A/N Here you have it! Thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews, they really lift my spirits and make me write faster! Ok, I'll explain better at the end, but I can't resist a bit of action in very chapter...
Hermione blinked her eyes open and gazed around her through dim, blurry vision. She seemed to be leaning against a smooth tree truck facing a broad expanse of smooth, azure water, and when she peered closely, she could see the moon and stars setting on the horizon and the sun rising opposite. Surprised, she realised she had slept through the entire night and suddenly wondered if Harry had returned. She rose to her feet and glanced around, searching for any sign of him or Professor Snape. She spotted the Potions Master standing a ways away, his back to her, gazing out across the still water.
Hermione wondered briefly if he had even slept last night, but guessed he hadn't at the way his shoulders slumped. She started towards him, picking her way through rocks and tall grasses until she stopped about a metre away from him.
"Is Harry back yet?" she whispered quietly, even though they were alone and no one could hear.
Severus was caught off guard by her sudden question but he didn't let it show. "No, I've not seen him." His voice was unusually subdued and he spoke almost as quietly as Hermione did. "I see you're awake," he commented neutrally.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Yeah... How did I get there?" she asked curiously, though she already knew the answer.
A pause, then: "That would be my doing." He finally turned his head to gaze at her, and Hermione shivered, and not from the cold either. "Why did you come back for me? Why didn't you leave me there like any other student would have?"
To Hermione's surprise, Severus seemed genuinely curious, and she replied simply, "I'm not any other student."
Severus almost smiled. "Well, thank you, I guess," he muttered awkwardly, no sign of his previous harshness or coldness.
"I wouldn't want to leave anyone at that foul place," Hermione pointed out and; she was triumphant that she had squeezed a word of gratitude from the Slytherin Head. "You're welcome," she added, and turned her eyes to follow his gaze.
They stood in silence, staring at the sky, lost in thought, until a sharp pop sounded behind them; turning their heads simultaneously, they saw Harry emerge from some holly bushes, a broad grin on his face. "I'm back," he said needlessly.
"What took you so long?" Hermione asked as she rushed at him and threw her arms around his neck in a string embrace.
Harry laughed into her hair and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Delacroix wouldn't let me leave," he explained with amusement. "I guess she had been left alone too long and wanted to be free. But we might need her again."
Hermione pulled away but Harry took her hands in his and stared into her eyes. "Hermione, you wouldn't believe how worried I'd been when you were taken. I-I was afraid they would kill you." His eyes glittered. "I'm so glad you're back."
"Oh, Harry..." Hermione smiled with sadness in her eyes. "I'm fine, you know it."
"Yes, but..." Harry broke off. "I'm just glad you're back."
Hermione was starting to feel uncomfortable at his obvious shows of affection in front of Severus. "Harry, we should probably be getting back to Hogwarts now; they're probably missing you by now." Hermione pulled away from his hands.
Harry nodded slowly. "Alright, then; let's go." He started away from Hermione and towards the castle looming in the distance. Hermione followed, but when she didn't see Professor Snape move, she paused. "Are you coming?"
Severus scowled and snapped, "Patience, Granger; learn the word." With that stinging remark, he started walking briskly.
Hermione couldn't help but feel hurt at his sharp words after he had been so much nicer earlier. Was it Harry's presence causing it? She shook her head. Of course it wasn't. Severus Snape wasn't a kind person, she must have been hallucinating or something. But he had seemed so sincere, she thought as she trailed behind Harry as they continued on.
"Hello, Hermione!" The sudden call startled Hermione; she turned and to her surprise, saw Safire bounding towards her.
"Safire!" she greeted her friend. "What are you doing all the way out here?" Hermione saw Harry and Snape watching her.
"What do you mean, all the way out here?" Safire asked. "I'm right near where you found me."
Hermione was shocked "Are you sure we're that close?" Safire nodded and she continued. "Could you show us the way?"
"Yeah, follow me!" Safire turned as Hermione beckoned Harry and Snape. When they came back to her, they started out after the Frences into the heart of the forest; after barely five minutes, Hermione began recognising the place.
"Hermione, are you sure you trust Safire?" Harry called as he stumbled over a fallen tree. "Is this the right way for sure?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I've actually been here before, and we're close to Hagrid's place; just a little further."
Hermione suddenly pulled to a halt as she reached Safire, who had stopped in the middle of the trail and was staring intently at the ground. "Is there a problem?" she asked curiously. Safire glanced up, and Hermione realised it wasn't Safire, but another larger Frences, with grey streaks through its fur. "Oh, sorry..." Hermione started to back away but the unfamiliar creature had already leaped, bowling her over. She gasped painfully as the breath was crushed from her lungs.
"Fleck! Stop it!" A high pitched howl ripped through the air and the weight on Hermione vanished. She sat up, aching.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Safire asked, suddenly beside her with a worried look. "Sorry; my grandfather is out of sorts."
"That was your grandfather?" Hermione asked incredulously. "I thought you said you were the only one out here?"
Safire looked down at her paws. "I kind of lied... I didn't want any chance someone would find him. He's lost it." Hermione laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where did you go?"
"Oh, I was a ways ahead of you," Safire explained. "Did you not see me? I could see you the entire time."
"No, you were probably hidden by something or-" She broke off as Harry and Severus crashed through the bushes behind them, their eyes locking on hers. "There you are, Harry." Hermione stood.
"We heard you yell," Harry explained. "We thought someone was attacking you. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Harry, don't worry about me." Hermione was starting to get annoyed at how protective Harry was getting with her, as if she couldn't take care of herself. "It was just Safire; she surprised me."
"Oh..." Harry cast Safire a fleeting glance before turning away. "Come on; let's hurry up and get back. We're wasting time." Safire and Hermione exchanged a perplexed look before following Harry and Snape in silence. Safire broke it first.
"So, what were you doing all the way out here?" she inquired. "You and Severus look like you had a run-in with Aragog."
Hermione let out a snort. "It feels like it," she commented dryly. "No, actually, we just escaped Malfoy Manor."
Safire nearly tripped over her own paws in shock. "Do continue," she stammered.
So Hermione explained every detail of her capture, from the moment Darkenza had appeared up until just a few minutes ago. Safire was shocked as she recounted the tale, but when Hermione mentioned the dragon, Delacroix, the Frences' fur spiked with fear.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked with concern.
Safire shuddered. "I had a terrible experience with a dragon," she growled. "They make me nervous now."
"I'm sorry... What happened?" Hermione wondered how a dragon could scare such a brave creature as Safire.
"I'll tell you later. I want to hear the rest of your story," Safire glanced up at Hermione, willing her not to protest. "Continue."
Hermione nodded and finished her story. Safire was silent, then: "You two just can't keep out of trouble, can you?"
Hermione burst out laughing. "No, apparently not," she replied with amusement. It was then they pulled to a halt beside Harry and Severus and followed their gaze. "We made it," Hermione whispered. "Hogwarts."
Suddenly, Harry took off down the slope, heading towards the castle. Hermione laughed and dashed after him, Safire hot on her heels; she quickly passed Hermione and caught up to Harry, who glanced down in surprise and took a misstep, twisted around and fell on his back. Hermione also tripped, landing on Harry's chest; the dark haired boy-man, as he now was-looked up at her in surprise, then, to her surprise, started laughing hysterically.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Um, Harry?"
"I'm fi-fine!" Harry choked between guffaws. "You just tripped and your face... you should'e seen yourself!"
Hermione sighed and extended a hand to help him up as Severus caught up to them. "Miss Granger, Potter, I would expect more mature behaviour from seventh years," he sneered in derision. "I suggest you get up and get going."
Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Very well; let's go, Harry. I'm so tired it's not even funny!"
"Agreed," Harry agreed, following at a slower pace down the hill.
Neither of them noticed Severus bend down slightly to whisper to Safire, "Make sure they make it back safely, especially Hermione. There are... things I need to do." Safire smirked and nodded her consent, and with that, Severus Apparated to destination unknown.
When Safire caught up, Hermione glanced behind and was shocked to see no one. "Where did Professor Snape go?" she asked the Frences, who just shook her head mysteriously. Hermione kept asking but Safire didn't relent. "Well, then, what did he say?" she finally asked with a huff.
"Just to get you back safely," Safire replied shortly, then a flash of mischief appeared in her eyes and she took off running down the hill away from Hermione. The Gryffindor girl sighed in exasperation and followed.
Finally, they arrived at Hagrid's hut. "Finally," she whispered. "A familiar place." But it was too early to visit, so the three friends continued on to the castle, quiet despite the desertedness of the grounds. They pushed the heavy wooden doors open and slipped inside, starting down the hall towards the Gryffindor Common room. They made it to their destination without being seen, but if they had thought they could get to bed unnoticed, they had a shock coming.
"Harry, you're back!" the Fat Lady exclaimed in surprise. "I see you succeeded in your mission. Well, whatever you find in there wasn't my fault," she said as the portrait swung outwards and Harry, Hermione and Safire crawled inside, where they nearly fainted at the sight.
Nearly every Gryffindor was awake, and sitting all across the common room; when they entered, all heads turned to them and they were almost instantly surrounded by their housemates coming to greet them with words of delight.
"Harry! You made it back safely, I see!"
"Glad to see you, Hermione!"
"We've missed you both!"
"You must be exhausted!"
Hermione was shocked at how much she was obviously missed. Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned to see Fred Weasley grinning down at her. "Never thought I'd see the day when you escaped Malfoy Manor, eh, Hermione?" With a warm smile, he pulled her close to him, his arms wrapping around her waist. She was surprised for a moment, then shrugged it off and returned the embrace, glad to see the redhead again.
"Hermione!"
Fred released her reluctantly and Hermione turned in time for Ginny to throw her arms around Hermione in a tight squeeze, crushing the breath from her lungs. "Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" Ginny's eyes glowed.
"It's good to see you too, Ginny," Hermione replied with a smile at her best friend. "But, I kind of need to get cleaned up."
"Alright, then," Ginny led Hermione up to the girls dormitory past everyone; a quick glance around told Hermione that Harry had already gone up to the boys dormitory. After cleaning up, Hermione went back down to the common room and saw it had emptied; Harry already waiting for her, his eyes tired. Hermione walked up to him and stood directly in front of him.
"So," she said.
"So, what?" Harry replied.
"So, you got me out of there," she replied softly, glad that no one else was around. "Thank you." She hesitated, then leaned up and pressed her lips to Harry's, her eyes closing partly. She sensed Harry's surprise; then he relaxed and snaked his arms around her waist, returning the kiss and pulling her close to his body. Neither saw Ginny appear in the doorway, grin, and depart again; they were too lost in each other.
When they finally broke apart, they were gasping gently, but Harry didn't release her yet. "I didn't know you had any feelings for me," Harry whispered with a hint of surprise and amusement in his voice.
"I always have," she replied quietly, her face still close to his. Finally, they reluctantly pulled apart and with a last look at each other, vanished into their dormitories for a decent night' sleep.
.
When Hermione woke the next morning, she saw that Safire had fallen asleep at the foot of the bed, it was noon judging by the bright sunlight streaming and Ginny was searching through her truck, obviously trying to find something important. As Hermione sat up, Ginny turned her head and sighed.
"I can't find my homework and I'll be late for Potions in ten minutes. You can come if you don't want to sleep any more; it is your next class too." Ginny went back to searching for her homework.
"Sure," Hermione replied, standing and yawning. She frowned. "I don't know what the assignment was."
"Oh, you weren't here," Ginny shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I'm sure Snape'll let you off, seeing as you've been gone all week. We had to write a two-foot essay about the twelve uses of dragons' blood."
Hermione winced. "Well, I'll come anyway; I still need to catch up. And did you say Snape is teaching?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, he came back this morning, it was announced at breakfast. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, he just disappeared right before we got to Hagrid's place and I haven't seen him since," Hermione replied with a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant; in truth, for some bizarre reason, she actually wanted to know if he had gotten back safely, and it surprised her when she actually felt concern for the stringent, profound Slytherin Head. "So, have you found it?" she asked at the same time Ginny cried, "Found it!"
Ginny waited as Hermione hurriedly dressed in a plain black tee and denim shorts then they hurried down the stairs and through the common room before ducking through the portrait hole into the hall. Once there, they picked up the pace as fast as they could go without breaking the corridor rules and headed towards the dungeons.
"Oh, I really do not want to be late," Ginny huffed as she checked her watch. "Not for Potions…"
They arrived at the dungeon door a moment before the clock struck. As they slipped inside, Hermione instantly spotted Snape gliding through the door on the opposite wall; Hermione was surprised at how well he had cleaned up. Anyone looking at him without knowing his previous situation wouldn't have had a clue what he had gone through just a day previously.
"Over here," Ginny whispered, leading Hermione towards two empty seats near the front of the room; Snape was too busy writing potion ingredients on the board to notice them enter surreptitiously. A quick glance around told Hermione Slytherin was combined with Gryffindor. When Snape finished, he whipped around, his cloak billowing majestically behind him.
"Today each of you will get into pairs to brew any potion I assign you. You will work together and if any casualties occur I will dock house points, am I understood?" no one said a word, but everyone nodded quickly and Snape continued, going on to arrange them in pairs; Harry was instantly with Zabini and, to Hermione's dismay, Ginny was put with Millicent Bulstrode, who glared rudely at her redhead partner.
Finally Snape reached Hermione, who didn't shrink back at his glare. "Miss Granger," he drawled. "Draco, come over here."
At Hermione's horrified expression, Malfoy smirked. "Hey there, Mudblood," he sneered.
"Be silent," Snape warned. He handed them a piece of parchment. "You will do this potion, together, andwhen you are through you will bring a vial with a sample of it to my desk. You can leave when you have finished." He swept away, but Hermione could have sworn he flashed a fleeting glance in her direction but it must have been the lingering exhaustion from last night.
"Why are you staring at Professor Snape? We need to finish this!" Hermione started when Malfoy snapped at her and quickly averted her gaze, embarrassed that she had been caught staring, by Malfoy at that. Instead of retorting however, she looked down at the parchment and read aloud:
Draught of the Living Death
Hermione gaped. "This is advanced material; he can't seriously think we could make this successfully the first time we try?"
"Well, there's no harm trying, is there?" Malfoy shrugged. "So, where'd you disappear off to, Granger? Trying to find something, or could you just not stand Potter any more?"
"That's none of your business, Malfoy," Hermione growled through gritted teeth. "So shut up so we can do this potion."
"Touchy, aren't we, Granger?" Malfoy rolled his eyes and scooted over so he was uncomfortably close to Hermione; she slid away from him with a hiss and slammed the instructions down on the table between them. "Ok, you get the wormwood and valerian roots, I'll get the asphodel roots and Sopophorous bean."
"You don't tell me what to do, Mudblood," Malfoy hissed at her, his eyes flaring. "I'll get what I want."
Hermione ignored him, instead standing and making her way over to the classroom ingredient closet, where Harry was already searching for his required ingredients. Glad to see him, and also a bit nervous after last night, Hermione started scanning the shelves. "Hey Harry," she greeted softly.
He glanced up in surprise. "Oh, hi Hermione," he returned. "I got antidote to common poisons. You?"
"Draught of the living death," she replied, still not looking at him. "So how are you doing with Zabini?"
But Harry didn't even hear her last question. "Why'd he give you that? That's advanced stuff!"
Hermione shrugged. "Its not big deal. I'll give it my best shot, though it won't be easy with Malfoy breathing down my neck every time I do something. He's so annoying."
"Oh," Harry turned to gaze at Hermione. "Look, about last night… Why? Not that I didn't like it, but…"
"Harry, that was in the heat of the moment, I'm sorry…" Hermione found her last ingredient and turned towards the door to leave, but before she could go more than three steps, Harry grabbed her arm gently.
"Hermione, I didn't mean I didn't appreciate it; I just want you to know that I—I'm glad you did." Harry stepped forward and kissed her gently, briefly, before moving back, breaking contact and releasing her arm.
The startled Gryffindor stared at him before turning and leaving the room, her lips still tingling as she returned to her seat. "What took so long?" Malfoy scowled; Hermione saw he already had his ingredients.
"Couldn't find the Sopophorous," she muttered. Glancing at the instructions, she and Malfoy began working on the potion, carefully measuring each exactly; she noticed Malfoy was unusually quiet and wondered what had happened while she had been gone. She hadn't gotten the nerve to ask anyone what she had missed, but she resolved to question Ginny that night.
Finally, they finished the potion. Hermione found a vial and held it carefully while Malfoy ladled some of the mixture into it. After stoppering it, they stood simultaneously and went over to Professor Snape's desk. He didn't look at them as Hermione set the vial on his desk, but as they made to leave, she heard him say, "Miss Granger, stay in here until everyone leaves."
Confused Hermione dipped her head in acknowledgement and returned to her desk. Almost everyone else had finished by that point, and when the last few students turned in their potions, Hermione waited awkwardly to see what Snape had wanted.
When he finally spoke, Hermione was surprised at how empty his voice seemed, like something about him had gone missing during their capture. "I would appreciate, Granger, if you refrained from telling anyone about what happened over the past week, especially concerning me. There is no need for anyone to know about anything." She noticed he avoided eye contact as he spoke.
She contemplated him for a moment, concerned, then said, "Yes, sir. Is that all you needed?"
He didn't say anything, but gave her a short nod and she left the room.
.
"So, what did Snape want?" Ginny asked as she, Hermione and Harry walked through the corridors towards the Gryffindor house that evening.
"Oh, nothing," Hermione replied hesitantly.
"I know he didn't say 'nothing'," Harry pointed out. "Snape never says 'nothing' when he has a student stay after class."
"Professor Snape, Harry, honestly," Hermione sighed in exasperation as the Fat Lady's portrait came in sight. "How many times must I tell you?"
Harry snorted but said nothing. When they pulled to a stop in front of the portrait hole, he said, "Hippogriff's Hover," hence the password, and the three friends scrambled inside. The common room was empty except for a couple of first years playing chess in the corner. Harry disappeared into the boys' dormitory with a muttered "'Night," while Hermione and Ginny hurried up to their dormitory. Luckily, everyone else was already asleep, and the two girls, not tired at all, sat on Hermione's bad cast the Silencing charm so no one could overhear them.
"So, are you sure you want to know?" Hermione asked Ginny. The redhead nodded and she sighed. "He just wanted to tell me not to tell anyone about our… situation at Malfoy Manor."
Ginny was partly confused and partly fascinated. "What situation?" Then her eyes widened and a broad disbelieving grin spread across her face. "You don't mean…"
Hermione caught her drift; her eyes widened and she shook her head hastily, shocked that her best friend would even think such a thing. "No, Ginny! Oh, my… You can't be serious; of course not!"
Ginny let out a huge burst of laughter at the horrified look on Hermione's face. "I was just joking," she snickered. "It was funny, though, when you realised…"
Hermione glared daggers at her friend. "That's not very funny, you know," she complained. "Now, can I tell you civilly what happened?"
Ginny nodded, the laughter dying from her eyes. "Yeah, and sorry, I just wasn't sure…"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, you know that night I wanted to be alone, so I went outside?" Ginny nodded. "I went to the lake, wanting to walk around it for a while and relax a bit, but then Professor Snape showed up for who knows what reason and started talking to me… it was really weird because it was so not like him to do that. It was as if he was possessed or something."
At this, Ginny snorted with laughter. "Possessed? Snape? I wouldn't be the least bit surprised!"
"Yeah, he sure seems like he is," Hermione agreed with a grin. "'Ten points from Gryffindor'," she imitated the dark professors slow, measured drawl then snorted with laughter.
"Ok," Ginny bit her lip to stop laughing. "Please continue with the story."
She listened patiently to Hermione's recount, fascinated at what she had gone through; however, she retched in disgust as Hermione told about the box she and Snape had been trapped in. "That is disgusting! You poor girl," she shook her head with wide eyes.
Ginny didn't notice when Hermione purposely left out any awkward details, like when Snape whispered in her ear, or when she leaned back against him for a split second, but even then Ginny was enthralled. When Hermione finished, Ginny bombarded her with questions and Hermione patiently answered most of them, until the redhead asked the daunting question.
"Is there something going o between you and Snape? An honest answer, please," she implored.
Hermione sighed; Harry had asked just that same question on the way back to Hogwarts. "Ginny, there is nothing going on between us, that would just be weird," she explained. "So we were taken and put in the same room; that doesn't necessarily mean we're suddenly friends or anything."
Ginny shrugged. "Okay, then. No harm in asking, right?"
"I suppose not," Hermione agreed, letting out a huge yawn. "Look, I'm tired; we really should get to bed. Maybe we can talk tomorrow morning."
Ginny nodded, also yawning. "Alright then. 'Night, Hermione."
.
"So, what's your first class?" Ginny asked as she and Hermione walked away from the Great Hall.
Hermione thought a moment, then said, "Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Ginny shrugged. "I have Transfiguration," she said dejectedly. "Well, see ya at lunch then, I suppose."
"See ya," Hermione replied as they separated to go to their classes. Walking down the hall, alone, Hermione drew several glances and whispers about her disappearance; it was unnerving having everyone staring at her, even if she was top ranking in her year. She was curious as to what everyone thought about her being gone, and wondered what she should tell anyone who asked her. An idea crossed her mind, but it was so unlikely she shook it off, then considered it again.
What if she told them the truth? Not that they'd believe her, but it would be fun to see their reactions if she said she escaped on a dragon. As she was thinking, she didn't pay attention to her surroundings and nearly tripped over the group of first years that were stopped in the middle of the hall. An unusually subdued silence hung in the air and Hermione refrained from snapping at the careless first years, instead stretching onto her toes, trying to see over their heads. When she couldn't see anything, she pushed her way forwards, through the group of students until she reached the front of the line. What she saw made her stomach clench in nausea and grief.
A girl was lying on the floor, her arms twisted at odd angles and her clouded eyes giving a last glare of defiance. A thin slice across her throat slowly dripped crimson blood onto the polished floors, and the gathered crowd was speechless with shock.
"I'll fetch Professor McGonagall!" a third year Gryffindor shouted as he broke away, taking off down the hall.
Hermione hardly heard him as she stared at the Head Girl, Cho Chang's, unmoving body.
A/N Um, right. I'm not really sure who the Head Girl was before Hermione, but I guessed that Cho would work, right? And it was RebeccaTwinTyler's idea so... If anyone knows who was before Hermione, please tell me. :) Please review, and I'll update again as soon as we hit 40. :)
Oh, and just to let you guys know, I may not be updating for a long while. Um, where do I start...
So, I'm in an online homeschool group that follows public schools, and I'm still way behind. The group, K12, sent me a computer to do all my school on and if I leave K12 next year, I have to send it back. My parents want to put me in public school next year, so I'll have to send the computer back sometime in July. I've just hit a major writers block, and if I have to send the computer back before I finish the next chapter, I'm sorry to say I most likely won't be updating for perhaps months. I feel terible, but that's my life. *shrug* Hope you liked this chapter, and so sorry for leaving you hanging. *grins mischieviously*