N/A: Sorry for the long wait. The chapter title doesn't have much to do with the chapter so there won't be any "imagery" as of yet. Enjoy!
Hermione and Severus had a rough night that night trying to sleep. Hermione was terrified and cried herself to sleep, whereas Snape just couldn't sleep after what he had witnessed and done. Killing Dumbledore was enough for him in one lifetime. Now having to see Minerva die in front of his eyes and have no choice but to burn the corpse… it was enough to give him insomnia. He lay in bed with Hermione until she had fallen asleep, his trembling arms encircled around her stiff body. Once she was fast asleep, Severus got out of bed and walked around the house. Once he was in the kitchen he made himself some tea and once it was ready, sat down on the couch and sighed. He didn't know how much longer he could take all this running away and war and evil.
As he took his last sip of his cup of tea, he heard whispering outside the window and turned around to see who it was.
"That old witch may have been no use to us but the body is gone. That means either an animal took her corpse or… they're here."
Tom closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. A sly smile came across his face and a deep, menacing laugh erupted from his mouth. "I can smell the faint stench of a rat… a greasy, slimey, black haired rat. He was here. Death eaters! Search this area. We will prevail and capture that traitor of a rat and if we're lucky we will catch the mouse that is with him…" the menacing laugh came out of his mouth once more as the death eaters all vanished in puffs of black smoke to go and search for Severus.
Severus sunk back into the couch and shook his head. Voldemort's son was more powerful than he thought. No regular wizard could detect that faint of a smell. He was very glad that he had such a powerful young witch with him to help him with this and was very thankful they were both powerful enough to cast spells to guard the both of them in the house.
Hermione awoke before the sun rose. She didn't get much sleep and what little sleep she did was very restless. She saw that Snape was not with her and frantically started searching. Her mind went to the worst; did they break the barriers?; was Snape dead?; did he re-join the dark side?; was she next? She scurried down the stairs to find Snape hovering over the kitchen stove making eggs and a kettle boiling just beside.
"Good morning Miss Granger. Couldn't sleep well I take it?"
Hermione rushed over to Severus and wrapped her arms around him. Severus was very confused, but smiled and wrapped his arms around her as well. He gave her a kiss on the head and smiled.
"I'm so glad you're ok Severus. Please, don't scare me like that ever again."
Snape lightly pulled Hermione off him and gave her a soft kiss. He let go of the kiss and Hermione blushed a bit.
"Miss Granger, as lovely as this is, they know we're here. They came back at midnight yesterday. Tom sensed I was near. They're on the hunt for us and I don't know how long it will be until they find out we've enchanted a house here. Tom is getting more powerful by the second…. I fear within a few weeks, days maybe, he will rival his father's power. But I pray we can stop him before that happens."
Hermione crossed her arms and she started to shake a bit. "I'm sick and tired of running Severus. If he finds us, then he finds us. I'm confident enough in my abilities."
"I'm sure you are Miss Granger, but we don't know what powers he possesses. And we certainly don't know who his death eaters are. Miss Granger, we need to find a way to stop him before he gets any stronger or goes after St. Mungos."
Hermione let out a sigh of frustration and lifted the kettle off the stove. She poured herself a cup of tea and tried to reason with Severus.
"How are we possibly going to do that being stuck in this house? No owls, no mail, nothing that could keep us in contact with the outside world. We can't send a signal, can't set up a portkey, can't apparate without anyone seeing us as they are in the area, no floo powder. How do you expect us to stop him without any of that? We need to fight, as sick as I am of that."
Snape carried over two plates of eggs for him and Hermione, went back to the kitchen to get himself some tea and sat beside Hermione. He put his hand on her leg and rubbed her thigh gently. "We'll find a way. But for now, could we enjoy a nice breakfast together? I quite enjoy your company Miss Granger, as much of a stick in the mud as I am, I'm not cold hearted."
Hermione smiled a half smile and nodded. She gave Severus a kiss on the cheek and thanked him for breakfast. They turned the fireplace on as the seasons were changing outside from fall to winter and there was already frost on the windows.
When they finished eating, they heard a thump against the door. Hermione jumped and automatically lunged into Snape's arms. He chuckled a bit. "It's only an owl."
Snape stood up while Hermione was still attatched to Snape, her arms encircled around his waist. Snape opened the door and saw Hedwig at the foot of the door with a daily prophet in her mouth.
"How does he know we're here?" Hermione asked, picking up the paper. She gasped as she saw the headlines, dropped the paper in fear and buried her head in Severus' chest once again and started to sob. Snape picked up the paper and sighed.
Unidentified man breaks into Hogwarts, 3 dead, 20 injured.
At midnight last night, a man and a crew of followers entered the charmed castle looking for what seemed to be a student. Lucky for the students though, most were on a field trip to the ministry of magic and would be staying overnight. Of the three casualties, two were professors and one was a student. Professors Remus Lupin and Rubeous Hagrid were found dead in the potions dungeon as well as student Dennis Creavy, brother of Colin, who is said to have known Harry Potter. Also, Professor Minerva McGonagall has been missing for the past few weeks. None have seen her and there is a reward for any information of her whereabouts.
The mysterious man and his crew left a note for witnesses and investigators around the same place where bloody writing was found almost ten years earlier when the chamber of secrets was opened. The note read 'The Dark Lord is back. All shall tremble in fear."
In other related news, St Mungo's has received several owls warning the hospital of a potential threat. The hospital has ignored these pleas and has issued the statement of 'We're the most protected place besides Hogwarts. Besides, who would want to break in and hurt sick people anyways?'
To the right of the article, there was a picture of the writing on the wall, also, like the time the chamber of secrets was opened, written in blood. The caption below the picture said that the blood was identified as Remus Lupin's. Snape took the paper inside and looked around for a piece of paper. He found one, wrote something down on it and folded it.
"Hedwig, return this to your owner please."
The owl flew off in the direction it came from as Snape and Hermione re-entered the house.
"He's setting a trap for us. He's killing off people who cared for Harry Potter as a sign that he is next. We can't let that bother us Hermione."
"For God's sake Severus! He killed people we knew and loved! How can you say that we can't let that bother us!" Hermione yelled at Snape in frustration. She ran upstairs and slammed the bedroom door behind herself. Snape sighed and slowly made his way up to the bedroom. He knocked on the door to enter.
Knock, knock, knock.
No reply.
KNOCK, KNOCK.
Again, nothing. Severus opened up the door to see Hermione's things packed up, her wand gone and no note on the bed.