Chapter 3
Nightly wonderer
Dumbledore was pacing his study impatiently. Severus Snape his most trusted friend and advisor was late for their meeting. This was something unusual as Severus was the most punctual man Dumbledore knew.
The clock above his office door chimed once, indicating the start of the morning. Dumbledore turned towards his desk. It was quite a mess to say the least, parchments were strewn all over the place some have even made it to the floor. His many priced possessions were covered by the large amount of old news papers and other random notes. The golden cage of his Phoenix was so dirty that the Phoenix in question refused to fly anywhere near it.
Dumbledore sighed. He was not a filthy man by nature, but his resent task has requested all of his attention. He was tired that after so many years of searching for a way to destroy Voldemort, he was still no where nearer finding it then he was in the beginning of the year.
If only Merlin gave him a sign, and indication that he wasn't fighting a lost battle. He was starting to loose faith, and that was dangerous. He was the leader of the OOTP and if he lost hope, he knew the order will fall.
Dumbledore looked a the clock again and rubbed his temples is frustration. He knew that he needed to go look for Severus. The man was never late, and if he was, their was always a very good reason behind it.
Dumbledore walked out of his study and down the stairs. The wind was blowing harshly against the school walls and the temperature drop was evident. Winter nights in Hogwarts were far from pleasant.
He turned to go down the left corridor and walked a few steps, before noticing a still shape laying on the cold stone floor. With out hesitation Dumbledore made his way over to the lifeless looking figure.
It was the girl Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends. She was lying dead still and naked. The faint glow of the moon was not enough for the professor to see how badly hurt she was. He decided that can wait for later, the girl was obviously freezing to death.
He quickly removed his winter cloak and gently placed into over her naked figure. Hermione stirred and opened her eyes. She gave him one sad look and whispered Malfoy' so faintly that he wasn't quite sure he heard her correctly. Then he felt her stiffen ,her head dropped back and her eyes fell shut.
He gently picked her up from the cold stone floor and rushed to the hospital wing.
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