Hermione found the darkest alley way she could find and sat down. She didn't know why this was happening to her. She understood she had the mark, she accepted the fact she had the mark, but she didn't know why it was her that had the mark. She wanted Snape to follow her and tell her it was going to be o.k. She wanted him to tell her that they had found a way to erase the mark and the memories from her. She expected to see him walking patiently behind her when she sat down, but was kind of let down when he wasn't. She wondered why. 'Maybe he had a drink date set up with the rest of the faculty.' she thought. She nodded, pleased with her answer and concentrated on her breathing. After calming down, Hermione met up with the boys and eventually talked them into taking a walk down Old Turner Road. The further down she got, the more they talked about nothing; what went on in the past week, what happened while Hermione was in the hospital wing and such. The further down she got, the more the pit of her stomach raised into her throat. She hesitated for a minuet before taking a quick left and dashing off into the woods.

"Where do you think you're going?!?" Ron yelled, stopping dead in his tracks and turning to the area where Hermione ran off into. The place was covered in rotting trees. It looked dark and damp and he didn't even want to go in it. If it wasn't for Harry's sigh and tugging to keep up with Hermione, he probably would have gone against the law and apparated himself right then and there.

"Hermione?!?" Harry yelled.

"Where are you?" They heard a small laugh and they followed the sound.

"Hermione, this isn't funny. Come out…please?" Ron asked, barely above a whisper. They took another few steps and saw some bushes rattling, which made them stop and study them.

"BOO!!" Hermione jumped out of the bushes and started rolling on the ground howling with laughing. Her pounce had made Ron fall backwards, and Harry's glasses to fall off of his nose.

"That was so funny." Hermione said in between giggles. Ron and Harry glared at her.

"Wow…look at this place." She said after her laughing fit stopped and looked around. Inside the mass of trees, they found it was even more disturbing than it looked outside. The ground was a grey-ish black that looked like a forest fire had run through there two days ago. They couldn't see the sky, only the branches and branches of leafless trees. The air smelt like sulfur and rotten eggs. Hermione leaned up against a tree. A small headache had started, and she heard a small, quiet blurry voice.

"It's time." It hissed and Hermione shuddered.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. Hermione had tears forming in her eyes as she looked into his.

"Run, Harry…get out of here." She whispered. Harry's eyes went wide as there was a sudden change of temperature. The air got mysteriously cold and he started walking backwards. Hermione slumped down the tree and sat on the ground. She grabbed her head. At the same moment Harry put a hand up to his forehead.

"Ouch." He quietly cursed.

"Harry?" Ron asked, also stepping backwards.

"My scar, it's hur-" He was cut off by a black figure swooshing by him and stood by Hermione. Harry fell on the ground in pain. The black figure started laughing, softly at first, but it grew into a huge howl. Ron ducked behind the nearest tree, unnoticed and peered around the safety of his hiding spot. He rolled his eyes. It never failed, they couldn't get away from him, and now they were in trouble and no one was around to help. Ron gripped his wand tightly at his side, ready to strike when needed, but was startled when another black figure grabbed him from behind and took him off. As he was being dragged he saw more black figures surrounding Harry and Hermione, he started struggling, kicking, anything he could do to free himself, but the figure wasn't letting go, it was still dragging him back, further and further away from his friends that needed him about now.

********************************************

"Job well done, Granger. I'm proud of you. At least I have found a faithful replacement." Harry turned over and saw Voldermort, looking down at Hermione. Harry noticed Hermione was trying to hold back from crying and surprisingly was winning.

"Mr. Potter, your time has come." Harry sat up as best as he could and grabbed for his wand.

"Looking for this?" Voldermort said, dangling Harry's wand from his fingertips. Harry's face contorted into anger and Voldermort laughed.

"Finally I have the chance I've waited for to get rid of you." Hermione started to stand up. Voldermort turned around and used Harry's wand to raise her up onto the tree. When he turned around, Hermione stayed there, stuck five feet above the ground, a look of fright-ment on her face.

"Oh, and just to be safe." Voldermort said and held his hand out. Hermione's wand flew from her robe pocket into his hands. Harry looked at Hermione's face. He saw Hermione had started crying and when she caught his glare, she mouthed 'I'm sorry' to him. Harry looked at Voldermort, who now held Harry's wand at him.

"Any last words?" Voldermort asked, starring at the scarred, trembling mess on the ground.

**************************************

Ron quit struggling, he had worn himself out and they were away from the rest of the crowd, which he couldn't understand. Something wasn't right, wouldn't he have been dragged along with the other figures?

"Let go of me!" Ron yelled. Surprisingly, the figure let go of him. He turned around and lost his breath to what he saw. He was starring into the face of a Death Eater.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!!" Ron started screaming before a hand was clamped over his mouth.

"Mr. Weasley, please be quiet before you draw attention to us." The Death Eater said. Ron abruptly stopped, noticing something was familiar about his voice. He was startled when the hand left his mouth and went up to remove his mask. Ron braced himself for what he was to see. The mask was off and Ron choked on the next breath of air that he sucked in.

"Professor Snape?!?" He exclaimed. Snape allowed a small smile to creep it's way across his mouth.

"Very right, Mr. Weasley. Now, if you'd be so kind and generous as to tell me what is going on?" Snape looked over Ron's shoulder. They were out of ear-shot, but still close enough to see a black growth in the clearing of some trees.

"To be completely honest, I don't know. They just showed up, then Harry fell down, then you-and I-" Snape nodded, he put a hand on Ron's arm and he stopped talking.

"Listen, boy. Stay here, if anything happens, please do what ever you can." Ron nodded and watched his professor sneak up to the group. He drew his knees into his chest and waited, anxiously.

***********************************

"Don't do it." A voice rose over the cheers of the Death Eaters, and Voldermort's scratchy laugh. Voldermort put the wand down and turned to the voice.

"Severus, it's so nice to see you took time out to come join us." Harry, hearing the first name of his potion's professor, turned to see if it was true, to see if he had come. Sure enough, there was Snape standing there, looking at Harry, then back at Voldermort.

"My lord, you told me I had until the end of the year until--"

"I got anxious!" Voldermort cut in.

"Do you think I was going to wait a full year to do away with something I have the perfect chance to away with right now?" Snape took a step inside the circle. It wasn't noticeable from far away, but Harry was close enough to notice that his professor was slightly shaking.

"I can't let you do that, my lord." Snape ordered through clenched teeth.

"What did you say to me?" Voldermort's hand dropped all the way down now and had turned towards the man.

"I won't allow it." Snape seemed more confident now, more like the professor Harry had grown to hate throughout his years at Hogwarts. Professor Snape stepped in front of Harry in one step and held his wand out, ready for anything thrown his way.

'no,' Harry thought

'don't do it, Snape, you're gonna get yourself hurt.' Snape looked back at Harry quickly as if he heard his thoughts. Voldermort nodded and held out his wand.

"You may shoot first, if you feel so obligated to stop me." He offered. Harry covered his head and pressed his nose into the ground. Although he hated his potion's professor with a passion, he wasn't about to see him get killed. Hermione starred wide eyed at the sight. She had never seen Snape act this stupid in her life. She could just imagine how many points were going to be taken off of Gryffindor if Snape did live through this.

Soon, spells and hexes were thrown through the air like there was no tomorrow, to a passerby it probably would have looked like someone was celebrating the 4th of July three months late. Hermione had squeezed her eyes shut so tightly, all the blood felt like it had been cut off, Harry was now curled into a little ball on the ground, wishing Voldermort had just killed him instead. Suddenly, there was a big explosion and everything stood still for a second or two before the black figures started fading away. Harry peeked out from under an arm, Hermione slightly opened one eye, and they saw that their professor was still standing there, stunned, but standing there. Voldermort had disappeared. Harry slowly sat up and looked around. He saw Ron, hiding behind a tree, his face in awe and his arm outstretched, holding his wand. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably. After another few seconds, Harry stood up and walked in front of his professor, who was standing as stiff as a mannequin.

"Professor Snape?" He asked, poking him in the arm. Ron, still shaking, walked over, concentrating on where he placed his feet so he wouldn't trip and fall over his feet.

"Harry? Are you alright?" He asked. Even his voice was shaking.

"I think so, I think something's wrong with Snape, though." Harry walked over to Ron, confused.

"That's Professor Snape to you Potter, don't you forget it." A voice whispered through the air. Harry and Ron ran over toward Snape and saw that he was starting to 'melt.' As soon as he was able to move again, they went over to Hermione. She had passed out, and looked very uncomfortable. Snape raised his wand and mumbled some words, Hermione slid down the tree and fell, lifelessly on the ground. Harry walked over to beside the tree and picked up two wands.

"Hermione?" Snape asked, gently slapping her cheeks. She started moving her head side to side, then slowly opened her eyes. Snape starred into his eyes and felt his blood drain from his face. The eyes, they looked so familiar…he'd looked into them so many times, but not up so close.

"Oh my.." His voice trailed off and he stood up and quickly walked away from the scene. Harry and Ron rushed to take Snape's place.