A/N I'd like to thank Phaet (who is probably banging her head on the keyboard at my massacre of English again). Phaet, I'll buy you a new red pen.
I'd also like to thank Hannah, who has to put up with me ranting and raving 4 out of 5 days of the week at college.
Kiri
Chapter 2 The Truth Will Out.
"This is ridiculous!" Severus Snape snapped as he paced the small enclosed space that was Hermione's sleeping chambers. The other man merely raised his eyebrow in amusement as he watched the tall, dark-haired man worry the floor.
"Relax, Severus."
"She did hex me," Snape retorted, just as the young witch on the bed stirred.
Hermione opened her eyes and glanced round the room, muttering that it had all been a dream and she was hoping beyond hope. Snape snorted at her comments, which drew her gaze to his face.
"It wasn't a dream, I am afraid, Miss Granger," the other male in the room said, approaching the bed and taking her hands in his.
"But how?" she whispered, crying softly, clinging to his hands as if they were a lifeline which would vanish and leave her to drown. "Your body... I saw it! Harry told me what happened, what he saw!" By now, Hermione was crying freely and the man's face softened immensely. Snape merely rolled his eyes as he slumped elegantly into an over-stuffed chair at the opposite side of the room.
"Polyjuice Potion," Snape sneered at her, like she was a student again. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. He had a cold, haughty, superior look in his black eyes. How she wanted to wipe that smug look off his face.
"If that is the case, how do I know you are who you say you are now? How do I know you're not really some... some Death Eater?" Hermione said snatching her hands out of the man's grip.
Snape snorted at her.
"Think, girl!" he spat at her.
"Professor Dumbledore?" she asked tentatively. The man – Dumbledore – nodded, his eyes twinkling as Hermione threw herself onto him, sobbing for all she was worth.
"There, there, Miss Granger," he said, petting her back softly.
"So Snape didn't kill you? What happened?"
"Are you ready to know?" Dumbledore asked; his face suddenly serious. Hermione nodded and he stood up and paced to the window, gazing out into the moonlit garden below.
"Severus came to me at the start of your seventh year and told me how he was forced to make an Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa Malfoy, to help Draco should he fail in the task that Voldemort had set him – to kill me. Suffice it to say, Draco did fail, but the loss was not something he expected." He turned to face the room once more and the occupants shifted their gaze to him. Hermione's was one of disbelief while Snape portrayed casual boredom.
"You know that I was often not at Hogwarts that year?" She nodded, staying silent for fear of stopping him from telling his tale. "As Harry has probably told you, I was searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes. Unfortunately, I met with a rather upsetting accident. I was kidnapped; Voldemort sent Peter Pettigrew to take my place and lead Harry to his death in the cave containing the fake Slytherin locket."
"Unluckily, or perhaps luckily," Snape drawled, picking up the story, "Wormtail didn't manage to kill Potter; it seems he owed the irritating boy a life debt. Instead, he took him back to Hogwarts, so the Death Eaters could kill him there."
Dumbledore nodded and continued his narrative. "I was taken to the cellar of Riddle Manor, where Voldemort proceeded to torture me for information on... various subjects." Hermione winced to hear him speak about what happened to him as casually as one would comment on the weather.
"I killed Wormtail, thinking he was Albus." Snape continued the story at this point and Hermione switched her attention to her former Potions Professor. "The Dark Lord was pleased with me; it had been a test of my loyalty, you see. The Dark Lord had begun to doubt my obedience to him, which can usually end in several nasty ways. The first clue that all was not what it seemed was when he ordered Bellatrix and Narcissa to release me from the Vow – I thought it was strange that he would order this, since Albus was already dead. But then, Voldemort was never known for his predictability, and I thought nothing more of it." He sounded bitter, and Hermione thought that she could pick up a hint of apology in his tone.
No; not from Snape
"I noticed, of course, the conspicuous absence of Wormtail, but I assumed that he had failed his master and was being punished once again." The derision was thick in Snape's voice as he spoke. "However, late that summer, Malfoy let it slip that Dumbledore wasn't co-operating, and he requested a vial of Veritaserum. Of course, I was not present in the room, but the other Death Eaters," the last was said with rich sarcasm, "had been careful not to mention anything of the matter to me, apparently fearing my loyalty even after their master had said otherwise. While they were occupied, I slipped down to the cellar and saw Albus."
"He rescued me and we Apparated to a secure location I knew of, where Severus proceeded to heal me. It took many months for me to regain my strength," Albus finished.
Hermione was staring at the pair in disbelief. "Why didn't you contact Harry? Let him know you were alive?" she demanded, a flash of her famous temper visible through her forcibly calm demeanour.
"I could not. The Death Eaters had their spies in Harry's group – yes Miss Granger you werebeing spied upon – and I could not risk Tom knowing that I was still alive. He assumed I had died through my injuries, as death itself was knocking upon the door shortly before my escape." Albus at Snape, "had to find the locations of the remaining Horcruxes and send word of them to Harry."
"So that was you?" Hermione breathed, shocked. They had always wondered who had been sending the mysterious messages with the information they needed, rightwhen they had needed it. Dumbledore merely nodded; an amused twinkling in his eyes.
"Why now? Why do you choose now after all this time? And why... why me? Why not Harry?"
"Because Harry is in danger."
