That's the second chapter of my very first fanfic, I hope you'll like it. I gave it a speed up so as not to fill you up with boring details that don't boost the plot! Don't forge to review and comment on what you liked or not! Any opinions are welcomed xD Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Don't come near me! Don't… I … It wasn't me… you hear? It wasn't… James… Lilly…I…never would… Peter! No… Harry… I didn't do it…"

Hermione could hear the cries of the man even when sitting at her kitchen. He was sleeping for over 30 hours, without getting any food or water. She tried waking him up a couple of times, but in vain. She feared he would die if he continued like this. Fortunately, she didn't have to go to the Ministry because it was weekend. She couldn't imagine facing her colleagues and at the same time the fugitive sleeping at her bedroom.

"Where am I?" she heard him yelling.

"At my house"

"And who are you?"he asked impolitely

"My name is Hermione Granger, you fainted in front of my door and you have been sleeping for more than a day. You must eat and drink…"

"I'm not thirsty. I need to find him. I must go" he stood up with surprisingly great strength, that Hermione didn't expect of him.

"Go? Are you serious? You look terrible!"

"I don't care about my looks at the moment. I have a quest"

"A quest to kill, I presume?" He froze and looked at her

"How do you…"

"I heard you screaming in your sleep. Lots of names. But, I think you mostly insisted on some Peter,am I right?" The man's face turned into a grimace of pain and anger.

"I must find him and tear him apart! I owe it to James…And Lilly"

"Don't you think 12 years of imprisonment in Azkaban are already enough?" He stared at her and opened his mouth. "You know who I am?" She nodded. "You're Sirius Black, the murderer that escaped from the prison a couple of days ago". His eyes glimmered and said with a menacing voice "I'm Sirius Black, but I'm NOT a murderer!" Hermione simply answered "I believe you". He hesitated; he couldn't believe his ears. "You…believe me?" "I do!".

"You do! Well… I must… why? I mean…no one believes me… even my friends have let me down"

Hermione raised her shoulders indifferently "Let's just say, I have a feeling that I can trust you" She couldn't of course explain that her dream made her believe him. Besides, it was hard even for her to accept that.

Sirius stared at her, still hesitating. His eyes started to soften. "You can ask me anything you like" he declared. She frowned. "How about you start from telling me how did you escape?"

"You may come in" his voice echoed in the cold almost empty room.

The door opened and a tall female figure stepped in slowly. The man didn't raise his head, as if he knew who had just entered. He was writing a letter and seemed pretty absorbed in this, thing that made the woman lose her patience. She cleared her throat swankily.

"To what I owe the honor of your visit?" he asked, slightly ironically.

She winced satisfied. "Are you getting ready for your return to Hogwarts, as I can see"

"I am taking care of the last details before my departure, yes. But, I can not see how this is in your interest, Black"

"Don't call me like this!" she growled. The man seemed amused by her upset reaction.

"But why my dear? Isn't that your name, or am I mistaken?" he said coldly

"My name is Lestrange, have you forgotten you idiot?"

"Your husband's name is Lestrange"he corrected her. "And since you are no longer married you must start using your family name again". She leaned darkly towards him, half closed her eyes and said menacingly "Don't you dare, ever, you hear me? Ever call me Black again? They are not my relatives; I have to connection with them". The man raised his eyebrows and said indifferently "As you wish, I can not help arguing with you now , can I? Really, Lestrange, how is life n prison?" he asked still in an amusement tone. She smiled widely. "You see my dear Severus, the Bella in prison is not the same Bella that stands before you now" she said proudly. "She is not? And I thought you can Apparate to and from Azkaban. Silly me…" he said ironically. She turned angry again. "You can mock me as much as you like, Severus. But I tell you this, I used the polyjuice potion to a stupid girl that was dying to help me not to get in prison. What a goose!" she laughed malicingly. Snape raised his right eyebrow "I am astonished" .

Snape stood up and started walking in the room. He started at the woman. She had something strange upon her. Especially her eyes, seemed like looking somewhere beyond his face, something he could not see. For an instant he worried that maybe that woman had lost her mind. But after a moment he realized; she had definitely lost her mind.

"Severus… The time is approaching" she sounded like talking from the bottom of a shaft.

"The time, Lestrange?"

"Yes the time… The Dark Lord is regaining his powers. I can feel it deep in my veins. Any time now I will receive his call. My left hand is almost burning, Severus. Don't you feel it? The Dark Mark… It's starting to come alive. He will need us…."

"The Dark Lord, unfortunately, Lestrange is very weak and seems rather impossible to regain his powers so quickly. I know how you feel, we all feel the same, but you must stop…"

"No, Severus. I tell you I can feel him deep inside me. Almost calling my name. Bella…Bella… He will soon rise again. And when he does he will need us to be by his side, to support him. When he does appear you must be ready to answer for your alliance with Dumbledore, Severus. I can take your side if…"

"I do not need for anyone to take my side, for I have nothing to be afraid of. I am loyal to the Dark Lord, to my Lord and when the time comes I will prove it to him. Now, if you excuse me Lestrange I still have a lot to do before I leave for Hogwarts".

The woman stared at him, her eyes glimmering almost crying. She turned and when she got near the door looked at him softly and said sportfully "You can call me Bella if you like…" she smiled. Snape looked at her coldly and unmoved "I do not see the reason. You are Lestrange for me and I would appreciate if you would call me Snape. I do not get along with my front name. Don't forget to close the door when you leave"

and he started writing again like Lestrange never entered his room..

It was almost a month since Sirius literally settled in her house, and Hermione had learned pretty much all the mysteries around him. He was the second victim after Lilly and James Potter's deaths. He had trusted his close friend Peter Pettigrew and let him become the keeper of his friends' secret location. But, alas he betrayed them to Voldemort. The Dark Lord killed them and tried to do the same with their little boy , Harry Potter, but he failed due unknown reasons. Rumors had it that little Harry had secret and rare magical powers, that hadn't yet unfolded. When Sirius tried to kill Peter Pettigrew, the latter turned himself into a rat and disappeared after having killed 12 muggles and making Sirius appear like he was the murderer. "Peter is an Animangus, he can turn into a rat. So was James, he could take the form of a deer and so am I. That ability of mine, enabled me to escape the prison under the form of a dog. The Dementors couldn't of course smell the existence of an animal; that obnoxious monsters can only detect the human soul".

That night, Hermione was returning home after a long and exhausting day at the Ministry only wishing to lay down her tired body on her bed and sleep forever. Before she reached the entrance of her house, she was only thinking about Sirius. What a paradox it was to work for the Ministry, and trying every day to track his traces out and at the same time to provide him shelter. Many times it had passed from her mind to hand him over to the authority, but she hesitated. She had become very sentimental towards him. She had listened to his story, saw him crying about his lost family and his uncertainty, listened to his plans about protecting Harry from Voldemort and generally she had decided that she would help him, no matter what. Besides, the vision she had came for a purpose, and all she had to do was to follow her instinct.

When she entered she found Sirius sleeping on the couch. She covered him with a blanket, but he woke up and stared at her. "You've done great things about me Hermione Granger. How would I ever recompense to you?"Hermione smiled. His eyes shined under the slim light of the lamp. He must have been a real prince charming when he was younger, she thought. Hermione could hardly understand how it was to be all alone, helpless in the world, with no one to trust. She only felt like she had to protect him, to provide him shelter and to give him all that was deprived from him; security and affection. Besides, affection was something that it was deprived from her as well. She leaned down on him and blew a kiss on his forehead. Sirius looked at her and smiled. Hermione couldn't understand how, but she was found in his arms. It was the first time that any man had hugged her like that. She had never felt male hands over her waist and she was sure that it had been a long time for Sirius to hug a girl as well. Hermione had read about true love and devotion in her thousands of books. Right now, she couldn't feel like she loved Sirius. No, she definitely didn't love hime. But, she needed him. Yes, that was the word. "Need". She needed to be taken care of and someone she could protect.

Sirius looked deeply in her eyes. She knew he was thinking the same as her. They smiled to each other, and lied down together to the couch…

At the same time, somewhere very far away from the Grangers house, a man was standing at the balcony of his apartment , looking at the horizon; The wind blew his long, raven hair dashing it on his angular face and crooked nose. Suddenly, a chill ran through his body, he shuddered and got back inside his room. "It's time" murmured to himself.

Grabbed his briefcase and exited the apartment decisively. Stared at the label on top of his door almost sadly, with his name on it.

"Severus Snape"

He slammed the door and Apparate…

Please Review! 3d chapter is coming soon! ;-)