Dark Days Chapter One – Beginnings

They moved on silent feet through the trees and undergrowth, twenty-two people in all. The two leaders, one tall and dark the other small and fair were in the centre, the others on either side scanning the woods for trouble. The maps they carried magically marked off the areas they had already searched, and they moved determinedly to the places as yet unsearched.

One man, small and wiry came crashing back through the tangled branches to stop before the tall man in the centre.

"Sir, Death Eaters have been sighted not two miles east!"

The man cursed and his companion turned to him disapprovingly, "Swearing won't help we'll just have to move faster."

He glared at her, "I'm aware of that Miss Granger, but had it occurred to you that we have yet to find the blasted muggles?"

She grinned at him, "You haven't called me that in years Professor Snape. Are we regressing?"

In spite of himself he smiled back, "Maybe I'm channelling? I think we need to divide our party, some to head off the enemy, others to find the muggles? Agreed?"

She nodded, "Agreed. Dennis would you go and gather the others around please, I think we need a brief council of war."

The little man sped away and soon others emerged from the trees to surround the pair. Finally Dennis arrived back followed by his brother Colin and Severus began to outline the new plan.

"Things have changed, Death Eaters have been sighted and we need to head them off to allow us to find and rescue the remaining muggles. I'll remind you how important this is. One of those muggles has vital information about the enemies new weapon. We must find them before the Death Eaters do. I hardly need add how many people will die before we can find the cure ourselves if this mission is unsuccessful! Everyone left of Dennis will therefore come with Hermione and myself to hold them back while the rest of you continue looking. When you find them make port-keys and get them safely to the rendezvous point. If our information is correct there should be ten of them out there, so get two each and take them away. Don't try to wait for others, just get two and go. We can't afford to waste time and lives on heroics. Any questions?"

"How many Death Eaters are there?"

"Enough, there looked to be fifty at least."

"What good are seventeen going to be against fifty?" asked Zacharias Wrench.

"We're not here to fight an open battle, just to delay them to give the others time to get away. No-one has the time to go getting delusions of grandeur. Now move, we're wasting time."

The people around him started to disperse, looks of grim determination on their faces. Severus turned to Hermione, "Ready?"

She nodded and they moved out.

There were three burly looking Death Eaters ahead of Hermione and she could hear more moving up behind them. She couldn't hear any of the Order members but she knew that they were close and took comfort in that knowledge. Drawing a deep breath she peered round the trunk of the great oak tree she stood behind, wand at the ready. "Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled, catching two of the three with one spell. The third gave an animal scream of anger and leapt towards her.

More nimble than her opponent she sped away, dodging between trees and under low-hanging branches. The ape-like Death Eater crashed after her, not bothering to dodge branches but instead just crashing right through them.

"Come out pretty," he called in a harsh voice. "Come on now let me have a proper look at that hot little body of yours eh?"

"In your dreams," she spat moving on silent feet round behind him.

"Perhaps you should come out before they become your nightmares…" he threatened, spinning suddenly and aiming a curse directly at her. "Crucio!"

Amazed at his perception she dodged out of the way and the curse missed her. Apparently she had underestimated this one. "Expelliarmus!" she yelled. Her spell missed by inches and she was forced to leap aside to miss another curse.

Grinning he pulled out several wicked looking daggers, "Well now, nimble aren't you? Lets see how many times you can dodge." With that he threw one of the daggers straight at her. Wand up she destroyed it before it hit her but another was already in the air. She ducked and it flew over her head but immediately she was forced to jump to the left to miss the third. As she did so he pulled out his wand and screamed a curse in her direction. A large gash opened across her shoulder and she fell back weakly against the tree behind her. Grinning in triumph he approached her. "Nice little spell, no? The only question is do I leave you here for it to do it's work or kill you quickly?"

Adrenaline surged through Hermione's body and she screamed Expelliarmus at the top of her lungs. His wand flew from his hand and he snarled in anger, kicking her in the ribs. She doubled over gasping for breath. "Not smart!" he breathed pulling her up by her hair.

Glaring at him she jerked her head forwards smashing him in the nose and causing him to let go and stagger backwards, gushing blood. "Stupefy!" she gasped and he crashed gracelessly to the floor. Staggering drunkenly she picked up his wand, snapped it and threw the pieces at him before limping towards sounds of distant fighting, clutching at the gash in her shoulder. With blurred vision she saw her friends begin to disappear from the conflict and she sank down on to a semi-rotten log. Opposite her a tree had fallen crushing someone beneath it, his hand still clutching an ebony wand. Her mind screamed at her to get away but her body was sluggish and reluctant to move. Dimly she could hear people moving closer and she shook her head trying to remove the fogginess from her brain. Haltingly she spoke the apparition spell and everything blurred again. She saw two places at once, their features all mingled. She knew if she could just make herself move towards the other place she would be safe, but it seemed the hardest thing she had ever had to do. With a great effort of will she threw herself forwards, pushing towards the other place. She was temporarily in both places and then the features of one drained away and the others sharpened into focus.

Before her lay the long established rendezvous point of the Order of the Phoenix. A large group of caves that had been discovered several years ago by Harry and Hagrid. There was space inside for hundreds to lie hidden and food and medical supplies were stored there. The muggles had been led to a cave near the back where there were beds and a fresh water supply. Through increasingly blurred eyes she saw Severus standing by the cave entrance talking to an elderly wizard called Urias Kurtz. She tried to walk over to them but found that her legs would no longer support her weight and she tumbled to the floor. Her head hit the ground and she blacked out, a small pool of blood began to form on the rock. Severus heard her cry out as she fell and leapt towards her, followed at a much slower pace by Urias. Several others gathered round, staring down at the young woman lying prone on the floor. Severus gently rolled her over on to her back and placed his cloak under her head.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Urias, his voice full of concern.

"I don't know," Severus answered shortly.

"Is she going to be okay? What happened?

Severus glared at him. "If you'd shut up for a minute I'd be able to find out. Now be quiet and get these gawping idiots out of my way!" The crowd prudently dispersed. Snape's temper was well known and feared. Picking her up easily Snape made his way into the cave to a small side chamber where he set her gently on the narrow bed. Semi-dried blood caked her cheek and her head lolled weakly against the pillow. Her breathing was laboured and the cut on her shoulder resisted all attempts to clean or close it.

"Urias," barked Snape to which the stooped old man came hastening in.

"Yes Severus?"

"Find out which muggle has the information we need. We'll have to question them sooner than intended or Miss Granger may die. It seems she has been afflicted with the same illness as the others we have lost."

"I'll see that they're questioned immediately. How long do we have?" asked the old man.

"I'm going to try to put a stasis charm on Hermione, which in theory should slow the progress of the disease. However judging by the reactions we have seen so far I can hardly delay it for more than a day, and the antidote may take some time to brew. I'd rather not lose her if we don't have to so lets move quickly."

The muggles were all now seated around a large table in one of the roomier caverns of the network, a place usually reserved for council meetings. They looked pale and afraid and the wizards approached them kindly and tried to make this as painless as possible given the circumstances.

"I understand that everything that you have gone through recently entitles you to some rest and not interrogation, so you have my apologies and I will try to make this as brief as I can," said Urias in a gentle tone. "We would not normally ask you to help us this urgently but we have a brave and rather important young woman desperately ill and we believe that one of you may have information that will help us cure her. Can any of you give us any information about the people who were chasing you?"

The muggles looked at each others, expressions of confusion written across their faces. Urias watched them all, peering intently at them as if trying to read their minds. He almost wished that he had become proficient at legimency, although he had never quite agreed with reading other's thoughts, it seemed far too rude. Just then a tiny voice piped up from the back, it was a small girl of about nine with hair so dark as to be almost black and bright piercing eyes.

"I think I know something… maybe… although I don't understand; but perhaps you will?"

Urias smiled encouragingly, "Go on child…"

"Well, I was…" she blushed. "I wanted to explore the house but it wasn't mine see and I knew no-one would let me. So I crept away from the others and picked the lock…"

"You don't want to trust this one, she's a thief and bad through," spat a fat man with red hair then cutting across her. "We've tried to teach her but she's a hopeless case!" The man cuffed the girl around the head and snarled at her, "How dare you speak so openly of your misdeeds, especially in front of your elders and betters!"

At this the tall wizard behind Urias lept forwards, "You sir will keep your hands to yourself if you know what's good for you! Come child," he said reaching out his hand. "Finish your tale."

The small girl hesitatingly took his hand, keeping her eyes downcast. The tall wizard led her to the front of the room to stand in front of Urias before turning to glare at the brash muggle, who was now silently fuming.

"Please Ben, let's not have threats here," said Urias quietly to the tall wizard, "Now my child, what is your name?"

"Chloe," she said in a voice that was almost a whisper."

He smiled encouragingly at her. "Now then Chloe, would you tell me what it was you saw?"

"Well… once I was inside I decided to look around…" she cast a guilty look at the man behind her, still boiling with rage and red in the face for it. "But I didn't take a thing," she said holding out her hands as if in proof. "I 'aint never taken nothing, I just like explorin'."

"Quite natural, quite natural…" murmured Urias comfortingly.

"Anyway, I was upstairs when I heard people come in and I didn't want no-one to find me so I hid in a cupboard see? Then they came into the room where I was hidin'. They were talkin' about lots of things what I didn't understand and they seemed to be talkin' about killin's and I got scared and didn't hear the next bit. But then when I started to listen again the one with the high voice said he was pleased with one of them for this new curse. There was something called Athsat what he talked 'bout, but I don't know what that was, it might be a person or a thing for all I knew. But anyway, he says that from now on they was to teach these people called Death Eaters this new curse, but I can't say the word they used. And they all had to carry little pouches with somethin' in it. It sounded like it was this somethin' what was hurting the people…" she paused for breath.

"Athsat," murmured Urias, "Athsat, why does that sound so familiar?" He got up and began to pace. "Do you remember any more my child?"

"There wasn't much more sir, they left soon after and I fairly well legged it back home see? But I think they said that the antidote was easy so would probably be overlooked, but it needed something added to it to make it work. But I think it must be code because unicorns aren't real are they?" she looked wide eyed up at the tall wizard called Ben. He smiled at her and nodded. Her eyes widened, "Really? Are there really truly unicorns?"

"I must protest!" called the red-faced man then. "This child's head is already full of nonsense without you filling it full of more absurdities!" Ben glared at him and he began to stammer and then fell into silence.

Urias turned back to the child then and smiled, "Thank you my dear, I believe that will be most helpful." He started towards the door, Ben at his heels. Before he got there Ben caught his arm and said in a low voice, "That child has magical blood you know."

"Yes I know, startling that I noticed really I'm usually most unobservant of these things. I think we must keep an eye on her…"

Ben nodded, "I will, you should find Snape and let him know what she said."

Urias gave a curt nod and left to go back to Severus, who was now pacing the small room where Hermione slept, now surrounded by a magical barrier which slowed down time around her and for her.

"Any news?" asked Severus as the old man came in.

"Quite a bit, and incidentally the child who gave it to us will be a witch when she grows up…"

Severus nodded, uncaring. "But the news?" He stopped pacing.

"It seems that somehow they have managed to create a curse that will transfer poison from a pouch which the carry to the wound that they inflict…"

"Interesting, I had not previously considered that possibility before, but that is still little help unless we know the poison."

"I believe I have that too, does Athsat ring any bells?"

Severus looked startled, "Athsat? But that kills instantly!"

"Apparantly transferring it this way slows it down, but it's still efficient enough for my liking! The girl also said that the antidote is a simple potion that is easily overlooked with the addition only of a contribution from a unicorn, I don't know whether hair or horn."

Severus had resumed his pacing. "This is so infuriating, I could have the antidote right under my nose and not know which one it was. And if I make the smallest mistake I could kill her faster!" He stopped suddenly, a smirk coming to his sallow features. "No, surely he would not be so arrogant as to continue that trial?"

"Severus?"

"When I was still his servant I began developing a potion that could be thrown at the enemy and ignited with a simple charm, the antidote for this too was simple, but I still know the ingredients. If they have merely taken this line of investigation further then I have the cure back at the manor." He moved to Hermione's side, grabbed the jug of water that stood on the stool beside her and quickly made a port-key. "I'm taking her to my home, kindly inform Dumbledore where we are and take care of the muggles."

"And the young girl? The one with magical blood?"

Severus shrugged and gently picked up Hermione, "Ask Albus…" then he picked up the port-key and vanished from the room leaving Urias standing feeling rather dazed.

Hundreds of miles away from the caves, two people appeared suddenly in a large hallway, causing a small house elf to almost drop her broom. Of course she was too well trained for that and merely squeaked, "Master Severus sir!" and hurried forwards.

"Get a fire going in my mother's room," barked Snape. "It has to be warm and bright in there!"

"Yes sir!" she squeaked again and dashed off immediately. Severus walked behind her as quickly as he could without jarring the girl in his arms.

When he reached the bedroom the fire was lit and the bedclothes turned back. He laid Hermione gently down and pressed a hand to her forehead, she was burning up and her breathing was becoming more and more laboured. He conjured up a silver bowl of cool water and a cloth and beckoned the house elf.

"Bathe her forehead with this," he said. "I need to go and make the antidote, I'll be in my lab, call me if she gets any worse!"

Down in the cellar room which served as Severus' lab he began opening jars and cupboards pulling out ingredients almost at random it seemed. Yet there was a calm surety about him that immediately conveyed the fact that here he was perfectly in control and knew exactly what he was doing. With a wave of his wand he lit a fire beneath the smallest of the cauldrons in the room and poured in a jug full of clear water which instantly began to simmer. Into this he added two leeches whole and left them there to boil down while he prepared the other ingredients. Finely chopped daisy roots went in next and then a silvery strand of unicorn hair which turned the concoction bright white. Mint and lavender were thrown in almost negligently to turn the potion to a shining lilac, several more things were added and the potion turned from shimmering colour to shimmering colour. Finally Severus lifted the cauldron off the fire and scooped out several test tubes of the now pale blue liquid. Then he left them there to cool while he tidied away, conscious that speed was of the essence but unable to move any faster. When the potion was cool enough to drink he hurried back upstairs. The little house elf was still beside Hermione, holding the cloth against her fevered brow. The girl's movements were slow now, her face pale and she was hardly breathing. In her chest her heart beat erratically and was beginning to slow.

As her master entered the house elf stepped aside and let Severus take her place on the bed. Gently he pulled Hermione into a sitting position and leaned her back against his broad chest, she began to choke as he poured the warm liquid down her throat. Then all movements ceased and Severus waited fearfully, willing her to start breathing again. After a long pause she gave one great gasp and started breathing again, her heart began to beat rapidly and she began to thrash wildly. He held her tight to him as she became more violent still. Gradually her cries and thrashing subsided and her breathing became steadier, her eyes slid briefly into focus and then she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Severus laid her back down on the bed and covered her with a single sheet, she was still feverish and her brow wet with sweat but it was no longer life-threatening. Ripping her top he examined the wound on her shoulder, with a simple spell he was now able to clean the wound and heal it, leaving only a dull brown scar which would hopefully fade with time.

For the rest of the day Hermione drifted in and out of sleep, being forced to drink a foul tasting potion when she woke and she was weak and disoriented, unable to ask where she was or even what had happened. And all day the patient little house elf fussed over her and tried to comfort her master who still seemed worried. Foe two days she lay in that room, she spent most of the second asleep watched over by Severus and his house elf. At dusk on that day she woke to see pale evening light shining through the window and a low burning fire in the grate. She groaned and unsuccessfully tried to rise. Her eyes fluttered open and wandered around the unfamiliar room, the door opened then and a tall man entered on silent feet.

"Severus?" she asked weakly.

"Yes?"

"Where am I?"

"In my home," he said softly.

"How did I get here? What happened? I can't remember," her voice was quiet and dazed.

"The wound you received was poisoned. We didn't have all the ingredients I needed there so I brought you here."

"But wasn't this the one that has been killing people instantly? How did you cure it? How did you find out what it was? What does it do? What is it…?"

"Hermione calm down, you're fine."

"But…"

"No but's," he said. "And no more questions, you're still weak. Now let me have a look at your shoulder."

She struggled into a sitting position and found herself clad in an old-fashioned white night gown. Severus slipped the arm and ran his fingers across the still raised scar.

"There," he said. "You'll be fine. The cut's healing nicely, although you may have a scar." There was a strange expression in his eyes that Hermione didn't recognise. Tenderness? She frowned slightly trying to figure it out.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing." She paused, "Thank you."

"What for?"

"Looking after me," she lightly touched his arm and that expression that puzzled her so flickered across his face once more. He stood up abruptly then, "There's a bath ready for you if you want it. The house elf will show you." He paused a moment before sweeping out of the room, the door closed quietly behind him.

Briefly he leaned back against the door, his heart was in his throat, the way she had touched him then… He allowed himself the smallest amount of hope that maybe one day she would feel for him as he had felt for her for several years now. But then that hope wavered as he told himself that all it had been was the gratitude of a friend.

Hermione looked around the room, feeling stronger already. A small house elf stepped out of the corner.

"Would you like to bathe Miss?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you." The house elf smiled and helped her out of the bed. Hermione began to take not of her surroundings as she was led towards a door on the far side of the room. The bed was a large oak four poster with ivory drapes and pale pink sheets. The room was feminine and lacy and seemed very out of place in Severus' home. There was a large old fashioned dressing table beside the window and a huge oak wardrobe. The door she was led to entered into an elaborate bathroom. This room was also feminine and sophisticated, decorated in deep blue and gold.

"What's your name?" Hermione asked the house elf.

The little elf looked startled, "Tikki Miss."

Hermione smiled, "Would you put some bubbles in the water please Tikki?"

The room filled with a scent of lavender and violets, and huge bubbles filled the air and covered the water with a layer of crystal. As Hermione slid her aching body into the water a cloud of rainbow bubbles shot into the air. She winced as the hot water touched the tender scar tissue on her shoulder, but immersed herself blissfully into the bath nonetheless.

After soaking for almost an hour she slowly climber out and wrapped herself in a thick gold towel. Laid out for her was a dressing gown of ivory silk which she slid into as soon as she was dry and slowly made her way back to the bedroom.

Tikki had changed the sheets on the bed and opened the window just enough to let in a cool breeze. Hermione curled up on the window seat and looked out over a darkening world. A thick pine forest stretched away into the distance and purple mountains towered at the horizon. Immediately beyond the house were well tended gardens and a roaring stream flowed merrily to one side. A knock on the door made her jump and a low silky voice asked, "May I come in?"

She pulled the dressing gown more tightly about her, "Of course."

The door swung open and Severus stepped in, his eyes widened as he saw Hermione clad only in thin silk, but he quickly composed himself; resisting the temptation to begin undressing her with his eyes. He gave himself a mental slap and crossed the room.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Weak and tired, but otherwise alright," she replied.

"It's understandable, you've been very ill. Now, you need to go back to bed and sleep, your body needs all the help it can get to heal itself."

"How long have I been here?" she asked trying to work out what day it was.

"You were brought here yesterday morning."

"Feels like longer," she said wearily rubbing her hand across her eyes.

"Come on," he said. "Bed, you need rest!"

She stumbled as she rose and fell against him. His strong arms wrapped around her and their eyes locked for a moment. She saw those hard eyes soften and the corners of his mouth curl up into a half smile. Then he picked her up easily and carried her to the bed. She rested her head against his shoulder until he laid her softly down. New emotions surged inside her as he covered her up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "Sleep," he said simply and exited the room.

But she didn't sleep for a long time, her mind lingering in his face and the gentle way he had held her. She found that she wished he had stayed. "Oh no you don't missy," she thought to herself then. "Severus is a friend and it's taken a long time for you both to get to that point, don't you dare go complicating matters!" But her mind refused to comply, instead dwelling on the tender way he had looked at her and the soft touch of his hands. The more she thought about it the more she wanted him to come back, and the more she wanted to feel his arms around her again.

"Great Hermione," she said aloud to no-one in particular. "You really know how to make life difficult don't you?"