Hermione found herself stumbling on Snape's living room floor. The shock of apparition and the use of magic had left her bones aching and her muscles crying out for something she didn't even know she was missing. They looked at each other, trying to work out where they both stood. Hermione had so many questions, so much she wanted to know, so much she didn't understand. What was she here for? Why did he save her? She opened her mouth and walked toward him slightly but her malnourished and beaten body betrayed her curiosity and for the second time in a day Hermione found the world going black and the floor was coming up to meet her.

Severus caught her mid-fall, her full weight was leaning against him and still it was no effort to lift her into his arms and carry her up the stairs. He hadn't had time to charm her a bedroom yet so ended up putting her into his bed. He couldn't help but brush the hair away from her face, working out where she was injured and how he might be able to help her. He decided on a calming draught to allow her to sleep without dreams and he hoped that when she woke the body would have at least got itself to a point where it could start healing. He left the sleeping witch and walked back down the stairs and readied himself for his report for the Dark Lord. Leaving a short note on the fridge to explain where he was going in case Hermione woke before he returned. He took a deep breath and left for the Manor where they had set up base.

"Ah Severus, I thought you had been distracted and forgot about our meeting."

"I would never forget my real priorities. Although the witch is a distracting thought." He sneered, putting up the mask seamlessly.

"Well shall we get started on our plan going forward, I know that we now control the Ministry but it worries me that the Order seems to be growing and sowing discontent in the lower ranks. I won't stand for it."

"Master please, I would love to hunt all of those who dare to stand against you." Bellatrix crooned into his ear.

"Now Bella, my lovely one. As much as that appeals to me, we need to be smart. I cannot have my best lieutenants roaming the country. That would leave me vulnerable. No, we need a formulated plan and that my dear is not your strong suit."

Severus smirked slightly, earning a glare from Bellatrix from across the table.

"Well maybe Snape should bring his new toy back here and we can see what she has to say for herself. She must know something and a few hours with me should loosen her tongue up a little bit."

"Now that isn't such a bad idea Bellatrix. With your leave, master, I would like the opportunity to see if I can get some more information out of the girl. I would hate for my new possession to me mutilated permanently before I got a proper chance to enjoy her."

"Yes, yes Severus you can have your chance with the girl." The Dark Lord replied with a flick of his hand.

Bellatrix scowled over at him.

"I expect a full report Severus in three weeks time. If you haven't got any useful information by then we will have to take another look at Bella's suggestion."

Severus bowed his head in deference and offered very little more to the discussion until they were dismissed and he apparated home. Hermione was still fast asleep and he settled down on the sofa, too mentally exhausted to even think about conjuring up a bed, he summoned a blanket and pillow and settled down and slept. Just as his eyes were closing he thought that maybe he should have made something to eat, but it was too late as the exhaustion took over and he fell into a fitful sleep.

Hermione once again, awoke in a bed that wasn't her own and it took her a moment to work out exactly what had happened and where this was. The room was dark and dingy, but the bed was soft and comfortable, she sat up and realised that she was wearing basically nothing and that's when it hit her. This was Snape's house, she was in Snape's bed. He had rescued her, but she had no idea what that now meant, everyone knew he was The Dark Lord's advisor. She stepped out of bed and pulled herself to her feet. He had left her some clothes on the end of the bed, she was more than happy to climb out of the uncomfortable lingerie and into something more modest. Plus it would make it easier to get the answers she had wanted when they had first arrived if there was nothing to distract from the conversation at hand. She left the silence of the bedroom and wandered down the stairs , slightly freaked out by the portraits lining the walls. They were all domineering and all had the same onyx coloured eyes, they followed her as she slipped her hand down the balcony and into the living room, startling the wizard sat on the sofa.

"Hermione, you shouldn't be out of bed."

"Why am I here?" She looked at him.

He was slightly startled by her tone of voice and the strength that she had managed to find even with her injuries.

"I couldn't leave you there. I had to do something."

"So you're not going to turn me over to Voldemort."

Snape flinched a little at the use of his Master's name, the Golden Trio had always had a little more disregard than they should have had.

"No, of course not. I want to keep you safe. I know this is hard to believe but I need you to trust me."

"I don't know why I would trust the man who died at Voldemort's hand but now sits on his right hand side"

She started to sway and begged her body to not give in now.

"Please just sit down, let me make you a cup of tea and I will tell you everything."

She reluctantly sat on a nearby armchair, glad of the support and to be off her feet before it gave way. Snape came back with a steaming cup of tea and the relevant condiments, sugar, honey and milk and placed them in front of her.

"I didn't know how you liked it."

Hermione took a hesitant step forward and started to add milk and sugar to her teacup. She almost sighed with how great it smelled and tasted. She couldn't remember the last time she had had access to sugar and a sweet cup of tea. Snape looked at her and waited until she was settled before telling her the entire story, the moment when Voldemort had come back to the cabin, just in time to bring him back from the edge, to pull him back to oblivion. Hermione looked into his eyes and saw the pain and the regret. She knew that the the Potions Master would have preferred to stay dead.

"I don't know why he saved me, but I did what came natural to me, I became his trusted advisor and looked for the cracks that would lead to his downfall."

She nodded, choosing to believe him.

"What do we do now?" She asked.

"I don't know. I will set you up with a bedroom and we will go from there. It might just be a waiting game. We will have to be careful but the aim is to get you to the Order and work from there."

"The Order? Are they still going?"

"There are still some members active but really the hope died with Harry Potter."

He tried smiling at her but she just looked at him sad and with tears in her eyes.

"We tried so hard, we were on the run for months and for it all to be over like that. I knew he was going into the forest to die but I always thought, I meant there was always this small hope that he would come back, that he would help us finish it. When Neville killed the snake we were in the last stretch but without Harry there was nothing to keep everything together. We knew he had finally won. Ron and I tried to keep going but it wasn't the same and then we were snatched when the Order Headquarters were raided and well you know the rest."

He looked at her.

"You tried to carry on without him?"

"Yes, I always hoped that somehow he would find his way back to us. Like Ron did. But he never came back. He left us."

Her voice broke and buried her head in her hands, trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

"I will put some feelers out and see if I can hear anything. Maybe we can get you moved to a safe house."

He knew that the Dark Lord would require more information than what she had given to be placated but he would cross that bridge when they got to it.

"I hate to ask you and I'm not even sure I want to know the answer but have you heard anything about Ron, did he survive?"

His heart broke at the pure panicked look in her face. He didn't know how to tell her.

"Ron is missing. We know that he was snatched and he was taken to be classified but he somehow got away. No one has seen him for months, he's presumed to have been killed and his body misidentified."

She felt her eyes well up and the tears spilt over. She had felt so lonely during all those months but it had never felt as though she was alone. They had promised that they would keep going that somehow this wasn't going to be the end.

"I didn't mean to upset you further."

"No I needed to know."

She drew her knees up to her chest and looked up at Snape and wondered whether this scenario was going to leave her with hope or heartbroken and dead. She had already lost so much and the thought of losing something else made her feel a little sick. There was an awkward pause whilst she tried to get her emotions under control and he was stuck for something to say.

"Would you like something to eat? I know you can't have eaten very much and I can have my house-elf make us something?"

"That would be great thank you."

Snape clicked his fingers and relayed the order to the small house elf and they sat in awkward silence.

"I will aim to go shopping later on this week and get you some essentials in, I would invite you to come with me but people would talk and I need to ensure that they believe you are being punished."

She merely nodded, it was all too much to take in.

"Do you think this is going to work? That you're going to be able to convince Him that I am no threat."

"I am going to do everything in my power to make this right. I don't know what will happen but I will make sure you are as safe as I can make you for as long as I can happen."

"And the Dark Lord knows I am here?"

He looked at her and wondered whether now was the right time to tell her about the threat from LeStrange but decided to hold off. He wanted to give her time to digest everything that was going on around her. To make herself feel safe and comfortable again.

"Yes, he gave me permission to bring you here."

"And you're still going to be reporting to him?"

"Unfortunately yes. But I will try and keep you out of his line of sight for as long as possible."

She nodded and opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something else but was interrupted by Dinky the house elf announcing dinner. She stood up curling her bare feet on the floor and followed him into the dining room. They sat and she started to eat small bites of the hot stew in front of her, she nearly sank into her chair with pure delight.

"I realised I never said thank you." She said quietly. "But I am so grateful you found me and took me away from that place. The death eaters who came there were so brutal, I'm not sure how long I would have survived."

"You don't have to be grateful to me. I only did what a normal human would do."

"Well I appreciate it. I'm not Harry Potter and in the grand scheme of things quite inconsequential."

"Don't let anyone tell you you are inconsequential Hermione. Because you are so much more than you know.

They sat across from each and silently finished their meal before both retiring up to the now two bedroom second floor. They said goodnight and retreated into their own space, ready to face the world.