Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.

Review Responses:

Darth Roden – Hermione does let her over idealistic tendencies cloud her judgement at times and now she'll have to pay for it. Even if its only by the depth of her own guilt. Draco is in a dreadful position and he'll need help to cope with it all at some point but I'm making no promises about whether that help'll come in time to save him a lot of heartache, or worse. Glad you like Dru and Remus, I love them. Thanks for the review:o)

Dark-Lady-Devinity – I'm not suire what to think of the house elf issue personally but I think Hermione's wrong to sweep into a world she does not fully understand and try to change it. So pleased you find Dru strong and dynamic she's a real favourite of mine! Thanks for reviewing!:o)

A/N: Before we get on with the story I'd just like to say wow to book 7! Also, I'm still reeling from her announcement that Dumbledore's gay! And damn it I was wrong about Draco being Snape's son. I am heartbroken over the whole Snape and Lupin dying thing! I will never accept it! Anyway, on with the fic.

Chapter 14

Professor Dumbledore was still awake at his desk when Snape returned to the school and knocked urgently at his door. Unusually, the potions master did not wait for an answer before storming into the office.

Snape wasted no time on longwinded explanations. "We have a problem, headmaster. Kreacher is apparently here at Hogwarts in the kitchens."

Dumbledore to his credit did not question his spy but moved immediately to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder, "Remain here, Severus, I will return momentarily." He threw the powder into the fire and spoke clearly, "Kitchens," before stepping in after it and disappearing leaving the potions master stood in the office.

It was indeed no more than a matter of minutes before the headmaster returned, bringing with him Kreacher, who seemed too much in awe of the headmaster to fight him. Dumbledore set him down on a chair and looked at him gravely. "Kreacher, what brings you to Hogwarts?" his tone was stern but there was a general air of compassion as though he pitied the elf and what his masters had done to him.

The elf shook his head fervently.

"You refuse to say?" Dumbledore continued.

Kreacher merely glared at Dumbledore and Snape in silence.

"Severus, fetch me a truth serum." Dumbledore it seemed did not have time for any negotiations with the elf.

Severus was about to move towards the door when he noticed the grey pallor of the elf's skin. He opened his mouth to mention this to Dumbledore when the elf's eyes drifted closed and he fell from the chair to the floor where he lay completely still.

Dumbledore was beside Kreacher in an instant and scanned him with his wand, "He's dead," the headmaster spoke in surprise. "But I cannot determine how."

Severus frowned and moved to examine the body, performing a series of spells, eventually he spoke, "I think he poisoned himself with a potion that I can't identify without further tests." He sighed, "I should have expected Bellatrix would have had a back up plan for if he was caught!"

"You think he was ordered to kill himself rather than answer our questions?" Dumbledore sounded disgusted at the idea.

"Yes I do. I'll get a blood sample and run some tests to find out what it was that killed him but I'm pretty sure he'll have ingested something, probably the instant you stepped into the kitchen."

Dumbledore sighed heavily and gestured for Severus to sit, "I think you had better explain all this from the beginning, Severus."

Severus sat down tiredly, "After the meeting tonight I spoke with Narcissa Malfoy, she had come to inquire about her husband's incarceration, she mentioned Kreacher in passing and told me he was here. I don't think she even realised I didn't already know at first, apparently this was all Bellatrix's idea. I don't think he was here to harm Harry, I think he was simply supposed to gather information. Also Narcissa admitted to the attack on Miss Weasley."

Dumbledore sank his head into his hands, "Severus, this is three times now they have infiltrated the castle itself, this is supposed to be a haven for the students to keep them safe!"

"The first time it happened was due to our own carelessness, the second was an angry mother acting on her own and I truly believe Narcissa would have wandered up to the school and wreaked revenge in person if she hadn't found another way. As for this time, well I have reason to believe that once again either carelessness or something worse was to blame."

Dumbledore frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Something Narcissa said, she said that someone had seen Kreacher and recognised him but that he had talked her into not telling anyone he was at Hogwarts."

"Talked 'her' into not saying anything?"

"A female prefect she said."

"But, Severus, that means a student…" Dumbledore trailed off, clearly not wishing to contemplate the meaning of Snape's information.

Snape had to agree the implications were a long way from good. Female prefects who would have recognised Kreacher were few and far between, the very fact that the prefect had been content to leave Kreacher at Hogwarts led his mind instantly to his Slytherins, after all they were the only ones likely to have had an invite to Malfoy Manor and would therefore know the elf.

Somehow though it didn't seem right, someone like Pansy Parkinson didn't seem likely to be in the kitchen paying attention to the house elves. That of course left the option of another female prefect who would have known who Kreacher was, Hermione Granger seemed unlikely to keep her mouth shut about him being at the school but Snape was convinced that she was a much more likely candidate than anyone else who would have recognised Kreacher.

"I think it might have been Granger," Severus voiced his opinion.

"Oh, Severus, surely not. Perhaps it was someone who knew Kreacher from his time with the Malfoys. A friend of Draco's who visited over the holidays perhaps?"

"I suppose you mean Miss Parkinson? Draco isn't really friends with any of the other female prefects."

"I don't wish to think ill of any of the students, Severus, but I do think her a more likely suspect than Miss Granger, surely if Hermione had known she would have informed one of us immediately. However I will speak with her and check, it is possible that she meant to inform us tomorrow and simply hasn't had the chance yet."

Severus raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Severus, I know you dislike her but that does not mean that you can suspect her of something like this!"

"And I know you dislike Miss Parkinson, headmaster, but that doesn't mean you should suspect her either. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some essays to mark and it's getting late so if you don't need me for anything more?"

"Severus," Dumbledore trailed off at the stubborn look on Severus' face and sighed, "Goodnight, Severus."

Snape nodded and left without further acknowledgement.

XXXXXXX

Ron awoke early the next morning, his sleep had been troubled and unrefreshing and he tumbled resentfully out of bed, refusing to try to sleep any longer.

He stumbled across the room to the window and stared out across the school grounds in the early light. A spire of smoke wound its way up from the chimney of Hagrid's hut. Ron glanced at his wristwatch to see it read a quarter to seven. The other boys wouldn't likely be awake for almost another hour and so he quickly showered and dressed and pulled on his cloak. He was soon out in the cold, crisp air and walking hurriedly down to Hagrid's hut.

The groundskeeper was delighted if a little surprised by the early morning visit and greeted Ron with a steaming cup of tea.

"So wha' brings yeh down 'ere at this hour? Normally yeh'r racin' down to breakfast at the las' minute," the giant man chuckled.

Ron hadn't meant to talk about any of what was on his mind but at the kindly look on Hagrid's face he found himself beginning to open up.

"I…" he took a deep breath, "Things aren't going well with the war, are they? I mean the papers are rather quiet at the moment but I can tell from the way you all behave."

Hagrid gave the young man a sympathetic smile, "Now, Ron, yeh musn' worry too much abou' all that!"

"I can't help worrying! And Harry's worrying too, I can tell, but he won't talk about it. And I had this stupid fight with Hermione, only it wasn't stupid because I'm sure I'm right and I wish she'd listen to me but she won't and I hate fighting with her but she makes me so angry sometimes!"

Hagrid listened patiently to the rant and topped up Ron's cup of tea, unable to help thinking that the real reason for Ron's upset was far more the argument with Hermione than the happenings in the war.

"So, wha' did the two o' yeh fight abou' this time?"

"House elf rights."

"Again?" Hagrid sounded surprised.

Ron snorted in amusement, "Yeah. Silly, isn't it, but what she's doing is wrong! She knits little hats and leaves them lying around the common room under bits of rubbish so that the house elves will touch them by mistake and so be freed against their will. I always take them away when she's not there. She doesn't know that though. Anyway we fought because I told her not to do it anymore and told her that due to our respective backgrounds I knew more about the issue than she did."

"Yeh mean she doesn' understand because she's not lived in the magical world."

Ron nodded, "She just thought I was being some kind of pureblood snob, she even compared me to Malfoy!"

"Oh now tha's not right! 'Ow could she compare yeh to that little brat?"

Ron shrugged, "I think I upset her and I didn't want to but she is wrong, isn't she?"

Hagrid nodded, "She's wrong in her actions, bu' her heart's usually in the right place. Yeh know tha', Ron."

Ron sighed, "I do, I'm just too frustrated with her at the moment to admit it most of the time!"

Hagrid nodded understandingly. "You youngsters, yeh always sort it out in the end. No matter 'ow badly yeh fight!"

Ron couldn't help smiling at the half-giants unfailing optimism and remained for another hour with Hagrid, drinking multiple cups of tea, before leaving with the groundskeeper to go to breakfast with his spirits much improved by the encounter.

XXXXXXX

Harry and Hermione joined Ron at breakfast soon after he had sat down. Ron managed a polite nod at Hermione which went unreturned. Harry rolled his eyes at the pair of them and grabbed some toast. They hadn't been eating long when a pair of school owls each dropped a letter, one in front of Harry and one in front of Hermione. They glanced at each other in surprise at the identical parchments and ripped them open. Ron peered over Harry's shoulder. The notes both read:

Please come to my office after breakfast, you are excused from your first lesson. The password is Peppermint Toads.

Albus Dumbledore.

Ron frowned at the two of them in confusion and grinned, "Alright, what have you two been up to?"

Both of them looked confused and shrugged.

"No idea," Harry said, "I wonder what on earth he wants us both for?"

Ron was equally curious but as the bell went for their classes to start he had to leave them as they made their way to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office.

XXXXXXX

Dumbledore opened the door almost immediately after they had knocked. "Ah, Harry, you're here, good. Miss Granger, could you wait outside for a moment while I have a word with Mr Potter?"

Hermione nodded, unsurprised that the headmaster would want to see Harry alone but still wondering what he wanted her for. "Of course, sir."

She waited outside for a nervous ten minutes unable to hear what was being said within until the headmaster's voice called out, "Come in, Miss Granger."

Instinctively straightening her posture, Hermione opened the door and stepped through, closing it quietly behind her and waiting to be asked before taking a seat.

Harry looked unhappy about something and Dumbledore and Snape both looked deeply serious.

"Miss Granger, we were hoping you could help us with something." Dumbledore began in a solemn tone.

Hermione looked nervously at the headmaster, "How can I help, sir?"

"Hermione, you remember Kreacher?"

She nodded hesitantly, "Yes, sir."

"Well he was discovered here at Hogwarts, he's been hiding in the kitchens and we've heard that someone knew he was here; a female prefect. I am sorry to have to ask but you are one of very few people who would have recognised him, did you know Kreacher was here?"

Hermione was silent for a moment.

"Well, Granger!" Snape snapped.

"No!" she shook her head quickly, "Of course not."

"Well we believe you, I didn't think it would be you but I wanted to eliminate as many possibilities as possible."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Was there anything else, sir?"

"What'll happen to Kreacher?" Harry interrupted before Dumbledore could answer.

"He's dead, he'd been given a phial of poison which he chose to swallow rather than give us any information."

Harry was quiet for a moment, "Well, I'm glad he's dead."

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Well I am, he's the reason I lost Sirius and I just wish I'd got my hands on him first!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "And what precisely would you have done, Potter? Sent sparks at him?" he sneered.

Harry looked furious and was about to say something that would have likely been regrettable when Hermione placed a calming hand on his arm.

"Severus," Dumbledore said quietly, "Harry knows better than to take the law into his own hands."

Hermione and Snape both had their doubts about this but both kept these doubts to themselves.

Dumbledore continued before anyone else could speak, "Anyway, I think it's time you two returned to your morning classes, no doubt Mr Weasley is wondering where you are." He managed a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and the two students left in silence.

"I am convinced it was her." Snape spoke as soon as the sound of the footsteps of the two Gryffindors died away.

Dumbledore sighed, "You can't be sure, Severus. I want to believe she is being honest with us and you must admit we have never had occasion to question her honesty before."

"She is the most likely candidate. Miss Parkinson is the only other female prefect who would conceivably know who Kreacher was and I can not see her paying that great an amount of attention to the house elves."

"Perhaps Kreacher was mistaken and the girl wasn't a prefect or perhaps he was even lying."

"He couldn't lie to Narcissa, she was his master."

"Then perhaps she lied to you."

Severus shook his head, "I don't think she was lying, besides she had nothing to gain from lying to me about this."

"Well I am afraid that I will be taking Miss Granger's word over Narcissa Malfoy's and I do believe her honesty, Severus."

"I'm sorry, headmaster, but I do not. However there is a more immediately pressing concern, it won't take long for Narcissa to realise that the very night she told me of Kreacher's presence here he was discovered by you."

"Yes," Dumbledore frowned, "That is going to be a problem. Is there any chance she will remain quiet?"

"I think she'll remain quiet until after she's confronted me herself but she knows the dangers of being seen to assist anyone in betraying Voldemort, she saw what became of her cousin Regulas when he tried to switch sides."

"Then we have quite a problem."

"We have, but I may have a solution. Not a particularly palatable one, but a solution nonetheless."

XXXXXXX

Harry and Hermione slipped into Defence Against the Dark Arts and were instantly given the excuse to talk by the teacher's instruction, "Ask Mr Weasley what you're doing, he'll explain it to you."

The class was operating on a low level of background noise anyway and so when Ron finally whispered, "Well, are you both going to be expelled for some rule breaking I'm yet to hear about?" Harry judged it safe to explain the morning's meeting to him.

Hermione was interested too in hearing what had been said to Harry before she had entered the office. It turned out that Dumbledore had felt that Harry should be told alone so that he could get any initial reactions out of the way. "Probably thought I was going to trash his office again!" Harry whispered with a rueful smile.

Ron gave a snort of laughter at Hermione's disapproving look. His good humour vanished though as he heard why Hermione had been sent for.

"They thought you knew and kept it to yourself!" he exclaimed quietly. "That's ludicrous and insulting, of course you wouldn't do that!"

Hermione gave a nervous smile, "I suppose they had to check all explanations."

"Still, they shouldn't have had to ask!" Ron was clearly deeply indignant on his friend's behalf.

"Just drop it, Ron," Hermione hissed, "It doesn't matter!"

"Aw, trouble in paradise?" A mocking voice made them turn to see Pansy stood at the side of their desk, "You know, Granger, just because he chose the Ravenclaw freak over you is no reason to be so ratty! Then again you and Potter both specialise in being sore losers!"

Harry leapt to his feet but was instantly pulled back down again by Ron, "Luna is not a freak and she and I are just friends, as are Hermione and I. Now can we help you in some way?"

Pansy snorted, "If you say so. And yes you can help, you can give me your work! I've collected everybody elses and I don't really want to stand here all morning!"

Glancing around them they realised that the classroom was steadily emptying, leaving them with the impatient looking Slytherin girl and Malfoy stood in the doorway waiting for her.

Hermione thrust their half finished work at her, "There!"

Pansy gave her an extremely false smile and took hold of the work delicately by a corner, when they looked at her questioningly she explained, "Oh just a precaution, you never know where these mudbloods have been."

This time it was Harry's turn to hold Ron back as Pansy sashayed away with their work and placed it on the professor's desk as Draco burst out laughing at her remark.

"Shut up!" Ron snapped, "You're just jealous because Hermione's everything you want to be!"

Pansy grinned, "Oh you mean unpopular, badly bred, single, lacking in a sense of humour and stuck in a permanently bad hair day?" She shook her head, "No, I don't think I want to be any of those things."

"I mean genuine, brave, intelligent and an actual human being, none of which are terms I hear applied to you."

"Watch it, Weasley!" Draco intervened from the doorway.

Pansy simply glared at the Gryffindors, "Trust me, Weasley, you're better off sticking with the Ravenclaw at least she's got some chance of living through the next few years!" her voice was filled with vitriol that told Ron he'd hit too close to the mark with her being jealous.

Draco smirked, "You should listen to her, Weasel!"

Ron's eyes widened, surprised by just how far the two of them would go in what they said. "You two are unbelievable! Now why don't you get out of our sight before you turn our stomachs any further and we actually vomit on you!"

"Charming, Mr Weasley. May I ask precisely why the five of you are loitering here?" Snape, his timing perfect as always, appeared, looming up from behind Draco.

"Weasley was just being crass as usual, sir."

"Oh, I was the one being crass! I'm not the one making light of innocent people being killed!"

Snape's eyes flickered briefly to his two Slytherins before coming back to rest on the Gryffindors, "I haven't the time or inclination to care, just stop loitering and get to your next class!" he snapped, more irritation than usual in his voice.

The Gryffindors beat a hasty retreat before the potions master could take house points. As they left they heard Draco attempt to speak to Snape.

"Sir, I was actually wondering if I could talk to you about my Potions project…"

"Not now, Draco!" Snape said sharply.

Ron winced, "God, he must be in a mood, he's even snapping at Malfoy! Let's run before he remembers he didn't put us in detention yet this week!"

XXXXXXX

Ron was still indignant that Dumbledore had had to ask Hermione whether or not she had known Kreacher was in the school. However Hermione did not seem to appreciate his indignation. Instead of being offended by what had happened she was rather evasive about the subject. This was puzzling Ron greatly and that evening he cornered her in the common room whilst Harry was serving yet another detention with Snape.

"Hermione, you've been acting strangely all day and you get the weirdest look on your face whenever someone mentions the whole Kreacher thing. What's going on?"

She shook head and refused to meet his eyes, "Nothing!"

She had spoken too quickly for Ron to believe her. "Hermione you're an awful liar, you've turned red and you won't look at me. What is it?"

"Nothing, I just said that!"

"You can't lie to me, Hermione! If I didn't know better I'd say you were hiding something from all of us about this Kreacher issue."

"Why would I do that? Do you think I knew he was here or something?"

"Oh, of course not!" Ron frowned, "Is that was this is about? You think we might have believed you'd been responsible for this?"

"I…" she trailed off, red in the face.

"Hermione?" Ron said questioningly, "Is that it?"

She didn't answer.

He hesitated, "Hermione, I don't want to ask this but did you know he was here?"

Hermione's eyes never left the floor but she nodded almost imperceptibly.

"What?!" Ron's exclamation held more shock than anger.

She shook her head desperately, "I…it wasn't like that!"

"Then how was it?" Ron asked, trying to sound calm.

"I just went down to the kitchens and he said he'd escaped the Malfoys and Dobby believed him and…!"

"Oh yeah, cos Dobby's the most sensible person to use as a character judge!" Ron couldn't help the barbed comment escaping.

"I'm sorry, Ron!"

Ron looked at her in bewilderment, "Why didn't you tell Dumbledore about this?"

"I couldn't! Imagine what they'd think of me!"

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed then trailed off.

She looked up, turning tearful brown eyes on him, "Are you going to tell them?"

He sighed, "No. You are, because I know you're better than to simply let things remain like this, I know you're braver than you're behaving at present. I'm just waiting for you to prove me right."

He walked away, hardening his heart as he heard a sob escape her, unable to do what he wanted to and go to comfort her.

XXXXXXX

In the past Severus had once been a frequent visitor to the vast and beautiful manor house that the Malfoy family had long called home. It was a mark of how much the family had thought of him and trusted him that Lucius had shown him how to enter the house without alerting anyone to the fact he was doing so. At that time the intention had been that should anything happen Severus would be able to enter the house without troubling Lucius or dealing with the house elves. Severus supposed it was a mark of further trust that Lucius seemed not to have made the necessary alterations to prevent Severus from still being able to do this.

The gates and the front doors of the manor yielded to him as though he had every right to be there. He closed the door quietly and began a quiet and systematic search of the beautiful house, looking for its only current inhabitant.

Narcissa Malfoy was sat alone in her study, a book in her hands but her eyes were not focusing on it, she was merely staring vacantly at the volume. Severus made almost no noise but obviously something had revealed a presence to her as she turned and stood up in surprise to see him in the doorway of the elegant room.

"Severus," she gave an uncertain smile, "What brings you here? This is rather unexpected. Not that I'm not pleased to see you but a little warning would have been nice." She smirked in amusement as she began to relax, "Some people ring the doorbell you know."

Not wishing to enter into conversation, which might distract him from his purpose in being there, Severus simply nodded in acknowledgement and walked steadily towards her without a word.

"Severus?" she stepped back warily as he came close, finding her back pressed against her desk, "What is it? What do you want?"

She sounded nervous, not something that happened often and Severus suddenly remembered Lucius telling him that the young potions master was one of the only people who could intimidate her. He ruthlessly suppressed any guilt he might feel at her fear and stepped closer to her, grasping her small face and forcing her to look at him.

Just as he had expected, her eyes met his in an angry and bewildered glare, "What are you doing, Severus?!" she snapped and began to squirm in his grip.

"Petrificus Totalus," she stiffened in his hands, now incapable of closing her eyes and breaking the contact Severus was about to force her mind into.

As his mind forced it's way into hers Severus was hit with a wave of fear and betrayal. The woman was terrified and lashed out in a disorganised fashion, trying to push him out of her thoughts. However Narcissa was not an accomplished occlumens, she had had only the briefest of teachings on the subject and she was certainly no match for Severus.

She did however throw everything she had at keeping him confused and unable to get a grasp on anything in particular. Fragments of her memories and ideas and feelings flooded over him. Images of her and her sisters fighting, her and Lucius in school together, Draco as a child, and one particularly disturbing image of a night he remembered too well - the night she had been told of her cousin's death. Narcissa had been closer to Regulas than to any of her other family members and the sight of her in floods of tears, being literally held back by Lucius from ripping a laughing Bellatrix to shreds was a memory Severus felt neither one of them really wanted.

Eventually he found what he was looking for, the memory of her conversation with him about Kreacher, and he raised his wand and obliviated the memory from her mind beyond any chance of recovery, taking with it the memory of their current encounter and stunning the woman into unconsciousness.

He caught her as she slumped to the floor and carried her to a chair, removing the binding spell upon her and ensuring the room showed no signs of their brief struggle.

Eventually he smoothed his own robes and woke her gently. She sat up slowly, focusing on him with some difficulty – all she should be able to remember was seeing him in her doorway. She frowned, "Severus, what happened?"

"You fainted, are you alright?"

She brought a small hand slowly to her head in confusion. "Yes, I think so." She frowned, "I fainted?"

"Yes. When was the last time you ate, Narcissa? You look terribly thin." This was true, when he had lifted her Severus had marvelled at how little she weighed and how little of her there seemed to be.

She gave a self-conscious smile, "I don't remember the last time I ate."

He frowned at her, "You need to take better care of yourself."

"I know. While Draco was here it was all easier, I just ate when he did, what he did, no thought or effort required. Now, it just doesn't seem important even when I do remember."

"Unless you would like your son to return at Christmas to find you half starved then it is very important, as well you know."

She flinched slightly at his harsh tones and he noticed the bags under the troubled grey eyes. "How are you sleeping?"

"Hardly at all," she confessed, "It's been years since I was last left alone anywhere and I just can't seem to relax on my own like this."

"I'll send a supply of dreamless sleep potion if you want," Severus offered.

She nodded slowly, "Yes, that might be a good idea. But I'm sure you didn't come here to question my sleep patterns so what brought you here?"

"Concern for you," an obvious lie, but not obvious to her. True however in that he was finding he was concerned.

She gave a small genuine smile, "Really? Why?"

"When I saw you the other night you looked worse than I had expected, I wanted to check on how you were doing and I think your faint gave me my answer. You must take care of yourself, Narcissa."

She nodded, "Yes, I will. Thank you for visiting, you will stay for dinner?"

He shook his head, "Narcissa, it's gone ten o'clock, I ate hours ago."

She looked surprised and glanced at her watch to confirm this.

"I can't stay," Severus continued apologetically, "Dumbledore would become suspicious of where I was."

She nodded regretfully, "Of course, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just take care of yourself, I may come and visit you again sometime if I can."

Narcissa gave him a small smile, "No, you won't, at least you don't mean to."

Surprised and made oddly remorseful by her perception, Severus insisted, "I might," and found he meant it.

She gave him a curious look and seemed to believe him, "Thank you, you will always be welcomed to this house by myself and my family."

Severus could comfortably stay no longer and took his leave of the woman, catching hold of a house elf on the way out and ordering it to take it's mistress some dinner and a soothing cup of tea with a splash of something stronger in it.

Severus supposed as he wandered out of the grounds of the manor that most double agents must have moments when they were no longer sure which side they were on, moments when they regretted almost everything and he had suffered one those tonight. His sympathy for Lucius' wife and son, no matter how unpleasant some of Narcissa's recent activities, meant that there was a part of him that, should Voldemort triumph, would at least be able to take consolation from their continued safety and possible happiness. He felt no guilt for trying to aid Narcissa, though he did feel guilt for violating her thoughts in the way he had. However despite his personal guilt he knew he had done the right thing. He supposed this was why most people never bothered to get to know the human face of their enemy – few people, having done that, would have the strength to carry on fighting them.

XXXXXXX

A/N: Hope you liked, sorry for the awfully long wait for this! I'm not abandoning this story though so don't give up on me. I've been working on the sequel to Shades of Grey for anyone who's interested but I probably won't post that until this is finished. I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter, remember reviews inspire me:o)