Fervently wishing that he wouldn't meet anyone on the journey to the hospital wing, he wrapped her more tightly in his arms as he crossed into the grand entrance. Thankfully, his journey was solitary and he reached the hospital wing uninterrupted. Minerva was there as expected. The lines around her thin mouth sharpened as she wordlessly took in the sight before her. Recovering quickly, she motioned to a nearby bed. Severus followed her gesture and laid Angelina down gently. She barely stirred. As Minerva began to examine Angelina's injuries Severus stood at the head of her bed, staring.

"What happened, Severus?" Minerva quietly asked as she examined Angelina's lower body for damage.

"I… I found her in the forest. Minerva, Bellatrix and Fenrir were there." This simple statement caused a flash of panic to cross the older woman's face. Bellatrix and Fenrir were the two most infamous Death Eaters alive.

"Where was the guard? Dumbledore told me that there was supposed to be someone in the forest at all times!" Minerva stated fearfully as she stared at a particularly nasty gash that spanned its way across Angelina's right temple.

"Bastards." Severus snarled. He found it difficult to look at the deep cut, even though he knew that it could be healed easily. Minerva glanced up at him. His eyes were fixated on Angelina's face and they were darker than ever. Deciding that now was not the best time to question him, Minerva turned her full attention on the girl before her.

"Severus, do you mind leaving for a bit? I have some work to do." Severus looked for a second like he was going to object but gave a slight nod and swept out of the room.

Minerva closed the door behind herself as she spoke in a low voice.

"She'll be okay. Thank God the Cruciactus Curse rarely leaves any lasting damage. I've healed her up nicely but I expect she'll be a bit shaky." Severus nodded his head appreciatively and thanked the older witch.

"Thank you Minerva." She nodded curtly and hurried away. Had Severus not been preoccupied with his own emotions, he would have noticed that Minerva was headed in the opposite direction of her quarters near the Gryffindor common room. He would have noticed that she was headed straight for Dumbledore's office.

Angelina opened her eyes to Severus standing over her bed, staring into the distance.

"Sev…" her voice was hoarse and her throat was sore from her screams earlier. Severus looked down at her and a rare smile crossed his face fleetingly.

"Angelina…" he moved down and kissed her now unmarked forehead lightly. "Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again." Severus's smile disappeared as he noticed the seriousness with which she looked at him. A feeling of dread came over him as he realized what she was about to ask him. She moved straight into her questions, her voice becoming steadier as she continued relentlessly.

"Why were they in the forest? Why didn't you tell me why you didn't want me to go in there in the first place? Don't you think had I known that Death Eaters might be lurking around I'd have been a little more cautious? WHY did you talk to them like that? Like you knew them? And why did you tell them that I was 'one of you'? Whatever that means. What does that mean, Severus?!" The tirade of demands ended suddenly as her voice cracked painfully and she turned away, unable to look at him in the face. He stood there for a long while before he began in a deliberate, calculating voice,

"Angelina, you must have imagined that… I didn't say anything to th…" he was interrupted by her violently,

"DO NOT lie to me! I'm not one of your students, one of your inferiors. Why don't you trust me? Why don't you trust me?" her voice turned from one filled with rage to one filled with hurt. She looked at him square in the eyes and Severus found that he could not meet her gaze. Angelina's voice softened as her hand reached from underneath the sheets to grasp his with surprising strength. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears as she forced the words through her teeth.

"Sev, please talk to me. All of your strange disappearances and dark moods. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to meddle and you always treated me perfectly but I noticed them. I noticed them. I love you, I do. But… but if you don't tell me what's going on with you then… we're finished. I can't trust somebody who doesn't trust me." There. There it was. The ultimatum. Severus' face drained of all color leaving it as pale as ever. His hand tightened on hers as the thought of being without her physically hurt. But how could he tell her what he was, what he had done and expect for her not to leave him just the same? But shouldn't he at least try? Severus turned to face her slowly as the words left his mouth, hardly audible.

"I am one of the Dark Lord's most trusted Death Eaters and a spy for Albus Dumbledore. I have done terrible things that I can never repeat but I now serve the Order. And the Light."

Contrary to his expectations, Angelina's face was a mask of grim acceptance. Severus should have known that she would have already figured this out; she was a sharp woman, after all. Her next question, however, caught him by surprise and exposed issues that had not yet even crossed his mind.

"So." She mused quietly. "To save my life, you told Bellatrix that I was sympathetic to... to Voldemort?" she used the name quickly as if it was dangerous venom. But still, she said it. Severus answered her silently, nodding his head in assent.

"Doesn't it make sense then that she is going to tell …him of this new 'follower'?" Severus' face was still, however he had put two and two together.

"I mean, maybe she will Angelina but I think that I…" She cut him off sharply.

"No, Severus. Bellatrix is nothing but hate. She's going to tell him about me and then…" her voice trailed off and she stared off toward the infirmary office unseeingly. He was at a loss for words. The small bit of comfort that he had felt when he had first saved her disappeared completely as he digested the truth in her words. Voldemort would undoubtedly want to meet her and have her prove her allegiance to him. A quick image of a black twisted mark burned into soft brown flash tortured him briefly. Severus had just ruined her life. Trembling visibly, he reached out his hand to hers. Without looking at him she avoided his touch and turned away so that her back was facing him.

"Thank you, Severus, for saving me. But… I want to be alone right now." He stared at her form for a couple of seconds and then slowly bowed out of the room in sorrow.