Sorry for the long wait. School sucks and that's my only excuse. That and the play madness my school has been going through. Half the cast had to be replaced in Earnest. And to top everything off, I got my first flame today. But enough complaining, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Swell Kwanzaa and a Beautiful New Year!

Chapter 18: Open Arms

PHANTOM (very soft and enticing)
Wandering child . . .
so lost . . .
so helpless . . .
yearning for my
guidance . . .

-Wandering Child, The Phantom of the Opera

Days passed at the Headquarters. People still worked, plans were still being put into motion, but for the three most important people, time had stopped when Hermione had begun to slip away.

The Dark Lord was at her bedside nearly night and day, not allowing anyone in while he was there save for his most trusted advisors. And even when he wasn't there, Severus and Lucius were. It seemed that Lucius was almost compensating for the loss of his son through Hermione. Strange, but true. And yet, hardly anyone knew of Hermione's condition. It was feared that if word got out about the Dark Lord's failing Horcrux Potter would come running to finish him off. But even without anyone realizing it, a presence of uncertainty had settled over the Headquarters.

This time was the worst for Snape. He was there through it all, when Hermione became so frightened she would faint, when she insulted him like no one in the world could and times when she almost seemed…normal.

They talked, mostly. About before she'd been captured, about everything. He comforted her when the racking pains came, slept when she slept and ate when she ate. They were almost becoming one, it was hard to distinguish where he ended and she began.

But all their serenity together ended when she started her fits. Horrible fits when the only thing that could be heard in the abandoned ward were the echoes of her screams. Her soul was weakening; she was herself less of the time. Severus feared that the final battle for her was coming.

But he remained. Until he got the urge, an irresistible urge to leave her. To go to his rooms. For no reason at all, but he had to go.

He wasn't even sure if it was of his own volition he rose from his seat next to Hermione and went up the flights of stairs to his penthouse. The door opened for him and closed behind him, and out of the shadows, Draco appeared.

"Severus," his face was deeply creased by worry. "What's wrong?"

Severus grabbed the boy and they embraced like a father to a son. He pulled away when he noticed they had an audience.

Weasley and the Boy Who Lived were sitting on his couch, staring at him as if he'd grown a few heads.

"How much have you told them?" He asked Draco, nodding his head at the pair.

"Not much. Hardly anything. Just that Hermione was released and is safe."

"Shit." He turned again to face Draco. "Do you want me to tell the rest?"

"Considering you were the one here, I think you'd better."

"What are you two babbling about?" Ron was more than suspicious and his fingers were curling around his wand at his side.

"Hermione is…" how was he going to put this? "She's a Horcrux." He rushed the last part out.

"She's a what?"

"A Horcrux. That's why she was taken. The Dark Lord knew that you had gained knowledge of Horcruxes and their importance to his defeat. He only has two left and he figured that if one of them was hidden in your best friend, you would rather die than kill her yourself."

Harry remained silent, only looked at Severus, signaling him to go on.

"So he put her under Lucius' care. And Lucius, in effort to…make her useful seduced her into the Dark Arts," Snape was not looking at Harry now, but rather past him. "He had her perform Dark Magic and then…he consummated her change."

"How?" Harry's tone left no room for wheedling out of the question.

"He made her desire him, used her new sexual urges to get her to sleep with him."

Ron leaned over the couch and threw up on the dark carpet.

"So, I have to kill her." Harry asked darkly, ignoring Ron.

"Actually, you might not have to," Severus stole a look at Draco. "She's already dying."

"Since when?" Draco broke in. "Are the souls…"

Snape nodded. "The souls are at war."

"Is there any chance hers will win?" Draco asked solemnly.

"There was, until recently. She's started having the fits."

"Already? But it's only been…"

"Nine months. Long enough for the soul to present itself and the host's soul to realize its presence. And then, just to speed things along, Lucius told her she was Horcrux which alerted her conscious of the invasion. She's fading fast."

"I'm going to see her." Harry rose from the couch and started for the door. "I have to see her."

Draco grabbed his shoulders to hold him back. "Potter, calm down! The Dark Lord may think I'm dead, but that doesn't change the fact that he was alerted when I came onto the grounds. I'm surprised he isn't bursting down the doors already." He looked at Severus with a questioning eye.

"Hermione was his project, his baby. Secretly, even though an eviction of Hermione's soul would have been better for the plan, he refused to do it. A lot of it was a matter of leverage, Harry would have no qualms about killing Hermione's body if her soul no longer inhabited it. But more of it had to do with the fact that an intermingling of the souls would allow for an almost indestructibly charming, intelligent dark witch. He's afraid that her soul will win or she will die. He's been in mourning for the past week and a half. Even the news of your death didn't lift his spirits."

"Then there's no doubt he's far gone now." Draco muttered under his breath. "And Lucius? Where is the bastard?"

Severus did not answer at once. He pressed his lips into a thin line and looked Draco square in the eyes. "He took the news hard. I think he's trying to compensate for his loss by associating his feelings for you with Hermione. He has hardly left her bedside since he took the news."

Draco reacted as if Harry and Ron were not in the room. "Feeling guilty after the fact, huh? Better late than never I suppose."

"Draco, I won't make excuses for your father, he is a deranged man, a sick man. He's ambitious, ruthless and enigmatic, a deadly combination. But beyond all of that, he loved you. He wanted what he thought was best for you. You have to remember that, and eventually, you have to forgive him. One day, very soon, he will be gone. And you can't go on hating him forever."

"Yes, I can."