Hope you all enjoy the next chapter! I will try to update this weekend! )

-boots

Black Lake seemed the blackest it had ever seemed as the sun set behind the faint winter clouds. An awe-inspiring darkness swallowed up all that surrounded the castle and thunder echoed off the nearby hills. Hermione stared out at the dead trees with a palm pressed up against her window. She was reaching out to the darkness; reaching out for answers, for guidance. She felt alone in her secret and more than ever she wished she'd never been told. As she lifted her hand from the window pane, she observed the ghost of her hand print on the frosty glass. It lasted an eerily long time and Hermione half expected it to spring to life, grab her straight through the window and toss her like a rag doll into the eye of the storm.

Hermione crossed the room to sit on her bed. She realized earlier in the day that the postcard her friends had stolen from her was now lost. She had ransacked her book bag and desk drawer looking for it, but had never found it. Though she was horribly disappointed, she still had a plethora of postcards to get through. She pulled the book out of her bag and scanned the first couple cards again before pulling out the sixth one. It was a picture of the Slytherin crest. The card looked as though it had been exposed to extreme amounts of sunlight or heat, as it was very faded and its corners oddly warped. Hermione turned it over and read:

Katrina,

How is your holiday? I feel almost certain that I will die of boredom this Christmas. My mother is very ill and I have not a soul in the wide world to talk to. I miss you and yes, even that self-centered brother of yours. I wish I was back at Hogwarts, then again, better to have my father to deal with than Potter. See you soon.

Severus

Hermione mouthed the name over and over again trying to make sense of what she had just read. "He knew her" she spoke aloud. "Severus Snape".

A heart beat fast in the blackness while hands rummaged through the pockets of a school robe in the dark of the dungeons.

"It's not here!" Thomas flung the robe down on his bed in frustration.

"What's not?"

"Oh- nothing…I just…misplaced some homework." Thomas tried not to give away his surprise at Draco's sudden appearance at the doorway.

"So…what's the plan?" Draco smiled.

"Plan?"

"What are we going to do to that filthy little mudblood?"

"Who?"

"Granger of course! Isn't that why you asked me all those questions about her earlier?"

"Oh...right…well, I thought we could…"

"Isn't that Granger's school robe?" Draco pointed at the garment carelessly strewn across the bed.

"Yes…I…was looking for stray hairs…for…poly juice potion. I thought we could…"

"Disguise ourselves as Granger and get her in trouble?" Draco's face lit up with delight at his own cleverness.

"Exactly" Thomas knew he would have to be more careful around Draco from now on, dim as he was at times.

Severus glanced at the clock; it was nearly seven…detention time. He was still unable to focus on anything but the bauble he had seen around Hermione's neck. How had she obtained it? How is it she had also been in possession of a postcard he had written to the owner of that necklace so many years ago? He thought about how he would bring up the subject in the first place. It would have to be handled delicately, for if she knew nothing of the necklace's origin, it would be up to him to warn her of its implications without giving away too much information. Yes, it would have to be approached very delicately.

"Professor Snape?"

He quickly rose from his chair as the frizzy haired witch advanced towards him; the necklace hanging listlessly around her pale neck. "Ah- Miss Granger…right on time." He stared into her big brown eyes and saw that she was questioning him with deep scrutiny and he could feel it. "I trust you will have no problem cleaning the remainder of those cauldrons in the sink?" he nonchalantly yawned and turned his attention to a stack of papers on his desk.

Hermione stood in front of him for a minute, just staring. Her eyes were glossed over with hurt and looked as though they may burst.

"Miss Granger…the cauldrons"

"Yes sir" was all she could manage to say through her clenched teeth.

She slowly walked over to the sink and began the monotonous task of scrubbing. Severus observed her from behind his papers. She was holding something back; hiding her hand in the same way that he was. There was sadness in her languid smile as she splashed her hands in the soapy water – but this melancholy was not without optimism. After all, it was still a smile.

Hermione finished washing the cauldrons and took a seat, folding her hands over one another on the desk.

"What shall I do now?"

"You will write 'I will not undermine the requests of my professor' two hundred and fifty times". Her professor's words were as black and cold as his eyes.

"I hardly see why…"

"You will write lines Miss Granger".

"Yes sir"

"Lucius?" Narcissa Malfoy whispered from the door.

"Enter" Lucius snarled, his eyes fixed on The Daily Prophet.

Narcissa tip-toed through the room as if she was afraid that the floor would suddenly give out beneath her. She was wringing her hands in an unusually nervous way. She had always loved Lucius with all of her being, but it wasn't too long before Draco was born that she began to fear him. Not fear in the conventional sense- a more profound fear; a fear that only comes from a traumatic assault on one's soul. She knew the things he'd done in a way that no one else could possibly know.

"Did you need something, my queen?" he lifted his gaze from the paper, "Narcissa- stop wringing your hands at once".

"I'm sorry my darling…I, it's just…I've been thinking a lot about Draco's new friend Thomas"

This raised Lucius' attention immediately. "What of him?"

"Isobeura Serpentsoot…"

"What of her?"

Narcissa began to feel a tension in her throat. At first she thought it was the tears she was fighting so hard to hold back, but suddenly realized that she could no longer inhale.

"She…was…" Narcissa struggled to speak. It was as if the air was being sucked out by a vacuum. "Kat…rina's..."

"Silence! You will never say her name in this house!"

Narcissa collapsed on the floor with a deafening slap as Lucius stormed out of the room. She silently let the warm tears slide over her dry lips and inaudibly whispered "best friend".

Hermione had not once looked up from her lines during her detention and Severus was running out of time. He had to ask her about that damned necklace tonight; he could stand it no longer, this feeling of powerless bewilderment. It was just nine o'clock and like a stubborn old habit, Hermione stood and handed in her lines. Severus had to act; it was now or never.

"Miss Granger…I…"

Her eyes were wide and searching, like a lost orphan in a big city who knows they have nowhere warm to call home.

"Have a nice night, you are dismissed". Something about her lost and longing expression had made it impossible for him to demand answers from her.

Hermione said nothing, simply smiled and turned to leave. He briefly glanced down at her lines and his heart nearly stopped at what was written there. Two hundred and fifty two times, Hermione Granger had written:

How did you know my mother, Katrina?