Ok, so the last chapter was a bomb. I might redo it. I probably will. Grrr, this is a hard fic to write! I had it all done, then it sounds weird, and I get bad reviews for the last chapter…yep, I'll redo the last one, but the rest of the story is staying…

Thanks to my reviewers!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Chapter 4: Repercussions

"Severus! We have a missing student!" Albus Dumbledore walked into Professor Snape's office at 6:30 the following morning. There was no one there. That's odd. Usually he is awake long before now. Dumbledore continued through the sitting room of Professor Snape's private rooms. "Severus?"

Hermione awoke with a start. Someone was in the room. She lay quietly, wrapped up in the blankets, wanting no one to know of her presence here.

"Severus?" Oh, no! It's the Headmaster! Hermione ducked under the blankets and tried to shake her lover awake.

"Wha-what? What time is it?" he stretched and looked at Hermione. She put her finger to her lips and looked at him with wide eyes. She pointed behind the couch and mouthed "Headmaster" to him. He nodded and popped his head over the back of the couch. Most fortunately they had picked one that faced away from most of the room.

"So sorry, Headmaster. I must have dozed off while reading. You were saying?" all this while he was hurrying into his boxer shorts, pants, and, discretely, his robes. Dumbledore took no notice of this, or chose to ignore it.

"Hermione Granger has not been seen since 8 o'clock last night. I have been informed she had detention with you?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. Severus confirmed this as he buttoned his robes.

"She has not been seen since. I understand she was acting quite oddly yesterday. Did you notice anything unusual during her detention?"

"No, she seemed as normal as she usually is. I sent her off around…let's see, was it 11? Yes, I believe so. She left around 11." The professor's voice gave no hint he was lying.

"Hmmm, I see. Well, thanks for your time. I'll see you at breakfast, I presume. In the meantime, please keep your eyes and ears open. I'm having the staff check the castle and grounds, if you can join as soon as possible." With that, he swept out of the room.

"Oh my gosh! We fell asleep and now everyone's wondering where I am! What should I do? What can I tell them?" Hermione sat up and blushed when she realized she was still naked. Severus saw this and grinned. He gave her a soft peck on the lips, and she got up to get her clothes.

"I don't know. Perhaps say you got lost? Or stuck in a room? You could always tell the truth." He smiled wickedly. Hermione was in the middle of buttoning her shirt or she would have smacked him. Even if she was 18, she was still a student. They had over-stepped the lines, she knew, and she couldn't tell anyone.

Severus thought, hard. How could he get her back upstairs without them seeing? And what to say when she got there? "I have it! We can say I found you outside by the Forest! Then you get detention." He grinned at her. "Naughty, naughty girl." Hermione suddenly realized how much Severus had been smiling lately. She was glad. He didn't used to smile at all.

"So what was I doing at the Forest all night, genius?" she grinned back.

"You can't remember. The last thing you remember is leaving the dungeons at 11 and starting to walk back to your room." He looked triumphant. "And since I found you, you get detention with me!"

"I can't keep getting detention from you. People will start to wonder." Severus nodded. She had a point. "But I know someone who has an Invisibility Cloak I can borrow," she said softly, and came to sit next to him on the couch. She leaned against him.

"We'd better go, before everyone gets to breakfast. We don't want to make a scene."

Hermione sighed, but agreed. "Severus…"

"Yes?"

"I only have four months left of school. Then I'm free." she smiled shyly at him. "I could probably get some position here…"

He smiled. "Remember, you can't call me Severus in class."

"Duh." Severus rolled his eyes at this brief display of immaturity.

They crept up the stairs, and when Sev-Professor Snape motioned all clear, they hurried over to make it look like they had just walked in the door. The headmaster came into the Hall not a moment too late.

"Oh, thank heavens, Severus! You found her! Where was she?" He hurried over and glanced sharply at Hermione before turning to Severus.

Severus looked over at Hermione as he said, "She was by the Forest. But apparently she doesn't know how she got there."

Hermione looked up with a glazed expression on her face. She's quite a good actress, Severus thought. Dumbledore had tried asking her a question. She stared dumbly at him.

"It seems she's had her memory modified. Can't remember a thing past detention.

"Well, bring her up to Madame Pomfrey. Maybe she'll remember something. At least she can get comfortable. It looks like she had a hard night."

It took all of Severus' willpower to not smile. Yes, Hermione had had a very hard night. "Of course, Headmaster." Severus and Hermione walked up the staris and curious faces met them as they went down to breakfast. Harry and Ron rushed up to them. Hermione quickly put on her glazed look again.

"Hermione! Where were you? Parvati said you never came back to the tower last night!" They both started talking at the same time. Ron rounded on Snape. "What d'you think you're doing?" he snarled.

Severus struggled to remain calm. "Five points from Gryffindor. Do not use that tone with me, Weasely. To answer your question, since Miss Granger here was missing for quite a while, the teachers were looking for her. I found her by the Forbidden Forest. She has already been asked why she was there, but cannot remember anything after her detention, around 11. I am escorting her, as the Headmaster wishes, to the hospital wing. It seems she's had a Memory Charm put on her."

Ron muttered something Severus couldn't hear, but Harry nodded in agreement. Hermione looked horrified. It was too close to the truth.

"What was that, Weasely?" Severus allowed a dangerous note to enter his voice. He had noticed a subtle change in Hermione's expression, towards terror.

"Nothing, Professor. We better get moving. We'll come visit you later, Hermione." To himslef he thought, We'll find out soon enough, anyway.

Harry and Ron had talked about Hermione's strange behaviour the previous day, and Harry had told Ron of his suspicion…Hermione had seemed so small standing there, her hands folded in front of her, like someone caught doing something they weren't supposed to, her head bowed, eyes far away. Snape had seemed oddly protective of her. It was strange…

Madame Pomfrey hurried out into the main room. "Oh, thank heavens! They found you! Oh, we were so worried; you could have been anywhere!" she bustled over and helped Hermione onto a bed. She seemed like a robot, doing whatever she was told, and nothing more.

Severus hoped this was an act. If he hadn't seen her normal that morning, he could have sworn she was in shock. But she started it, he thought, then laughed at the childishness of the statement. He walked slwoly back downstairs to breakfast. Suddenly, he realized no one had mentioned a punishment for Hermione. That's too bad. It's too late now. We'll have to rely on her Invisiblilty Cloak. He smiled to himself. He knew who's cloak she would use. It would be sweet revenge on Potter; too bad he'd never know.

Hermione lay in her bed. Their cover had successfully worked. She hoped they wouldn't have to do that again. She'd make sure she didn't fall asleep again. She rolled over and went to sleep, since she hadn't gotten much the previous night.

Harry and Ron entered the hospital wing silently. Madame Pomfrey came over. "Shhh, she's sleeping. It seems she didn't get much rest last night, whatever else happened." The boys looked at each other. Their worst fears seemed confirmed. They walked slowly over to her bed and sat down in the chairs already palced next to it.

"Do you really think…?" Ron stared at Hermione's peaceful face.

"If he did…he must have forced…I mean, she would never-she hates him." Harry looked confused.

"Well, really, let's go over the evidence. Hermione has detention twice in a row. After the first, she runs crying to her room, then acts strange the next day, saying weird stuff. The next time, nothing happens, except she seems perfectly happy. Soon, she is missing all night and Snape supposedly finds her by the Forbidden Forest. She hasn't got a clue what happened to her last night. Someone didn't want her to either, because they put a Memory Charm on her."

"What does all this mean?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"It means you two are thinking to hard." The boys jumped and looked down at Hermione. She smiled up at them.

"Hermione! Do you remember anything yet?" she shook her head. It seemed best to just stick with not ever remembering anything.

"Did anything unusual happen during detention that you can remember?" Ron looked serious.

"No. Well, Snape was pretty quiet, but otherwise, no." Ron looked at her hard. She looked back with complete innocence in her eyes. Ron looked at Harry. He motioned to let it drop. "So, Hermione, you missed Charms and Herbology today. We brought your homework."

"Thanks, Ron. That was nice of you." She looked at her watch. "Oh! It's time for…what do we have now?"

"Potions. You're right." Harry looked at his own watch. It was similar to Professor Dumbledore's, with stars and planets moving around a single hand. Hermione had given it to him for his 16th birthday. The Dursleys had given up asking him the time, because he'd just hold out his wrist, and they called his watch "freak rubbish." He enjpyed getting them upset about stuff like that.

"Let's see if you can leave yet." Ron knocked on the nurse's door, and she agreed, after making sure there were no lasting complications from Hermione's "night outside."

As they entered the Potions room, everyone quieted down. They had all heard the rumors of why Hermione hadn't been in bed last night, and most weren't good.

Hermione ignored the whispers and swept to her usual seat, Harry and Ron glaring around, then following. Draco Malfoy pointedly leaned over and whispered something in Pansy Parkinson's ear. She giggled and stared at Hermione maliciously.

Professor Snape entered and everyone slienced immediatley. "we will be continuing our work on Sleeping Draughts today, because some people are having difficulty with them." He looked at Neville, then quickly back to the front of the room, because Hermione was looking at him and shaking her head from next to Neville. Old habits were hard to break.

"Right. Ingredients on the board. Get to work." He sat at his desk and shuffled some papers around. He glanced up and pretended to be surveying the room, but really was looking at Hermione.

Hermione sighed. Sleeping Draughts were so easy, she could make one in her sleep. She went through the familiar motions absently, looking around the room. Her eye caught the professor's. he raised his eyesbrows and glanced at Harry and Ron. She knew what he was asking, and shook her head. Then she reconsidered. That conversation she had overheard in the hospital wing seemed questionable. Under the pretense of leveling out ingredients, she shook her hand in a "maybe" motion. He furrowed his brow. This could be bad. Potter and Weasely couldn't ever find out, or he wouldn't only be fired, but it would ruin Hermione's life as well.\

Hermione looked back at Severus and he winked and tapped his head with his index finger. She nodded and turned to Neville to help him. His potion was a sickly yellow instead of the lavender it should have been.

Someone had secretly watched this silent conversation occur with fascination. When had the Potions master and Hermione Granger started reading each others motions and, it seemed, very thoughts? And, thinking of that, when had they become on speaking terms at all? He turned back to his potion to contemplate this interesting change of evnets.