Hermione leaned closer to the mirror, opening her eyes wide to look at the small ring of blood that seemed to be a permanent fixture around the edges of her eyes. It was hard to see when she didn't look comically surprised but it was there. Just out of sight though never out of mind. Her fingers touched the pink baby-soft skin around the bottom, make-up would surely conceal the scar but she hadn't any to put on. She'd never been one to really think about putting on a face for the outside world but the more she looked at herself the more she wondered if it was time.

A slow breath lowered her gaze and she pulled her shirt from over her head. As she let the soft garment fall down her eyes followed. Her jaw twitched at her still lack of chest but was at least partially satisfied that she could no longer see the outline of her rib cage. In fact, she was almost pleased with the way her muscles flexed with her exaggerated breaths. Her fingers traced a long scar that wrapped from around her side over the ridges of newly formed muscle. A sharp jolt turned her world black as a flashback took over her thoughts.

Laughter echoed in her ears as her own screams vibrated in her chest. Her frozen body turning warm as the blood that was meant to sustain life, poured free. The sounds in which she heard couldn't have been real. It was far past the point where she'd lost her hearing. Yet still, she could hear their laughter at her pain. Their devilish grins as they smeared the life essence over her bare form. Their dirt covered nails tearing away at her flesh.

A harsh choke brought her back into reality and she had to brace herself on the sink to keep herself from tipping sideways. She closed her eyes tight as she forced the memory away, deeper inside. She hadn't told the Professor that she was constantly plagued with little snippets of memories, distorted and warped with time and pain. They would hit her at odd moments. She had no way to know when they would come. They lasted only seconds but they hurt just as much as they did then.

A deep breath forced her eyes open once more and she turned her steeled gaze into her own darkening eyes. She would not forget what she was fighting for. The justice that she was seeking. The debt of blood that she was owed. Yes, there was a war, and the professor was very much entangled in its web but she...she had her own battle to fight.

"Miss Granger? Do you plan on joining me in your lesson?"

Hermione jolted from the deep voice coming through the door of the closet, though she couldn't repress the urge to roll her eyes at his impatience, "Not everyone is used to multiple layers of buttons!" Her voice was light with humor lacing the tone but it quickly reminded her to get moving.

A soft snort was her response and she idly wondered if she'd made him smile, even just a little. Though she was very comfortable with his resting frown, she had begun to wonder what he would look like should he actually smile. Their humor was not so different, relying on quick wit words instead of out of taste jokes.

Severus did, in fact, grin ever just so at her small quip, though he was unaware that he'd even done so. His mind was elsewhere. It had been the Carrows who had come to speak with him that morning. Telling him to expect some possible reductions to the roster after winter term. Though it was still a month off he couldn't help the building unease. The Dark Lord had been eerily silent, something that set his teeth on edge with just how much out of the loop he was becoming.

A lot could happen in three weeks. Ironically, he was thankful that Minerva had taken to visiting the girl on the weekends—though still in her feline form—providing him with what she could about the Order and their movements. While nothing groundbreaking it did elude to the dark side making moves. The sort of lull only made him worry more. It wasn't like the Dark Lord to keep still. No, he was surely planning something grander.

He turned his head when the door to the closet finally came open, he had instructed her to change into her alternate persona's clothes. They were going to leave the castle and as ever, he was cautious. He didn't anticipate finding anyone where they would be going but with rogue snatchers and death eaters about one couldn't be too careful.

Severus' brow rose as she crossed the room to join him, her stride was strong and powerful but it didn't travel all the way to her eyes. There was something just underneath, a small chink in her armor as it were. Just when he was about to inquire the look was gone and a fierce woman looked back at him, "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Hermione had managed to do the glamour charm herself, though it was much darker than the one he had done for her, she was just happy to have managed something.

"Remember, nowhere is safe. If I tell you to use the portkey, you do not hesitate. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Hermione ran her fingers over the pin absently, "Where are we going?"

"Not so far, but far enough." Severus was going to give them no more than an hour. He was still very much the headmaster of the school and it wouldn't do for him to be suspiciously unavailable.

"How long can we stay outside?"

"No more than an hour."

Hermione nodded her head glancing towards the window she'd often found herself sitting in to try and breathe some fresh air through its cracked seal. As much as she didn't want to return to the woods she was starting to miss the smell of fresh air. Though she greatly enjoyed the smell of his rooms and his person, the mundane routine was starting to become just as constricting as her cage had been.

"Okay." Hermione nodded her head and took his offered hand, "Let's go."

oOo

Hermione couldn't stop a harsh cough from the sudden change of air temperature from shaking her frame. The outside was much colder than she would have thought it to be and her months of seclusion had not lent her well to resisting the cold. A heavy hand thumped at her back as she bent over slightly to take in the air that had suddenly frozen inside of her before a heavy warming charm ran through her coat.

"Thanks..." Hermione took a small clear breath as the warmth from the charm heated her lungs. When she did, she was able to lift her head to the beautiful landscape he had brought them to. The land was vast, stretching almost endlessly towards the horizon. The ground was covered in a light snow giving the sun an intense glare. The ground beneath was made of grey stone. The sense of being well above sea level settling in her chest.

"Where are we?"

"A mountain."

"It's an awfully flat mountain..."

Severus smirked before turning her by her shoulders to see the immense forest that stood tall and untouched by the hands of man. His eyes glittered with mirth when her mouth fell open and her head fell back to look up into the tall pines, "Shall we begin?"

"Yes. Yes. We should." Hermione blinked dumbly for a few moments before turning to face him. He'd taken a few steps back before pulling his wand free from his sleeve.

"Fiendfrye is powered by fury, deep unresolved anger. The sort that sits heavily inside your chest and festers." Severus knew all about that which he spoke, it had fueled his desire to become the best for so many years. It had pushed him to become a wizard to be feared. A wizard someone would never want to meet in a dark alley, "It will feel nearly impossible to control, but it is in that moment of helplessness that you must find your center."

Hermione nodded her head, the seriousness of his words not lost on her in the slightest. She had read the theories but it was an entirely different matter to actually feel the magic flowing through her body. She had been successful up until now, but this was surely outside of the realm of anything she had attempted thus far. She was actually surprised he'd agreed to teach it to her at all, given all that she'd gone through but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Furore Ignis," The spell erupted from the tip of his wand with the recoil akin to a gunshot. The world around them turned bright orange as the fire raced forward with an earth-trembling roar. Severus' brow furrowed as he pulled his arm back, calling the fire to take form. The animal that most represented his anger was that of a ferocious tiger. Its eyes burned with fire as the flame reared over the edge. Nearly the size of a three-story house it let out a mighty roar before it was gone. Exploded into tiny bits of ash.

Hermione could barely think to breathe, her eyes wide from the marvelous display of power. It was so raw, so unbridled. The snow that had covered the stone had gone, leaving only a steamy landscape in its wake. Her chest fluttered with a mixture of fear and excitement. The steam that covered the world was thick and it was only with her sense of sound was she able to track his returning footsteps.

Her head tilted back to look into his face before she slowly drew her wand, "What if...what if it gets loose..."

"I will make sure it doesn't." Severus moved to stand behind her, pressing his chest against her back before taking hold of her forearm, "Do you remember his name?"

"Yes." Hermione tried not to let herself become distracted by his proximity though she didn't stop herself from leaning back against him ever just so. When his hand took hold of hers, she could feel their conjoined power running through her core. It was an amazing feeling that words simply could not express.

"Think of everything he represents, but do not lose sight of your goal." Severus kept his words deep and slow, speaking directly into her ear as though he were attempting to hypnotize her. He too could feel their combined magical energy and he found himself amazed at how harmonic their cores seemed to be. It was definitely something to think about at a later time.

"Focus on the point just below the horizon and whatever you do, don't panic." Severus knew they were literally playing with fire—exceptionally dangerous fire. He had agreed to teach her as he knew she'd possibly try to teach herself and this was not a spell to make mistakes with, "Ready?"

Hermione tried to suppress the shiver his breath against the shell of her ear produced. Her eyes glanced to the side but the only thing she could see was the fabric of his sleeve over her own. Her heart was beating just two ticks over what was normal for her and she was quite sure it was his fault.

"Yes..." Hermione took a deep breath straightening her back just so, she could actually feel the top of her head bump lightly against his chin as she raised herself up.

"One, two, three."

"Furore Ignis." Hermione's tone didn't waver, but her focus had been broken by the Professor's proximity, turning her burning hatred for the man who had tortured her—into an odd cacophony of emotions surrounding the man who had become such a fixture in her life. The spell didn't even so much as sputter, in fact, nothing at all happened.

"Again. One, two, three..." Severus wasn't all that surprised to find her lacking the focus to recreate such a powerful spell, though he did find himself partially perplexed as to why nothing at all had happened. Even the most inexperienced wizards were able to conjure up some sort of feeling to make the spell work. Though it was often wildly out of control it still heeded the conjure.

"Furore Ignis." Hermione's voice rose in pitch, a flush of embarrassment covering her cheeks. She'd never failed a spell before, at least as far as she could recall, it was unbelievably embarrassing.

Severus' frown deepened as he took a step back, releasing her wand hand in the process. As he came around to look directly into her face he suspected he had found the problem, "Miss Granger?"

"I'm fine..." Hermione chanced a small glance up into his inquisitive brow but merely turned her head down to look at her wand, "I just...I want to do it on my own..."

Severus' smirk tightened his thinned lips as his theory seemed to be proved correct. It wasn't a pleasant discovery but it would have explained their morning quite nicely. The only problem was, he had no idea how to stop it—and it had to be stopped. With a small incline of his head, he took a few steps back, towards the drop of the cliff, "Go on then."

Hermione threw him a glance through the corner of her eye before raising her wand again. A slow breath removed his scent from her senses filling it with the chill of the mountain air. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to bring up the memory that had flashed before her eyes just before they'd left. The feeling of pain and anguish filling her chest before she twisted her sorrow into her need for justice, her thirst to even the scales.

"Furore Ignis!" Her voice echoed through the void and she felt a rather sharp jolt run down her arm, as though she'd stuck her entire arm inside of a fireplace before her wand tip lit up a bright red, not orange like fire, but red as the blood that painted her masked face. The fireball rolled end over end towards the cliff face, like a giant dragon's breath.

Before either of them could bask in the wonder of what her creature of flame would be, the fire turned—a sharp arch that shouldn't have been possible. The flame that came from her tip growing exponentially as it gathered over itself. The anger inside of her turned to fear as she felt the fire catching along the hem of her sleeve then, just as she thought that was it, the entire inferno exploded into a bright array of blue fireworks before the ash began to rain down.

Severus had never moved so quickly, his hand had clamped down hard over the fire that had begun to catch on her sleeve, burning his palm within seconds. The pain was just temporary as he dispersed the flame with his own wand. His heart was beating nearly out of his chest with the image of the beast that had begun to form. Not a dragon, nor a lion or tiger, but a full formed Pheonix. A rare and highly sought after conjugation, he knew of only one wizard to have ever pulled it off so perfectly.

"Are you alright?" Hermione was too afraid to move her hand from his grip, her wide eyes turning up into his masked pain.

"Yes..." Severus hissed as he slowly opened his hand, his skin blackened and turning red by the second, "Are you?"

"Yeah...I think so..." Hermione slowly brought her wrist up towards her face looking at the charred remains of her coat, his magic had protected her.

A heavy fog began to form between them, caused by the intense heat of the flame she had conjured. She could barely make him out through the haze before a sound from behind ticked her ear. As if sensing danger, a cold finger ran down her spine, running over the bones like a morbid xylophone. A smell came next, just under the ash and smoke. A smell she could never forget.

Her wand raised on pure reflex, an old forgotten muscle memory that she had yet to understand. Her throat felt thick as she swallowed down the fear that had risen into her throat. She could hear the professor moving towards her but it wasn't he to whom she was sensing. No, this was another. Another.

"We're...not alone..." Hermione's dark eyes rose up to his face as he came through the steam, his brows furrowing darkly to her words.

Hermione flicked her eyes towards the left, but didn't make a move, her voice was barely a whisper and she was sure by the look on his face that he could now sense their presence as well. She turned slowly on her heel, trying to make her move as muted as possible, her darkened eyes looking into the trees that were now filled with mist.

"Well, that's one way to rise from the grave."

A slow clap sharply turned Hermione's head to their right, her wand raising. Her jaw was tight, nearly threatening the integrity of her teeth. The man was clever, staying in the mist, his steps now silent. His smell, however, was easily trackable.

"So whose boots did you have to lick to keep hold of my pet? Or did you go behind Daddy's back?" A deep chuckled carried on the wind, filled with malice.

Severus' snarled, but he didn't give the man the answer he sought after. Instead, he began to wrap his arm around Granger's waist to pull her closer to his person. Unfortunately, he didn't expect the girl to take action.

"Furore Ignis!" Hermione lunged forward, having heard enough of the man's voice to last her a lifetime. She had heard it only in the beginning but it was enough to remind her of all that she had suffered. She felt Severus' hand slip past her arm as she charged forward, the flame at the end of her wand exploding out into the trees directly ahead of her, sending them crashing with loud concussive force.

Just as she made a figure out of the mist the large ball of fire took flight, its wings as large as her entire body twice over. It raced forward towards the man and she felt an odd sort of satisfaction building in her chest before her vindication turned to cold-blooded fear. The Pheonix had turned, it's large jowls opening into a loud ear shattering scream. She had only seconds to realize that it was no longer moving forward, but directly at her.