Sorry for not updating sooner! Classes started again last week ;)
Snape is still working for Voldemort, but my idea was that these Death Eaters had never seen what Snape looked like, so they didn't recognize him as a traitor.
Hermione threw up a strong protego across herself, and out of the corner she saw Severus do the same before she was distracted by the strong dark curses that were absorbed by the protego shield. However, now she was stuck in the defense, and could not go on the offense to incapacitate their opponents. "Severus…I will shield us both if you attack them. We need to finish this and can't risk anyone getting away, including the elves!" Snape nodded at her, his mouth a thin line. He waited until he felt the warm energy of her shield in front of him, then darted to the side and towards the Death Eaters. He was upon them from the side before they had even noticed he had left his partner.
One of them just had time to turn towards him with a startled noise before Severus jumped at him. With a single angry slash of his wand, the Death Eater collapsed in an unconscious heap. Before he hit the ground, Severus shot two stunners in quick succession at the unprotected other Death Eaters, followed by a lower body binding spell. Their legs folded like spaghetti and they dropped. Severus brushed some dirt off himself, smug. A part of him hoped she had seen him. The other part of him focused on the situation at hand.
The dust cleared, revealing Hermione as she lowered her shield cautiously, looking around with narrowed, suspicious eyes. She quickly crossed the distance between them, her black leggings and boots almost gray from the dust whirled up by the flying spells. "Sir, we need to secure them and look for the house elf and Avery and Nott." He nodded. "Keep watch while I hide them and put a permanent binding charm on them that they wont be able to break." He levitated the bodies behind an abandoned looking building and cast an invisibility charm on them after he had made sure that they wouldn't be moving for a few hours. He again wondered where all the muggles were. While he was walking back towards his partner he cast a quick finite incantatem, suspecting there were wards against muggles and that this town had not seen its occupants for a while. Like he suspected, the silvery glow of many layers of muggle repelling charms as well as a confusion ward were in place that fell when he cast the spell. He reached Hermione, who looked at him questioningly.
"The strength of these muggle repelling charms would have to mean that all occupants moved out in a hurry a while ago. No wonder no one is here. " She nodded. "I checked for dark magic, and its all over the place here. This place has been a hideout for Voldemort's followers for a while now. Not stupid, disguising it as a muggle town…." Hermione mused. Then her face turned serious. "We need to find their hostage. He might be in pain or injured in some way." Severus nodded. They began to scour the small town for a hostage. "Hello!" Hermione called again and again, until they reached an abandoned building that looked like a small storage or warehouse. "Help me….please" called a weak voice from within the building. Hermione rushed ahead, while Severus scoured the area for the missing elf and the two other Death Eaters.
He saw the glimmer of apparation on the edge of the woods. "Hermione, I think they've come back. Make sure the prisoner is safe and then wait for me." She nodded at him, and he quickly disillusioned himself and headed away. Hermione carefully opened the door, her wand held aloft. "I'm here to rescue you," she called out. " Over here," whispered a weak voice, and Hermione, squinting in the dim light, whispered "Lumos." Her wandlight revealed a small, curled up ball. It was a young boy, about 12 years old. She narrowed her eyes angrily when she say his pale face and his hands undergoing periodic tremors which wear a clear sign of the Cruciatus curse. "Beasts," she murmured, and with a flick of her wand she divested him of the shackles. "Can you stand up?" she asked the child. "What if they come back? They want to hold me hostage and mutilate me!" The young boy said hysterically, and began to sob. She took him by the hand and helped him up. "We won't let that happen."
They emerged from the small building, Hermione helping him stand up and walk. She scoured the area. There was no one around. The house elf must have been with Avery and Nott when Severus saw them. Hermione turned to peer in the direction he had disappeared in, worrying despite herself. A silver gleam was approaching, which Hermione identified as a patronus. It was a silver snake, winding its way through the air towards her. It curled up neatly in mid air before her. Its mouth opened and Severus' voice emanated. "Hermione, please apparate back to Hogwarts with the prisoner immediately. I have taken care of Avery and Nott, but the damned elf escaped. I need to track him down and then perform memory charms on all of them. Dumbledore needs the prisoner's information. "The silvery snake dissolved after the message had been dissolved.
Hermione knew what she had to do, even though it pained her to leave Severus alone on this. But the mission was more important than her feelings at this point. She grabbed the boy tightly. "Where are we going?" He asked weakly, sagging against her. "Getting you some medical attention," she said to the squib, and apparated away with a pop.
She landed outside the gates of Hogwarts, stumbling slightly under the boys weight. It seemed apparation had been too much, he had passed out. She waved her wand and lifted him up, then sent her patronus to Dumbledore before heading into the grounds. He appeared a minute later. "Ms. Granger, I have notified Madame Pomfrey. Can you levitate him to the infirmary and then come straight to my office? Where is Severus, by the way?"
Hermione told him he was still tracking the elf down, and they headed back towards the castle, the unconscious boy floating ahead of Hermione.
I hope he's okay, she thought unhappily.