Alrighty, the story continues! I'd just like to throw it out there once again that any content taken from the books or movies does not belong to me. I know I've strayed away from cannon, but I like to stick it in every now and again. Right… so… on with the story! I hope you like it! If you do, please REVIEW! :D
"Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour." Severus looked out on the Great Hall, packed with every student at Hogwarts, all avoiding his gaze. The fear was palpable in the air and Severus knew that many of them were already aware of the situation at hand. His job now was to stall for time so that Hermione could get Potter out of the castle. It was their only hope. If he was captured… Severus didn't even want to think what would happen.
"It has come to my attention," he began again, slowly. What he needed was time and dramatic pauses were his forte. "That earlier this evening," he drew the words out for emphasis, looking for more he could say to detain them here longer without provoking the suspicion of the twin Death Eaters on either side of him. "Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade." At this proclamation, a hum of whispers filled the hall as the previously fearful students began anxiously fidgeting and turning to catch one another's eye.
"Now, should anyone, student or staff, attempt to aid Mr. Potter," Severus drawled in his most intimidating voice as he stepped off the platform at the front of the hall and began walking through the rows of students. "They will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression." The students had stopped their whispering and readopted their submissive stances, staring at the floor. "Furthermore, any person found to have knowledge of these events who fails to come forward will be treated as equally guilty." Merlin he hoped their Gryffindor courage didn't fail them now.
"Now then, if anyone here has any knowledge of Mr. Potter's movements this evening, I invite them to step forward. Now." His gaze swept the hall, but no one budged. Even the other professors had their heads turned to the marble beneath their feet. He knew that everyone in the hall hated him, but it was alright, as long as he could soon return to the one person who loved him; Hermione. Just as relief began to drift through him, a movement caught his eye. Someone was indeed stepping forward.
And that someone was Harry Potter.
Oh fuck! Severus could feel his blood practically bursting in his veins at the realization that Potter had not heeded the warning and hidden. Of course not! The arrogant brat had taken the opportunity to make a dramatic stand against him! And now, he was either going to have to capture the boy (obviously out of the question) or defy the dark lord! Stupid bloody fool!
"It seems," the fool arrogantly began, "despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster." At that moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened wide and the entire remaining Order of the Phoenix stepped through. Well at least the little bastard did one thing right. "I'm afraid it's quite extensive." And it's a good thing, too, because your little dramatic exhibition may well have started a war! You stupid bloody foolish brat!
"How dare you stand where he stood?" Potter continued. Oh gods, he was going to get all sentimental and dramatic right now wasn't he? Didn't he realize there was a war starting? What does he expect? I will suddenly begin weeping with remorse? "Tell them how it happened that night!" the stupid fool was saying. "Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him." You don't know the half of it, Potter. "Tell them!" Severus realized that he needed to make a decision. His mind swept through his options, taking stock of the Death Eaters in the hall, only two behind his back. But a room full of witnesses. Damn it all to bloody fucking hell!
And Hermione was somewhere in the castle, searching desperately for Harry Bloody Potter while the stupid brat was provoking the start of a war that none of them were ready for yet. And Death Eaters were sweeping the castle as they spoke.
He drew his wand. Suddenly, there was no time to waste. Before Potter could draw his own, Minerva McGonagall stepped in front of him, her wand drawn against Severus. The dark wizard hesitated only a moment. He had to keep up appearances. His former friend and colleague then began to hurl silent hexes at him, which he blocked without any effort at all. His mind ran quickly through all of the possibilities before he finally developed a plan. Deflecting two of her jinxes simultaneously in the direction of the two Death Eaters (the only two in the hall who could blab to the dark lord that Potter's capture had been abandoned), Severus assured himself that they were knocked out before crashing through the window behind him and taking flight off into the dark, night sky.
He was circling back around to another entrance, planning to search the castle for the girl, when he noticed a familiar dark witch escaping into the night with an apparent hostage. Hermione. "No!" He saw her Disapparate and flew out of the castle grounds to Apparate himself to Malfoy Manor.
Hermione had never been so afraid in all of her life. Bellatrix Lestrange was dragging her down a familiar path to the dark home of the Malfoy family. This time, she knew it wouldn't just be the arrogant blonde couple and their son waiting at the door. The dark lord, himself, would be there to interrogate her; to torture her; to kill her.
They reached the inner ballroom far too quickly and she suddenly had her first glimpse of Voldemort himself, seated atop a throne at the far end of the hall. Her breath caught in her chest. All she could think of was Severus and how she hadn't had a chance to say goodbye to him. But she quickly suppressed that thought and belatedly remembered to begin her Occlumency warm-ups. It was almost a lost cause, but she had a great secret to protect and she would die to keep Severus safe.
A high cackling laughter reached her ears and she knew it was coming from the serpentine man seated before her. As they reached his throne, he stood and descended the stairs to meet them. "You have done well, Bellatrix," he hissed. "Potter will come for his precious little pet. Let's see what the mudblood knows." Without warning, his cold fingers were beneath her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. His mind ripped into her own so powerfully that it hurt. It took all of her concentration to keep her false images in place.
She let him see that they had gotten to the horcrux at Gringotts. After all, he already knew that they were hunting for them. But then she showed him their despair at finding the fake horcrux, holding back the memories of the real one. Next, she showed him their frustration with not knowing how to destroy the dark trinkets. She wanted him to think they were farther away from defeating him than they actually were.
Suddenly, there was a commotion and the dark wizard withdrew from her mind. She fell back from him so forcefully that she landed against the cold, stone floor. Everyone's eyes were focused on something behind her, and Hermione turned to see Severus Snape striding toward them, not even chancing a glimpse at her as she lied there on the floor. Her heart pounded at once with hope and fear.
"Severusss," the dark lord hissed. "I thought I gave you a task to complete." She watched him kneel in front of Voldemort and bow his head.
"I have only left my post to tell you that we are sweeping the school and have found no sign of the boy; and to ask for further instructions from you, my lord."
"You should not have left your post, Severus! You are to bring Potter to me! Do not disappoint me again!" The threat was brimming in his tone, but Severus Snape gave no indication of fear.
"My lord, forgive me. I see that the brains of the trio has been snared. Could I not use her to force Potter to come to me?"
"Yess. The girl will remain here. You may tell Potter that we will release her if he comes willingly. Whether or not we do, of course, will depend on whether or not they continue to fight. And also... if she is still alive."
"Yes, my lord." Severus said slowly, betraying no emotion. What happened next happened so quickly that Hermione only had time to scream. Severus grabbed her wrist, yanking her up with him. He twisted around her, pulling her against his chest, one arm around her waist, and suddenly their feet were no longer in contact with the ground below them. Air rushed past and images blurred as they twisted through the air and glass shattered all around them. She heard the curses of the Death Eaters still in the hall as jets of green and red shot past them in the night. Then there were columns of black smoke all around them and Severus twisted them around, narrowly missing a jet of green light as they snapped out of sight.
They reappeared on the ground in the middle of a street that Hermione didn't recognize. She was momentarily crushed into the dirt as the large wizard landed on top of her. Before she could even gasp for breath, he had them up and running. They slipped through an alleyway between rows and rows of broken-down, brick buildings, turning sharply a few streets down. A door flew open at his command and he shoved her inside, slamming the door behind himself and immediately setting to work on wards.
"Send a patronus to Potter, letting him know that you are alright." Hermione blanched at the vision of Harry running off to meet Voldemort and hastily complied.
After a moment, he turned to her. "We don't have much time. They will not focus on us for long, but they might search here. I have cast a few warding spells that will cause confusion and disorientation if they do attempt to find us here, but we cannot stay long."
"I can't believe you just did that!" she cried out half in horror, half in amazement. "Did we just fly?!"
"Yes," he said simply. He was clearly deep in thought. He tried to walk past her, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"Severus," she whispered, as if to bring him back to her. She didn't need to say more as his eyes locked onto hers and she let him see what she was feeling. Suddenly, his hands were on her face, grasping her tenderly as he lowered his head to hers. She flung her arms around his neck as their lips met in a passionate kiss. He thrust his tongue into her mouth in relieved urgency and she threw her entire body against him to reciprocate. His hands roamed up and down her body as their kiss turned sweet and tender. Finally, he pulled away and cleared his throat.
"We have a lot to do." She nodded in understanding and turned to take in their dark surroundings. It was difficult to see with so little light, but she could make out a chair, a fireplace, and walls absolutely covered with bookshelves.
"Where are we?" she gasped.
"My home," he said simply. She gaped up at him. "Spinner's End. In Cokeworth. This is where I grew up. Lovely, isn't it?" His voice was venomous and bitter as he spat out the word, and Hermione felt herself recoil a little as he led her to the bookshelves. "I was thinking we ought to do a bit of horcrux research. After all, it looks like war may be upon us."
"What?!" she shrieked.
"Yes, apparently your brilliant friend thought my summons to the Great Hall would be a perfect opportunity to make a bold, dramatic stand against me."
"Oh, no," she gasped. "He didn't." But there was no hope in her words.
"He did. The entire Order of the Phoenix is there now, securing the castle against Death Eaters, I hope. But you and I and your foolish friends are the only ones besides the dark lord who realize that he is not yet capable of dying. So, why Potter felt the need to provoke war at this stage, Merlin only knows."
"It's no use placing blame. We have to fix this. And unfortunately, that may mean horcrux hunting. I just hope Harry gets a basilisk fang! He said one of the horcruxes is probably at Hogwarts, but there are two left! Where on earth would he have kept the other?!"
"No. Wait a moment. Before he died, Albus told me that during the war the dark lord would start keeping his snake near him at all times, protecting her." Hermione bit her lip at the mention of the old wizard and her only thought was that that was a strange way to refer to someone you had killed. "He told me that the snake would have to be destroyed. I think, perhaps, the snake is a horcrux as well."
"The snake?" she gasped.
"Yes. You see, part of the reason I found Arthur's bite so intriguing was that Nagini is an Albanian viper. Her bite should not have been so difficult to heal. In fact, he was given Muggle stitches, and the bite repelled even those. Therefore, I believe there must have been dark magic involved. If she is in fact a horcrux, that would all make sense." Hermione was bursting with the need to tell him about how Dittany had cured the bite Nagini had given Harry, but she knew it was not necessary information and didn't want to waste their precious time and his patience bragging.
"Then there's only one other horcrux and that one might be at Hogwarts. But what if it's not?" She wasn't convinced that it would be so conveniently hidden.
"No. I agree with Potter. Hogwarts was a very important place to the dark lord. It was his first real home." His thumb came up to idly rub the dust from the wooden bookshelf. "Yes. I'm sure he's hidden one there." Hermione's heart clenched. It was your first home too, wasn't it? She bit her lip. Something else was troubling her.
"Severus," she whispered, finally. He looked down at her patiently. "What happened that night? On the tower?" She watched him blink and look away. She didn't want to bring up old pain for him, but she needed to know.
"What do you think happened, Hermione?" She felt the color drain from her face as he turned back to look at her. The anguish in his eyes was overwhelming. The self-loathing. The regret. The helplessness. She did not respond. "I killed Albus Dumbledore," he answered finally. "But I only did it because he commanded it of me." Hermione blinked in surprise. "He was dying anyway, and Draco had been given the task of finishing him off as a punishment for Lucius's failure at the Ministry. Everyone knew that Draco would be killed if he did not succeed, and Albus did not want that evil on the boy's soul. So he ordered it of me, instead."
Shaking away the shock of that pronouncement, Hermione stepped closer to him, sliding her arms around his torso and squeezing him against her. His arms came up to clutch at her back and her hair, and she felt his chin come to rest on the top of her head. "I'm so sorry, Severus," she whispered into his buttons. "For what it's worth," she continued after a moment, "I think you've redeemed yourself for everything." She wasn't sure if it had been the right thing to say, but his arms tightened around her, and they were silent.
After a moment, they pulled away, allowing their lips to embrace in a similarly sweet way, and returned to the task at hand.
Thoughts? I would love to hear what you guys think about the way things are unfolding, even if it's criticism! Don't forget, guys, fanfiction writers work for reviews!