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Chapter 4

"Move your Knight to your left" she whispered. The boy obeyed.

"Check mate!" he shouted happy and clapped his hands.

"Damn me! You are unbeaten in chess Miss Granger!" grouched the ginger boy and frowned his eyebrows.

"Just do me a favor, don't call me Miss Granger any more, please Ronald" Hermione requested.

"Why not? You are our protector, are you not? Protectors are usually experienced wizards, which means they are pretty old" he replied smiling satisfied with himself.

"Usually… I'm not an experienced witch, I'm just here to keep an eye on Harry so that he won't mess up into any troubles, get expelled and expose himself to all sorts of dangers. Besides, I don't look that old Ronald, do I?"

Harry looked at Ron raising his brow. Ron frowned again.

"O.K, I'll call you Hermione if you stop calling me Ronald. I hate the sound of it…"

"But, Hermione If you aren't an experienced witch, then why would the Ministry trust you to protect me?" asked Harry seriously

"I… guess… they have seen certain skills and abilities in me, that I just haven't discovered myself"

"I trust you too, Hermione. I think you are very clever!" Harry smiled at her. She responded.

"Yeah clever. I only wished she didn't insist on eating all the vegetables at dinner!" Ron murmured, Harry punched him in the back. Hermione snickered, pretending she didn't hear anything.

She stood up, let the boys begin a new round of chess and walked towards the window.

The lessons have already started; it's been almost 2 weeks since the Christmas holidays; 2 weeks since her arrival in Hogwarts. She was supposed to be professor Dumbledore's secretary but she had hardly seen him ever since the New Years Eve. She was moving constantly along the corridors, carrying some books from the library to her chamber, then to her office and back to the library. She felt really lonely; Harry passed his days attending his lessons- inside the school, in the dungeons, in the astrology tower, and even in the greenhouse- , eating at the Great Hall, studying in the Library and playing chess with Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom in the Gryffindor Common Room.

She tried following him between his classes as tenderly as she could, but she soon realized the other students have noticed her strange behavior and she stopped it. She only watched Harry and Ron –they were inseparable- from a distance. However, nothing seemed to threaten Harry whatsoever.

Hermione started then occupying herself with the other mission of hers; spying Snape. That was the most difficult part of all. Even though Harry had many things to do during the day, and therefore it was difficult to keep at pace, Snape was literally invisible. He only appeared for a few seconds between his classes and then he disappeared again in the darkness of his office, deep down in the castle's dungeons.

"Come on! That's not fair dude!" shouted Ron and woke Hermione up from her thoughts. The old wooden cuckoo clock on the wall screamed midnight. The girl watched the boys saying goodnights and withdrawing to their chambers.

"It's time I went to bed too" she thought wearily and walked out to the corridor.

Her chamber was on the other side of the Gryffindor's Common Room, at the same level with the Great Hall. The hallway was dark; she could faintly perceive the figures in the portraits retrieve and fall asleep as she passed them by. "Goodnight Miss Granger" she heard a voice coming out from a small painting on her left. "Goodnight Madame Maxime" Hermione replied to that little woman dressed in a green velvet robe.

She turned the corner and she faced so total darkness that she couldn't see where she stepped. "I need to light up my wand" she thought and started searching for it in her cloak's pocket.

Suddenly, a strong light filled the corridor. Hermione gasped. That light wasn't coming out of her wand, and it certainly wasn't coming from the corridor's torches.

"You have trouble in sleep, Miss Granger or have you not got used to the School's architecture yet?"

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"I must go…I must explain… Don't keep me back!"

"You know it's dangerous, Sirius! You can't just walk in the School and find Harry!"

"But he thinks I'm his parents' murderer! Like everyone else! I must stop this madness!"

"Sirius, listen to me. You are –very unfairly I agree- wanted as the killer of 12 muggles. Until your innocence is proven you can not step out of Grimmauld Place. It's a matter of your safety"

"Safety, huh? And what about Harry? Voldemort is coming back, Hogwarts roofs one of his most loyal servants, Harry doesn't know who to trust anymore and he thinks I'm his enemy! I must go!"

"But, Sirius…"

"Look… My 14year old grandson needs me! I'm the only one left for him in the world. He must know the truth"

Moody sighed. He nodded and looked at Black. His eyes had a strange light. He looked decided. Moody felt every try to convince him would be hopeless.

"And where do you plan to stay?" the Auror asked. Sirius smirked satisfied as he stared outside the window of his room. Nothing would stop him realize his plan….

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Hermione was shaking. It was the first time she faced this man after a long time. For two weeks now they met hastily during Lunch time or accidentally in the corridors. Now, she felt exposed under his dark, severe, mysterious and evil gaze. Snape was looking at her judgmentally above his crooked nose.

"I never thought it was forbidden for the adults to walk in corridors" she replied trying to maintain her patience.

"When they have no reason to do so, then it is at leas suspicious, don't you think? I presume you miss your old days back in School, therefore you want to explore it awashed with your recollections"

"And how about you?" Hermione asked provocatively.

Snape blinked surprised by her tone. But this lasted only for an instant. At once he turned back to his cold and impenetrable gaze.

"I can not imagine why my intentions in walking across the corridors of the School should be at any interest to you, Miss Granger. And I would be thankful if you stopped walking around uselessly during midnight. It could be dangerous" he tightened his lips and scaled Hermione by. The girl saw his cloak waving at his feet as he turned the corner and disappeared, leaving behind him a chill and hair-raising breeze.

Hermione stepped inside her chamber, took a deep breath, lied down on her bed and tried to pull herself together. She was always afraid of him, but she didn't know why. Now she could understand. It was that behavior of his; that distanced, rude, mysterious, cynical and evil attitude that stole the humanity out of everyone around him. He was like a Dementor. False; he was worse than a Dementor. Those creatures were dead; they were instruments that attributed a kind of justice. But Snape? No, he was something different. His raven eyes were always judgmental and intense. Hermione felt he could penetrate her thoughts and feelings. She felt vulnerable and exposed to him. Yes, that's why she was afraid of him all these years. And now she despised him.

"It could be dangerous" his words echoed inside her mind. Why would he say that? Hermione gasped. He was surely hiding something. Something about the Dark Lord. Sirius was right. It was dangerous for Harry to be in Hogwarts and that's why Fudge insisted on her accepting the mission to protect the boy. Suddenly she felt panicked. Why it should be her to take upon such a responsibility? She didn't have any experience at all, she had only worked inside tones of papers and envelopes and owls and… anyway, she was the least capable. The Ministry must have made a mistake on choosing her. And it was time she talked to Dumbledore about this. Besides, she was his secretary, wasn't she? That means she could talk to him whenever she wanted.

"I'll go to his office! First thing tomorrow morning!" she thought to herself, closed her eyes satisfied she had found a solution and she fell asleep on the spot. That night she dreamed of black figures wearing long hoods, moving like shadows in the Black Forest, frustrated; they were searching for something; or someone…

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"Acid drop"

A murmuring was heard from an unknown source. The Fat Lady jumped inside her portrait. "Who's there?" she demanded.

"Acid drop" she heard again, but no matter how hard she tried to see who was talking, it was in vain. The darkness made it difficult for her to distinguish any figures. The person talking was either a dwarf, or he was invisible; otherwise she would have been able to see him.

She couldn't delay any longer opening the passage to the Gryffindor Common Room; it was her duty after all. That person had spoken the password correctly and according to the rules she had to open. "Ok ok, whoever you are, I just hope you won't exit the door afterwards and wake me up again" the Fat Lady said drowsily. She brushed aside and felt a something passing aside and entering the Gryffindor Common Room. She yawned and fell back asleep.

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"Hermione… Hermione… Wake up! Hermione…"

The girl startled in her sleep and sat up on her bed. She was sweating and her heart was pounding, for no reason.

"Remus… What? What happened? How did you…"

"Professor Dumbledore wants to see you"

"Dumbledore…" she tried to understand

"Immediately!"

That was chapter 4 guys! Thank you very much for reading! Don't forget to review! I'd like to read how you liked it as well as your recommendations! I take in mind everything!

Next Chapter will be uploaded soon! xxx