A/N- here's another chapter for you all, a few things are discovered in this one. Thank you all for the reviews, they are beyond encouraging!

"Merlin's ballsack, Severus, I am coming," Hermione shouted down to the impatient man standing at the bottom of the stairs. "I just need to finish braiding my hair, I can't have it getting in the way."

Severus smirked as the witch's words floated down to him. Where they were going her hair would indeed get in the way. A braid seemed the most practical, but he did enjoy rattling her a bit. "I would rather prefer to not age a hundred years before we actually leave," he said loudly.

Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs, glaring down at him irritably. "Keep your hair on, I'm done."

Severus rolled his eyes and headed out. His attire consisted of black slacks, a black tee, and his traveling cloak. It was an odd assembly, yes, but it would work for the purpose he needed it to. Holding his arm out, he waited for Hermione to take it.

Hermione reached out to take his arm, and quickly wrapped her hand in his. Ignoring the sharp glance he gave her, she screwed her eyes shut as they apparated. The horrible feeling never got old, and she experienced the familiar five-second recovery. Opening her eyes, she looked around curiously. "Where exactly are we?"

They were standing in the midst of a grassy looking field on the side of a hill, and they were completely surrounded by distant looking mountains. The field was peppered with brightly colored flowers, and the slopes of the hills were covered in large and rather forbidding looking pines. "We are in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the United States."

Hermione turned to look at Severus in shock. "What did you find to bring us here?"

"A plant," Severus replied simply. "Known as the Bloodroot, it is a flowering plant native to Northern America. It has roots in ancient potions, although all accounts of the plant and its properties are admittedly very vague. I came across a brief mention of it in a book that Lucius lent to me. It merely said that the root of the plant was known to dispel the hold of negative magics on the mind in ancient Native American lore. I do not know much of their culture, though, so I don't know if the accounts are accurate. However, it is safe to say that if we find this, and it has the effects I am hoping, the potion is done."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I read somewhere about that too. I don't know how many Native Americans were wizards, but they were known for having herbal remedies for mundane ailments. It is a very interesting idea. Any idea where to look?"

Severus scowled faintly. "No, all I could find is the flower prefers the shade, but as you can see, there are many ways to achieve shade. It renders nearly every location a possible one."

Hermione grinned. "Maybe not," she said mysteriously.

Severus eyed her curiously. "What are you on about, Miss Granger?"

Hermione didn't respond, instead she pulled out her wand, and knelt down. Waving her wand slowly over the ground, she muttered a few words under her breath. The plants around them seemed to shiver slightly, and a twirl of purple smoke appeared between the trunks of two small trees at the edge of the clearing. Feeling rather smug, Hermione went to investigate the product of her strange spell. Peering down at the plant the purple smoke hovered over, she gestured to Severus. "Does this look anything like the plant was described?"

"It was never described, although I can perform a simple spell to test whether or not it has magical properties," Severus replied. "Where did you come across that finding spell?"

"It was in a book about wild plants that Neville lent me a while ago. If you think of the plant you wish to find, the spell finds the roots of a plant that is similar to the one you think of. It is not exactly perfect, but it can be helpful."

"Indeed," Severus bent down to study the plant. It was a small flower, only two blossoms were fully opened. The thicker white petals surrounded the few prongs of yellow in the center. Withdrawing his wand, Severus swirled a circle around the plant, and uttered a word. The air around the flower shimmered slightly, and Severus nodded satisfactorily. "It has magical properties, of the kind we are looking for I believe. I cannot perform a more extensive revealing spell until we get back. I expected this to take most of the day to find, if we even could, but it appears I have underestimated your intuition, Miss Granger."

Hermione grinned at the hidden compliment, proceeded to help Severus carefully uproot the plant. Shrinking it, he placed it carefully in a jar, and held out his arm again. Hermione grabbed it, and they disappeared with the customary sound. Arriving back on the porch at Spinner's End, they quickly entered the mansion and headed towards the laboratory.

"It needs to be diluted and dissolved, so a copper cauldron?" Hermione asked as Severus busied himself with cutting a bit of the bloodroot up.

Severus nodded in response and Hermione handed him the cauldron. He poured the appropriate measure of water in and added the chopped bloodroot. He set the small cauldron under a low flame. Grabbing another piece of the root, he did the same again, but this time he crushed the root. He repeated the process three more times; slicing, shredding, and grinding the root. In testing a previously unknown ingredient, it was always safe to cover every possible angle.

Hermione stared at Severus as a strange feeling came over her. Watching him move so efficiently, his elegantly long fingers moving so precisely as he cut the root...an ache started deep in her center. Severus was too focused on what he was doing to notice the blush that crept up Hermione's neck. "I – Severus."

He jerked up, his gaze catching hers. Hermione remained silent as she stared wide-eyed into Severus's eyes, and slowly drew her lip into her mouth. Severus watched the action with excruciating slowness, and felt all the blood in his body flood to his groin. "Miss Granger."

Hermione heard the carefully controlled tone in Severus's voice, and saw the flicker of desire in his eyes. She took a step forward. "I should help you cut the bloodroot," she said, never looking away from his burning eyes.

"I would appreciate that," he replied just as steadily. Hermione nodded and moved closer, still unable to look away. Suddenly, an intense feeling of nervousness washed over her, and she bit her lip again. Severus could feel the last tendril of his willpower snap, and he stepped forward, crashing his lips down on hers.

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly got over it. She closed her eyes and lifted her hand to run her fingers through his hair. Her other arm wound around his neck to pull him closer as she deepened the kiss.

Severus slid a hand down her shoulders to her waist, tugging her hips to press flush against him. His other hand buried itself in the wild mass of curls, tugging back slightly so he could deepen the kiss. Hermione arched her back, pressing herself into him. She smiled through the kiss when she felt Severus's growing erection against her stomach.

Sliding his hands down further, he cupped her behind and lifted her up easily. Hermione went with his movements, wrapping her legs around his waist. Severus walked forward, breaking the kiss to make sure he didn't knock anything important over before he backed Hermione against the wall.

Gasping at the coolness of the wall, Hermione looked at Severus. "What...?"

Severus shook his head and brought his lips to hers again. He didn't know what was happening, and he didn't care. It had been so long since he had felt the touch of a woman, and Hermione was beautiful in every way to his gaze. He didn't care, he just wanted to touch her. Sliding his hand back up to her waist, he played with the edge of her shirt.

Hermione's breath hitched when Severus finally slid his hand under her shirt and gripped her waist. Suddenly, she was overcome with a desire to have her hands on his skin. A small voice in the back of her mind cautioned her, but she ignored it. His touch, his kisses, the way his breathing labored, it was all serving to drive her insane, and she didn't have the power of mind to stop it. Nor did she want to.

Severus broke the kiss to trail his mouth down her jawline to her neck, nibbling at the sensitive flesh as he went. He pulled back slightly to watch how her chest rose and fell with an urgency that he shared. Watching this witch come more unraveled with his every move fueled his desire even more. He attacked her neck as he slid his hand carefully up her side until his thumb brushed against the underside of her bra.

Hermione felt all the heat in her body rush towards her groin, and she moved to slid her hands under his shirt to feel his shoulders when a harsh knocking sound reverberated throughout the mansion. It took a few minutes for the pounding to pierce through the fog of arousal in her mind. "Severus?"

Severus looked at her with just as much confusion as her, and shrugged. "It sounds as though someone is knocking."

"Who would be knocking at your door?"

"I do not know," Severus replied. He lowered Hermione to the ground, and smirked slightly when he saw her knees tremble. He kept a hand on her waist to help steady her. Hermione straightened and attempted to smooth her hair. Her heartbeat slowed, and she came off the heady feeling of desire slowly. She rearranged her clothes and gave Severus a sheepish grin.

Severus arched an eyebrow, but his eyes danced with amusement at her tousled appearance. Her lips were bright red and slightly swollen, and the flush of arousal hadn't left her cheeks yet. His appearance was almost unchanged, except his hair now looked as though he had just awoken. It was Hermione's turn to smirk at that, one of the most endearing things about the man was his bed head. It was utterly adorable to her. "Shall we see who's there?"

Severus nodded, and walked out. Hermione followed him quickly and they headed towards the door. Severus opened it, and stared for a few minutes at who stood there. Without a word, he turned on his heel and swept past Hermione. She wondered at Severus's strange behavior, but she didn't stop him, instead she opened the door further to see who was there. "Harry?"

Severus headed back to the laboratory, and busied himself with slicing the bloodroot. He had no interest in even seeing the Potter boy. His anger towards the boy had abated some, but he still wasn't inclined to see him. The fact that Potter had interrupted what he had didn't help lessen Severus's unpleasant feelings towards the boy. To say it had been frustrating was putting it lightly.

He finished preparing the bloodroot in the different methods, and placed them all over a low flame. Satisfied, he cast a spell to label each cauldron, and moved to check on the potion. It bubbled weakly, the silvery potion letting off the faint smell of moonflowers. He ran a few diagnostic spells, and ran through what he would need to counter any aftereffect of the potion. Headaches, nausea, stiff pain.

Whistling tunelessly, he started to gather what ingredients with counter each side effect, and started to prepare them methodically. Potter's appearance had killed his mood entirely, but he still entertained himself with replaying what had just occurred. He wanted her, possibly more than anything else. No, definitely more.

The door opened, and Severus looked up to see Hermione standing there. Choosing to make no mention of Potter, he spoke in what he hoped was a casual tone. "I have prepared the root in every way I know how, and we shall see tomorrow morning – Good grief, Hermione, are you alright?"

Severus rushed to Hermione in alarm, her face was paler than he had ever seen it, and she seemed unstable on her feet. Picking her up swiftly, he carried her to the sitting room. Placing her down on the couch gently, he took a seat beside her. "What did Potter do, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head mutely, and turned towards Severus, a look of helplessness on her face. "It's Lestrange," she murmured.

Severus looked down at Hermione in confusion. "Lestrange is in Azkaban."

Hermione shook her head again. "He broke out over the summer, and Harry believes it is he who is using the curse. When Dolohov and Avery escaped, Lestrange did too but he got away."

Severus leaned back in the chair, considering her words. If Lestrange was indeed on the loose, than it would make perfect sense. If anyone had a vendetta against the Ministry, it would be him. He was faithful until the very end. How exactly the Ministry could have fallen lax enough to let an extremely dangerous, and very powerful wizard escape was thoroughly beyond him.

It still did not explain the curse and where it came from. He and Hermione had spent days researching various Dark Arts from every culture to no avail. How Lestrange could have discovered the curse, and gained enough strength to start to use it was yet to be answered. "Potter told you this? Who told him?"

"The Minister."

"That bloody fool," Severus snarled. "Letting someone of Lestrange's power just slip through his finger. Why wasn't it made public knowledge? Why wasn't every Auror in the office sent after him?"

"I guess Kingsley felt it would have been better to cover it up. He told Harry over the holidays, and according to him, we are still not supposed to know, but Harry felt as though we needed to be made aware."

Severus felt his blood pound at that. The Minister was being an idiot, something Severus would have never thought of Shacklebolt. "At least Potter can see a modicum of sense," he responded acidly.

"Harry is good for the job, I think he could get far more done than Darreth. But still, a Death Eater is out there, cursing innocent people for...for what purpose?"

Severus scowled. "I do not know. Lestrange will have an ulterior motive; that I am sure of, but I doubt it will be possible for anyone to find out at this stage. All we can do is perfect the potion, and heal those whom have already suffered because of it until more information is gained."

Hermione sighed heavily. "This changes a few things. For one, we know that even once the potion is done we will spend a good portion of our time brewing more and more of it because Lestrange won't stop."

Severus nodded gravely. "Yes, we will. I will have to arrange a meeting with the Minister and inform him of everything I know about Lestrange's character. Anything could help apprehend him. For now though, there is no use worrying about it. We will complete the potion and cure those who have been affected. Then we can look towards helping Potter."

Hermione agreed softly, and leaned against his shoulder. "The bloodroot is brewing?"

"Yes. We shall see tomorrow."

"Well then there's really nothing left to do today, is there?"

"There isn't. Shall we read?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm really not in the mood to concentrate on anything. Could we – well, could we just sit here?"

Severus looked down at Hermione curiously, he had never before heard her say she had no desire to read. She felt his gaze on her and looked up at him beseechingly. Severus studied her eyes for a few seconds, and realised quickly that the knowledge of Lestrange had affected her greatly. He understood; she had been an instrumental piece in winning the war, and the idea that someone who had supported Voldemort's ideals was out there once again was far beyond unsettling to her.

Severus nodded slowly and wrapped his arm around her. Flicking his wand, he summoned a small novel. Hermione sighed softly and let herself rest against Severus, trying hard not to think about Lestrange. The idea that the curse was being used by a Death Eater had always been in the back of her mind, but knowing that it was really happening was terrifying.