harry's thoughts. It sent her skin crawling to feel him so near. She uttered the Transferi spell again and pushed her empathy into him. Escaping from his mind, she closed Harry's eyes and shuddered at the feelings she'd felt there.

As she gathered her wits about her, she looked at Harry. His head was thrashing, and he was moaning. He yelled from time to time as well. She wished she knew how to push Voldemort's mind from Harry's, but she wasn't quite sure how to do that without losing her own mind.

She sat down on the floor next to him, watching him as he suffered and screamed and writhed as he lived through whatever Voldemort was putting him through. It took hours for him to finally be still. A few minutes later he slowly opened his eyes.

"Harry, are you all right?" she asked tentatively.

He put his hands over his eyes and nodded. "We got away?" he asked.

Hermione huffed. "Barely."

She told him about his injuries. He slowly sat up and examined his chest and arm.

"That's brilliant, Hermione. Thanks."

Hermione nodded. "Is Voldemort in your head like that all the time?"

Harry looked away and shrugged.

"Harry, you have to block him!"

He turned back to her, looking enraged. "Don't you think I've tried that? I can cloud him, but he's always there, lingering in the shadows of my mind."

Hermione felt horrible for accusing him of not acting against Voldemort. She leaned in and hugged him.

"I'm sorry. I was out of line. Maybe we can work together on trying to block his presence?"

"Thanks, but I think I have it under control."

Hermione pulled back. "Okay, but I'm here if you need me."

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Hermione. Now I just need my wand."

Hermione's face fell.

"Hermione, my wand."

Hermione began to stutter.

"My wand!" Harry said in exasperation.

She sheepishly lifted up his wand, which was snapped in half, the only thing holding it together–a piece of the phoenix feather. Harry's expression turned ugly.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I think I broke it when I sent out an exploding charm."

He grabbed it out of her hand and tried to put it back together. "Well, fix it."

"I can't. I already tried. It won't stay together."

Harry rose. "You look like shite. Get some rest. Give me your wand; I'll take watch."

He took her wand and stormed out of the tent. Hermione watched him leave, feeling horrid about his wand and everything else.

oooOOOooo

"You look like shite," Severus said as he glanced at her stirring her cauldron.

She shrugged. "I haven't slept in a while."

"Then why are you here?" he demanded.

"I was too upset to sleep. I wanted somewhere I could just calm down."

Severus harrumphed. "I would think that being in the presence of a Death Eater wouldn't be very calming."

Hermione stopped stirring and gave him a caustic glare. "I think we've gone beyond me being scared of you, Professor."

They were quiet for a bit.

"Why haven't you gotten much sleep?"

She looked at him. She wanted to tell him of their hair-raising adventure, but she didn't know if she should. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. He just held so much in, she didn't know whether this extra thing would be something burdensome for him to keep secret.

Oh, who was she kidding? He thought she was a figment of his imagination.

She stopped stirring and came up to him.

"Harry and I were looking for the Sword of Gryffindor."

Severus arched an eyebrow at that. "Why would you need that?"

"Didn't Dumbledore tell you?"

Severus grumbled. "He didn't tell me a lot of things."

Hermione huffed. "I can't believe he'd do that to you. I mean, he did that to Harry, but weren't you his trusted colleague?"

Severus sighed. "You would think so."

He pulled his stirrer out of the potion, evidently done stirring for now.

Hermione shook her head. "The more I learn of him, the less I like him. We're hunting Horcruxes, by the way."

Snape dropped his stirring rod with a clang. "You're what?"

"Hunting Horcruxes. We're trying to destroy all seven of them that You-Know-Who made so we can kill him for good."

Snape balled his hands into fists and looked furious. "And why did that old coot think that children would be the best people to do this job?" he said furiously.

"We're not children!" Hermione said emphatically.

He looked at her for a while and grunted. "Be that as it may, you are not fully trained witches and wizards either!"

"Of course, you're right, but that is the task he gave to Harry. You-Know-Who almost caught us. We barely escaped and Harry was hurt."

Snape came closer to her. "Are you all right?" he asked.

A wave of concern passed over Hermione. She eyed him for a minute, realizing it was coming from him. Now that she'd established a bit of trust with Snape, it seemed that his walls had come down enough that she could empathically feel his emotions. She was somehow comforted by his concern.

"I am, and thankfully, I was able to heal Harry, too. But to your point, we barely escaped. I don't know if we'd have fared better had we finished our Hogwarts training, but I'd assume that It would have gone better."

Snape nodded crisply and stared at her for a minute.

"He made seven Horcruxes? No wonder he's mad. How far have you gotten?"

"Two have been destroyed already. We have one in our possession. That is why we need the sword. It's imbued with Basilisk venom and will be able to destroy the Horcrux."

Snape regarded her, trying to come to some conclusion in his mind. He finally spoke.

"I have the sword at Hogwarts. Dumbledore told me you needed it, but not why. I don't know where to find you."

"You have it? That's brilliant! Why didn't we think that it might be at Hogwarts?"

"Your exuberance doesn't help me to know where you are," Snape said caustically.

"We move almost daily. I'll try to get word to you somehow." She thought for a minute. "Make sure Black hangs around in the portrait I have of him more than usual."

oooOOOooo

Severus awoke and furrowed his brow. He'd been having vivid dreams for the past few weeks and was surprised that Hermione Granger played a huge part in them.

Why her? he thought.

Of all the people to guest-star in his dreams, why was she the one who was consistently appearing in them? He had to admit, the girl seemed to be a calming influence on him. Since her appearances, he'd felt a bit more at ease at the school, despite being hated by everyone.

He smiled slightly. Just the thought that someone knew the truth, even if it was an imaginary person, had somehow given Severus peace of mind.

But why her?

He thought of the real Hermione Granger. She was a swotty know-it-all that always felt she was right about everything. She had a penchant for wanting to be recognized, constantly waving her hand to answer all questions, even if they hadn't even been expressed yet. The young woman in his dreams was not really anything like the Hermione Granger he knew and disliked.

He had no answers. All he knew was that these dreams were helping him.

His thoughts went to this last dream. Horcruxes…

What on earth is up with my imagination? Horcruxes? That's insanity. And seven! Who on earth would do such a thing?

He felt an uneasy feeling within him. What if it was true? What if the Dark Lord had created a Horcrux? Or more than one?

He thought back to when Dumbledore had told him what he needed to tell Harry. Wasn't that type of transference of the Dark Lord–a piece of him–what a Horcrux was?

He quickly got up from his bed, threw on a robe, and went into his office. He glanced at the portraits before moving to the stairs behind his desk, climbing them, and looking at the books that were on the shelves. He studied them as he slowly moved up the stairs. His eye caught what he was looking for, and he reached up and took a large tome from the shelf above him. Taking the book, he moved back to his desk and sat down to read.

"What have you there, Severus, my boy?" Dumbledore said from his portrait, as he craned his neck to see what Severus was reading.

"Just a little study material," he answered.

"What are you studying?"

He ignored the question as he found the chapter he was looking for and opened to it. He spent a bit of time reading through the description and information on how a Horcrux could be created. The more he read, the deeper the crease between his eyebrows became, and the more enhanced his frown. Finally, he shut the book abruptly and stood. Turning, he glared at Dumbledore's portrait.

"Potter is a Horcrux!" he said angrily.

"What are you talking about, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

Severus could see the old man was trying to hide something. He got nose-to-nose with Dumbledore.

"Why didn't you tell me what I was up against? You don't care a whit about me, do you? This changes everything!"

"I don't know how it would," Dumbledore said gruffly.

Severus sneered at his mentor. "Of course, you wouldn't. How many did he make?"

Dumbledore said nothing.

"How many did he make? He obviously made Potter by mistake, which means he had done it enough that it came naturally to him. How. Many. Did. He. Make?"

Dumbledore almost shied away from Severus. He looked down, refusing to make eye contact.

"Seven."

Severus stepped back, not because he was shocked at the number, but because his dream had been so accurate. He couldn't understand it. Perhaps it had something to do with his ability in Legilimency. Maybe he subconsciously had gleaned it from Dumbledore and now that it was important, it was manifesting itself in dreams? He'd heard of such stories about people who were adept at Legilimency, but had never met anyone who had experienced it, nor had he until now. He didn't know if that was the answer, but it was uncanny how he knew exactly how many Horcruxes there were.

"How do I help them?" he asked after a while.

"You do nothing!" Dumbledore cried. "If I wanted you to interfere, I would have told you. You keep your nose out of this aspect and just get the sword to Harry!"

Severus' eyes flashed dangerously. "I don't think I've ever hated someone as much as you, Albus," he said before turning and storming out of his office.

He entered his room, breathing heavily. Fury filled him that Dumbledore had kept so much from him. The man in question appeared in a small frame hanging on the wall.

"Severus… "

Severus let out an enraged snarl as he extended his wand and shot it at the frame holding Dumbledore. The entire picture burst into flames, sending the other man scurrying out of it with a shout. Severus smirked for a second before scowling again. He watched the frame turn to embers before throwing himself into his reading chair. With a flick of his wand, a fire started in the fireplace. He glared at the flames for a while, trying to calm himself. He breathed evenly as he watched the flames lick away at the logs in the fireplace. It took a while, but finally, he felt calmed.

Maybe there's a way I can help.

oooOOOooo

That evening Severus was dreaming. He stirred his cauldron and noted Granger walk in front of him as usual and take her place at her cauldron. They worked quietly for a bit before Severus spoke.

"How can I help?" he asked.

"Oh, I've been tending this cauldron for a bit now. I think I have it."

"I don't mean the cauldron. I mean with the Horcruxes?"

Granger stopped stirring and looked up at him. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know," she said.

He placed his stirrer beside the cauldron and faced her.

"Do you know what you're looking for?"

She shrugged. "In some cases, yes. Voldemort's snake is a Horcrux, we're sure. We have Slytherin's locket."

Severus arched an eyebrow at her. She bit her bottom lip.

"Dumbledore said he made them out of important items. We know there's something from Hufflepuff and something from Ravenclaw, but we don't know what."

"Dumbledore didn't tell you what you were looking for?" he sneered.

She shook her head. "He didn't tell us much, really. I think Harry has been cross about it lately. We've been going around not really knowing what to do."

"I will research items that are associated with those two."

Granger smiled. "That would be helpful, Professor."

"Call me Severus," he said as he turned back to his potion.

Why did I just ask her to do that?

He looked back at her, noting her eyes were wide with surprise. She cleared her throat.

"I know I've called you that before, but I never expected you to give me permission to do so," she said in amazement.

Severus studied her for a bit. "It is not as off-putting as I would have thought," he confessed.

"Okay… Severus."

He nodded and returned to his potion.

"You've never told me the importance of this potion, Severus."

"It's to keep you three safe. It helps to keep you out of my head when I am in the presence of the Dark Lord. That way he won't find out anything about you. Not that I really know anything about where you are, anyway."

"About that. I am working on a way to get you our location. I have to be careful. I don't want Harry to think I'm trying to give away our position. I'll figure it out soon," she said.

oooOOOooo

Three days had passed, and, Phineas Black rushed into his portrait.

"I heard the Mudblood talking as they set up camp. They're in the Forest of Dean!"

"Do not use that word!" Severus commanded.

He stared at the portrait. It seemed odd that their location would be given up right around the same time he'd been dreaming of needing to find them. But it was just a coincidence, right? He shook his head to clear his thoughts and moved to Dumbledore's portrait. Moving it aside, he removed the Sword and hurried out to deliver it, Dumbledore's words following after him.