Chapter 22 - A visitor

"Where do you think they went?" McGonagall asked Remus who was hunched in one of her office chairs. Harry and Hermione had been gone for an entire day now. No one had heard from them and were beginning to fear what had happened.

"I understand you're worried. Harry can take care of himself and Hermione. Besides, if they wanted to be found you would have already." Remus said tired.

The entire Order had been on patrol and looking for Harry and Hermione. Voldemort was getting bolder and the muggles weren't doing any better. Their main goal was to get this war over with as soon as possible and that required a certain wizard who was missing in action.

"So you believe their safe?" McGonagall asked sitting at her desk. She looked worn and tired just like the others. Since Dumbledore's death she hadn't been fairing to well.

"Leave them be. I'm sure Harry is fine and Hermione is safest with him. Trust me." Remus said.

"I can't believe you let them get away!!" Draco yelled at Ron.

"What was I suppose to do? Attack Harry or try to pull Hermione away from him?" Ron yelled back.

Ginny and Luna watched as the two screamed at each other. Harry had scooped Hermione off her feet and took off. Now no one could find them and these two bloody idiots wouldn't stop blaming each other.

"SHUT UP!!" Ginny yelled finally having enough. "It's neither of your faults. Harry needed to be with Hermione, okay?" She said.

The two boys stood still with their heads down in shame. "Besides, Harry loves Hermione. He would never let any harm come to her, even from himself." Luna said.

Ron smiled at his girlfriend and turned to Draco. "Sorry mate, guess I'm a little shaken up about all this."

Draco nodded and joined Ginny's side. "It's okay. Let's just not worry about and let the Order deal with this mess. I say we continue our training with the rest of the D.A." Draco said.

The others nodded in agreement.

Hermione began to wake. She was lying on something hard yet cozy and she was warm. She opened her eyes and saw the fireplace. Strong arms were wrapped around her and she'd remembered she'd fallen asleep on top of Harry.

"Morning beautiful." Harry said beneath her. She shifted and looked down at him, smiling.

"Morning." She said softly. "A girl could get used to this."

He chuckled and smiled, "Good, however let's fall asleep on something bigger than a couch."

Her eyes got big as she realized he must be in some discomfort. She got off him and sat on the edge of the couch giving him room to get up.

He slowly sat up and stretched. She could hear all his joints pop and crack as he pulled out his muscles. "That was the best night sleep I've ever had." He said. She couldn't imagine how.

He leaned back and looked over at her. "You're beautiful first thing in the morning."

She blushed and looked away. He was so sweet, how could life be so cruel to a man like him.

"Want some breakfast?" He asked standing up from the couch.

She stood as well, "I'll make breakfast okay." He began to protest but she leaned up and kissed him.

When they broke apart he simply nodded. She smiled and fought a giggle as she made her way to the kitchen.

Harry headed upstairs to the library with his backpack. He stopped short at the end of the hallway just looking at his old bedroom door. A cold chill passed down his spine. He didn't know if he'd be able to stay in this house alone or not, but for now it was the safest place for him to be. At least until he knew what cards Snape would play.

He went into the library and emptied his backpack on the coffee table. Wormtails journal fell out along with his notes on the Horcruxes. Harry setup a place on the wall to hang a map and his notes. He stared at the parchments for the longest time.

Hermione had called for Harry, that breakfast was done. When he hadn't answered she got worried and began to search. She found him upstairs in the library looking over his notes and the map Wormtail drew.

"Any ideas?" She asked startling him. He reached for his wand then sighed when he realized it was her.

"A few. According to this," He said pointing to the dark mark on the map, "Voldemort's snake is one. We'll have to go after that one last simply because she never leaves his side."

Hermione nodded and looked over the map as well. "So we have one item to find, the cup. But it just shows a house."

Harry nodded and leaned back. The item had to be Hufflepuff's cup and they knew the previous owner had been killed for it. So where would Voldemort hide it?

"Breakfast is ready." Hermione said. He nodded and stood. He followed her downstairs and smelled what was cooked.

"Smells fantastic." He said walking into the kitchen.

"I'm surprised you didn't smell it upstairs and come right on down." She said sitting down at the table.

He sat as well and smiled at his big plate of eggs and sausage. "I was thinking." He said before digging in.

She nodded and ate as well.

Snape had finally gotten away from that greasy worm. He had heard about the Potter boy and he could only hope he'd gone to his parent's house.

Why Dumbledore had made him secret keeper he'd never know. After all he'd been relied on to do many things and now this one as well. Luckily he was an expert at keeping his mind shielded so Voldemort never found out.

The Potter's house was right up the street as he made a beeline for the yard. Once he was on the property he wouldn't be found. He wished he could actually stay there but it was against the rules. You couldn't be secret keeper to your own home.

He reached the yard and stopped. The house looked to be in better condition and the lights were on inside. Perhaps the Potter boy had come home.

Snape made his way to the door and knocked.

Harry looked towards the direction of the front door. He'd heard someone approaching. The Order couldn't have found him that easy. Unless it was Voldemort. He turned to Hermione, "Hide." He said moving from the table.

She didn't know where she could hide with out Death Eaters finding her so she pulled her wand and followed Harry. Beside's she wasn't about to let him fight alone.

A knock came at the door and Harry froze. Why would the dark lord knock?

Harry looked back at Hermione who just shrugged. He should have known she wouldn't hide and he was actually grateful she was watching his back.

He turned the handle and pulled the door open, his wand in front of him.

"Stupefy." Harry said sending the figure flying across the yard. Harry rushed forward and looked over the figure. "Snape?" he asked as the figure began to wake.

Snape sat up and grunted at Harry before standing. Harry made a quick look around the yard and rushed back to the door step, Snape on his heels.

"It's good to see your fast on your feet, Potter." Snape said closing the door behind him.

"What do you want Snape?" Harry asked a chill to his voice.

"Don't blame me boy. I'm simply here to lend a helping hand. I was hoping you'd be here already." Snape said

Harry and Hermione both stood with their wands ready.

"I've heard what's happened to you through the Order and Voldemort. I'm sorry you've had the unfortunate luck to become like Remus. However I have information that will help you hunt for a certain object." Snape said.

Harry growled at his comment against Remus. "What information?" He asked.

"The cup you're looking for. Voldemort hid it among his followers. It's at my house. I would have brought it here but Voldemort is watching all of his followers closely, especially since Peter was caught leaking information." He said giving Harry a look of 'catch the hint'.

Harry nodded. "I understand. You're playing both sides and can't afford to get caught by either side. Voldemort thinks you're with him since you killed Dumbledore and so does the Order, yet somehow you're still getting information from them." Harry said trying to catch him in a corner.

"Young Malfoy is my inside source. I stopped him from committing a horrid act of violence against Dumbledore, but as arranged between the two of us I finished the deed. Voldemort needed to see that I was truly on his side. This way the Order could stay one step ahead and bring him to an end. Dumbledore understood this and made a sacrifice. I merely was following orders." Snape said.

Harry sighed in frustration. He could understand Dumbledore's need to keep Snape a double agent. He gathered the information required making Voldemort weaker and it was indeed helping him out greatly. He was happy or forgiving about it but he understood.

"Very well. The only problem is Draco doesn't have a foothold in the Order to feed information without them suspecting treason." Harry said.

Hermione stood quietly agreeing with Harry. If Draco had come to the Order with inside knowledge of Voldemort's doing he would have been locked up in the basement or worse.

"I know. Which is why Draco has merely kept me in the know of your doings? You have a foothold in the Order and your running about actually trying to stop Voldemort. They'll listen to you if you have information. You can trust I won't revel your location to anyone. You are safe just as I promised." Snape said.

Harry nodded trusting him. Dumbledore wouldn't have placed so much faith in the man for no reason. "Alright. How do I retrieve the cup?" He asked.

"It won't be simple. I need to appear innocent for as long as I can. Two Death Eaters stand guard over my residence. Once you take the cup and destroy it, you must move fast. Be prepared to attack Voldemort. He won't know when it's gone but he will know when it's destroyed. I will be back to help you, just be careful." Snape said.

"Nice words, from you? I'm impressed." Harry said leading him to the door. "I will be careful. We won't destroy it until we hear from you again. That way we can have the Order ready for attack."

Snape nodded and stopped at the door. "I am sorry." That was all he said as he stepped outside and made his way down the yard. Harry watched to make sure he got away okay before closing the door.

"Well that was informing." Hermione said.

Harry leaned against the wall and rubbed his face in frustration. Snape was really acting the part of being the good guy but he didn't know if he could fully trust the slimy git. To top that off, Peter seemed to have gotten caught for his journal that was hidden to help him.

This war needed to end and quick.

Authors note: I want to apologize to everyone. I had this chapter written a few weeks ago and sent it off to my beta. I never heard back from her and then my laptop lost it's internet connection. Then of course I had to read the book. Even with knowing how it really happens, I'm sticking to my story. I like the Harry/Hermione and I won't stop liking it.

The Wigster.