As Severus was finally released, he went back to Hermione's room.
It didn't take a long time before he saw that she wasn't there. He didn't think much about it, and went out.
° Probably Head girl stuff°
He didn't check the clock. It was past one a.m.
The next morning, an exhausted Hermione rushed to the Great Hall.
"- Hermione! Where have you been?"
Hermione looked at Harry with pity. She couldn't tell him, nor Ron, and she knew that he would swallow almost everything she would tell him.
"- Remember the crushing sound you heard in Defence against dark arts? It was my bone that was badly healed. Professor Snape had to mend me."
Harry and Ron nodded, accepting the excuse without even thinking about it anymore. The three friends had grown apart after the faithful night in their fifth year. Harry and Ron were more together, and Hermione was pushed – unwiningly- aside.
Hermione looked discreetly over the main table, and Snape looked at her. Both exchanged a smile and a small wink.
Hermione toasted her bread and bite in it; she was extremely hungry.
She didn't notice the two girls who had seen the small exchange between her and Snape. Both Raverclaw girls looked at each other and nodded slowly.
The usual hooting of the owls delivering the mail came over the room, and Hermione paid the daily prophet's owl.
The main title was written in bright red: "Tristan Nott: murdered! Another victim of the death eaters?"
Hermione started to read through the article with great interest. There wasn't much about the murder itself: the corpse had been found by muggles, not so far from the Leaky Cauldron. The victim had been stabbed like the two other men before.
"- Another death eater found dead. He's the third one found since the beginning of the school year."
Hermione only nodded and soon enough, Ron and Harry talked about Quidditch again.
Hermione looked to the Slytherin table, where Theodore Nott was trembling, clenching a parchment in his hands.
As Severus was about to go back to his dungeons, preparing the classes to the students, Blaise Zabini, his godson, suddenly sprung to him.
"- Severus, could I come and visit you tonight?"
Severus looked at Blaise. He was a loner, not having many friends, actually only one of them, another seventh year boy with weedy blond hair, Basil; but Blaise was smart and quite handsome. He didn't need Severus's advices often, but when he needed one, it meant that he was in a crisis situation.
Severus looked at him and nodded.
"- Eight o'clock in my quarters."
Blaise nodded and turned around, going back to the great hall, where his girlfriend was waiting.