A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and responses to this story. I really appreciate them. As always, thanks to Jocelyn, who has been helping me through a number of problems. (And I'm still scratching!)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hermione supposed she must have stared at Severus Snape for five solid minutes until she found her voice. And even then, she did not believe he had just said what she had just heard. "What?"

Snape closed his eyes and repeated quietly, "I want Harry Potter."

Her blood began to thunder in her ears, and she didn't even realize she was backing away from him. "You…you…"

Severus frowned at her. "You must hear me out, Hermione. I need Potter's help… ."

"No." She shook her head vigorously. "No. I… never. There's no way."

His eyes narrowed. "This is not the time to let sentiment cloud your judgment."

"Sentiment!" she blurted, feeling the first tingle of hot anger rising in her chest. "You talk about sentiment, when you want me to help you do something like that to my best friend! You are OUT OF YOUR BLOODY MIND if you think I'd ever let you do that!"

"Potter is the only one capable of aiding me in this, Hermione!" Severus shouted, grabbing her by the arms. She tried to pull away, feeling furious and used, but he tightened his grip. "Think, woman! I wouldn't ask this of you if I were not certain it was the only way to destroy the last Horcrux."

"Only way, my foot!" Hermione snapped, wrenching her arms free and pacing away from him. "We've destroyed the other Horcruxes without his help—get one of the Aurors! Or even Professor McGonagall—she knows more about the things than Harry does! And we need Harry to fight Voldemort—or have you forgotten? We can't risk him that way, and I'm disgusted you'd think I'd even consider going along with it!"

"He is the only one in the Order who speaks Parseltongue!" Snape shot back. Hermione froze. He nodded grimly. "That is why I need him. If I go after Nagini alone, I will almost certainly blow my cover. I cannot lure the serpent. She does not understand me. Potter has a chance."

She felt sick. Her heart was pounding, her stomach churning, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "Or she'll do to him what she did to Ron's dad," she choked out furiously. "And we can't afford that. Even if I could ever bring myself to help you… you'd never convince him, Severus! You'd have to…god…" She stumbled over to Draco's sofa and sat down heavily, shaking her head at the enormity of what Snape was suggesting. "You'd have to Stun him or hex him or tie him up just to get him to go with you. Let alone get him to sit still long enough for you to explain everything, and even then he won't believe you!"

"I know."

"THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLANNING!" she screamed, jumping up again. "YOU BLOODY BASTARD, YOU LIED TO ME!"

"I have NOT lied to you!" Severus roared back, starting toward her, but she pointed her wand at him.

"You don't plan to explain anything! Harry still has Voldemort poking around in his head, not to mention that you haven't a prayer of convincing him that you didn't murder Headmaster Dumbledore! You'd have to Imperio him to make him cooperate and drag him along with you to go after Nagini! What do you have in mind? A Potion? A spell, so he can't think for himself? Or just beat it out of him?" She was being vicious and irrational, and she knew it, but she didn't care. "How are you planning to make him go along with you?"

Through clenched teeth, Severus answered, "I will simply refuse him any other option. If you used the wits you were supposedly born with, you would realize there are other ways to accomplish bringing a reluctant party around than brute force."

She was shaking with anger. "You're a liar," she hissed. "Once you take Harry, there won't be time for that… the hue and cry from the Order once he's disappeared will mean you'd have to act fast. You'd have to force him."

"I can convince him," Snape growled.

Hermione shook her head, her mind racing. "You want me to be rational. When have you ever been rational towards Harry? When have you ever shown him any consideration even when there was NOTHING he'd done wrong—I don't believe you!" She moved away from him again. She didn't want him to touch her ever again. "You've NEVER passed up a chance to hurt him, no matter what was at stake!"

"YOU are being hysterical and unreasonable!" Snape shouted, balling his fists.

"Am I? Let's see!" she sneered, raising her hand and counting off the tips of her fingers. "Teaching Defense, teaching Potions, teaching Occlumency: no matter what you taught him you couldn't control yourself from harassing him, fighting him right after he saw you kill Dumbledore, baiting his godfather to his death… !"

"Black's death was not my fault!"

"You had a hand in it!" she retorted. "You never really tried to work with Harry or any of his family, so why should I think for one moment that you're willing to do it now when you've got him entirely under your control?"

Breathing heavily, Severus glared at her. "I had hoped," he said tightly. "That after our… experiences… you would be willing to take me at my word. And that whatever my dislike of Potter, I would not lightly take any consideration towards you."

"I…" she broke off, confused and frightened. Severus watched her as she resumed pacing Draco's sitting room. "This isn't… this is Harry's life we're talking about. I can't just gamble it. Not by betraying him," she murmured.

"You would be acting in the interests of the Order," Severus pointed out.

"Harry's by far the most important person in the Order, whatever you think about my sentiments," she retorted. "He's too important to risk!"

More calmly, Severus told her, "I would not send him after the snake alone."

Hermione looked straight at him. "But you can't promise he won't be hurt or worse." Severus dropped his eyes, and she shook her head. "Severus…I'm sorry." She now regretted the things she'd said. Screaming at him had accomplished nothing, and left her with another ache inside along with the one she felt at the very thought of betraying Harry. "I can't do it," she whispered. "Not to Harry. You'd have to…we'd have to attack him. Maybe we could get him to you by some trick, but eventually you'd have to hex him. And I can't."

"A Stunner would not hurt him," Severus muttered, but her scowl warned him not to go down that road. Instead, he informed her, "We have few options open to us. Nagini is the sixth Horcrux. She must be destroyed before the Order… and Potter… can have any chance of defeating the Dark Lord." He regarded Hermione steadily and went on, "I may be able to destroy her without putting Potter in harm's way, but it will almost certainly blow my cover as a spy, making me a fugitive from BOTH sides and eliminating my ability to help the Order… to say nothing of the likelihood of my death." She stiffened, and he nodded curtly. "Or, you can assist me in removing Harry Potter from Hogwarts to a secure location, a safehouse created for me by Dumbledore if that makes you feel any better, where I will be able to lay the situation before him with as little force as possible. And then he and I can pursue the snake together, with far better chance of avoiding detection by the Dark Lord until the task is accomplished, guaranteeing us both far greater chance of survival."

He threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace and looked over his shoulder at her. "I will let you consider it." Then with a flash of green flame, he was gone.

Alone in the room, Hermione sank to the floor, trembling. She was still there when Draco came back two hours later, and gave him quite a scare by sobbing her heart out on his shoulder. But she refused to tell him what was going on, and unlike certain Gryffindor friends of hers, Draco had the sense to realize that ignorance was probably not a bad thing sometimes.

She was a wreck the next day, although she managed to hide it somewhat. Everyone assumed she was just nervous when they went to the Room of Requirement for more Defense practice, and her dismal-as-usual performance seemed to corroborate that.

"What's got into you?" Draco hissed after her abysmal concentration got them both "killed" five minutes into the drill.

She managed to spare a corner of her distracted mind to worry about whether Draco would let slip the condition she'd been in last night; it didn't seem likely at first, but he was so put-out as he sat sulking on the sidelines beside her that she was a little concerned.

But to her relief, he was distracted when first Ginny, then Neville and Susan joined the ranks of the dead, and the group of them pouted together while they wondered whether Ron and Harry would prevail. Twenty minutes later, a good three hours into the "fight", a shout went up from the "Death Eaters" that the "Order" had lost, and Ron and Harry came staggering out, sporting red spots.

Or rather, Ron was dragging Harry out, who was doubled-over and gasping. "What'd you get hit with?" Ginny demanded, jumping up along with the others.

"My elbow," said Ron apologetically. "Sorry, mate."

"Gonna…sick…" Harry croaked, and Hermione pulled her wits together and Conjured him a bucket before the Room of Requirement even had time to react. Then (since Ron, in true best-friendly fashion, had dropped Harry and jumped out of the way when he started retching), she sat next to him and held him half-upright and Vanished away the results. She was satisfied that Harry had taken no serious hurt by the very cross looks he was giving Ron in between heaves.

"Some Chosen One you are," Draco observed. "Can't even keep the ones on your side from taking you out!"

Harry made an obscene gesture at him. "Knock off, you!" Hermione ordered automatically. Ginny laughed.

"Gyuuuhhh…" Harry finally brought the episode to an end, but remained bent over his knees as he Vanished the bucket. "How's it go? With friends like these, who needs enemies?"

"Hey, I told you to back me, not flank me!" Ron protested, and the others laughed, not noticing that Hermione turned dead white.

"Enough of that chatter, you lot!" Moody ranted. "Keep this up and the first group of Death Eaters we meet'll have you all for lunch!"

Vanishing their practice course, Remus bristled. "Alastor, really."

"No point in mincing words, Lupin!"

"No, but let's not exaggerate. Yes, this was the worst practice we've had thus far, but every one of them is improving at the same pace we'd expect of any Auror trainee."

With the exception of me, Hermione admitted to herself. She gave them a sheepish smile, then a dreadful little thought wriggled its way into her brain: But what am I training for anyway? An Order fighter or a spy?

"Granger, are you even listening?"

She blinked at the irate Moody and blushed. "Sorry, what?"

"Ron thought for sure I'd played traitor again," Ginny told Hermione later while they were in the girls' dormitory bathroom. "Really, he knows his strategy, but he's not very creative! Why would they give me the job twice?"

"But there wasn't one this time, was there?" Hermione asked. Ginny shook her head. "I didn't think so."

"Right, but Ron still half-thinks there was. Someday I want to do exactly what he expects just to see if he really does expect it or is just being an obnoxious prat."

Hermione made a face into the mirror as she towel-dried her hair. "Why?"

"You know Ron. Draco's a Death Eater's son, so he must be a traitor. I was the traitor once, so I must be again. He's just… weird that way. And I think it'd be funny."

That dreadful little notion wriggled into her brain again. "What was it like?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Being the traitor?" Ginny pulled a face. "Scared the bloody hell out of me when Remus first broached it. I wouldn't do it at first. He tried to talk me into it, then Moody threatened me, and finally Tonks reminded me to think of practice as a game. An adventure game, I think she said."

"A game?" Hermoine asked doubtfully.

Ginny nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub to do a Hair Removal Charm on her legs. "I hadn't really thought of it this way, but Tonks said a lot of people become Aurors because they want adventure, but in the real world, adventure's dangerous. But in practice, adventure can be fun, so long as you remember the Real World and keep your skills honed." She smiled. "In other words, it's okay to laugh or even cheat. Keeps the others on their toes."

Hermione giggled along with her, but felt cold inside. "So you liked it, in the end?"

Looking sheepish, Ginny nodded. "It was funny, the look on Draco's face. And Harry… ." She grinned wickedly at Hermione. "How many of us can boast we've ever got the jump on the Great Harry Potter?"

Hermione burst into tears.

Once she'd persuaded Ginny that she was merely overtired and frustrated by her poor performance in practice and anxiety about the war, Hermione decided that there was no way she could carry on like this. And she couldn't exactly confide in anyone in the Order. However enraged she sometimes felt towards Snape for putting this on her shoulders, she knew she couldn't risk telling anyone. Even if she could bring herself to betray his trust in her that way.

And he wants me to betray Harry's trust in the worst way of all. The only worse thing would be if I handed him over to Voldemort!

And yet, it wasn't the same, her rational side argued. Severus was not on Voldemort's side, even if nobody except Hermione and Draco knew it. He would not harm Harry… not the way Voldemort or Lucius Malfoy would, at any rate. He would explain things to Harry and then, when they went after Nagini, do everything he could to protect him.

But would he? Really?

Severus had never cared about Harry. There had been times in the past… the recent past… when she'd even begun to agree with Harry and Ron's muttered suggestions that Snape actively hated him. And for all things had changed between Severus and herself… there was no reason at all for Snape's feelings about Harry Potter to have changed.

Could she trust him with her best friend, knowing their past? Hell, could she trust Harry not to try to kill Severus?

If I had seen what Harry saw and been treated the way Harry's been, who's to say I wouldn't grab the first chance I could to do away with him, she thought in a rush of horror.

Harry. Severus. Severus and Harry. The boy she'd adored like a little brother (though she doubted he realized the "little" part) for seven years, and the man she…

Hermione shivered. Harry alone with Severus, both of them cut off from the Order and anyone else who even knew what was happening and could help them. Entirely dependent on each other for survival.

That didn't seem like a very good idea. It seemed more like a disaster guaranteed to happen.

Half of the object of her fearful musing stepped out from behind Hagrid's hut as she wandered the grounds, and she jumped. "Should you be so close to the school?" she asked Severus.

"I was not certain you would come if I sent a message," he replied, his voice devoid of emotion.

She sighed. "Let's go somewhere safer."

They wound up in one of the greenhouses, and Hermione noticed there were indeed hummingbirds buzzing among the flowers. "Do they still live here, then?"

"No. Their nesting site was moved after the Headmaster's death so I could make use of them as messengers as I have with you," Severus replied. His stance was carefully neutral.

She looked at him and sighed. "We have to find another way to kill Nagini. I can't turn on Harry."

"Aiding him in destroying the last Horcrux and bringing him one step closer to the destruction of the Dark Lord is not turning on him," Severus replied.

"You know what I mean!" she said, frustrated. "He should choose the risks for himself, not have them forced on him." Desperately, she stepped towards Severus. "Let me talk to him! Let's tell Draco or maybe Professor McGonagall! We could explain the Horcrux first before bringing you into it, then he might be more inclined to listen!"

To her surprise and annoyance, Severus heard her out with calm patience, rather like the parent of a hyper child. "And how do you propose to persuade Minerva without her calling in the entire Order against us both, which would undoubtedly land you and Draco in Azkaban for aiding the enemy, and myself either dead or fully cut off, as well as our best chance to kill the snake lost."

Shivering, she muttered, "She'll listen to reason. She'll have to."

"Why?"

"Stop it!" Hermione shouted, and Severus pursed his lips.

"I am not mocking you."

"You're not succeeding in not mocking me," she retorted, angry and frustrated.

But Severus suddenly seemed just as frustrated. "Do you think I did not anticipate your feelings? Do you think I did not spend days trying to determine a less-frightening, less-dangerous alternative before I approached you? Do you think I have so little concern for you that I would put you in this position lightly?" He scowled at her and looked away, "Or perhaps you do. Perhaps you still regard me as incapable of human emotion or consideration for others."

"That's not fair," Hermione said.

"We're at war, woman!" he snapped. "Nothing in this filthy, vicious universe is fair! You who shrink at the thought of forcing your friend to accept reality, you know NOTHING of unfairness! I KILLED my best friend, Hermione! At his orders, at his pleading, I murdered him, the one man I trusted and who truly trusted me. For the sake of ending this war and the threat of the Dark Lord's dominance once and for all, I murdered the one man in the world I have ever truly called a friend."

Her throat tightened, and it was several moments before she could talk. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Severus had swung away from her, keeping her behind him as he trembled in anger and other emotions, but finally, he seemed to deflate. Then he turned back to her. "Forgive me. I should not have told you that."

"It's true? About Dumbledore?"

"You know it is."

"I don't mean the facts," she said quietly, and when she saw the look on his face, she stepped forward and put her arms around him. It wasn't so much passion as consolation. "I am sorry," she told him. "I wish you hadn't had to…"

"But I did. Because there was no other way."

She walked away from him, studying the hummingbirds as they flitted between the flowers and up to a small opening in the greenhouse roof. "I'm not like you," she whispered. "Or Harry and the others. I'm not that strong." She laughed and sobbed at the same time. "I got 'killed' in practice today again. I always get killed. Even Harry 'died' today. I don't know if any of us can get through this! We're just…"

"You are not a child. Potter and the others may well be, but you are not."

Hermione looked over her shoulder at him. "Are you so sure or are you just saying that to excuse yourself for kissing me?" she asked snidely. To her astonishment, he colored, and she heard herself laughing.

More astonishing still, he smiled, looking almost sheepish. "It would not be the first time I have made a grievous error in judgment. But you? Do you not consider yourself a woman capable of controlling her own destiny?"

"Funny how you turn things back on people."

"You asked for it," he replied without remorse, and she sighed.

"I'm an adult." She looked seriously at him. "But sometimes I don't know whether Harry is or not… and he makes Moody seem rational sometimes."

"You will do it?"

"I don't know!" she burst out. "I don't know if I can! Severus, I… I love him!" He didn't react. They both knew she didn't mean it any way but platonically. "For so long, he and Ron, they've been… everything. More than family." Her fists balled in response to a sickening surge of horror at the thought of losing either of them. "But Harry especially, he's… he's always in so much danger, and he's such a little boy sometimes, he has no idea what he's getting himself into and too ruddy brave for his own good… ." She gulped down a sob. "We're at our best when we're together. If I do this to Harry… " Everything will change. We'll never get it back. Even if it all works out, nothing will ever be the same after I do this to him.

"It may shock you, but I do understand." She looked at him and decided he was telling the truth. It made her wonder if he'd ever had anyone else he'd called a friend. She wondered a lot of things about him, including whether she'd ever have the leisure to learn more about this strangely magnetic, dark, tortured, courageous man.

She shook her head. This is NOT the time. "I have to think," she mumbled.

"We do not have much time."

"I have to think!"

Severus relented. "Walk toward Hagrid's again when you wish to see me. I'll be watching."

"Be careful," she blurted. His black eyes burned into her from the doorway, and then he was gone again.

Despite the steamy heat of the greenhouse, she shivered.

They had only one practice the next day, since Luna and Neville both got concussions and Harry practically shattered his hip in a fall off a roof.

"What he was doing on the roof in the first place remains to be seen," Ginny groused in the Hospital Wing while Madam Pomfrey treated them all.

Hermione got killed again, but she was the only one who escaped needing a Healer.

She sat on the bed next to Harry's and stared at him so intently that Ginny started to frown at her. (Ginny had long since dismissed the idea of Hermione as a romantic threat, but the older girl's odd behavior was triggering some basic girlfriend instincts.) For his own part, Harry didn't notice.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he grunted as Madam Pomfrey repaired the various breaks in his leg.

"The roof?" Ron was laughing.

"Well, it worked!" Harry protested, grinning weakly.

"Right he is," Moody said, giving them all a cursory check-over. "Got the job done, even if it cost him." (Harry had taken out more than half the Death Eaters before someone spotted him, and it hadn't even been a hex that got him off the roof… he'd lost his balance and fallen. The "Order" team had still won.)

White-faced and sweating, Harry nonetheless managed to grin triumphantly at the others. "See? Worth it… maybe." He hissed again.

"Almost done," Madam Pomfrey said. "I must say, Mr. Potter, you've become a much better patient."

"That's only because he's high on glory," Ginny replied cheerfully, blotting Harry's face.

"Potter'll need to get creative," Moody was saying to a dismayed Remus. "Boy's at the center of this, there's no getting around it. Be glad he's got twice the instincts of the rest of this sorry lot!" With one more rather scathing look at Hermione, he stumped out.

"There," said Madam Pomfrey, patting Harry's hand.

"Thanks. I'm just gonna pass out for a minute," Harry groaned, closing his eyes. The others grinned, and Hermione noticed Ginny looking at her.

"You all right?" she asked, somewhat sternly.

Hermione dropped her eyes, then looked in the direction of Moody. Fortunately, Susan came to her rescue. "Don't mind him. We're not all cut out for it like Harry."

"It's not what he said about me," Hermione mumbled. "It's…" she looked at Harry helplessly.

Ginny blinked, then her face grew comprehending. It wasn't quite the right conclusion, that Hermione was worried about Harry being at the center of the war, but Hermione supposed it wasn't that far from the truth. Harry was about to be, a lot sooner than anyone thought.

What does that mean? You haven't said yes to Severus yet.

Yet.

That afternoon, she walked to Hagrid's hut, feeling stiff and robotic like someone whose movement… and entire life… had gone completely out of her control.

Severus met her behind the little house, looking at her with an expression that might almost be called sympathetic.

She didn't mince words. "Don't hurt him," she whispered. "Don't you dare hurt him."

Snape bristled. "I have no intention of harming him."

"You know that's not what I mean," she snapped, wiping her face. "Don't hurt him."

He scowled, but she matched his glare. She was crossing a line in doing this, and there wasn't any point in wavering now. "We will be pressed for time, Hermione. I'll do all I can to protect him from danger, but it may not be possible to wait until Potter 'comes around.'"

"You do what you have to do," Hermione hissed, "and no more. I know full well how it's been with you two ever since you met him, no matter what was at stake, and I'm not bringing him to you for you to treat him that way now after kidnapping him. Don't you dare hurt him, Severus! I love him! Don't you dare!"

Snape jaw was working, either in indignation at her trying to threaten him or in surprise at her fierceness, but he slowly replied, "I am aware of the position you are putting yourself in, Hermione. If you are trusting me with your friend, I will not abuse it."

She stifled a sob. "What do I do now?"

"Can you persuade him to walk with you to the greenhouse?" he asked quickly.

"I think so," she choked out. "When?"

"Today, if possible," Severus said, so calmly that he might have been discussing an appointment for tea. "The sooner he is with me, the sooner I can explain things to him. Hermione… I will explain to him your involvement. He will know you have not betrayed him."

I wish I could believe you. Hermione feared Severus was underestimating just how stubborn her friend was. And what it would take to bring him around.

"Don't hurt him," she whispered again.

Severus sighed, looking like he was trying to keep his patience with her emotions. "I won't."

Now her only remaining hope was that they'd all be surrounded by the Order for the rest of the day with no chance of escaping on her own, with or without Harry, again, but it was not to be. She returned to Gryffindor Tower to hear the happy news that the students had been given the rest of the day free.

"I say we've earned it," Harry crowed, marching around the common room to test his leg.

"How is it?" she asked numbly, gesturing to his hip.

He shook it experimentally. "Fine. Shaky a bit, but getting better. Luna and Neville are still asleep."

A little prickle of concern wormed its way into her self-pity and horror at what she was about to do. "Are they okay?"

Ginny waved dismissively. "They're fine. Skull-Mending Potion makes you sleepy. It's been a few hours now; they should be up anytime. Susan and Ron're with them."

Harry eyed Hermione then. "Where've you been anyway?"

"Out walking," she managed to say. He frowned; her voice had cracked. "To the greenhouses… they're nice and they have hummingbirds and flowers… nice place to think," she babbled. "Have you ever seen a hummingbird before?"

"A hummingbird? No," Harry said, looking curious. She nearly started to cry right there, seeing him innocently wondering about them… and probably wondering about her too. "In the greenhouses?"

"Yeah, didn't Hagrid tell you? You should come see them. They're pretty," she rambled on. Say no, please, say no, say nosaynosayno…

"Sure," Harry said, glancing at Ginny. Whatever misgivings his girlfriend had had this morning, apparently they'd been assuaged and she made no protest or even a request to go with them.

Worse than that, actually. "I'll go check on Neville and Luna," she said.

"Meet us at the greenhouses after?" Harry suggested.

"Sure! I'd love to see the hummingbirds. I didn't think we had them in this country!"

"We don't," Hermione managed to reply. "Dumbledore used to keep them. The greenhouses… warm and all… "

Ginny smiled cheerfully and trotted down the stairs ahead of them, waving over her shoulder as she headed off for the Hospital Wing.

Oh Ginny…I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…

Harry ambled along with her, apparently untroubled by anything, until they were outside, then he glanced at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she squeaked. The walk to the greenhouse was taking both too long and not long enough. She wanted to run away screaming.

Harry slowed down a little. "Hey… don't be mad, but Ginny says you're worried about me."

"She does?"

"Hermione," Harry sped up a little to walk in front of her and make her look at him. He couldn't imagine how that tormented her. "You don't… you don't have to be that scared for me. I'm not going to die. Well, not without a fight anyway," he grinned at her, obviously hoping the joke would cheer her up, but it didn't. He looked dismayed when her lip trembled and she started walking faster.

The greenhouse was looming in front of them when he grabbed her arm. She couldn't look at him anymore. "I know, Harry, I do, I just… " I'm just going to help someone you hate kidnap you and terrify the Order into thinking Voldemort's got you and…

"You can't protect me," he said seriously, suddenly looking much older than she generally thought of him. He looked like an Auror now, ready for a fight, and that made her stare at him. "I don't want you to. I've seen why you keep getting killed at practice. I'm not going to do anything stupid. You can trust me."

I can trust you… but you can't trust me. Hermione shuddered violently and started walking around the greenhouse. One step… another… with Harry innocently trailing after her, probably expecting her to break down and tell him what was really bothering her or maybe start lecturing him about his recklessness, when in reality he was coming one step closer every second to being attacked… oh god…

They were there. "Harry," she croaked, forcing herself to meet his concerned green eyes. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! "Listen. There's one Horcrux left."

Harry blinked, startled. "I know. Nagini, everyone thinks."

"It is Nagini. I know it," she told him, starting to shake. Any minute now. Harry stared at her, wondering how she was so sure, no doubt. "And I… listen. This is important." Her voice was rising in pitch, and Harry was growing alarmed, but she couldn't wait. "You have to trust now, Harry. Trust me. Trust that I'd never, never do anything to hurt you. And…" Footsteps were coming. She was expecting them, and heard them. Harry didn't. "Trust Dumbledore," she gasped out. "Trust the things he told you! Believe him! Believe me!"

"Hermione!" Harry grabbed her shoulders. "What's the matter? What're you saying?"

She sobbed and hugged him, fiercely, feeling him return it in confusion. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him as hard as she could. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!

When she opened her eyes, looking over Harry's shoulder, Severus was there. She sucked in her breath, and he simply nodded.

It's time.

She stepped back, her face soaked. "Trust me," she whispered again.

Her best friend was still staring at her in confusion when Severus stepped on a twig. Harry spun around and grabbed for his wand, but Snape was ready for him.

"Expelliarmus!"

Even though she knew this was inevitable, Hermione screamed. The spell sent Harry's wand flying, and Harry threw an arm out behind him to knock her away, sending her stumbling to the ground a few feet from them. "Hermione, RUN!"

"Stay where you are, Potter," Severus ordered.

On her hands and knees, Hermione was frozen, until she looked down and saw Harry's wand, right there in front of her. She heard a noise from up by the castle and saw several figures coming from the door. Seeing what was happening at the greenhouses, they started running.

But Severus was looking at her, and noticing that, Harry looked at her too. And at last, he realized what was going on. The shock on his face cut straight to her heart as his mouth opened and he wavered, unsure of what to do. "Hermione?" he breathed, seeing his wand at her feet.

She picked it up and rose. Standing up to be counted, as it were. Harry went rigid in horror. "Hermione…" he repeated, too shocked to react. "Hermione, no…"

Harry's wand shook in her hand as she held it out… to Severus. Harry was shaking too now, his green eyes burning her with betrayal. "Please," he whispered. "Hermione…"

Voices were yelling now from behind them. Severus pointed his own wand at Harry as Hermione stood by, not raising her own or lifting a finger to stop him.

"Stupefy."

Harry was still staring at her in disbelief when his consciousness fled and he dropped limply to the ground.

She'd stopped sobbing, although she still stood there shivering with tears running down her face as Severus hauled Harry over his shoulder. He met her eyes, and she whispered plaintively, once more, "Don't hurt him."

He said nothing, but gripped the Portkey in his hand. She could hear Ron and Luna's voices now, screaming out warnings and pleas as they ran towards the greenhouses, but with a flash of light and color, Severus and Harry were gone.

Alone now with witnesses rushing towards her, Hermione sank to her knees on the grass, wiped her eyes, and waited for the axe to drop.

I guess that's the fitting thing for a traitor.

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