It is one thing to be trapped in an unfamiliar place. To not know where to run, to be unaware of your boundaries. To feel as though there is no way out, no matter where you turn.

…It is another thing to be trapped in one's own home no less…

…And that was precisely how Hermione Granger found herself on this very evening.

…Trapped.

The young woman frantically tried opening the door, jiggling the brass door knob with all her might, pulling and pushing the wooden door so hard, she thought the frame would surely give way.

…But alas, magic is strong. And the door did not budge. Not even a single inch…

Hermione was furious. She typically kept her temper, lived a mostly non-emotional life all these years, and seldom raised her voice towards anyone or anything. After all, why should she? What use could it possibly provide? However, currently circumstances proved otherwise. And she could feel the anger pulsating through her veins.

'Let me out! NOW!' she bellowed, kicking the door with all her strength, leaving black marks where her shoe made contact with the wooden door.

Harry gave the irate woman a disproving look.

'Mione, just please calm down. Please. Just stop for a second, and hear us out,' he yelled, trying to talk over the kicking and pounding echoing throughout the living room.

Hermione quickly turned away from the door. She looked at Harry, stared him straight in the eye, and with anguish and disgust written all over her face, she cried out to him:

'Why are you doing this?!'

Her voice cracked when she spoke. Tears silently spilled down her cheeks as her cheeks flushed with the anger and hate that boiled throughout her frame.

And it was at that precise moment that Harry truly realized what his appearance this evening was doing to his long lost friend. The friend he trusted. The friend he loved.

…It was killing her…

Harry inhaled and exhaled deeply.

'Mione,' he began softly, '-I can't let you leave. Not yet. Just please…please sit down for a minute,' Harry pleaded, staring at the pained honey-colored eyes of the woman in front of him.

Hermione said nothing. She stood with her back against the door for a few moments, weighing her options. Without giving her body permission to move, she felt her legs coax themselves towards the sofa, all the while, keeping her hardened gaze on Harry. She obliged willingly, and sat slowly on the green couch, opposite the two men standing in front of her on either side of her fireplace.

Her mouth formed a tight line, and she uttered one word and one word only:

'Speak.'

Harry looked at Hermione. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and decided upon sitting in an off-white overstuffed chair, adjacent to the fireplace.

'Mione,' he spoke quietly, '-it was no accident that Helen Crawford found you. She is a squib. An old friend of…of Dumbledore's…' he said, staring at his folded hands.

'We…the Order still exists. We had to find you. To help you. If the plan this evening…if Mrs. Crawford…if our plan had failed, and you walked out of her house unprotected, they were going to find you, Mione. They…they were going to kill you…'

Hermione snorted.

'And what would it have mattered?! No one had bothered to see me or contact me all these years? No one had bothered to see if I was all right when I bloody well wasn't! I mean, even…even if I chose what I have become, no one…no one even bothered to care, did they?!' Hermione stated angrily, her hands forming tight fists at her side.

'-I don't care why you're here! I don't care about any new prophecies, or what you had mentioned earlier! I've lost too much to care! I've been alone too long to care…' she said hastily, staring into her lap, her arms now crossed defensively in front of her.

Severus Snape continued to look at the young woman.

'Alone? Miss Granger, you were hardly alone I daresay…' he drawled, secretly pleased at Hermione's arrogance that was about to be disproved entirely.

'As you may have already forgotten, a watch had been placed upon you. You were guarded. At all times, throughout these years. Someone, whether they had wanted to or not, always had regard for your safety; for your life.' Severus paused to look down at the carpet below.

Hermione gave a sarcastic chuckle.

'At all times, eh? What about my graduation from medical school? Who was there…who cared that I received top marks and top honors from the University? Who was the only person there who had neither friend nor family member in the audience?! Would you like to expand on that one, Professor?' she asked in a mocking tone, her face flushing with frustration.

Severus looked up from the floor. His brow creased, and he stared directly at the young woman. In a barely audible tone, he spoke sternly to her.

'You are wrong, Miss Granger…Vey wrong...' he said icily.

'Indeed, I waspresent amongst many that day. Would you care for me to elaborate? Would you like me to tell you the young woman's name that tripped upon the stage that day? Or perhaps, would you instead like me to tell you how I watched you fidget relentlessly in your seat when your name was read when announcing the highest academic marks in the class?' he said quietly, continuing to stare at Hermione, his eyes fixated on the young woman as he spoke.

Hermione's eyes welled with tears, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She continued to stare at her lap, and placed her hands on her thighs. She was in disbelief regarding what she had just heard. What she had just witnessed.

In a sense, she didn't believe what he had just told her. Or perhaps, she didn't want to believe it.

It was quite true that Severus Snape was at Hermione's graduation. Nymphadora Tonks and Harry Potter were scheduled to be at Hermione's graduation ceremony, and truth be told, they both very much wanted to go. But somehow, someway, their plans were thwarted, and Severus Snape offered to go to Hermione's ceremony in their place…

…For in actuality, he had planned to go all along…

He wanted to watch his brightest student receive the accolades that were so rightfully hers. He felt pride when her name was called, and a twinge of sadness when he saw her receive her degree with an emotionless face.

He had chosen to be there.

It was true that, as a student, she annoyed him to no end, and at many times he had wished she would keep her know-it-all attitude and displays to herself. But while watching her on the stage, watching her solemn reaction as her classmates congratulated her after the ceremony, Severus was secretly pleased that she had done so well despite her current circumstances. Pleased that she was still, after all these years, considered 'one of their own,' although she would now of course deny it at all costs.

Hermione took one of her sleeves and dabbed her moistened eyes.

'I don't….you…you were there?' she asked, her voice cracking as she looked up at her old Potions Professor.

Severus looked at Hermione.

'Do you refuse to believe me?' he asked, eyebrows raised, slightly annoyed at her question.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head slowly.

'I don't know who…or what to believe anymore…all of this…everything that happened tonight…I just can't imagine that I would ever see you-' she said, nodding in Harry's direction, '-or you ever again…' she stated, looking at Severus.

Harry smiled sadly, looking at Hermione.

'Well, Mione…believe it. We're here. It's…it's really us,' he chuckled slightly.

Hermione didn't smile.

'Well…what…what do you want me to do…I suppose…I mean it's obvious that you two are never going to leave if I don't cooperate,' she said in an exasperated tone with a look of disproval.

Severus Snape rolled his eyes.

'So,' Hermione continued, '-in that case, what do you want from me? What could you possibly want from me when I have nothing to offer?' she asked with defeat, her shoulders shrugging at the voice of her own request.

As if on cue, Hermione's silver clock upon the mantle struck ten o-clock.

Severus and Harry looked at one another.

'Mione, what we need from you is to stay put,' Harry said matter-of-factly. 'Don't leave…don't go out…just please, please stay here, OK' he pleaded with her.

Hermione smirked.

'Stay here? Don't show up for work when I haven't missed a day since I started? Oh sure, perfect. I'm sure no one would bloody well ask where I'm at…' she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

'We have a plan…' said Harry definitively. 'Don't worry, Mione – we'll take care of it,' he said in a re-assuring tone.

Hermione rose to stand in front of the sofa.

'Well, I hope you're right,' she sighed, looking at young man standing opposite her.

Harry looked at Severus, and then at the clock upon the mantle. Looking at Severus once again, he spoke to the older man.

'You can go. I'll catch up,' he said matter-of-factly, looking up at Severus.

The older man scowled and disappeared from her living room with a 'pop,' without another word.

Harry let a few seconds of silence pass before speaking to Hermione.

'I don't want to be a bit cheesy, but…but it really is good to see you Mione…I mean to talk to you in person,' he said sheepishly.

'I really missed you. A lot,' he said quietly, looking into her brown eyes.

Hermione smiled sadly.

'I'm sorry, Harry…I…I just…I don't know what to make of everything…' her voice trailed off as she placed her gaze on the carpet below.

'I know, but…but you have to trust us. Just please, trust us?' he said, pleading with her.

Hermione frowned.

'I'll try,' she said quietly, staring at the area rug below her feet. 'I can't promise anything…I've had too many promises broken already, have trusted too many people…but I'll try. That's the only thing I can offer,' she said softly.

Harry swallowed. He took a few cautious steps towards the young woman, stood directly in front of her, extended an arm, and opened his hand. She took a few moments, regarding his hand, before extending her hand much in the same manner. He took her hand in his grasp, holding onto her tightly, though she refused to match his strength.

Harry smiled sadly.

'You know, Mione – you aren't the only one who has lost loved ones,' he whispered, looking at the floor.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes.

Harry pulled away from her, released her hand, and took a step back.

'Don't leave,' he warned again, pointing an index finger at her.

'Don't worry,' she said, '-with all of the spells and charms that you people have put on this place, it's a wonder that my arse isn't glued to that chair,' she said jokingly, motioning towards the overstuffed white chair that Harry was sitting in.

Harry laughed.

'I'll be back soon,' he promised. And as soon as he uttered his statement, he took one last look at the young woman in front of him, and was gone with a small 'pop.'

…Meanwhile, a lone Death-Eater stood outside of Hermione's house waiting quietly in the darkness. He sneered at the shadows inside, and smirked to himself.

'So…she's actually cooperating….this should get interesting,' he sneered. The wind picked up outside, and the young man took a moment to wipe a silvery-blond hair from his eyes.

All of a sudden, his arm began to burn, to throb. He pulled up his sleeve to watch the Dark Mark write upon his sallow skin, the hideous drawing that tainted his flesh.

…The single Death Eater who now stood alone watching the house – the very same Death Eater in fact who killed Hermione's parents and who murdered her husband, grinned wickedly and chuckled to himself with pleasure as he watched his forearm.

…And without another word, Draco Malfoy withdrew his mask from the inside of his cloak, and disappeared into the cool, star-filled night with a small 'pop,' leaving absolutely no trace behind.