AN: HP characters do not belong to me. Don't sue. Please enjoy and don't forget to review!
Heaven's Ghost
By RattleSnake
Chapter One
Severus Snape magically locked the potions cupboard. Winter final exams had been that day and now he had to sort out his grades. He grabbed the grade book and headed to his desk.
He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. Finally, he had two weeks of no chattering, stupid, students. He set the grade book before him and flipped it open. He began to sift through the classes.
His hand stopped above the Slytherin /Gryffindor double potions class. He frowned, and then got the attendance record out.
"What the hell?" he muttered. Hermione Granger hadn't been in his class for finals? He shook his head. To his knowledge, the only time she had missed a class was when she turned herself into a cat.
He stood up and stalked out of the room, curious to why she hadn't been there. She was, after all, a model student. He strode out of the dungeons. His footsteps echoed softly around him as he took the steps two at a time and headed down the hall.
As he came into the Charm's corridor, he saw Potter and Weasly, talking about the finals they had had that day.
"Bloody glad it's over for two weeks I am!" Ron said.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasly," Snape snapped. The 6th year boys spun around.
"Professor!" Harry said.
"Do you two have any idea why Miss Granger wasn't in class today?" Snape asked.
"She wasn't in class?" Ron asked.
"You're so observant," Snape said dryly.
"She's never missed class before," Harry muttered.
"Was she in any other of your classes today?"
"I don't know, all the classes she had today weren't with us, too advanced," Ron said.
Snape rolled his eyes as he walked away. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
The Christmas holidays started the next day. Harry, Ron, and Ginny sat in front of the fire in the common room. Ron was kicking Harry's butt at chess as Ginny watched.
"Have you guys seen Hermione lately?" she asked.
Harry looked up. "You're the second one that asked us that today, Snape asked too."
"She left for breakfast yesterday morning and never came back. I'm real worried," she whispered.
The three of them looked out the window into the falling snow.
"Bloody hell Hermione, where are you?"
Christmas Eve was upon the castle. For the past days, teachers had been going out every day and night searching for Hermione. Tonight it was Snape's turn. He stood on the icy steps and stared silently into the swirling snow.
He whistled softly. He heard a whinny in reply and watched as a pure black stallion galloped up to him.
"Easy Belle Morte, easy," he patted the horse's neck. The horse's name was French for 'Beautiful Death.' As Snape mounted, he heard soft footsteps behind him. He turned Morte around. Dumbledore stood before him.
"Severus, I wish you luck tonight. It would be dreadful to tell her parents that we couldn't find…and on Christmas no less…"
He nodded darkly and pointed Morte towards the Forbidden Forest. The stallion set off at an easy trot. Snape enjoyed riding; it was one of the few things that gave him pleasure.
Soon they were far away from the castle. Darkness was settling over the grounds. Snape saw the edge of the lake, the far side of the lake. He frowned. He'd gone farther than he thought.
Morte walked to the water and dipped his head to drink. Snape removed his cloak and hung it over the horse's back.
The horse reared slightly. "Whoa, boy, what is it?" Snape swallowed his next words. A body floated towards him on the lake. He leapt from Morte's back into the freezing water.
The body touched his. He grabbed it, flipped it over, and gagged.
It was Hermione.