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Chapter 3 – Let the Tears Fall

Hermione was walking down the corridor, trying to hurry as it was a few minutes past curfew, when she glanced out the window. She noticed a dark figure hurrying towards the village. It appeared the figure was almost floating. Hermione squinted her eyes to get a better look. It was Snape. Hermione gasped as she put two and two together.

'He must have been summoned, ' she thought. She could feel all of the anger she felt towards him earlier resolving as a newfound respect entered its place. The realization of how much pressure he must be under had escaped her thoughts before, but now…she gave a small shudder as she thought about what he must endure every time he is called.

Pulling herself out of such thoughts, Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor entrance.

"Password?"

"Telephone," Hermione replied.

The portrait door swung open and she scrambled through, eager to head up to her room. To her relief, no one was in the Common room. Hermione ran up the stairs to her room. She put on her night things and crawled into her cozy bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she slipped into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, it was anything, but peaceful.

Hermione's Dream –

"I feel that you may not be as loyal as you once were," a voice hissed.

"Please allow me to prove my loyalty to you, my Lord," another voice replied.

"Very well. To prove your loyalty has not faltered, kill…

There the dream died and Hermione stopped tossing and turning for the next few hours. Until it began again…

"You failed. I am very displeased with you. My Deatheaters, show him what happens to those who displease me, " the voice hissed once more.

"Crucio!" several voices shouted.

A figure waning in agony, yet he did not utter a sound. He would not give them the satisfaction. One could not see his face as a cloud of dark hair surrounded it.

"Who are you?" Asked Hermione in her sleep.

As if to answer her question, the figure looked up with an indignant expression in his eyes.

Hermione woke up abruptly. She was heavily panting, trying to get air into her lungs. She threw her covers off as she was sweating. Without a word, she headed towards the dungeons. She had to know if he was fine.

When she reached his classroom and office, Hermione knocked on the door. She did not want to barge in and risk a detention, but she just had to know. When there was no answer, she decided to press her luck and tried the knob. It did not turn.

"Damn it," Hermione said in frustration as she pointed her wand at the door. "Alohomora!"

She heard the lock click and when she turned the knob this time, the door opened. Not that she was really surprised. It was a simple, yet quite useful, spell. Hermione entered into the potions room. She looked around, but it was dark and there was obviously no Snape to be found. She went over to his office, but there was no light on. She tentatively knocked on his office door.

"What are you doing in here?" She jumped at the voice. Hermione turned around only to find Snape in the doorway glaring at her. He was clutching side.

She rushed over to him, "Are you hurt?"

"That is none of your concern, Miss Granger, " he said icily.

She decided to ignore his answer, "Here, let me help you."

"I don't need any help from you," he said bitterly.

Hermione chose not to answer him. She took his hand and when he didn't protest, she led him to the nearest seat. She began to remove his robes so that she could get a better look at his wound.

"What do you think you are doing?" He questioned, grabbing her hands before they went further.

"I need to see how serious the wound is," was her reply as she continued to undress the top half of him.

Once Snape's shirt and robe were off, Hermione took in a breath. No one would have been able to tell just by looking at him, but while his frame was lean, it was also well sculpted. His shoulders were slightly broader than the rest of him and, upon lowering her gaze, saw that his abs formed nicely into a six-pack.

Unfortunately, it was also very bruised on the one side. Hermione gingerly brushed her fingers along the bruises, noticing that Snape winced in pain, but also did not move away from her touch. Stepping back, she pointed her wand at the area.

"Curatio subtusus!" Hermione cast. Instantly, Snape's bruises were healed. "I don't think there was any internal damage, but you should go see Pomfrey."

"While I appreciate your help, however, I must inform you that this is none of your concern," he growled at her.

"Y-Yes, Professor," Hermione replied. She tried to hide the hurt that she was feeling. 'I should have known better than to come down here.'

Hermione quickly departed. She ran from the room, through the corridor, all the way back to her room. She had quickly given the password to a very perturbed Fat Lady.

'I just want to forget this night! I just want to forget this night!' Hermione furiously thought as she crawled into her bed. 'I should have known how he would act! What was I thinking?! He'll always be a greasy git! He can't hurt me!'

And the tears began to fall…

"Dammit, Severus!" he said to himself.

He had seen the hurt in her eyes. It had torn him up inside. He knew he had to do it, for both of their sakes, but it hurt nonetheless. He walked to the bookcase that hid his rooms.

"Bicorn horns," he said and the bookcase opened to reveal his doorway.

He walked through into his chambers and went over to his private store of scotch. He really needed a drink.

Four hours later….

Snape's private store was nearly depleted and it still did nothing to dull the pain that he was feeling in his heart. He threw the empty glass against the fireplace in frustration. Snape collapsed onto his knees.

And the tears began to fall…