"So, it's better than the old Firebolt?" Harry asked, swallowing a mouthful of pumpkin juice.
"Apparently by two and a half stars." Ron sighed wearily. "I don't see why someone should spend so much on me. All I did was help you out of your cell."
Ah, here's the problem. "Ron, you were amazing and you did more than bloody help me out of my cell. You were essential with helping Hermione defeat Voldemort. Who would have thought of enchanting that knife if it hadn't have been for you?"
He smiled a little. "Thanks Harry." The grin faded. "I'm worried about Hermione."
Harry nodded. "So am I. Why is she hiding herself in that cloak? I wish we could find something to make her happy."
"She seems so...grown up. Like my parents." Ron gave a fake shudder, making Harry grin.
"That's what you get from going out with a teacher. Yuck! That's almost worse than when I got troll bogeys all over my wand in our first year!"
Both boys laughed, remembering. Harry looked over at Hermione and sighed. She had changed and he had a hard time believing it was for the better. Ron and he both knew it had almost nothing to do with her relationship with the Potions Teacher, but to do with what she had been forced to do in the past fortnight. She was no longer the stressed know-it-all who worked hard to be the smartest seventh year in Hogwarts, but the most subdued and wisest girl her age.
"Do you think Snape will finally get around to marrying her?" Ron asked, trying to make his face neutral. He hated the idea of anybody being around Snape, let alone actually marrying him.
"He'd better. I talked to him about it yesterday. There is no doubt that he loves her."
"Makes me wonder where our greasy old git went."
"You know it was all an act. Severus," Harry gained a raised eyebrow from Ron at this, "knew that Voldemort wasn't truly gone, just waiting impatiently. Hell, Hagrid knew that! He's not a bad guy."
"Sure. And Professor McGonagall was a hippie." Ron rolled his eyes and looked over to a group of girls that had been flirting with him all night. "I believe I should make use of my celebrity status for a bit." He smoothed his hair and walked over to them.
"Ron and I had been watching Harry practice Quidditch and were heading inside to go to the Halloween feast when they broke through the ancient charms of protection. We hid inside an empty classroom. I think it was a Defense against the Dark Arts room. I can remember how fast my heart was beating, almost like some of that terrible dance music." She grinned then let her face relax.
"I heard sounds of fighting right outside the door and I was shocked when I heard the Killing Curse. Harry was pacing up and down the classroom, muttering under his breath about being trapped like rats. Ron was as pale as chalk and I was trying to engage him in a game of chess. There was nothing we could have done then, anyway.
"The door was blasted off its hinges and a Death Eater entered the classroom. Harry tried to Stun him, but the Death Eater disarmed us all and forced us to move into the Great Hall. When we got there, it was chaos. Students were using hexes and a few were even trying the Unforgivables. Everyone stopped when Voldemort entered the room.
"He said something like 'Put down your wands, or die.' Most believed him. Voldemort waved his wand and all the teachers appeared, floating in the air unconscious. That was when we lost hope because we always thought that Dumbledore would be able to get us through anything. But, there he was, at the will of Voldemort. It was horrible to think what would happen.
"Us students were split from 'Mudblood' to 'Pure blood." The pure bloods were held in the hall to be ransomed back to their parents. The 'Mudbloods' were sent to the dungeons and locked in there in chains. Every day Voldemort would come and see us and if he found a pretty girl, he'd give her to a loyal Death Eater to have. I can remember the terrible suspense that formed in the pit of my stomach when he'd fling the door open and inspect us.
"One day he paused at me and ran his fingers across my cheek, looking into my eyes. It was such an intense gaze that I swear, he looked into my mind and my soul. Voldemort shouted at the guard 'Get this mudblood cleaned up and sent to my chambers.' The guard unlocked my chains and gave me a thorough cleaning with the Polishing spell. He prodded me up the stairs to a portrait of Salazar Slytherin and said the password.
"Voldemort was waiting for me in a chair by the fire. He told me to sit down at his feet and I did. I was so scared and nervous that I think I jumped twelve feet in the air when he spoke to me. Voldemort asked me why I thought I was here and I said I wouldn't want to find out. He laughed at this and thought I should relax. After a while I was quiet. He said I should lie on the bed and wait for him."
Hermione was speaking quite fast now, stammering now and then. Severus took her hand and stoked it, calming her nerves.
"He sat on the chair for a long time, I bet it was just to torture me. Finally, he moved over to the bed and, well...the rest is blatantly obvious." She laughed uneasily.
Severus nodded and waited for her to compose herself and continue.
A/N: Hi! Umm, sorry that last chapter was a little vague (a little, how about a LOT?). I hope this chapter cleared up some stuff. PS All the characters and stuff belongs to JK Rowling. I'm just messin' with her genius.