In the Darkness

Ok, this is a shorter chappie, but there is one following right after it. All replies are on that one. Please read and review and enjoy!

Chapter 14

Hermione fled from the dark dungeons, walking at a quick pace away from them, not looking back. Her body led her instinctively to the common room; there Harry would be waiting to console her… No, he had gone to bed, he won't be there. She looked around the dark corridors helplessly, undecided on where she could go. She let out a small cry of distress and the terribleness of it all. How could she say those things to him? How could she be so cruel? How could she say those things she had hurt him so much? There was no emotion, as ever, on his face. Not anger, not disappointment… nothing. Shock. That was about it. How could she have caused that?

Her conscience played with her reasoning, the things that she hated herself for rose and sunk steadily as she thought of the look on her teacher's face. She was tempted to go to the dungeons, but she thought better of it, Snape was extremely… angry, when she had left him.

She needed to clear her head, think things through. Her mind was torturing her, filling her with guilt and sorrow. She missed her father dearly now, in these times she would write him a letter and get a reply by the next morning, soft words of comfort that soothed her just by reading them and hearing his voice in her mind. She stopped and checked the time. 11:25. There was no doubt in her mind where she had to go. She needed to think things over…

She turned and began her way to the Astronomy Tower, her small steps the only sound on the otherwise silent corridor. The candles cast small amounts of light on the walls, chinks in the uneven floor and walls appearing bigger than they were. She travelled up the winding stairs, her hands sliding along the wall as they steadied her until she got to the top, opening the door and creeping inside as it creaked and groaned loudly and closed it to.

She turned to the window and looked at it from the door. The cloudy sky hid the moon from her view, unable to light up the room. She walked carefully over to it, drawing in the cool night air into her lungs and exhaling it loudly, smelling the crisp freshness as she aloud it to clear her mind from its torment. She opened her eyes which had automatically shut, and gazed over the silent land before her, the dark shadows of black, grey and dark blue, the silhouettes of the majestic trees of the Forbidden Forest standing still and tall as they hid the dark secrets of the creatures inside. She let the stillness of nature swallow her, enveloping her, letting her mind assume a similar arrangement…

Until a creaking complained loudly behind her.

Her eyes flew open as she spun around to see a dark figure stood in the doorway. She couldn't see who it was, it was too dark...

But her mind told her who it was. It could only be one person.

Her whole body tensed every muscle. What could she say? What could she do? What was he doing here? What did he want…? Her mind gave her a thousand unanswered questions, all making her more nervous in front of the man whom she had just deeply upset.

He was just looking at her, or at least she assumed he was looking at her. He wouldn't be looking out of the window or anything…

"I didn't mean to startle you." He said, his tone carrying through the darkness.

"W, what are you doing he…"

"I think, Miss Granger, the question is what are YOU doing here?" He said, his voice so smooth in the darkness it just flowed right over her. She didn't have a reply to him. He took a few steps into the room as he closed the door behind him, never looking away from her. Her heart rate rose. Why had he closed the door? What was he doing? Why was he walking closer? "I asked a question, the least you can do is give me a reply." Still, she could think of nothing. He took another few steps forward as she took some back. He stopped as if he had noticed this.

"W, what do you w, want?" She asked.

"Oh please, Miss Granger, I'm not here to hurt you. You would have known in my classroom if I had wanted to hurt you." He took a deep breath after this and exhaled, loud and controlled. "As for what I want, well, I am not entirely sure, I haven't exactly thought this through."

Hermione's breath hitched in her throat. What did he mean? He had been a deatheater after all, what exactly did he mean?

"Why are you here?" He asked again. Her mind raced for an answer, anything to keep him away.

"I, I wanted to think."

"What about?"

"Everything."

"What else did you want to do?" She paused.

"I don't… fully understand what you mean."

"Why did you come here? For what reason?"

"To think…"

"No, Miss Granger, you did not. Tell me, what was the reason that you came here?"

"I… I don't know…" She didn't want him to get angry, but she didn't know what he wanted to hear.

"You don't know? Well let me help you. You came here to sing. To help you control your emotions and thoughts. Well now you are here. So sing."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this a set up? Was he going to laugh at her if she sang? Was there a tape recorder, ok, not a tape recorder, some magical device that recorded her sing so that he could show everyone later? Why did he want her to sing? To ridicule her, to make her feel as bad as he had when she had said those awful things to him?

"Miss Granger. Sing." He said sternly, frustration showing in his voice. She felt her eyes create unwanted tears that she refused to let fall.

"I… I can't."

"Yes you can. Sing."

"No, I can't…" He took more steps until there were only a few feet between them.

"Sing."

"No." She said almost silently on her breath. He closed the gap between them so that she was looking at his chest as he looked down at her.

"Sing." He said softly. "Please."

She looked up at him, only just able to make out the features on his face, but not the expression. Her brow had creased slightly into a worried confused look, her breathing trying to control the tears that were threatening to spill. She looked up at him, trying to understand what he meant.

Why had he just said please?

She searched the darkness for his eyes, the little bit of light catching the wetness of the dark pools and reflecting slightly from them. There was something different, she couldn't tell what, almost a… desperation… about his demeanour.

"Sing for me." He said in an almost whisper, his voice causing her eyes to sting even more. But it was her own reply that sent the tears crashing down her face.

"I can't."

He looked at her, with desperation and almost panic. She looked away, unable to bear his gaze. It wasn't intense with the passion and intent of wanting to intimidate, but from disappointment and the wanting to understand.

He took a step back, the closeness of his chest to hers lost suddenly as he turned and walked silently out of the room, leaving the door open as he did. She looked up as he left, wanting so badly to go after him, to explain to him why she couldn't…

Why couldn't she?

That was a question that had never been answered. Her father had constantly asked her, for he too had wanted to hear her sing. And yet she had deigned him too. Why? For what reason? Because she was afraid of what he would say? Why? There was no reason as to why she couldn't sing for him. He had wanted so badly to hear her sing; he never asked anything from her but that. He had given her so much and all he had asked for in return was that. The simply pleasure of her voice.

She let the tears fall for a few moments longer before she shivered. There was no solace here anymore. She could no longer hide from herself here. She turned, and once again made her way to the Gryffindor house.

Ok, please, don't kill me just yet, just read on... READ ON GODDAMN IT! --avoids the food that is being thrown--