Thankyou for the wonderful reviews as usual, but I need to tell you to read chapter 19 again as I have revised it. I saw an interview with Dan Radcliffe saying that Harry was a genuinely nice guy and I thought, 'yes he is!' and as you have all said how true to the original characters I have stayed then I just couldn't let Harry do that to Hermione, I don't think he ever would no matter what the provocation. Sorry to do this guys, but it has really been bugging me and now I've changed it, I'm a lot happier!

It was the end of the school day on a warm Friday afternoon. The previous few weeks had been a difficult between her and Harry and at first, they had mostly avoided each other, but eventually they had talked and sorted things out (with a lot of encouragement from Ginny). They had both agreed that at the time they had been emotionally overwrought, making them both say things they now regretted. Harry was still very disapproving of her relationship with Professor Snape, but he seemed to be coming to terms with it. As Hermione had asked, Harry didn't tell Ron the real reason they had fallen out, he just told him that Hermione was freaking out about the exams and he'd said something and then she had said something, then it had all blown up out of all proportion. Ron had seemed satisfied with that explanation, especially when Harry had said at the end, "you know what girls are like!" getting daggers from Hermione and Ginny in response. But it had been what Hermione wanted, she didn't want Ron to know the truth, not yet anyway, she wanted to find the right time to tell him, which wasn't now.

She was sitting quietly in her room on her bed, just looking around and thinking. Her eyes first alighted on Ginny lying face down on her own bed, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment from a book propped up on her pillows. Hermione smiled at her look of intense concentration. Then the photos on her bedside table caught her eye. There was one of her parents, which was an ordinary non-moving one, one of her favourite nanna, who always swore she was a psychic and a magically moving one of Crookshanks. Crookshanks had disappeared, not long after Sirius's death. She'd been sitting on her bed one day, reading, when he'd asked to go out. She had opened the door and he had walked out into the corridor and sat down for a while just looking at her, his head cocked to one side. Hermione had smiled at him curiously, asking him what was wrong, but then he had just sauntered off and she had never seen him since. She missed him; his warm, furry presence was so welcoming after a hard day's school. She'd thought about getting a new cat, but had decided against it, hoping that someday Crookshanks would return to her.

She turned away from the photos then, feeling sad, turning back to the piles of books that surrounded her on her bed.

Exam time was nearly upon her and she was now finalising project work, for as well as the exams, they were going to be assessed on their understanding of the subjects and how well they could work alone within them. Transfiguration had been the hardest subject this year, as they were all learning if they could transform as animagus. They had been told they had to concentrate hard on their skills and abilities and find an animal that had comparable talents. Hermione knew immediately what her animagus form should be, an otter - just like her patronus.

Though none of them had actually achieved a full change yet, Hermione had got the furthest, by producing a rather beautiful glossy tail from the base of her spine and much to everyone's amusement, whiskers from either side of her mouth! Harry wasn't far behind her producing a full set of antlers from his head, he of course had chosen a stag like his father.

She had now done all she could for the exams and could only revise and re-revise the same stuff over and over. If she didn't know it all by now, she never would.

Lying back on her bed between the piles of books, she stared at the canopy above her head. Her thoughts began to wander and although she had tried very hard not to for the past few weeks, they inevitably turned to Severus again. She missed him, more than she could believe. It just wasn't the same without his black cloaked form prowling around the school; it just wasn't the same Hogwarts. But as Dumbledore had said, no communication either way was possible for the moment, though he'd promised to let her know if he heard anything. He had become a lot more sympathetic towards her and her feelings for the Potions master lately and gave her comforting smiles and nods whenever they passed in the corridors.

She had suspected that Severus had been right, that she did just have a crush on him, but she now knew it was more than that. It still shocked her that she could fall in love with someone like him, for a start, he was so much older, he could be grumpy, stubborn, a know-it-all (much like herself!) and smug with it. And secondly she really knew very little about him or his past. All she did know was, that she desperately wanted to see him, to talk to him and to feel the warmth of his arms around her again.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, making both girls jump out of their skin, as they had been so lost in thought.

"Come in!" Ginny shouted

The door creaked open to reveal a rather skinny, 5th year girl with chunky black rimmed glasses and short curly hair.

"Erm, Dumbledore wants to see you, right away," she said nervously, as she looked at Hermione

Hermione's stomach tightened and her face began to burn hot. A feeling of dread built up inside her, if it had of been good news he would have told her next time he'd seen her, surely, not sent for her like this! She looked at Ginny, who smiled back at her

"Want me to come with you?" she asked

Hermione nodded her reply.

The two girls headed off for the Headmasters office in silence.

When they reached the doorway, they realised that they didn't know the password

"Do you know what it could be?" Asked Ginny

"No, I.." but she stopped speaking as a feather suddenly floated down from the ceiling, landing in the palm of her outstretched hand. Hermione grinned and looked at Ginny, who smiled back

"Phoenix feather!" she cried out

The statue moved aside to reveal the stairway, which they ascended. When they reached the top, they walked across the little antechamber and knocked the door; it opened immediately.

"Ahh, Hermione! Come in!" Dumbledore said kindly. He had been sitting at his desk, his hands clasped together in front of him.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, almost not wanting to know; her stomach tied up in knots.

Dumbledores eyes flicked briefly at Ginny, but Hermione reassured him

"It's alright, Ginny knows" she said quickly, looking at her friend then back to Dumbledore again.

Dumbledore took a breath then began to speak

"I have news of Severus, well no news at all really! The fact is, he's missing. I've contacted all the other spies and ordinary members of the order and no one has seen or heard from him for over a week. I don't want to make any presumptions yet, after all Severus is a great survivor. If he couldn't apparate for some reason, he knows almost all the plants and elements that make up this Earth's flora and fauna and could survive in the harshest of climates, with the barest of essentials. But I can't say that I'm not worried he may have been found out as a spy.." Dumbledore trailed off and looked into the distance, as if deep in thought. "I know this is a difficult time for you with your exams starting next week, but I felt it was important for you to know what was happening"

Hermione looked down to the hands clasped tightly on her lap, feeling like she wanted to cry. Then she looked up, immediately meeting Dumbledores soft blue eyes.

"Dumbledore, what was the mission he went on. What was he going to do?" she ventured, not knowing if she would get an answer

Dumbledore immediately put a charm around the room, so that only the two girls could hear what he was about to say and not the portraits.

"He has gone on a sort of 'recruitment drive' with other deatheaters. They are going farther afield than England this time; they are travelling the globe to find followers. We now know that many people have been sucked in to Voldemorts insanity and I have no doubt that many more still will be. Severus went with them just to observe, then report back with numbers and places. We agreed that we would be incommunicado for two weeks so as not to arouse suspicion, but it has now been four and there is still no word from him. I'm sorry Hermione if this upsets you, but he is a grown man and went into this with his eyes fully open. I know you may have thought me a little cruel sending him away like that, but I merely only wanted to save both of you from pain."

Hermione merely nodded sadly and got up to go.

"Before you go, he asked me to give you this and I have to say it surprised me greatly, when he told me what he intended for you to do with it" Dumbledore said, reaching into a drawer in his desk

Hermione stared in disbelief at the beautiful object in Dumbledores hand. It was a large pendant, with the Nordic rune symbol for 'mystery' engraved on it, hanging on a gold chain, it looked like a sort of capital letter 'C' with bent up ends. Hermione stared at it for a few moments, smiling, before taking it.

"It is imbued with a charm by Severus so it will unlock most of his potion cabinets. He trusts that you, above all others, of the students in this school, will use them wisely. Professor Hawksbain (the replacement Potions Professor) has been told of this and he has made his own office in an old classroom, down in the dungeon area. So Severus's rooms are accessible to you anytime you want. I will be keeping an eye on you though!" he said raising his eyebrows knowingly

Hermione's heart at first leapt with pleasure at this generous gift, but at the same time felt a bit slighted. She thought his gift of a pendant was to show her at last how he really felt about her, when it was really just a magical key. Then again the trust he was showing in her, must mean his feelings were deeper than just lust now weren't they?

"That's 'Perth' isn't it? The symbol for mystery" Ginny observed as she walked along side Hermione, who had the pendant held out in front of her.

"Yes" Hermione replied absently, staring at it intently. After a while she sighed and pulled the chain over her head, tucking it under her shirt.

When they were nearly back up to the Gryffindor common room, excitement started to set in; full use of his potion cabinet? Had Severus been of right mind when he had said that? Or was it because he thought he might not be coming back and wasn't really bothered anymore about the consequences of leaving his precious potions in the charge of a student, no matter how capable? Hermione thought smiling

Are you going to tell Harry and Ron about this? Ginny asked, curiously

"No I don't think so. They'd only want to go and make Dungbombs or something. Anyway he's entrusted his potions to me, so I don't want to let him down" she said resolutely

Ginny just smiled at her friend's response

"Ginny you wouldn't mind if I went down there now, would you, just to have a look?" Hermione asked

"No, go ahead" she said rolling her eyes, but still smiling

Hermione grinned and almost skipped her way down to the dungeons

Once there she held up the rune pendant in front of the door opening it instantly and walked in, closing it behind her.