A/N: "Reader Response" at the end of this chapter…Hermione's thought's are in italics…The "little voice" is bolded.

Chapter Three:

Ten minutes later, Hermione had bottled the potion and set to work on the desks. She was halfway through them when a small owl fluttered through the window. It circled the room several times, and finally landed in front of Hermione, gazing at her expectantly.

"It's not for me?" Hermione asked. The owl hooted and jumped back a little.

"Well, I don't know where he is right now…"

"I'm here, Miss Granger." Snape muttered from somewhere behind her.

Eeeek!

Hermione jumped. Not wanting him to think she'd been slacking, she hurried to finish scrubbing the desk. She watched the owl soar off and land in front of him from the corner of her eye. Professor Snape opened the letter and read it quickly, distaste showing on his pale face. Hermione moved on to another desk and he read the letter again before glancing up at her.

"Miss Granger, follow me."

Anywhere, Anytime…Anything…

Shut UP!

The truth hurts, sweetie.

Ugh!

Snape swept out of the classroom. Hermione had to run to catch up with him after putting away her cleaning supplies. She caught a glimpse of his dark robes whipping around the corner and ran up to him, walking briskly when she reached him to keep up with his long strides.

They walked in silence. Hermione knew better than to say anything when he had that particular sneer on his face. He led her out to the Entrance Hall and quickened his pace even more. She jogged behind him for a few more minutes, nearly colliding into him when he stopped abruptly in front of a tall, stone gargoyle.

"Sugar Quill." Snape hissed.

The gargoyle leaped to life and jumped out of the way, revealing a long, moving staircase that twisted up out of sight. Snape stepped on to the staircase, without even checking to see if Hermione was behind him. Hermione sighed and stepped onto the staircase. The moment she did, the gargoyle jumped back behind her, blocking it.

Cool. I'll have to research that when I get to the library again.

Hermione followed Snape into an oval shaped room, seated at the desk was a wizard with a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes. He smiled and indicated for Hermione to take a seat. She did, and glanced at Snape next to her. He was glaring at the windows and doors, his eyes darting occasionally to the fireplace. Snape shoved the letter he had received at Dumbledore and sat back in his chair, breathing heavily.

Hermione watched silently as Dumbledore's eyes darted across the parchment. His face grew more and more worried with each line he read. Hermione was now scared. She had never seen Dumbledore this worried, not even during the TriWizard Tournament. The old man glanced up and met her gaze; he gave her a weak smile before turning to Snape and clearing his throat.

Snape seemed to come out of a trance of sorts. His eyes slowly met Dumbledore's and he nodded. Dumbledore turned back to Hermione and finally spoke.

"Hermione, Severus has received a letter from the Death Eaters.," he explained, infuriatingly calm, "They have…pinpointed…you as their next target. They wish to affect Mr. Potter where it will hurt him most."

Death Eaters? Me? Death Eaters are after me? But--I---no!

Hermione's heart stopped. Her head was spinning and she found it hard to swallow the large lump that seemed to have settled in her throat. She had topped listening when Dumbledore told her of the new "target" of the Death Eaters. Hermione sank in her chair.

"Miss Granger?" Snape was standing up, "Do you realize what this means?"

"S--sir?" Hermione whispered, panicked

"The Death Eaters instructed me to bring you to them. We believe this means they no longer believe I am on their side, and they are trying to…kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."

Kill? Great choice of words, pal.

Kill? Oh, Gods!

Hermione still didn't comprehend. She just stared at him blankly. Snape sighed and threw his hands up in frustration, shaking his head. He sat back down and stared back at her.

"Miss Granger, we are no longer safe. We cannot remain at Hogwarts."

"But…where will we go?" Hermione stammered.

Snape looked expectantly at Dumbledore. Clearly, he hadn't gotten that far either. Dumbledore twiddled his thumbs and seemed to reflect on this obstacle for a moment. Snape made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and jumped up from his chair. He proceeded to pace around the room, making Hermione more nervous I the process. The two men who she thought had no fear, appeared to be scared out of their minds. Suddenly, some of the sparkle returned to Dumbledore's face and he turned to Hermione and Snape, smiling.

"Severus, I don't think you've been back to your family estate for ages!" He exclaimed.

"For good reason!" Snape hissed.

"Well, you and Miss Granger could stay there, the Death Eaters would never expect that, they know how much you hate the place. And you could, er…fix it up a bit. I imagine after being abandoned for over a decade it could use it. Hermione could help! You'd need a woman's decorating sense!" Dumbledore spoke rapidly, clapping his hands together with excitement.

Snape gaped at him in horror. Clearly, the idea of returning to his house, with Hermione, and letting her decorate, didn't excite him as it did Dumbledore. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Still staring at Dumbledore as if he were insane.

Snape. Speechless. This is bad.

Very bad. Extremely bad. Ugh, I'm not going to live to see my next birthday, he'll kill me first!

As shocked as I am that you agree with me, You will be alone…with him…for Merlin only knows how long…

I no longer agree with you, Shut up.

Back to the shutting up thing now…

"Severus, don't look at me like that. I think it's a brilliant idea." Dumbledore said in a tone that said they weren't getting gout of this one.

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READER RESPONSE TIME!!!!!!!!

Tigress12: Now you don't have to wait!

dama-de-tinieblas, Silent Cobra, Ariana Althena Evergreen,

The-Rouge-Thorn: Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this!

Nefertari: Another cliffhanger, just for you! Lol! *Wicked grin*

JazzyLady: I'm just thanking God that wasn't from personal experience…I've never had to yell at my little voice I just growl and she goes away…At least, I think it's a she…I'll have to ask…

Nightflower, Tamerlane: hehehe…thankies!

Kyra Invictus Black: I know! Stoke of Brilliance, I swear! I just pictured it…. I imagine I would have pee my pants from trying not to laugh…

By the way, I asked…and my "little voice" is a guy! His name's George!