Chapter 4

Albus was clearing his letters when Hermione's slamming of the door as she entered his office startled him. But Hermione felt that he was not startled enough. Her suspicious mind filled with accusations as she pointed a finger at the Headmaster, something seldom done to the greatest wizard in all of England. "You. Are. Going. To. Answer. Me."

Albus slowly placed his quill on the table, trying to gauge what could possibly make her this angry and came to one conclusion. Ah, well, they were all bound to find out sooner or later.

"I could hear the full-stops between your words Hermione," he remarked casually, "Won't you have a seat?"

"Of course I will," Hermione snapped and sat down. Albus hid his smile behind his hand and pretended to clear his throat. In many ways, Hermione reminded him of Severus. They were both intelligent, solitary aside from having a few friends they trusted and when their temper was incurred, no one would dare go near them.

When Hermione finished her account of her meeting with Severus, Albus nodded understandingly, "It is little wonder that you are surprised."

"What a mild way of describing my experience Headmaster." Hermione said flatly.

Albus sighed. He forgot that another similarity Hermione and Severus shared was their rare ability to make him feel less than adequate, especially when their argument was disconcertingly right. He remembered how Severus had berated him for not telling Harry about the prophecy sooner than he had.

"Now would you listen to my explanation?" he asked with impatience.

"Yes sir." Hermione suppressed the urge to continue sarcastically, "I await with bated breath."

"It's a rather long tale. I'll start with Severus. When he went back to being a spy after Voldemort was resurrected in your fourth year, the Death-Eaters still believed him to be one of the greatest among them and he was highly valued by Voldemort. At the end of the war, it became clear that Severus had long not been on their side. It was too late, thankfully, but Severus made a lot of enemies as a result. He was in real danger, more so than you imagined. The Death-Eaters wanted his blood while those who were not aware that he was working for the Order wanted him imprisoned. When the final battle came, he went missing. That was the end of the story as all of you knew it."

Hermione nodded.

"We looked for him everywhere. Traces of stray magic and a stroke of luck led me to find him lying unconscious in London. Severus's account, as you told me, is not false. He was wearing Muggle clothes and his wand was missing."

"What do you mean?"

"I can only speculate. You have a mind for logic Hermione. What do you think happened?"

"That someone else found him before you did?"

"Before any of us did. And I don't wonder if Severus's amnesia doesn't have anything to do with Memory Charms. Did you notice that he remembers nothing about magic but retains his knowledge of how the Muggle world operates?"

"You're saying that whoever found him wanted him out of the way, out of the wizarding world, but did not want him killed."

Albus shrugged, "Your observation is as good as mine. The question is whether the person is friend or foe. In the end, I found that this… arrangement might be the safest yet for Severus. With all the enemies, it's not enough

"Then why are you letting this go on indefinitely? Most of the Death-Eaters are dead or captured and things have settled down."

"You yourself said that most but not all the Death-Eaters have been subdued." Albus pointed out. "But yes, that is not justification enough. It's because…" he admitted, "I have never seen him this happy before."

Hermione's potential retort died in her throat.

"I visited him once at the restaurant, without him noticing. Just once," Albus continued, "You saw him. He was well, at ease and happy. And I thought to myself. Why not? He deserves this. He needs this rest."

"What about us? What about me?"

"I am sorry. I would have told you, but I was certain you would want to see him and that would defeat the purpose of keeping him in the Muggle world. I am aware of the selfishness, but I hope you understand."

"I understand, to an extent." Hermione said, after a while. "But what do you intend to do now?"

"I was hoping that Severus might recover on his own, and rediscover his memory. But if it really was Memory Charms that were behind his amnesia, I'm afraid we'll have to bring him back to cure him." Albus paused, "He always did hate Memory Charms. Thinks they're worse the Unforgivables."

There was a crack of lightning, and Hermione and Albus looked out of the window to see the pouring rain.

Hermione commented ironically, "Happy Christmas."

~***~

It was raining outside the mansion as well. When the visitor entered it, he was in a foul mood and ready to lash out at the master of the house. He went straight to the library, clear of his directions despite the enormity of the land. When he reached the library, his ally was reclining in a sofa.

"What, are you here?" the other's voice contained a twinge of irritation, displeased with the disturbance.

"The Mudblood found Snape." The tone was cold and accusatory.

"Which Mudblood?" the person sitting in the sofa asked absent-mindedly.

"Potter's Mudblood."

"Alas. She hasn't lost her touch of ruining my plans."

"I told you we should have killed him."

"Oh come now. You know I've always had a soft spot for Severus. It's true that I didn't expect him to be so contented with his present life. I wanted to see bewilderment and suffering. This defeat is almost too hard to bear. Humiliating."

"And now?"

"It seems we have to arrange a little meeting with Severus. See to it, won't you?"

"Very well."

~***~

That night, with the rain still pouring heavily, it was Severus's task to clear up the restaurant. He stored the bottles of alcohol in the cupboards and locked them up. A rustle at the bottom of his pants made him look down. "Hey cat."

Hermione had allowed Crookshanks to remain with him while she went off to take care of some unfinished business. Crookshanks had been surprisingly obedient. He did not upset the kitchen, nor did he attempt to cut Severus up in any devious way. Opal remarked that he was a funny looking cat but was impressed by his manners and rewarded him with tidbits. Now both Severus and Crookshanks were alone. It gave the former a chance to observe the latter properly. Kneeling down, Severus took in the odd hair and shape that made up Hermione's pet.

"You really are familiar. Just like your mistress." Severus patted Crookshanks tentatively, "I don't think you deserve her though."

Crookshanks continued staring at him.

"This is rather unnerving. Where has your antagonism in the morning gone?" And Severus smirked when the cat hissed in menace.

"Ah, there." but Severus realised that Crookshanks was not looking at him. He turned around and saw a couple of strangers walking into the premises. "Hello. Sorry, but Daniel's has closed for an early night."

"Hello Severus," one of them said without friendliness.

And Severus felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. He was flung back and subsequently crashed into a table. He was disturbed then, when his first thought was, Well, this isn't a nice way of greeting someone. Should he not be more disturbed by the fact that he had been attacked by some kind of mind power?

"Hello Severus," the other stepped forward and suddenly, Severus found himself pinned against the ceiling. He could not see them clearly, what with the dim light and how they deliberately avoided it. His mind started working furiously to see if he could recollect their voices, but he found himself falling hard onto the ground. His teeth rattled.

"Do I know you people?" he spat out blood in disgust.

"Dear, dear, can't you remember your old friends?"

Severus stared into the eyes of the first man who had attacked him. There was a sadistic gleam in them. Severus could not remember his past life, but he wished that the man was lying about them being old friends. He had an instinctive dislike for the people opposite him. Small wonder why, what with the way they were treating him.

The first man knelt down. It was then that Severus saw that he was pointing some kind of stick at him.

"I know that old friends don't treat.

"Don't blame us Severus. You've treated us worse than we have. But you'll soon see what is in store for traitors like you."

Severus failed to catch his next few words but he remembered the pain that followed after that.

~***~

When Daniel came to his restaurant the following day, he found it a mess. When he called for Severus, Daniel realised that the young man had disappeared. Anger turned to worry when on further inspection, blood was revealed on the floor. He immediately called the police. What was strange to them was that nothing had been stolen from the restaurant. After learning about Severus, the police concluded that whatever attack happened could be attributed to some private feud, which this Severus Snape chap was involved in.

"But he's never given any trouble." Daniel said.

"You never know with these people mister."

"Can you find him?"

"We'll do our best." The police took down more statements and left.

"We'll do our best." Daniel repeated the police's words in mockery. Christ, it was like the surgeons telling worried relatives after a loved one's operation. "We tried our best."

"What is the world is going on?" Opal, who had just arrived, exclaimed. It so happened that Hermione was with her as well and Daniel took it upon himself to release his anger, born out of the inconvenience with which he had to carry on his business and the genuine worry he had for Severus.

"I don't see how Severus can get into a fight with anyone. A girl is enough to make him run."

He did not see Hermione's face pale. Nor did he see Crookshanks, who was tugging at Hermione's stocking.

"Crookshanks?" Hermione whispered in fear. Crookshanks, who knew that it was useless for him to help Severus during the attack, had retreated into a corner, where the other two mystery men could not see him. He only emerged from his hideout when he saw Hermione coming into the restaurant. Tugging her stocking one more time, he indicated Hermione to follow him. They walked out of the restaurant, and Crookshanks lifted his head up. Hermione looked in his direction. There, high above the restaurant, was the faint glow of the Dark Mark.

~***~

A/N:

Thanks for all the encouragement people!