Dear Hermione,

Well, I'm going to put this as kindly as possible. It's just, well, I liked you and everything, but…there's someone else. There I've said it. She's different from everyone else; She understands me better than I think you ever did. She….she's also one of them. You know who I mean?

You'll think I'm mad, but she got me thinking: what if we've been barking up the wrong tree? What if the very people we had been fighting against, what if they are really trying to help us?

I mean, don't go thinking I agree with any of the… murders, but its all for the greater good isn't it? I can finally understand what you and Harry were going on about when you said risking our lives was for the 'greater good'. At least that was one thing you taught me. That's why I must try and help.

I really hope you are not angry with me,

Yours sincerely

Ronald Weasley.

P.S. I heard you were ill. Hope you are feeling better soon.

Severus tried to think of an appropriate reply. 'I'll kill him personally if you like.' was his first idea. Of course, 'I'm so sorry Hermione.' was probably the better thing to say. But Severus couldn't bring himself to say it. After all, what difference would it make?

He watched silently as the girl broke down right in front of him. He watched while she crumpled the tear-stained letter in her shaking hands. He watched as she slowly stood up and walked over to the burning log fire in the corner of the room, and he stood by and watched as Hermione threw the last remnants of her former life into the roaring flames.

She turned away from the fire and looked at him. He saw her tears running down the sides of her face, glistening softly in the fire light. 'They bleed Death and Despair,'. The words of the woman in his dream whispered to him unbidden. He had the sudden urge to brush away the tears, to do something, anything to get rid of the look of pain on her face. Normally Severus was indifferent towards other people's suffering. He'd had his own to deal with. But this…this was different. Her pain was linked to his…

But was that really the reason?

He tried to think of a logical excuse for the situation, but came up with nothing. He tried to think of a suitable reason for why he wanted to protect the girl, to stop her suffering, but he could not think of anything.

So instead he stepped towards her, and reaching out he ever so gently brushed a tear away from her left cheek. He had expected her to flinch, to turn away and run. He had half-hoped that she would.

But she never.

Still crying, she reached up and grasped his hand as though it was the only thing keeping her alive. Severus wasn't sure how to react to this. Without thinking he stepped closer, pulling her in towards him in the process. She froze slightly before resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shaking body. Anything to stop Hermione from crying.

He rested his head on top of hers, while thinking to himself, 'What the hell am I doing?'. It came as no surprise that he had no answer for that question either.

It was at this moment that Remus entered the room.

Several hours later and Severus was sitting in the darkness on the same hill that had been in his dream. How could he have been so stupid? To allow himself for even one moment to think the girl actually cared for him…

He pulled angrily at a clump of grass from the ground at his feet. Flashbacks from earlier on appeared in his mind… Remus walking into the room….Hermione pushing him away, running out the room, crying her eyes out…How could he have been so stupid?

Severus shook his head, trying to make the images disappear. Unfortunately the images wouldn't oblige. Over and over they played in his head, never ceasing. And the worst part of it all? It was that for that one moment, that one tiny fraction of a second when she had grabbed his hand, he had felt hope again. It had been a warm, rushing, uncontrollable feeling, like nothing he had felt for years. For so long he had been cold and distant. He had ignored his feelings almost entirely, and it had helped to numb the pain. But hope on the other hand…it had intensified the pain, it had sliced open all the wounds that Lily Evans had caused, the wounds that had only started to heal, and now they bled all over again. They bled the pain he felt at being rejected, the humiliation of the whole situation he was currently in. Severus hadn't even realised that he liked the girl in the slightest until today, and now it was too late. She had made her feelings clear.

He did consider throwing himself of the top of the astronomy tower, but that was too easy in Severus's opinion. He was a proud man if nothing else, and once again he would just have to pick up his tired and broken soul and his last shreds of dignity and go back to pretending he actually cared about life. Severus smiled grimly. Of course, the demon-like creature might have other plans. When would she come back? And what had the riddle in the dream meant? It was all as clear as mud as far as Severus was concerned. Besides, the creature better watch out.

It was a dangerous game to play with someone like him.

Someone who has nothing to lose.

………………………………

Remus was currently teaching his fourth years about the effects of dementors, but his heart wasn't really in it. He'd set the class some questions to answer (something he very rarely done) and was now sitting at his desk under the pretence of marking somebody's work. What he was actually doing was trying to make sense of what he had seen last night.

He had walked into Severus's room to find Hermione pushing Severus away and running out the room, sobbing hysterically. He'd looked at Severus, who had glared at him and uttered one word before silently walking out the room.

"Weasley."

It was then that Remus understood.

Severus had given Hermione the letter.

Remus had ran after Hermione and found her close by, slumped against a wall, head in hands. "I'm so sorry Hermione." he'd whispered to her, bending down. He'd helped her stand up again, but when he'd tried to take her back to Severus's quarters she had point-blank refused. Remus had asked her why, but all she would whisper in between the ragged breathing was "I need… time to think, Remus."

However, he had explained to her that Severus was out of his rooms at the moment, and he would tell him to leave her alone for a while if it made her feel any better. She eventually consented to going back, but Remus had to hold her steady as they went as she was still rather weak.

After he'd got Hermione settled down again, he'd went in search of Severus. He'd eventually found him heading outside to the grounds, despite the fact it was pitch black outside. Remus had told Severus that Hermione had needed time to herself, and that it would be better if he stayed away for a few hours. What Remus hadn't been expecting was Severus's reaction. His face had went completely blank, devoid of any colour.

"As you wish." he had murmured, before walking away into the night, black cloak billowing out behind him.

It was his reaction that had bothered Remus the most. Now he thought about it, Hermione's behaviour towards Severus had been odd too. One moment they seemed to dislike each other, then the next moment…well, he just hoped that creature wasn't coming back anytime soon. Hermione had been through enough without having any more trouble. He was going to go back to the library tonight, to see if he could do more research on the creature. Remus also meant to talk to Albus tonight about the Death Eater attacks. If they get any worse….

Remus sighed and finished marking the paper in front of him. He had the slightly uneasy feeling that he was missing something vital, something that would help him understand what's going on…

"Right, who's next?" he called wearily to the class in front of him.

…………………