Don't kill me! I know I'm a day late!
I started college on Monday...and I've literally been walking around in a cloud...and I just remembered right now. So, for my little slip-up, I decided to put up a HUGE chapter, so I hope you all enjoy!
Please read and review, and a special shout out to krista04 for the BEST review EVER!
The next morning, he received a note from a house elf, and found Miss Granger's handwriting.
Professor Snape,
I'm sorry, but my work has been piling up for the past week, so I'm afraid that I can't make it to any lessons for the rest of the week.
Hermione Granger
Reading the note over several more times, as if waiting for the words to change, he gingerly folded the parchment up and slid it into his teaching robes, now in a worse mood than he initially was to begin with.
He spent the day barking at students, deducting house points faster than they were earned, and handing out detentions like it was Christmas time already. And by the time Granger arrived, he was on a war path. Assigning two essays due the same day, the class departed at the bell, more than half the lucky owners of a detention or two.
Severus sat at his desk for an hour or so, thinking about his life and what it would end up turning into by the time he was done repaying his debt. Of course he had fully expected to be dead, he never once doubted that. But now Severus wondered: was that what he really wanted?
The next few days past without incident, and he was determined to ignore Granger and deny her very existence, which she seemed to be doing to him. Severus found himself pleased that she had cancelled their lessons, it was high time their…acquaintance came to an end. Severus continued his usual act of ignoring her until he found her seat empty one period.
"Potter, where is Granger? I thought it impossible for the insufferable know it all to skip a class."
"She's not skipping, sir," he sneered. "She's in the Hospital Wing."
Severus paused for a moment as a million questions and thoughts flew through his mind at the same time. He forced his face to remain impassive, and jotted down her absence on a piece of parchment.
"Very well, she will be responsible for the work she missed."
Severus found himself distant for the remainder of the day, and once classes were over, he found himself wanting to visit the Hospital Wing, but quickly stopped himself. Such a display would do nothing for him or her. Instead, he buried himself in a difficult book on potions and spent the rest of the night translating the Latin words in the confines of his chambers.
Granger was out for the remainder of the week, but she had written him asking for the lesson material that she had missed. He, in a rather foul temper, had written back telling her to get the material from one of her friends. She had replied that she didn't trust the notes they had taken and she even told him that he could have someone else deliver the material if he was too busy to send it himself.
He was enraged to think that she believed him incapable of facing her, so he quickly gathered the material needed and stormed his way into the Hospital Wing.
He found her propped up with pillows, the only occupied bed in the room. She had what he assumed to be her textbooks scattered around her, some pilled on the floor, others opened on the bed. Pieces of parchment were thrown haphazardly everywhere and Granger was furiously scribbling what looked to be an essay. Granger had to be the only one in the school who'd do their homework in the Hospital Wing.
Pulling himself from his thoughts, he quickly approached her and held out the package of papers. She pulled her large doe-like eyes from the parchment and settled them on his face. He was rather taken aback by the coldness he found in her eyes.
"Thank you, Professor." she said politely making him cringe inside.
She took the package from his hands and placed it on the nightstand next to her. Awkwardly, Granger fiddled with her quill, successfully splattering her work with ink.
"So, Miss Granger, may I ask why you're in here?" he nearly sneered.
"Nothing, just over worked, that's all."
"Overworked?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"Yes…overworked." she replied even less convincingly than she did the first time while refocusing on her essay that was now splattered with ink.
"Madame Pomfrey said I should be able to return to class on Monday."
"Very well." he said before leaving the room.
So, she was obviously still upset with him, but he couldn't let his mind focus on that because at that moment, his Dark Mark began to burn, and he instantly ran to his office and flooed to the Malfoy sat, rather bored through the meeting, not hearing anything of interest. That was until Miss Granger's name suddenly was worked into the conversation.
"Miss Granger…" the Dark Lord said deep in thought. "She could be of use to us, certainly. Being Potter's best friend, she may know things that even Dumbledore doesn't know. We just need to figure out how to get her to talk."
Severus turned his eyes around the room, suddenly seeing that Lucius was a little over eager for the topic.
"The Mudblood, my Lord, will be of infinite use to us, and I may have a way to place her in our disposal until she is no longer of need." he said bowing his head.
"Speak." the Dark Lord said in a cold voice.
"There is one way," he began, risking a glance at Voldemort's face. "Perhaps if Miss Granger was to enter into a marriage, with say, my son, she would be legally bound to him, therefore ensuring that she will always be at our disposal."
The Dark Lord stared at him, unblinkingly, and Lucius began to squirm. Gently placing his fingertips together, his red eyes flashed dangerously and Severus felt his stomach flip sickeningly.
"Dear, dear Lucius, what a plan…what a plan."
Lucius looked up hopefully but something on the Dark Lord's face made him look down.
"But, dear Lucius, you do see the problems with this plan?"
Lucius, if possible, sunk further down in his chair, as if suddenly regretting his sudden burst of bravery.
"If my memory serves me correctly, Potter, and his friends included, hate your son, so how do you purpose your son will marry the Mudblood?"
"Perhaps the...Imperius Curse?"
"And what of her parents? And teachers? You know well that she is being guarded just as much as Potter."
"Wait until she's home, or Christmas break and then snatch her and forge a letter to her parents." Lucius offered.
"And what will we do when term begins again? Someone is bound to notice the Mudblood missing."
Lucius had no response to this. The Dark Lord smiled and stroked his chin deep in thought. Everyone at the table seemed fairly bored, Lucius a little disheartened, and Severus, rigid in his seat and his heart threatening to burst from his chest.
He had to tell Albus, immediately. Granger was in more danger than he had originally thought. Thankfully, the Dark Lord didn't feel the need to torture anyone that night, and had dismissed them with a simple wave of his hands.
The instant Severus returned to the castle, he nearly sprinted to Dumbledore's office. Thankfully the man was for once in his office, and Severus quickly relayed all he had heard that night. Dumbledore remained calm throughout the entire rendition; his eyes were glazed over as he processed the information thoroughly.
Once Severus was finished, he collapsed into a chair attempting to keep his emotions in check and his face calm and collected. He watched as Dumbledore stood and walked to a bookshelf, absently tinkering with a silver object that rested on the shelf.
"Well," he finally began. "All we can do is wait."
"Wait?" Severus cried. "We are putting Miss Granger in extreme danger!"
"Voldemort has not fully decided, by what you have told me, what the plan of action is. If we do react and extract her from school early, no doubt your cover will be dissolved in an instant. So I stand by what I said before. We must wait for Voldemort to make the next move, until then, we do nothing."
Severus sat, completely floored by what Dumbledore was saying. They were knowingly putting an innocent woman in harm's way!
"At least…at least assign her more protection, something." he said knowing that he sounded like he was begging, and he was.
Dumbledore turned to him, studying him with those piercing blue eyes. Severus met his gaze evenly, not about to back down. For another silent moment, the two looked at one another, and Severus clenched his hands on the arms of his chair.
"The only thing I can remotely suggest is to keep a watchful eye on Mr. Malfoy, other than that, there isn't much else we can do without drawing attention to ourselves."
Severus nodded solemnly. Knowing Lucius Malfoy, he'd tell his son to try and get Granger anyway, just to please the Dark Lord. Now another question occurred to him, but Dumbledore suddenly spoke, giving him his answer.
"Miss Granger should not be informed of what has passed here tonight. She already has enough on her plate, and she doesn't need to worry about things that we aren't sure are true."
Severus again nodded, stood, and calmly said goodnight to the headmaster before returning to his chambers that were in the dungeon despite the fact that his classroom was halfway across the school. He welcomed the cool air, and threw open the portrait causing the knight in there to begin complaining loudly in his clattering armor.
"Oh, shut it." Severus snapped slamming the door closed.
Not ready to turn in for the night, Severus stretched out across the couch, allowing his mind to clear and his emotions to slip behind the walls he had built. Though he didn't want to sleep, he soon found his exhaustion taking over his body.
Severus spent the weekend in his chambers, reading the hours away, and waiting for another week to begin. When it finally did, Severus sighed deeply and began prepping for another week full of teaching incompetent children.
He did well to ignore Granger as if she were merely a ghost, but every time he saw her, the Death Eater meeting would flash into his mind and he had the intense urge to drag her aside and tell her everything. Meanwhile, he kept an unusually close eye on Draco, making sure he never so much as looked in Granger's direction. If he made a move, Severus would be placed in a difficult position, and would be forced to reveal his true loyalties. For Dumbledore's sake, he'd risk his own life for Granger, no matter what. Severus pledged himself to Albus, and he would be ordered to ensure her safety.
The week slowly went by, and even though he swore to stop looking at her, he couldn't help but notice how pale her face was becoming with each passing day. Another week went by, and she seemed to be getting worse and worse, making him think that she was up to something. Granger had written to him again stating that she couldn't make it to their lessons for another week because she was furiously studying for exams, but Severus was sure that wasn't the reason for her pale face and slightly sunken features.
That night, Severus remained in his office, slowly grading papers due to the fact that his thoughts were elsewhere. He looked up and noticed that some ash was on the floor in front of the fire place, and with a flick of his wand, it vanished. He must have forgotten to clean off the floor the last time he visited Dumbledore.
As the days stretched on, Granger became skinnier and paler and her two idiot friends seemed to be worried about her, and Severus once again found ash on his floor, and he had not gone out the night before. Someone was using his fireplace, and he was going to find out who. He had spent the better half of ten minutes looking at the small footprint that was present in the fireplace.
The next night, he remained in his office reading well into the night. Severus had almost given up hope when a noise in the classroom suddenly alerted him to an intrusion. Quickly he blew out the candle in front of him and sat motionless in the darkness, clutching his wand tightly. The sound of footsteps became clearer as they climbed the stairs to his office.
"Oh, no." a voice said outside the door as a crash ensued, signaling that whoever it was certainly wasn't being careful about what they were doing.
The door suddenly burst open and a person came toppling to the floor. Severus remained still and silent as the person climbed to their feet.
"I can't see a thing."
That voice.
A flick of his wrist illuminated the room.
"Hello, Miss Granger." he said quietly, his voice hard.
He watched as her eyes widened with fright at being caught breaking into his office. She said nothing with her pale face looking oddly ghostly in the candlelight. Severus looked her over, noticing she had her travel cloak on and was grasping her wand firmly in her hand. He could see the strain clear as day on her face; it was the same look he wore after speaking to the Dark Lord. It was the agony of no one knowing what he was going through, no one there to help him when he needed it. The agony of being alone and scared.
"Would you care to tell me where you've been going for the past two weeks using my fireplace?" he asked in a deadly calm voice which he could see scared her more than his anger could.
"No." she instantly said looking down at the floor.
"No?"
She shook her head.
"I think I have a right to know." he snapped.
She once again shook her head.
"If the Headmaster found out you were leaving the grounds, for any reason at all-"
"Well he hasn't found out, and I don't plan on him knowing about it anytime soon." she growled raising her eyes to his.
There was a crazed look in her usually calm and inquisitive eyes. She was bloody desperate, and Severus knew that he had to tread lightly. But instead of asking, he immediately pointed his wand at her and was flying through her head before she could so much as gasp. In her weak and panicked state, she had let her defenses crumple, allowing him easier access to her mind.
The first image he was greeted with was the Dark Lord, speaking gently to that damn snake of his.
"My pet, I'm afraid I don't know what to do. I need the Mudblood, but she won't go without a fight, that's for sure."
The snake slithered around the chair, coiling itself around its master's feet.
"Perhaps once we rid her of her parents, she'll have nowhere to go for the summer…we'd have to get her before she goes with the blood traitor and Potter."
The next image was of Miss Granger, pacing her dormitory floor, chewing her fingernails and nearly in tears. Next, she was sneaking around the hallways at night, carefully avoiding teachers and taking short cuts. When she arrived at the door, she quickly broke in and darted into his office. In a burst of green flames, she appeared at her parent's house. For hours she paced, periodically checking on them and casting wards around their room in case someone were to break in.
The next few images were her climbing into the fireplace, going to her parent's house, and watching over them until dawn began to break, forcing her to return to school for a meager two hours rest, and she would repeat the same thing over and over.
"No." she moaned crumbling against the wall, breaking away from him at last.
His eyes were fixated on her. Was she insane? Had she any idea what kind of danger she was putting herself into?
Severus waited and collected his thoughts before he began shouting half formed sentences at her.
"Miss Granger-"
"No! Please, no." she nearly begged before fleeing from the room.
He flicked his wrist, locking the classroom door. She banged her fists on the wood, quite loudly, and he knew she had to be injuring herself. Severus could hear her sobbing and followed her out to find her still fighting with the door.
"Miss Granger."
She froze but didn't turn to look at him.
"What you have been doing has been completely irresponsible."
"I don't care!"
"Well you should! You are putting more than yourself in danger because of these antics!"
"Let me out!"
He didn't make a move to release the door, and she turned on him with the fury of a tiger.
"Don't tell Dumbledore." she said, her voice full of anger and the beginnings of a threat.
"I can't make that promise."
"You already did! Remember? During our lessons!"
"But this concerns your safety, something many are trying to ensure!"
The rage that consumed her could only be described as inhuman. She whirled and faced the door before raising her wand.
"Expulso!" she screeched.
The door exploded and shattered into a million pieces across the hallway. Granger stepped over the wreckage and tore down the hallway. Severus opened his mouth to yell after her, but he didn't know what he should say. Instead, he repaired his door, and immediately went to speak to the Headmaster.
The next day, Granger was paler than usual, and when her eyes met him, she was very obviously telling him that she was furious. Later that night, he was leaving his classroom after a rather horrible batch of homework, and when he neared the end of the corridor, he turned around. When he saw her, he wasn't surprised; something had been telling him all day that she would try to make a last ditch attempt to help her parents. In a flash she had dashed inside the door, and he found himself running back to the classroom, finding the door barred. He tried once to shove his way in, then tried to unlock the door, then finally resulted in him blasting the door just as she had the night before.
By the time he had made it through the student desks she had pilled against the door (which just happened to be all of them); he knew that she had already gone upon seeing his office door ajar. He stumbled up the stairs and into the room, seeing the flames already returned to their natural state.
Severus wasn't thinking, his main focus was on that woman and her damn noble tendencies that were bound to get her killed. Looking into the fireplace, he suddenly had no idea of the address of the house. Would the floo network automatically know where he wanted to go? An invisible clock was ticking away at him, telling him that if he didn't hurry, he'd be too late. Throwing a large handful of powder into the grate, he stepped inside the filthy chimney.
"Granger residence!" he snapped.
In a whirl he was sucked from the fireplace and witnessed many other grates whip past him, none looking promising. Suddenly he came to a grate that looked as if a tornado had ripped through the wall, and figuring that was the right one, he was thrown into the room.
Instantly he was attacked by spells. Expertly dodging them, he began seeking out Granger, and a woman's scream made his heart fall to his feet. Leaving the ruined living room, he was met with an open door in the hallway, which contained a staircase leading into the basement. Severus dashed down the stairs, finding a limp body at the bottom. Dashing forward, he realized that it was a man, wearing black robes. His relief nearly made him collapse. Finally reaching the floor, he immediately began searching the room, and heard voices.
"Calm down mum, it's alright, I got him, it's fine, just breathe." a panicked voice said.
He followed the voice and finally found three people, two looking utterly frightened and the other with her back turned to him. He'd be able to tell that hair anywhere. The woman who was facing him suddenly saw him and screamed, causing Hermione to whirl around and cast a silent spell. A flick of his wrist sent the spell shot off and caused the wall near them to explode. The woman screamed again and clung to the man next to her. Her husband, perhaps.
"YOU!" Granger yelled advancing on him. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
Raising her wand, she positioned it straight at his heart as footsteps could be heard above them. In rapid succession she began firing spells at him as fast as she could, but he easily deflected them until finally she stopped, out of breath, and more angry than she had been before.
"You can scream all you'd like one we're out of this."
"NO! I don't trust you! You told him! You told him what you saw!" her face seemed more strained than anything he had seen before.
"You…you betrayed me. I trusted you. I trusted you with everything."
He saw her lip begin to quiver, but the thunderous steps above snapped her back to reality. Turning back to her parents, she lowered her wand and began fidgeting.
"I…I have to cast a spell on you now…to hide you from them, okay? It won't hurt, it'll just make you invisible." she said trying to explain to them calmly but the hoarseness in her voice made them nervous.
The woman wasn't buying it in the least; the man seemed to be considering it. Severus' frustration finally got the best of him.
"If you don't listen, your daughter is going to die, do you understand? She's been through hell and back to make sure you're safe, the least you can do is trust her!"
He waved his wand, causing the door at the top of the stairs to shut and lock firmly before casting his Patronus to alert the other members. If any Death Eater saw it, they'd assume it was from Hermione.
"Death Eater's attacking Granger. Send backup immediately." he muttered before the doe darted from a window.
The Muggles remained frozen, looking at Severus like he was some sort of freak.
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Granger snapped stamping her foot.
Without further explanations, she cast the spell on them, and they both flinched before becoming invisible. With another wave of her hand, piles of boxes slid around them, hiding them from view.
"Keep close to the ground." she said quietly.
The Death Eaters were all at the door, trying to break it down, but the spell held fast. Severus met her eyes evenly, and though there was fear written there, she was fiercely determined to keep her parents safe. Before either could say anything, the door at the top of the stairs exploded open, and the two instantly cowered in the shadows. If any of them saw him, his cover would be blown.
Granger seemed to realize this because the moment they paused in the shadows, she turned her wand on him and wordlessly cast a spell before he could open his mouth to protest. His muscles instantly went ridged, and she none too gracefully placed him on the ground so he was lying down.
"I'm sorry, but I have to do this." she muttered before making him invisible also.
He watched as she silently slipped away from him, far enough away so he wouldn't be caught in the crossfire, before attacking. He watched in his peripheral as red sparks went flying through the basement, followed then by the five Death Eater's attacking at once.
Severus waited with baited breath as he heard Granger scurrying up the stairs, he found himself waiting to hear the thud of her body hitting the ground. The five ran after her, and his gut clenched each time a pop or explosion could be heard. He was utterly helpless in this position. There was a teenage girl facing five Death Eater's alone upstairs, because he couldn't react fast enough. He heard a few cracks at once, and he knew that the Order had arrived to help her. Severus couldn't remember feeling more thankful before in his life. Another few cracks and the place went silent. He wanted to scream out, but he couldn't.
He could hear deep voices, followed by lighter ones. And then someone scrambling down the stairs, nearly falling, which he assumed was Granger. Sure enough, she approached the spot where he was at, and he heard others coming down the stairs as well.
"Professor? I'm sorry, but I can't exactly see you…so…"
She waved her wand, and he knew he had come into view because her face showed relief before she muttered the counter curse releasing his muscles. He jumped to his feet and was instantly glaring down at her.
"What were you thinking?! Five Death Eater's at once! Have you lost your mind!" he bellowed.
"If they had seen you, you would have been caught! I knew I'd be able to handle them until the Order came to help!"
She turned away and waved her wand causing the boxes that were concealing her parents to be scattered across the room, most spilling their contents. Another wave and her parents came into view, huddled and cowering on the floor.
"You guys are safe now, the Order will hide you to make sure they don't find you again." she said sounding suddenly exhausted.
She turned away and headed back up the stairs, and Severus immediately followed, leaving Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Arthur Weasley to deal with the parents. When he found Granger, she was in the living room, surveying the damage that had occurred to her home. Slowly, she began repairing a sofa which looked as if it had exploded.
"How did you know to be here?" he asked from the doorway.
"I put security around the house one night. If anyone with magical blood entered the boundaries, I would know. I spent hours perfecting it." she muttered absently.
"Why my fireplace?"
"You went to your meetings from there, I knew from the night that you kicked me out of your office when you were called. I assumed, for that reason, that Dumbledore wouldn't watch your floo network, so I could come here undetected,"
"You didn't need to go every night if you had the wards in place."
"I…I couldn't sleep, and that's all I thought about. I figured if someone broke in during the hours I was there, I'd be able to defend them better."
"Is that why you were in the Hospital Wing?" he snapped.
She turned to face him for a brief instant, before turning her back on him.
"I've been having flashes, flashes of what Voldemort thinks. I'm assuming that upon accessing my mind, he's made a connection that he hasn't realized yet. Even in these brief flashes, I knew he was planning something for me, me and my parents, but that one, of him talking to the snake, I woke up from that one so shaken that Harry and Ron made me go to the Hospital Wing. I researched ways that I could help protect them without interfering with their daily lives, but all I could think about were wards. That would be the only thing that could protect them in case I wasn't there. The only way I could protect them was after I got there, if they were still alive by then. I had planned to make them invisible, considering that most Death Eaters are brutal and not so bright, I figured I'd get away with it. Sorry." she said after she realized that she had just insulted the group he was still a part of.
He waved her away dismissively. "Continue."
"Well, I couldn't focus on anything but protecting my parents, and I focused nearly all of my energy on their protection. I remembered then about your floo connections, and I already had one to my house, so one night I slipped in here and left. I was sure that when I got back either you or Dumbledore would have found out that I had left, but no one was there, and no one seemed any wiser, so I dedicated a few hours a night to watch over them. They never knew."
"You left ash everywhere, that's how I knew someone was there." he said.
"Well, after a night of constant vigilance, one loses track of the details."
"This is why you cancelled the lessons?" he asked a little too passionately.
"Yes. The fact that I desperately needed that time to catch up on work and sleep, and the fact that…well, after what happened the last time, I didn't think you'd be too keen to have another lesson."
The living room looked semi-presentable, but still, anyone with a drop of magical blood in them knew that something horrible happened there.
"When you saw everything, everything I had been doing, I knew that I was in trouble. I…I was going to leave that night. Leave school and stay home with my parents. It's not like I'd be missing my education, I would just teach myself. But then the wards began going off, and I saw that as my ticket out. Thankfully you were leaving by then, and I couldn't wait for you to be all the way gone…the wards had already been going off for far too long."
"Do you realize how utterly mental you are?" he snapped at her.
"Well, no one else was going to do it!"
"I told Dumbledore to watch you, and your parents, but he said it wasn't necessary."
"You…you knew?" she asked finally turning on him and meeting his eyes for the first time since they had begun this conversation.
"The Dark Lord was discussing some things with his followers, and your name came up."
"What did he say?"
Severus had walked into a trap. He couldn't tell her. He wished that he could, but Dumbledore said that it would be best that she didn't know what was going on.
"I-"
"You can't tell me." she said easily reading the look on his face but sounding a little disappointed.
"Dumbledore…"
"And does he know that I was just attacked? That my parents were just attacked?"
"He's trying to keep you safe! And you running off on your own without a member of the Order knowing is the complete opposite of what you should be doing!"
"Maybe if someone clued me in on what I should be doing, I'd be more inclined to follow directions!"
And suddenly, a thought hit him. Of course! Why hadn't he seen it before? Then again, this could be more dangerous than anything so far, but being that she needed more protection…
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked studying his face closely for a moment.
"I think you and I should talk to Dumbledore about…some things." he said heading toward the fireplace.
"What about my parents?"
"The Order will deal with them." he said in a cold tone.
"Well…" she glanced over her shoulder at the door, thinking briefely, before turning back. "Alright."
The two left together and toppled out of the fireplace before making their way to Dumbledore's office.