A/N: Got quite a few reviews for the last chapter, but again I have failed to get any big action into this, maybe it doesn't deserve to be part of the action genre ;)
But there is something going on and I don't want to keep you from reading it so I'm just going to write a lovely long note to all my reviewers!
Momsangel: You're not going to like the ending ;)
DemonofDoom: I always keep writing, well most of the time
Witchintraining: tense, suspense, maybe I should actually have some action sometime.
DarkSarcasm: yeh sorry about the description I can really get into things sometimes
Mysticalfairy-05: welcome back :)
GryffindorBabex13: Hello, thank you very much for your kind comments :D
PinkAphid: you're right
SaintEmo: here you are
Natsuyori: How do you know it was him? ;)
K: The end? Umm hadn't thought about that one
Gwen: Yay to you!
Rockonman: I'll read your story, of course :)
Mothers of the Disappeared
She dismounted her broom and started to run, ignoring Harry's frantic whispers, she saw a few people look up as she ran, their faces bewildered and frightened. She was quickening her pace, running faster than she'd ever run before. He stood up, looking both confused and angry; she ran to him and pulled him into her arms, squeezing his frail body tight against hers. It struck her how weak he felt, so fragile she thought he might break. She looked up at him and planted a delicate kiss on his pale face, suddenly flooding his parched skin with colour. He held onto her face, stroking it gently and put his forehead against hers.
"Why have you come?" he rasped,
"For you, we've come to take you home Severus, it's going to be alright."
"I told you not to come; I told you it was too dangerous, look around Hermione. Is this a place for a bunch of teenagers to come and do some hero practise in? Go home, you can't do anything for us, some things cannot be undone." He pushed her away, "Go. These people have sacrificed themselves so that you may live, they couldn't have wanted to die in vain. Please, just go. Soon the Death Eaters will come back, at dawn, and then you will suffer them. Please, leave me and go, you have a future."
"I have no future without you. Severus there's something I need to tell you." She looked into his eyes. Harry, Ron and Ginny came up behind her.
"Right then, we need to sort this out." Harry looked around him,
"Harry? Ron? Hermione? Ginny darling, is that you?" Mrs Weasley sat leaning against the curved wall, she was barely recognisable; dirty, thin and cold. She slowly got up as if she was using her legs for the first time she hobbled over to them, touching each of their faces with her cold hands. Hermione saw tears begin to fall from Ron's eyes; Mrs Weasley grabbed her children and held them tightly against her bosom, unable to speak. Harry looked at his watch and then at Snape.
"The Death Eaters, where do they come in from?" Snape pointed to a staircase off the platform.
"There's a door at the end," he said, "but it's locked, I've tried more complex spells than you will ever know, there's no getting out."
"Harry? Do you think it could need a password in Parseltongue? I mean they've done that before," Hermione wondered,
"That was in different circumstances, and besides none of the Death Eaters are Parselmouths, only the Dark Lord himself." Snape remained pessimistic.
"Anything's worth a try though Severus, Harry just try something, anything."
Harry walked up the steps, past other weary faces that were beginning to pay attention to what was going on around them. Harry reached top of the stairs and found the door. He'd never seen anything like it before in the Muggle world; it was black, very black. So dark that no matter how bright the light of his wand was, the light just fell around it, it couldn't penetrate it. But Harry was stronger than that.
"Open," he said, except that it was not his voice that said it, but a low hiss. The door remained the same.
"Open up!" the door remained the same.
"Open!" the door remained the same.
Harry cursed under his breath, but he hadn't given up yet. He took Sirius' knife from his pocket and drew each blade in turn trying to open the door, but he was without success. He returned to the platform.
Snape had his arm around Hermione's waist, he kissed the top of her head, he knew that if Harry couldn't get out none of them stood a chance; as soon as the Death Eaters came back they would all be for it. He couldn't bear to lose Hermione again, "What did you want to tell me?" he whispered in her ear,
"Not now, soon, I promise." She turned to face Harry, "well?"
"It didn't work, we can fly back, but they can't get out, we're stuck, unless we can slip past the Death Eaters."
"Not like that's ever going to happen," Ron muttered,
Ginny looked at her mother, "Mum, where's Dad?"
"I don't know sweetheart, I don't know." Mrs Weasley let another tear drip down her face.
"Harry?" A tall pinched woman stood behind him,
"Aunt Petunia!" Harry nodded at her, they knew he wouldn't embrace her, but you could see in his eyes he felt a whole lot better, Dudley came over; it seemed that a few weeks here had done him some good, he was no longer waddling quite so much.
"I need time to think," Harry decided,
"They'll come back at dawn, I guess a few minutes won't hurt," Snape drawled sarcastically. Harry sat down with a look of deep concentration, Ron and Ginny began to talk avidly to their mother and Snape led Hermione aside. "Well?"
"Severus, this will come as a bit of a shock, please don't be angry." She looked down, suddenly so ashamed,
"What is it?" he softened his tone and kissed her neck gently.
"Oh Severus, you remember that night? Christmas eve."
"How could I forget?"
"Well I think that night…I…we …something happened, and now, now, I think Severus, please don't be angry, I think I'm pregnant." She got so quiet the last few words were barely a whisper, but he looked like someone had just shoved a battering ram in his ribs.
"Wh…Wh….What?" his voice wavered,
"I'm so sorry," she looked down, "I'll get rid of it, I could get an abortion, and then we could carry on as normal."
"Hermione, it's not you that should be sorry, it's me," he held her hands in front of her, "you're so young, I lost control of myself, I've destroyed your childhood."
"I'm hardly a child,"
"But you're so much younger than me, you're seventeen. This was all my fault." His lips tightened,
"Look as soon as we get out of here I'll have an abortion; we don't have to live with it,"
"Hermione, how do we know we'll get out of here alive?"
"Believe it, we will, Harry will."
"You can't kill our, our baby," his eyes suddenly became deeper than the tunnel they were in, "our child, you can't kill it."
"But there is no other way,"
"Let's think about this if we can stay alive for the next few hours, please," they walked over to Harry.
"OK," he said I think I've got an idea, I just hope it's going to work."
"You can hope all you want Potter, it's not going to save you now." A drawling voice echoed across the platform.
A/N: Oooh, suspense, sorry, another cliff-hanger! But if you're worried about the outcome of this fic just go back to the beginning of chapter 1, that should reassure you. Hope you liked it.
