~ Chapter 6 ~

"There we go, you can now officially Apparate," Severus felt a tingle shoot through his body that soon dispersed into nothing. Hermione stood by his side with a small smile on her face, but he could tell she was still bothered by the vision she had about Weasley.

He'd never been good at comforting people let alone the woman he liked. She turned to look up at him with a sheen to her eyes. He'd once thought her man-bending smile was enough to break him, but he'd never seen her look at him in such a way before. Yes, this is enough to make me fall to the feet of the Devil at her command.

Also, he wasn't sure how to react around her. He'd declared that he felt no all-consuming love towards Lily, and they'd kissed; it wasn't clear to him what his next move should be.

These visions she keeps having about 'Home' surely aren't a good sign. It annoyed him that there was no way for him to know what was happening. He still cared about what happened to his Godson, and by the sounds of one of Hermione's visions, life wasn't working out for him. Nor Potter, he thought bitterly.

It was as if he'd died for nothing, like Hermione had died trying to save him, for nothing. He glanced at her quickly as they exited the shop. She died because of me.

"I'll go and take the horse-and-cart to the holding square," he said.

"OK," she didn't bother to look at him.

There was a place in each town and city where people could leave their horses and belongings without having to take them around with them while apparating. It was necessary for them since they'd collected many items on their travels, plus, Hermione would lose her mind if anything happened to her books.

Severus took in a deep breath and touched her arm. "Do you want to come with me?" She glanced up at him in surprise.

"Sorry," she rubbed her tired eyes. "Of course I'll come with you."

They headed down the small alleys sticking close together. Her hand grazed against his occasionally until he gave up with a sigh and took her hand in his. He spotted a small smile on her face briefly; something warm laced around his heart and his worries eased a little.

The small stable came into sight and they collected their things. Severus guided the horse-and-cart down the dirt road while Hermione petted the horse's mane.

"What?" Hermione glanced around the horse at him.

He furrowed his brow. "I didn't say anything."

"Oh," her face flushed in embarrassment. "I thought you said my name."

Severus regarded her closely. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She sighed. "I can't get the image of Ron out of my head; he was hurt badly."

"I'm sure you would be contacted if he arrived here."

"Perhaps."

Severus watched her head twitch to the left slightly, then she shook her head as if self-doubting herself. Something's wrong. He brought the horse to a stop and she stared at him in confusion.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Tell me what's going on," he said. "It's not just the visions, is it?"

She bit her bottom lip then shook her head. "I keep hearing someone call my name, it's been like it since this morning."

Severus walked around the horse and stood in front of her. She tilted her head back to look at him with tears in her eyes. "What's happening to me?" She whimpered and her forehead landed on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "We'll find out what's going on, I promise."

"I'm scared—"

"I'm sorry, mistress, Dobby's been a very bad elf!"

They both pulled away from one another and walked over to the embankment. It led down to a row of wooden houses, and the one closest to them had its window open. Dobby? Potter's house-elf. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen any house-elves since he arrived here.

"Dobby?" Hermione whispered. "Surely not...our Dobby?"

Severus helped her down the embankment and over to the window. He knew it was intrusive to stick one's head through a stranger's open window, but curiosity had taken over both of them.

Sure enough, in the middle of the kitchen stood Dobby. He looked to have been beating himself with the pan in his hand while an old woman scolded him.

"Dobby!" Hermione screeched right by his ear and he reached up to cover it.

"Miss Hermione!" Dobby dropped the pan and raced over to the window.

"Dobby," she whimpered, and before Severus could stop her, she climbed through the window much to the older woman's dismay.

Hermione fell to her knees and pulled Dobby into her arms. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"This is my house!" The grey haired woman wailed.

"I must apologise on my friends behalf," Severus cleared his throat. "Dobby is a dear friend of hers."

"Good, take the useless cretin and go," she sat down with a huff.

"You can come with us Dobby," Hermione said with a smile. "Severus and me are going to see Dumbledore."

"Really?" He beamed up at her with his large eyes.

She nodded. "Would you like to join us?"

"Of course, Miss Hermione, I need to go back to Elf Garden first — you can be Dobby's new mistress!"

"What? No, Dobby aren't you free here?" Severus glanced at the table to see the old woman had left, clearly bored with the conversation.

"We're free here, mistress, but we can choose to serve if we wish. Elf Garden is a happy place for Dobby, everyone loves Elf Garden, Miss Hermione."

"I don't wish for you to be my house-elf; I just want you to be Dobby," she smiled at him. "You can join us if you wish — oh, is that OK Severus?"

Severus glanced down at her beaming eyes. Like I'd refuse when she looks at me like that. "That's fine."

"See, isn't that better Dobby?"

His ears drooped around his face. "But Dobby wants to serve."

"How about you stay with us as a friend, then you can wait until Harry arrives?"

Dobby's face lit up. "Harry Potter! I must wait for Harry Potter."

"Then it's settled," she got to her feet. "We'll be taking Dobby with us—" Hermione spotted that the woman had left. "What a terrible person…come along Dobby, we have a busy day ahead of us."

Hermione managed to find the front door and Severus was there to greet her. He wasn't sure how he felt about adding someone else to their travelling party, but at least it brought a smile to Hermione's face.

"You died, Miss Hermione?"

"Yes," they walked up the embankment and Severus grabbed the reins. "These things happen, Dobby."

"Then why is Professor Snape with Hermione?"

She looked back at Severus with a smile. "We arrived together...so, we decided to travel."

"Oh, Dobby didn't know if Mister Snape would make it!"

"I'm afraid I did," Severus said under his breath and Hermione hit his arm gently.

"Don't say that," she murmured. "I'm glad you're here with me."

His eyes lingered on her for a few moments. She died because of me, and I don't think I'll ever get over it.

They eventually arrived at the holding square and Severus organised their things with the woman there. He was handed an enchanted key that would only open their room of things if he was holding it. The horse was taken outside to the large field full over other majestic horses, and Severus watched Hermione smile at the sight out the corner of his eye.

He wasn't sure how to ask her about this 'thing' between them, and he knew his chances were ruined if Dobby stayed with them. His presence has cheered her up, so I'm glad that we ran into him.

Severus spotted Hermione's head twitch to the right as if someone had whispered something in her ear, and he wondered whether she was hearing things again. He slowly walked up behind her but she whirled around and almost ran into his chest.

"What is it?" His hair fell in front of his face as he stared down at her.

She moved her face so it was mere centimetres away from his. "The hawk is back—" she gripped his chin to stop him from turning to look. "Don't look at it."

Her touch burnt his skin and he blinked a few times to gain his composure. "Where is it watching us from?"

"The large tree a few metres to your left."

"Petrificus Totalus."

A thud followed as the black hawk landed on the ground, petrified. Hermione let out a squeak of fright then smiled up at him. "You're a genius!" She jumped up and planted a firm kiss to his lips, leaving him frazzled as she ran towards the fallen bird.

He shook his head and joined her. "We're taking the bird with us to show Dumbledore."

"What's wrong with the bird, Mister Snape?"

"It's been spying us," Hermione said. "We'll be taking him to Dumbledore to see if he has any answers."

"Let's get going then," Severus covered the hawk with his cloak and they found a safe spot for them to disapparate.

The feeling of being tugged in every direction unsettled his stomach. It's been a long time since I've done this. They arrived at the familiar alleyway that led out to the marketplace, and Severus was glad for the close environment, otherwise he would have fallen flat on his face if it wasn't for the nearby wall. Hermione landed on her feet with a perfect smile on her face and Dobby appeared by her side.

"Everything all right?" she asked.

"How are you perfect at everything?" he grumbled.

Her smile widened and she placed her hand on his arm. "Jealous?"

"No," he shook off her touch and he led them from the alleyway.

The large, golden castle glistened in the distance and Severus heard a cry from a small dragon circling the tallest tower. The more he stared at the beautiful piece of architecture, the more things became clear. The castle walls were actually outlined with gold and it was one of the large glass roofs which made it appear to be glowing — he could also see that the dragon was actually a phoenix.

Fawkes.

"What is it?" Hermione stepped up to his side and tried to follow his line of sight.

He swallowed hard and glanced down at her. He viewed her side profile closely and wondered how long this thing would last between them. They'd rarely stayed for a long time in one place, and he knew they would have to do that here, which meant she would have more time to meet more interesting people.

Will she forget about me?

She looked up at him and a blush spread out across her face. "What?"

He cleared his throat. "Nothing. I just saw Fawkes flying about."

"I can see that, but why were you staring at me like that?"

"Stop asking so many questions."

They made their way through the busy crowds and started the long trek up to the castle. A few people passed them by, each one smiling as they went on by. Severus stayed quiet the whole time and listened intently to Hermione's conversation with Dobby about what it was like back in Elf Garden. The place does sound quite extravagant.

The golden gates sparkled in front of them, and when they were a few steps away, the gates opened on their own.

"Wow…" Hermione gasped. "It's very quiet up here."

Severus glanced down at the city below then back at her. "They know we are here."

She gave him a funny look. "How?"

"All the statues are charmed like a Muggle camera, it's sending them live footage so they can watch us — isn't that right, Albus?"

A loud crack startled Hermione leaving behind the old, glowing face of Albus Dumbledore. "You're as observant as I remember."

Severus didn't respond to his remark, still unsure about seeing him again. He may have allowed Hermione to tease him about his reluctance to see Albus again, but it was true. There were parts of his life he didn't wish to revisit and Albus Dumbledore was one of them. However, he was only here to get answers for Hermione.

"Headmaster!" Hermione ran over to him and the old man patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm no longer Headmaster, Hermione, you may call me Albus here," he smiled down at Hermione who bounced on her toes in excitement. "It's nice to see you as well, Dobby."

"Hello, Headmaster, Dobby's excited to see you."

Albus chuckled. "I've been wondering how long it would take for either of you to come and see me. What a coincidence that you arrived together."

"Severus and I are travelling together," Hermione glanced back at him with a smile. "We've seen a lot of interesting things."

The familiar sparkle returned to Albus' eyes as he looked at Severus. He wants to know why I'm travelling with her, alone.

"I'm sorry to hear that you both died," Albus said gravely. "It's very sad indeed."

Severus quickly glanced at Hermione, guilt flooding through his veins. There was a voice in his head that chanted "she died because of me," and it was hard to ignore.

"These things happen for a reason," Hermione said. "I guess it was just our time. Although, I do wish I got to try to fix my parents, I'm still happy that I arrived here with a familiar face."

Her hand slipped into his and he inhaled sharply. Albus' eyes lit up with joy and Severus felt his whole body shake beneath some imaginary force.

"Oh…" Albus glanced up at Fawkes as he circled around the entrance. "Interesting indeed."

Severus tried to pull his hand away but she held his tighter. He wasn't embarrassed to be seen holding hands with her, however, he didn't like the way Albus thrived from such a minor thing between them was something they needed discuss in private, not in front of the meddling man before them.

"As much as we've enjoyed seeing you again," Severus said bitterly. "We actually came for your help."

"Help?"

"I've been having visions, or rather insights into what's occurring back in the real world," Hermione explained. "The things I'm seeing aren't good."

Albus hummed in response and observed her closely. Severus felt the urge to cover her from his probing eyes, but he knew that it was only his way of figuring the truth out. Severus hoped that there was another explanation for her visions. Perhaps she was imagining it? Severus knew that it wasn't true after seeing her react in such a way. Things obviously haven't been going well since Voldemort's demise.

"May I ask what you've got bundled in your robes?" Severus glanced down at his arm that cradled the paralyzed bird. Hermione let go of his hand and took the bird from the dark blanket and held the large bird out towards Albus.

Severus cleared his throat. "This bird has been following us everywhere, and Hermione's seen it in her visions."

"Oh…" Albus took the hawk from her and ran his hand over its dark feathers.

"Severus said that it made him feel panic when he looked at it for a long time," Hermione smiled at him innocently. "Surely that's not a good sign."

Severus gave the hawk a quick glance over when he noticed something on its feet. His brow furrowed as he approached Albus slowly. He lifted up its left talon and brushed off the dirt that had gathered there. Hermione appeared by his side and he paused momentarily when he could feel her breath on his neck.

"Oh my…" Hermione ran her fingers along the long snake that had been carved into the hawks claws.

Worry consumed Severus immediately. It could only mean one thing, and the idea terrified him to the core. Wasn't it supposed to be over? However, it made sense that Voldemort would find a way to plague him from death, or should he say, from Hell.

Albus frowned. "We should take this to Merlin."

Hermione gasped in surprise. "Merlin?"

"Yes, my dear. It's time for you both to meet the famous Merlin."

AN:/ Sorry for the wait, I had about three different versions of this chapter so I needed to decide which one to choose since they all lead off to different plot points! So, Dobby is back and we may venture to Elf Garden at some point! Next chapter will feature the famous Merlin, and perhaps some other familiar faces! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Let me know what you think of this one!