Chapter 2-Brooding

'Bloody hell,' he thought venomously as he spotted a lone figure occupying his favorite outdoor 'brooding' spot. Bugger. 'I wonder who it could possibly be.' In his esteemed opinion, it was an uncommonly brilliant person who was capable of appreciating the hidden beauty the view presented. It just happened to be a perfect day for pondering the not-so-immediate future. He truly longed for the day he could tell the Dark Lord to sod off…he sneered slightly thinking of the expression that would appear on the Dark Lord's face if he ever accidentally let that slip. It was almost as satisfying as actually responding with that and infinitely safer. He longed for the day he could teach the way he wanted to teach…he loved potions. They were his passion. (The only reason he even applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position each year was to keep up the charade that Albus didn't trust him completely!) If only he could openly show his students how much fun potions could be, without having to be a prat all the time! That certainly wasn't going to happen any time soon. He had to wait until all Death Eaters were either dead or completely insane or in Azkaban. He shuddered. As bad as Azkaban is, it's still far too good for those low-life scumbags. He should know...he had been present when most of those crimes had been committed.

Wow…so much for unemotionally contemplating the situation and thinking of the future. At this rate he would never be able to think about anything else. Hmm. Maybe instead of brooding privately, he could find an intriguing conversation with the person sitting in his spot. Maybe he could even take his mind off the completely nasty business for a short time. He snorted under his breath. What a useless dream.

He switched paths so he could creep closer and unobtrusively see who had the nerve to steal his spot. He moved silently and then froze. Honey-colored beautifully curled hair, red shirt, low-rise muggle jeans that hugged her figure, offering a tantalizing view of her lower back, smooth, creamy skin…Bugger! Bad Severus, he shook his head in disgust and mentally scolded himself. He couldn't, shouldn't think about a student like this, especially little 'Miss Know-It-All!' Although, he thought with a slight smirk, Hermione Granger was no longer little. He frowned. No, she no longer was a child; like too many other of her classmates, she had been forced to grow up too fast. Given too much responsibility. She had ceased to be a child the day her parents died…she surrendered to her power and almost went dark…

FLASHBACK

"Tonks, what the bloody hell, happened out there!" Severus exclaimed, racing to the gates to let them in. He had felt the wards shake in warning of something dangerous close to its grounds. He had just happened to be returning inside after collecting some ingredients from Professor Sprout. Draco was right behind him.

"Death Eaters, seven of them, wiped out a two-block radius around her parents' home, some muggle device. What ever it was, Hermione recognized it. Anyways, we were gone for maybe seven minutes. Damn it, Severus," Tonks paused and starting shaking all over again in remembrance. She would have hit the ground with Hermione if Snape hadn't caught them both. Draco took Hermione from his grasp and headed toward the Hospital Wing. Snape swung his attention back to Tonks as he picked her up and followed Draco inside.

"She extinguished the fires that were still burning, and Severus, you're not going to believe this next part…she drove two or three of them mad using the cruciatus curse," Tonks gulped nervously, "without even drawing her wand." Tonks eyes rolled back and she passed out just as they crossed the threshold.

That girl did what! Severus almost dropped Tonks when that lovely tid-bit of news came pouring out. Without her wand? He frowned…Dumbledore had never mentioned Miss Granger's ability to do wandless magic. Luckily for her that meant not having to deal with the Ministry of Magic. They couldn't trace what hadn't been reported yet.

What else had happened? He wondered. Tonks wouldn't have passed out from a normal healthy portion of frightening events. Granger must have done something strange; even for her.

Later that evening

Snape watched Hermione out of the corner of his eyes. They were all in the Hospital Wing; surrounding the ladies who were restricted to bed rest in a protective circle. Dumbledore seemed to be studying each one of them in turn. Severus noticed that his gaze lingered ever so slightly on Draco and on Miss Granger. Silence reigned while Tonks and then Hermione recounted the events in more detail. Severus sent Dumbledore a look and nodded at Draco…the pain in his left arm was nearly unbearable. The Dark Lord was definitely unhappy about something. Gee, I wonder what that could possibly be Severus thought as he swept out of the room with Draco on his heels.

"CRUCIO!" Lucius, who was standing directly to Severus' left, dropped to the ground writhing and twitching. Dad's the same twitchy ferret his son made a few years back, Severus did his best to not let this thought enter into the ones the Dark Lord was free to rifle through. He shot Draco a look out of the corner of his eye. Mysteriously enough, Draco seemed to be in some sort of pain. He was more than likely thinking the same Severus was and trying not to laugh out loud.

"What do you mean not a one of you knows who did this to you? Three of my most loyal and faithful servants are now completely useless. Driven completely insane by someone's cruciatus curse. I WANT TO KNOW WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SETBACK!" The venom was dripping from the Dark Lord's voice. "Legilimens," the Dark Lord said softly as he pointed his wand at Lucius.

"Nothing! No memory of that span of time? You don't know who did this to you. You are pathetic, and I am very disappointed in you, Lucius. You were almost driven insane and still have nothing useful to offer. Do not fail me again. You will work closely with Severus and Draco to resolve this issue…quickly. Beware, my ever 'loyal' servant, if success is not the fruit of your labors this time…"

Draco and Severus quickly dropped to their right knee, bowed their heads and responded with a, "as you wish, my Lord." Uh-oh…this day was just getting better and better. That slip of a girl completely erased that specific memory in all of the attackers' minds WITHOUT THE USE OF A WAND! Oh, bloody hell.

"Severus," the sibilant voice said, turning to address his two kneeing subjects.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"You and Draco report back immediately to Hogwarts and find out if Dumbledore possibly knows who managed to do this. Draco, you will receive my mark once you have informed me of Miss Granger's status. If she's alive, get close to her. She may be of some use to us yet. Maybe driving that stupid boy's best friend insane will persuade him to reconsider how badly he wishes to live," the Dark Lord commented, an unholy glee becoming apparent in his eyes.

"Yes, my Lord," they both replied in strong yet humble voices that their hearts weren't really in. They rose as one, bowed once more, and strode away as fast as they could without looking like they were in a rush to get away from the stench of death and decay.

END FLASHBACK

He and Draco had headed straight for the Hospital Wing to check on Miss Granger and Tonks. Draco's face looked grim as he sat down to take his watch over the two. Severus had simply talked to Poppy and then strode out to give Dumbledore the 'good news.' He spared a glance toward his godson and saw him reach for Hermione's hand. That friendship had undoubtedly helped both of the youngsters. Young adults, he mentally corrected himself. They hadn't been 'youngsters' for a long time now. Damn Voldemort, his crackpot ideas, and his half-assed methods for implementing them!

Hermione, Miss Granger he automatically corrected, did look a lot better now than she did when she had first started coming to Hogwarts six years ago. She had undeniably grown into a young woman that day.

He winced; Minerva would have his head on a silver platter for even thinking this about her prize student. It had definitely been too long since he had been with a woman. Not only that, but this was his godson's girlfriend! Bullocks; he was old enough to be her father…it didn't matter that wizards lived longer than muggles. An age difference of that magnitude was not appropriate with a witch that young. He winced again. Damn hormones. He shook his head.

Wait. Silence? On these grounds? He quickly drew his wand and noticed a shadow step out toward Miss Granger. Malfoy? Lucius Malfoy? What the hell was he doing here? He was supposed to be at Malfoy Manor in a meeting with Draco! Where was his godson? He softly started to say stupefy, but before he could finish Malfoy was already dropping rigidly to the ground.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Hermione knew she had no time to hesitate, consequences be damned. What the fuck was Lucius Malfoy doing out here! She heard a noise behind her and quickly spun around. She would hex them to hell for disturbing her, for associating with this scum, and just because it would suit her mood and of course, to vent some of her anger. "Stupe-…" "Professor Snape?" she gasped and lowered her wand.

"Go get Dumbledore, tell him I'll meet him in his office." He paused, waiting for her to react and watched the worry become apparent in her eyes and the color drain from her face. "Now Miss Granger!" he snapped. She was jerked out of her temporary reverie. She completely forgot her cloak and sprinted toward the castle. Fear of all the unanswered questions that swirled in her mind spurring her on. She silently prayed that Draco was safe. She didn't think she would even make it to the Final Battle if another friend of hers wound up dead.

"Mobilicorpus." Snape smiled or more accurately sneered, automatically masking his eyes and kept his face otherwise expressionless. Lucius looked so much more natural in this puppet condition. He grabbed Miss Granger's forgotten cloak and headed toward the castle with Lucius in tow.

"So, Lucius, what would you happen to want with the lovely Miss Granger? Figured you seize her for yourself did you, old boy? I was under the impression that the Dark Lord was somewhat pleased with the progress that young Draco has been making." Snape coolly stated. He watched Malfoy's eyes narrow in anger. Whoops didn't mean to set you off like that, Snape thought viciously, then again, maybe I did. He was barely able to conceal his smile.

"This situation you have managed to get yourself into is most unfortunate. How ever will I be able to rescue you without making my true allegiances known? Tut-tut. You were not thinking at all when you dared to attack Miss Granger. Didn't you know, she always has someone watching out for her. Lucky for you, I was the one selected today." Snape managed put his disdain for Lucius into his voice while his mind was racing.

A memory charm would definitely have to be done before releasing him and done in a way the Dark Lord couldn't detect. Not an easy task at all. Snape inwardly frowned. This was not good. This was really not good. Why was Lucius even here? Was he in higher favor with the Dark Lord then himself? Than Draco? He hadn't heard anything about an attack on Hermione, no new plans involving her and he had been at an exclusive Death Eater revel about a week before the term started…a mere week and a half ago. Draco had made no mention of anything odd going on with his father, or at least no more odd than usual. Was Lucius acting on his own? His blood ran cold with the mere thought; he knew very well all that Lucius was capable of. There went his peaceful Friday night. That meant even more fun for him this weekend. If…no when, the Dark Lord heard about this stunt, he and Draco would be summoned. Definitely not good.