I would like to apologize for being a lazy bum. I know I haven't written in over a week! I'm sorry. I think my brain shut down and needed a rest. Here is the next chapter. I hope it's decent!
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For the next few weeks Hermione couldn't get past the stares and gossip of her and Snape dancing together at the Halloween ball. Not only was it totally out of character for him, he was a professor. The professor that made everyone's life hell. It just seemed to follow her everywhere. On top of it all, Ron still wouldn't talk to her. Anytime she got into the same vicinity as him, he got up and left. He was really starting to take all of this above and beyond.
Snape wasn't having it any better than Hermione. All the professors seemed to do was stare at him like he'd lost his mind. His students snickered behind his back, none were really brave enough to say anything out loud - fearing that he'd give them two months worth of cleaning cauldrons without magic, or worse.
Snape was grading papers one morning when Lucius came into his classroom. Barely giving Lucius a glance, he did his best to ignore the man's presence. The last thing he wanted or needed was to hear about his weird behavior with the Granger girl.
"So, Severus." Lucius started out quietly. "Where is your Gryffindor Princess?"
Giving a frustrated sigh, Snape kept his head down while grading the papers. "I haven't the slightest notion to what you are talking about."
"Don't play stupid, it's not becoming of you." Lucius smirked. "You know I'm talking about Granger."
"How should I know? Probably with those two buffoons she calls friends." Snape grumbled. He really didn't see how someone as smart as herself associated with two imbeciles.
"Tisk, tisk. Not keeping up with your ward." Lucius chastised.
Giving up on his papers, Snape leaned back in his chair and stared at Lucius. "What do you really want? I don't think you're hear to find out where Granger is or why I'm not watching over her."
"No real reason." Lucius made a show of walking towards the classroom door before looking over his shoulder. "Just wanting to know when you were going to stop denying your feelings for her, and realize that you care for her."
Snape glared across the classroom at Lucius. Standing up he said quietly, "I do not have feelings for her. I am not denying anything to myself."
"She is not Lily Evans, Severus." Lucius said.
"I never thought so." Snape yelled slamming his hand down on his desk. He was furious that Lucius would bring her up to him. He didn't know what he was talking about.
"I know you don't. That's what I'm saying. She will not leave you for Potter. She's too smart. Give her a chance, Severus, maybe you need those horrid warm, fuzzy feelings." Lucius walked to the door. "Don't wait too long, you might lose her to the Weasley boy." With that, Lucius disappeared.
Snape got up and stalked to his classroom door and out into the corridor. He was mad at Lucius, but furious where his thoughts were going. He didn't want to think about loving someone else. Being spurned once didn't go over too well with him, what if it happened again? He didn't want to feel that kind of mental pain again.
He wasn't really paying much attention to where he was going. He soon found himself outside in the cold November afternoon. The wind blew steadily, blowing his black hair back away from his face. His cheeks were a bit rosy, and his hands grew cold. He ended up down by the lake. He was grumbling to himself, stalking around the area, he never noticed the brown haired girl sitting against a tree with a book.
"Professor?" he heard a small quiet voice from behind him. His eyes searched over his surroundings. They landed to the ground where he stared into the hazel eyes of Hermione Granger.
"What?" he growled.
Hermione stood up and cautiously made her way over to where Snape stood. His eyes were distant, his jaw clenched. There seemed to be so much on his mind, something was disturbing him, and she didn't like it.
"Is there something wrong, sir?" she inquired.
His eyes roamed over her. He was taking in her form under her winter jacket. She had on thin mittens and black boots. She looked beautiful. Her cheeks had a light pink tint to them, along with the tip of her nose.
"Just lovely." Snape murmured.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked a split second before Snape's arms were around her.
She was pressed back up against his chest, his arms around her waist, sliding slowly up her spine. He was pressing her form closer to his, sliding his tongue gently against her lips. Before she really had anytime to react, he pulled away.
Cupping her face in his hands, he looked down into her eyes. "You are not Lily Evans." he whispered more to himself. Brushing his lips against hers, he turned to walk back up to the castle.
All Hermione could do was stare after him as he made his way to the front doors.
...
Hermione was deep in thought when she heard the pounding of footsteps behind her.
"Granger!" someone called breathlessly in an excited tone.
She turned around to come face to face with Draco. "Draco." Hermione said politely.
"I think I know where we can find one!" Draco went on.
"Find what?" she wasn't thinking. Her mind was still on Snape's lips on hers and his comment of her not being Lily Evans.
"A horcrux. Honestly, stay with me here." Draco said a little irritable.
Her face lit up in excitement. "Where?" She asked hurriedly.
Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her into an empty classroom.
"Do you know who Voldemort was related to?" Draco asked.
"Tom Riddle Senior." she said.
Draco rolled his eyes. "He was referred to as the "Slytherin Heir". Do you know why?"
She contemplated this for a moment. 'An heir meant you had something to inherit, which means he had to'…her thoughts trailed off. "He's the heir to Salazar Slytherin!" she said in awe. "How do you know this?"
Draco gave a smirk. "I am a Slytherin, my father is a Death Eater." he said cockily.
"But Draco, no one apparently knows this. How do you know?" she asked skeptically.
"Apparently you aren't thinking. If he's considered the Slytherin heir, it means he has to be related to Salazar." Draco said confidently.
"I'll have to go run and tell Harry." She said as he turned to leave. Draco reached out and grasped her wrist lightly.
"I want to go." he said.
"I…I don't know." Hermione bit her bottom lip.
"Remember what you said, I found this out, I want to go." Draco gave a half smile. "I also know where the Riddle how is…and the Gaunt house."
"The Gaunt house?" Hermione questioned.
"How much do you know about Voldemort?!" Draco exclaimed. "His father was a muggle, his mother a witch. That means he had to inherit from his mother's side. Her maiden name was Gaunt."
"It seems you have been doing your homework." Hermione was impressed. She never thought about really looking into the other side of Voldemort's family.
"I'll owl you tonight, I think that it would be best to do it then." she said, thinking about how they were going to work this out.
"You'd best leave behind your guardians. We'll never get a thing done with them telling us what we can and can't do." he answered.
"I'm not so sure that's going to be a smart thing to do." Hermione said.
"If you get into trouble, the charm will pull them to you. No need to worry. Unless, you are too scared to leave them behind." he said casually.
"Fine, I'll talk to Harry. He'll probably be in full agreement with you." she huffed.
Draco smirked as Hermione walked out of the door. It was just too easy to get her all riled up.
Hermione had a hard time finding Harry. She checked the Common Rooms first, the Great Hall, the Library, then finally tracked him down on the Quidditch Field. Practice was just now ending. Running to catch him before he entered the locker rooms, she caught Ron's furious expression.
"Harry! Harry! I need to talk to you." Hermione called out.
"What is it?" Harry had a slightly worried expression on his face.
She gave a small smile to assure him she was all right. "We have a lead on a horcrux!" she said excitedly.
"Great! How did you figure this one out?" Harry asked smiling.
"Well, that's the thing." she paused for a moment. "I didn't quite figure this one out."
"What do you mean?" he questioned.
"I might have had a little help from someone else." she said, keeping her answers rather vague.
"Who helped you then?" Harry was starting to worry.
"I might have had some help from Draco." she mumbled.
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Might?" he inquired.
"Don't rush to conclusions!" she chastised. "He brought up some very valid stuff. Have you ever thought about the other side of Voldemort's family, besides his father?"
"Well…no." Harry said.
"Exactly. He also brought up how he was referred to the heir of Slytherin." Hermione smiled at the expression on Harry's face.
"You mean, he's actually helping us out? What the bloody hell is wrong with him?" Harry asked.
"Anyways, Harry, we need to go tonight. He knows where the Riddle house and Gaunt house are!"
Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and started to pull her up back to the castle mumbling to himself.
"Now why does he have to come?" Harry grumbled.
"He is the one that figured this out." Hermione said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Harry said unhappily. "Fine, but we need a plan. No guardians."
"Draco already said the same thing." Hermione sighed. "I'm not too sure that is going to be a good thing, but we can do it. They always seem to show up whenever something bad happens."
"Nothing is going to happen. We'll meet in the Common Room at midnight, meet Draco down by the front entrance, slip out of the gates, apparate there."
"Will Ron come?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not sure. I'll talk to him." Harry gave her a smile as they entered the castle.
Hermione still wasn't so sure about leaving their guardians behind, she also wasn't sure that Ron would forgive her long enough to go horcrux hunting. But they had more important stuff to worry about other than their fighting.
...
That night at midnight sharp, Hermione snuck down the stairs into the Common Room. Harry and Ron were both sitting in front of the fire talking quietly. The stairs gave a small a quiet creak. Both boys jumped up. Hermione suppressed the giggles welling up in her throat.
"Are we ready to go?" Hermione asked.
"Does Malfoy really have to go?" Ron spat.
"Yes. He's the one that really thought of all this." Hermione said, making sure her wand was in her pocket.
"Oh, great. How do we know he's not trying to lure us in there for Death Eaters?" Ron grumbled.
"Grow up, Ronald." Hermione said.
"Alright, time to go." Harry said, pulling the cloak over the three of them.
It was really hard trying to fit under the cloak with two boys that were getting huge. They barely missed Snape in the corridors, next they had to slide past Lucius. Ron stumbled over a stone sticking up from the ground. Lucius spun around, searching the corridors behind him.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron each held their breath. After what felt like five minutes, they let go a relieved sigh and kept moving to the front entrance. Draco was lurking in the shadows under a black cloak. Throwing the cloak off, Hermione nodded to Draco, and slipped out of the doors.
"Can't even wait for the rest of us." Ron mumbled.
They walked in the shadows down to the gates, releasing the charm that held them closed. They walked out to the beginning of the Forbidden Forest, forming a circle. Hermione gripped one of Draco's and Harry's hand.
She felt the familiar swirling, air pulling twist. With a pop, they landed onto a hill next to a broken down house. It would have had a rustic charm to it had they of kept the maintenance up on it.
The house had a long abandon feel to it, like only darkness surrounded it. The hill looked down onto a little town below.
"The Gaunt House is down there." Draco said as he started to walk forward to the front doors. The knob twisted slowly in his hand.
"Oh, great!" Ron said. "Last time we opened an unlocked door, Death Eaters came after us."
"Don't worry about it." Harry said as he pushed Ron in after Draco.
Hermione stayed outside a bit longer, taking in the area around her. The lawn was dead and in weeds, the house slowly crumpling. She crept in behind Harry, watching as they each split up into different rooms. Hermione made her way up the stairs.
Dust flew up as she shuffled her feet along. The furniture was covered in layers of cobwebs and mold. The rooms musty from being closed up for so long.
Hermione saw a faint light in the crack of a door. Cautiously she made her way forward. She pushed the door open as quietly as possible. There was a small fire lit. The room was dust free and didn't smell of must, but of fresh burning wood. There was a cage off to the side of the room, with a chair in front of the fireplace. Hermione didn't realize until that moment that she was holding her breath. Letting it out, she walked around the room, letting her eyes scan over the wood furniture and purple décor.
There was nothing in the room other than a few books. She left the room and closed the door behind her. Hurrying down the stairs she ran right into Draco.
"We have to get out of here." She said worried.
"Why?" he asked.
"There is a room upstairs that has a fire lit and going." She grabbed his hand and started pulling.
"What's so unusual about a fire?!" he asked exasperated.
"Draco! This house hasn't been used, everything is dusty and musty but that room, where a warm fire is going! Do you honestly think it's safe to be in here?!"
Harry and Ron came out of opposite rooms as she was tugging him to the front door.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
"Leaving. All of us, now!" Hermione said.
"You drug us out here, now you want to leave?!" Ron asked unbelieving.
"There is a room upstairs that is being used. Someone has been staying here. We do not need to find out who. There is a fire going, which means they should be returning soon." she opened the front door and frantically motioned them out. "To the Gaunt House."
"Well, she does have a point. Not like we found anything here." Harry mumbled, leading the way out.
Each one of them gave her a look and shook their head as they made their way down the hill. Each of them following in a line. Harry stopped and pushed her in front of him so that he picked up the rear. Giving a sigh of frustration, she followed behind Ron without making a big fuss out of it.
Stepping into the Gaunt Family House, Harry was assuaged with memories from Dumbledore's Pensieve. "I remember." he breathed.
"What?" Ron asked.
"Dumbledore showed me a memory of this place." Harry said excitedly. "Tom Riddle's mother was Merope Gaunt! His Grandfather was Marvolo Gaunt, who was sentenced to Azkaban for his son's assault on a Ministry Member!"
"Why didn't you tell us this before?!" Hermione cried.
Harry gave a sheepish look. "I didn't really think about it at the time."
Draco snorted and looked around the room. The place was just as bad as the Riddle House. Things were rotting, musty, covered in dust, and cobwebs.
"I suppose we start looking." Hermione suggested.
They searched through the house like the last one. Ron scooted away from any cobwebs, leaving Hermione agitated to go behind him and look. They were about to give up when Harry called them over to side table in the living room. After getting it open, they stared down into the draw at a ring.
Harry carefully picked it up and flipped it over. It had the Slytherin crest on it. It was Salazar's at one point. The magic was alluring, pulling all of them. Harry traced a fingertip over the gold of the locket. Then he visibly tensed.
"We have to leave." he said hurriedly.
"Why?" Hermione asked as he dropped the ring into his pocket.
They heard a rustling outside of the door. Harry pushed Hermione behind him and pulled his wand out. His started to speak, but they could understand.
The familiar hissing of, "Get herrr. Get herrr", floated to Harry's ears.
"He's speaking parseltongue again." Hermione groaned.
The four backed up as the door started to shake. Hermione started to look around frantically for a way out. The door slammed open, revealing Nagini's long, green, slick body. The hood around her head opened up as she hissed.
Nagini's lithe form struck forward, wrapping around Ron. Her tongue flicked against his neck as he whimpered. Tightening her body around him, he started to turn a deep red.
To be continued….!
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gives an evil laugh! Yes, a cliffhanger! I hoped this chapter was somewhat okay. Let me know!