DISCLAIMER: I solemnly swear that I do not own anything that pertains to HP. I just play with them.

"Severus looks like shit," Draco mumbled into his goblet the following Monday morning at breakfast. Both Harry and Hermione took a discreet peek at the Potions Master. He was staring down at his food, not touching it, with bags under his eyes. For once, he wasn't glaring or sneering at any students. "I wonder what's up with him."

Hermione just turned back to her food and continued pushing things around on her plate. She wanted to know what was wrong with Severus but knew her inquiries wouldn't be welcome; she knew she wouldn't be welcome.

"Hey, Hermione, are you ok?" She looked up to see Neville staring at her with concern. "I heard about you and Snape fighting…I'm sorry. I hope it works out. You've been looking so happy all year."

Hermione fought to keep her eyes from widening with surprise or panic. How did he know they fought? Who else knew? Beside her, she felt Draco still and could almost feel the tension rolling off of Harry from his other side. On their end of the table, she could see many students eating with too much enthusiasm to be real, all waiting to hear more gossip.

She cleared her throat. "I'm fine Neville, but thanks for asking. Severus and I are doing fine, actually."

"Really? It's all over Gryffindor…and the rest of the school. Apparently, someone saw you running from his chambers in tears and heard glass breaking," he said.

"What would a Gryffindor be doing wandering around the dungeons?" she asked.

Neville thought for a moment. "I never thought of that. You're right. It's probably just some stupid rumor someone made up. You're lucky you're not in his class anymore; I bet that's why he looks so miserable."

Hermione smiled weakly and went back to her food, wondering who had been following her.

XXX

"Hermione, may I speak with you?"

Hermione froze as his voice rolled over her. Refusing to turn around and look at him, she said, "I'm sorry Professor, but I'm helping the first and second year Gryffindors with their studying at the moment."

It was almost four in the afternoon and she was seated in the library surrounded by most of the first and second year Gryffindors who had agreed to her offer to help them all study, knowing they would be learning from the best. She had just gone over how to properly take notes while reading when Snape had come up behind her.

Now all of the children were staring at her and she forced herself to keep her emotions from showing on her face.

"It won't take long, Hermione. I'm sure your children won't destroy themselves or the books. We will be standing just over here."

Closing her eyes briefly, she considered saying no again.

"Please, Hermione."

Those two words broke her resolve and she nodded slightly. She got up and walked with him a few meters away, neither one noticing the pair of eyes watching them intently with rising panic and anger.

Snape cast his protective wards that he normally cast when he wanted a private conversation.

"Hermione, we must talk."

"I thought that was what we were doing, Professor."

"Stop calling me that," he snapped.

"You're the one who took points from me for addressing you informally, sir," she replied waspishly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I apologize for that. I'll have you know, however, that it appears the Headmaster disabled the ability for me to take points from you. Apparently, he didn't deem it fair because of our involvement."

"Our involvement," she repeated, blinking up at him. It sounded so crass that way.

"For Merlin's sake, woman, you know what I mean! Our relationship! This is difficult for me, you know," he spat.

"Oh, I'm sorry if having a glass thrown at my head and me being screamed at and me being threatened by the man I'm involved with is difficult for you," she snapped back.

"Don't go playing the fucking victim, Hermione," he hissed. "Yes, I lost my temper and I know that. For that, I'm sorry. And I never should have said that about handing you over to Lucius, but you and I both know I didn't mean it. As for the glass, it was a scare tactic as much as it was me letting off anger: all my glasses are charmed to never hit anyone. And maybe I shouldn't have yelled as much, but you gave me reason to. You snooped when you shouldn't have and you pried when you should have backed off."

"I can't believe you're turning this back on me!" she nearly yelled, then remembered that no one could hear them anyway.

"I'm turning this on both of us," he said. "We both need to admit fault in this. I can forgive you for meddling in my business."

"Wow, what a heartfelt apology," she said sarcastically.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING HERE? I'M APOLOGIZING! Merlin, woman!"

"Fine. Whatever. I forgive you for throwing shit at my head and screaming at me and threatening to hand me over to Lucius. Can I leave now?"

"Do I not warrant an apology?"

"For what? I still don't believe I did anything wrong."

"You're so obtuse sometimes, Hermione! You can't see anything beyond your own fucking nose and believe that you're always right. Just because you can justify what you did, doesn't mean you were right in doing it! You knew how I felt about my past and how I felt about sharing information I didn't wish to!"

"I'm your girlfriend!"

"So that gives you the right to pry into every detail of my life? That gives you the right to violate my privacy on an issue I would rather not talk about?"

"You needed to talk about it!"

"You're not my therapist, Hermione! And even when you came back to talk, you pried again, and again, pushing me and pushing me! And you wonder why I snapped?"

They both glared at the other for a few seconds before Snape sighed. The fight seemed to leave his eyes and he once again looked like he had that morning: downtrodden and depressed.

"I apologized, Hermione. Even you must know what that took of me. I'm willing to take that step. Why aren't you?"

Before she could respond, he lowered the wards and walked out of the library.

The person watching them smiled in glee.

XXX

It was almost three-thirty in the morning and Hermione lay in her bed staring at the ceiling going over the conversation Severus and she had earlier. She knew she should have apologized and that he was right. She knew that every time she justified something in her head, she felt it was right.

She was just so angry! All she had wanted was for him to speak to her, but when he did all she wanted was for him to leave her alone!

She couldn't get the way he looked all day out of her head, though. And for her to know that she was at least a contributing reason for that look made her feel like shit.

As she saw his dead, haunted looking eyes, she felt her heart twinge. She had said she loved him, but now she wasn't sure. Surely, if she loved him, she wouldn't be acting this way? Surely, if she loved him, she wouldn't be such a bitch, and she would be able to apologize, right? She felt the hot tears running down her face but made no move to wipe them free.

Suddenly, her room seemed stuffy and oppressive. She needed to get out, walk around somewhere. She was grateful, once again, for her Head Girl status giving her no curfew. Maybe if she did a few rounds she would feel better.

Walking out of her room, she noticed Harry's book bag lying on the couch, which meant he must be sleeping over in Draco's room.

Trying not to feel bitter or jealous, Hermione quietly left. She thought about leaving a note, but she had the tracking necklace and ring on and she would be back within the hour.

A half hour later, she was wandering the castle sticking close to the walls. Something felt off to her; something had felt off all day, ever since Neville let slip that someone had followed her. She tried brushing it off as paranoia but the war-weary part of her demanded she stay alert and cautious.

The back of her neck continued to prickle throughout her rounds, but every time she turned around, she was alone. She would continually scan for a disillusionment charm, but she never found anything.

Wand at the ready, not standard practice for a student on patrol, Hermione continued on. She knew that she should return to her dorm, but her natural curiosity was getting the best of her.

Thinking she saw something out of the corner of her eye, she spun around with a spell on her lips, but she was greeted with a dark corridor. Sighing at her own paranoia, she turned around and was promptly face to chest with Severus.

Stifling a scream, Hermione found herself with his hand over her mouth.

"Quiet, woman!" he hissed. "You know I wouldn't hurt you!"

Wrenching his hand from her mouth, she glared fiercely at him. "Not with your wand." As soon as the words were out, Hermione felt ashamed. She heard him take a shuddering deep breath and then stepped back from her.

"My apologies, Hermione. You caught me unawares and startled me. I am not accustomed to seeing others walking around this time of night and we both ran into the other at the same time. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"No, it's not your fault. I was already jumpy. I kept thinking that someone was following me, but there never was."

"Following you? Are you sure you checked thoroughly?" he asked while scanning the corridor.

"Yes. I've been off balance all day, though, so I'm not sure it's not just me being paranoid."

"I would rather be paranoid than dead," Snape said, still looking around. "And I have not been myself today, as well."

They both had a moment of awkwardness. Hermione felt the urge to apologize for everything but didn't know how to start.

Finally, Snape cleared his throat. "Goodnight, Hermione. You should get back to your dorm. I'll see you in the later morning." With that, he turned on his heel and stalked off.

She wanted to call out his name, but decided it would be best if she waited until the morning. She promised herself that she would corner him after breakfast and apologize.

Deciding to go back to her room and sleep, Hermione set off back in the direction she had come.

She never made it.

XXX

Snape's ring flared for a moment, and then went back to normal. He figured she probably got scared by a cat or something; she had said she was jumpy. He faltered in his step, thinking he should have offered to walk her to her dorm. He had a really bad feeling. He ran back to where he had just seen her not three minutes before, but she was gone, as were the next few corridors.

"Hermione!" he whispered, face draining of color. He ran back to his quarters.

XXX

Back in the Head dorm, Draco and Harry both sat upright, grasping their wrists in unison as a pendant on both burned. A second later, the burning stopped.

Both boys looked at the other in alarm before simultaneously jumping out of bed and running for her room.

"Hermione!" Harry started to yell before he even got there, Draco on his heels. Harry didn't even pause to wonder if she had wards up; the door burst open as he neared it. Both men saw her empty bed and did a quick search of the room.

"Ok, I'm going to floo Severus. If there was ever a reason to use the floo in here, this is it," Draco said, thinking fast as he stuck his head in the fireplace, throwing down some powder. "Severus' chambers! Severus! Severus, are you there? Severus!"

Harry knelt next to Draco and stuck his head through with him just in time to see Snape running from around a corner.

"I just walked in my door," Snape explained as he dropped to one knee before them. "Hermione?"

Draco shook his head as Snape's pale face somehow got even more sallow.

"Come through."

Both men walked through the fireplace into his chambers.

"What happened?"

Draco explained about waking up to a burning bracelet and checking and seeing she was gone.

"I just saw her. She said she was jumpy and paranoid. Could it have been like when my ring alerted me when you were all talking with Remus?"

"I don't think so. My charm deals more with her state of mind rather than her emotions. I knew she was more logical than emotional even when she doesn't show it and I didn't want to be alerted every time she cried, just when she was in danger," Draco said.

"Harry, send word to Remus. I'm going to send a patronus to the Headmaster," Snape said as he whipped out his wand. "Draco, send your patronus on a hunt for her. Do you remember the spell?" Draco nodded and shot a huge lion out of his wand where it passed a stag and a lynx.

Harry looked quizzically at the lynx and Snape eyed him as if daring to ask, but Harry just shrugged and started to pace.

A few minutes went by before Snape's fireplace flared green.

"Severus, may I step through?" they heard Remus ask. Snape said yes and their Defense teacher stepped out of the hearth. "Any luck?" Three heads shook their heads in the negative. A second later, the fireplace flared green again and Dumbledore walked through.

"Hermione Granger is no longer on castle grounds," he announced, looking grave. "I just checked the wards and she is missing. Please, explain to me what happened."

When the story was finished, all occupants were glaring at Snape.

"You should have walked her back, Severus," Dumbledore said.

"I know! I turned around but she was already gone!" Snape had his hands in his hair, facing the fireplace.

"Ok, well, how do we get her back? We need a plan! Use those pieces of jewelry you gave her!" Remus nearly shouted; he had never seen Snape drop his calm façade before.

"While you do that, Headmaster…can you check the wards for other missing students?" Harry asked, eyeing Dumbledore.

"The spy," Draco whispered.

Snape spun around, face murderous but distant demeanor back in place.

"Miss Weasley," he spat.

Dumbledore nodded and stepped through the fireplace while Snape asked Draco to try feeling for Hermione through the necklace as he tried with the ring.

"I can feel her…but barely. Like there's some kind of block!" Draco said, straining.

"I feel it as well," Snape muttered.

Dumbledore walked back through the fireplace a few seconds later.

"You were wise for having me check, Harry. We are indeed short one person from Gryffindor tower," he said, brows furrowed.

"Who?" Snape whispered furiously.

XXX

Hermione struggled to open her eyes. She was really getting tired of being hurt and waking up in strange places. She had the feeling she had been unconscious for a couple hours. She felt like she was tied to a pole.

A pole? That didn't make any sense. She fought to think of what had happened. She remembered going on rounds, turning the corner to go back to her dorm and then…she was here. She heard a girl laugh; it sounded familiar but she couldn't place it.

Finally she got her eyes to open. The first thing she noticed was the sky. It was black as if it were still night time, which it probably was. Yet there was something oppressive about the color. It was too black. If she looked hard enough, she thought she saw the forming wisps of clouds slowly start to churn together.

Then she looked straight ahead.

Straight into the eyes of Lucius Malfoy.

XXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I know, I know! You hate me! I'm sorry! But finally, after all the waiting, you will get to find out who the spy is….in the next chapter lmao. I'm so excited! I'm guessing there will only be a few more chapters to finish it out, and then it's done. So most likely I'll only update MAYBE once more, but after that, for sure, I'll just wait until it's completely finished before posting.

Keep reviewing!