Castaways on a Sullen Sea
By weasleywheezes

DISCLAIMER: Be ever so kind as to refer to the beginning of the story.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Forgive this brief chapter! I have most of the story finished and written, but I have to polish them to a shine, so to speak, and they won't be finished for a few weeks. I hope this will do in the meantime.

Chapter 14 – A Brief Visit

Standing next to the fireplace was Molly Weasley, shaking and white with terror. Her eyes were wide and she was pointing toward Hermione and Severus. "I knew it! I knew it!" she shrieked.

Behind her appeared Arthur, dusting the soot off his robes. "Knew what, Mols?"

Molly stuttered violently. "He's – he's c-c-c-compromising her!"

"Nonsense! They are standing there, Molly. Just standing there." Arthur strode across the room and took Severus' hand. He shook it vigorously.

"Hermione, I want to talk to you." Molly rushed out of the room toward the hallway. Hermione followed her.

"Young lady, I want to know what is happening! Right…this…instant!" Molly's face was red with fury.

"You came in at an awkward time, Mrs. Weasley. We were," Hermione paused to think of a believable scenario, "…practicing a play."

"A play? Do you expect me to believe that…that… Who would you be putting on a play for? The next Death Eater soiree?"

Hermione cleared her throat. "I'm going mad here, Mrs. Weasley. Severus is nice enough to help entertain me."

Molly gave her a disapproving look. "So, now he's Severus."

"Mrs. Weasley, I can't keep calling him Professor Snape. I live here, you know."

"I know! And I can't stand it! He's a Death Eater. DEATH EATER."

"Former Death Eater."

While Molly berated Hermione in the hallway, Arthur had a quiet conversation with Snape in the parlour. His ears were a slight pink. He clasped his hand on Severus' shoulder and applied a slight pressure.

"I know what's happening."

Severus flushed. His dark eyes glittered with curiosity. "Indeed?"

"Indeed, Snape, you dirty bastard. I have to keep my cool because Molly won't take it well if she knows. I had hoped I was wrong, but I can't do anything about it now. If you hurt one little hair on her head, well…" Arthur smiled, but it was far from pleasant. "Molly and I consider her family. I really don't want to have to fill her father's shoes, but trust me, Snape, I will."

Arthur's cool and quiet demeanour surprised Severus. He had known Mr. Weasley for many years, as a parent of the many red headed children that ran amok at Hogwarts, and as an effective operative for the Order of the Phoenix. Severus always thought that Molly was the Weasley with the heated disposition. He had never seen Arthur so determined…so deadly serious.

"I swear, Arthur, I would never harm Miss Granger. I swear upon my life."

"Your life isn't worth much."

Severus hung his head. "This I know. However, I have pledged to protect her, and I will do that. You must believe that I would never hurt her."

Arthur let go of Snape's shoulder and smoothed his robes, causing a bit of soot to fly into the air. "You're goddamned right you'll never hurt her, Snape. I'm warning you. You think my son Ron has a temper? You know nothing of mine."

Hermione, followed closely by Molly, entered the room. She consciously stood as far away from Severus as possible. Arthur smiled again, this time warmly, and crossed the room to where she stood. "Hermione, love! I'm quite happy you're safe. Having a good time?" Arthur said as he hugged her.

---

The Weasleys sat in the parlour with Hermione, talking about the rumours swirling around the Wizarding world, letters from Ron and Harry, and Ginny's last year at Hogwarts.

"Ginny has been named Head Girl," Molly cooed. "I'm terribly proud of her."

"As well you should be, Mrs. Weasley."

Arthur beamed. "That makes three Head of Houses in the family. I cannot tell you how I brag at the office."

Hermione giggled. "I'm sure Percy loves that."

"Percy's changed in the last year, Hermione. He keeps to himself a lot. I keep telling him to come back home, but he says he prefers London." Molly sniffed.

Hermione sat silently, mulling over what Molly had said about Percy. It seemed that Arthur and Percy were still at odds with one another since Percy abandoned the family to serve the Ministry. She wondered if that chasm would ever be breeched, and wondered if she, too, would one day face the Weasley patriarch's wrath.

Arthur, meanwhile, smiled graciously at Hermione. "How are you holding up?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, Hermione, emotionally. How are you?"

"Fine, I suppose. As well as I can be."

Molly held back a sniffle. "I wish we could take you back home with us, Hermione."

"Professor Snape is taking very good care of me. I'm safe here, and I think I need to feel safe for a while."

Arthur nodded. "We're still investigating your mother. We had information that a few Death Eaters were seen in the vicinity of St. Theresa's Home; among them, Draco Malfoy."

Hermione blanched a little. "Draco Malfoy? I thought he was in exile."

"We've had information that he's back on our shores, and that he's joined the ranks of Death Eater. Of course, they haven't met for a while. You Know Who is keeping a low profile." Arthur stared behind Hermione's chair, looking for Snape.

"Well, do you think that V- er, You Know Who still had something to do with my mother?"

Molly shook her head. "We don't know, love. Arthur's doing as best he can. They've sent Tonks on a mission to Northern Ireland to check out a coven of dark witches that might be there. She's deeply undercover, so we probably won't hear from her in a while."

For the first time in a long time, she was glad that she wasn't with the Weasleys. Severus had been correct. She needed his care much more than she could have realized. "But what..."

"Hermione, trust me. Trust the Order. We know what we're doing, even if the Ministry doesn't."

Molly clucked her tongue loudly. "Now, now, Arthur. Let's not come in here and distress Hermione more than she already is. I'm sure that she'd like to talk about something else other than the Order's business."

"No, Mrs. Weasley, I'd like to know what's going on, especially where it concerns me." She couldn't help but notice a soft chuckle coming from the kitchen area.

Molly clucked her tongue again, this time in a condescending manner. "It's your decision, love."

Arthur looked around. "Where's the kitchen around here?"

Hermione rose to her feet. "Usually, Gromnett would come as soon as you said 'kitchen' but he has company."

"Gromnett?"

"He's the house-elf."

Molly turned up her nose. "I guess it's nice to have a house-elf."

Hermione shook her head. "Gromnett might be an elf, but he's autonomous. Sev…Professor Snape has given him his freedom. Gromnett chooses to stay on."

"He's probably scared out of his mind." Molly snarked.

"No, I reckon Snape is quite nice to his elf. I mean, look what happened to Kretcher and Sirius Black." Arthur pointed out.

"He's been kind to the elf for years, before Kretcher betrayed Sirius." Hermione said.

The patter of small feet could be heard outside of the room, and a flash of purple sweater streaked by the door. "Miss, might we come in for a moment?"

"Of course, Gromnett!"

Gromnett took the hand of his friend, the house-elf Grisby. Grisby was even shorter than Gromnett, if that was possible. He wore a black and silver Durmstrang tea towel and the red cosies that Hermione had knitted for his feet. Grisby bowed deeply.

"Miss…I have heard of your greatness. I…I only wanted to see for meself. I wanted to thank you for the cosies for me feet."

Hermione held her hand out. "Grisby, it is so nice to meet you."

"Oh no, Miss! Oh no, no no. I cannot take your hand. Your kindness is too much." Grisby bowed even deeper.

Gromnett took Hermione's hand. "Miss, you are much like your friend, Harry Potter."

Grisby wiped a great tear from his large, watery eyes. "Harry Potter, kind boy."

"Gromnett, did you say? It's nice to meet you." Molly said kindly.

"Good afternoon, madam." Gromnett bowed low. "And to you, sir. Now, if you will excuse me…" the two house-elves left the room.

Hermione walked toward the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink? I'm sure that Gromnett has made some cider, if you'd like."

Molly stood and summoned her travelling cloak. "No, Hermione, we need to go. I get the creeps when I come to this place."

"It's not so bad, Mrs. Weasley."

Molly gave Hermione a light hug, followed by Arthur, who gave her a kiss. "Hermione, love, you need to promise Mols and me that you will owl us if you ever need us. Ever," he repeated, then the Weasleys left.

Hermione stretched, yawned, and sat back into the comfortable armchair in front of the fireplace. "They're gone."

Severus returned to the parlour and sat in the opposite chair. He kept his gaze low and did not look Hermione in the eye. "I can only imagine what Molly said to you."

"I don't give a damn what she said to me," Hermione snapped. "Only I can make decisions for myself. Mrs. Weasley is not my mother and she never will be."

"The Weasleys have a point, Hermione." Severus said quietly. He raised his head toward her, and she could see that there was something in his eyes, something that looked remarkably like tears. "I keep telling you that I have nothing to offer you, but you just won't leave me alone. Don't you understand, Hermione? I'm a ruined man. There will never be redemption for me."

She opened her mouth, but Severus placed his finger on her lips. "Shhh. You can't argue what you don't understand. You could never understand. Let me just…just enjoy your company as long as I can." He turned away from her and stared into the fire.

Hermione sat for a long time, staring at Severus, who in turn kept his eyes on the leaping flames in the fireplace. She thought about what she could say to make him see that she wasn't interested in his past, that they could work past it, but she didn't know how. Finally, she reached across to his chair, placing her hand on his arm.

---

Night decended upon Voldemort. He wished that he would have curbed his anger and not killed Wormtail, for as useless as Wormtail had turned out to be, he could at least given him some company. Instead, Voldemort had only his trusted companion, the snake Nagini, and she, too, grew weak. Voldemort, however, grew stronger, and he knew that soon, vengeance would be his.

He could still rely on the services of Lucius Malfoy, though. He had proven himself to be an able, if not entirely predictable, servant. His fear was that his son, Draco, would become Voldemort's heir, leaving him powerless in the new Kingdom of Darkness that would soon descend upon the earth. The Dark Lord laughed to himself. Malfoy, along with his son, were too vain, too egotistical to see that he was just using them. They were important to him - at least their money was important. The ends justified the means, wasn't that the old Muggle adage? The young Malfoy would do well to follow Voldemort's example. Here was a pureblooded prince amongst his Death Eaters. Draco was everything that Tom Riddle wasn't. That was why he had to be destroyed. Draco Malfoy threatened everything just by his mere existence.

But Voldemort would wait. Yes, it would be satisfying then. For now, he would send Draco to those dark wizards in Ireland. Surely they were his allies in this cleansing. Together, they could all become stronger in the purity of the blood, the purity of their race. He cackled a bit. Lucius Malfoy fell for the rhetoric. He was the perfect pawn. As long as he held Draco's life in his hands, Voldemort knew that the elder Malfoy would follow him blindly. By the time his plan would be completed, the Malfoy lineage would cease to be, and there would be no one to threaten the reign of Lord Voldemort.

"Nagini... my trusted friend, my mother, my nurturer... you see? Everything is going according to plan. We just have to wait."