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"Did-" Severus never got to finish his sentence before he went sailing through the air.

"Hermione! No!"

Severus pulled himself off the ground, and looked at his attacker. He was met by two fiery brown eyes, which Lupin was restraining with both arms.

"He killed Dumbledore!" she screeched, fighting against the arms that were keeping her at bay.

"It doesn't matter now!"

"Yes, it does to me!"

"Let her go, Lupin," Severus drawled pulling his wand out.

Lupin eyed him, holding his wand, and Severus sighed.

"I'm not going to hurt her but I believe I have a right to defend myself. Now, let her go,"

Lupin released his arms from around Hermione, and she stumbled forward but instantly regained her footing, with her wand pointed straight at his face. Wordlessly, she sent a spell at him with a vicious flick of her wrist.

"You killed him!" she shouted, stepping towards him while casting another spell.

"I can explain," he said easily blocking it.

"How? How can you explain killing someone?" she screeched sending another spell at him.

With a flick of his wrist he deflected it.

"Perhaps if you could control yourself for a moment, we could talk like civilized people," he answered coldly.

"You could have written a letter, but I forgot, you don't know how to keep in touch!"

Viciously, she sent spells sailing towards him, relentlessly attacking him. Finally, she stopped, breathing heavily with watery eyes.

"Four months," she said breathlessly while her wand lowered. "Four months I had to sit here and wait, with nothing,"

Her wand was now at her side, and her ferociousness had vanished, replaced by the emotional stress she was under. He felt his heart clench at the sight of her watery eyes.

"I told you I was safe,"

"That doesn't matter! Four months and I didn't hear a single thing!"

"I had business to take care of,"

"For Voldemort,"

Nearly everyone who was watching the scene winched, but Hermione didn't budge.

"That doesn't matter,"

"And what about Dumbledore? What are we going to do now? How are you going to explain that?"

Severus became angry then.

"None of you understand what happened!"

"You lied to me," she said quietly. "You told me that you were on our side,"

"I am!" he roared throwing his wand into the grass. "Look yourself,"

Severus could see the hesitation on her face, but her hand raised, and a moment later he could feel her in his head. He couldn't help but sigh at the feeling. The warmth and comfort he had been without for nearly seven months was finally back. He noticed how her presence froze for a few moments, simply sitting there.

Slowly, she began to search through his memories, and he instantly pulled forward the one that she wanted to see. He watched as her eyes widened as the memory played for her. He could see how confused she was when suddenly yanked her eyes from his.

"He…he asked you…to…"

"Yes, he asked me to kill him,"

"What?" Lupin asked stepping forward.

Hermione pressed her face into her hands, and Severus stepped forward.

"Why?" she asked, raising her head but not meeting his eyes.

"Draco was ordered to kill him, and Dumbledore knew that. He also knew Draco wouldn't be able to go through with it…leaving me to do it,"

Hermione still kept her eyes down.

"I didn't want to, but I promised him," he whispered, only so she could hear.

Her eyes snapped up to his, taking in his face. In a flash she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. Severus hesitated a moment, but he realized how much he had missed her…company. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her. A sudden pop forced them apart.

"Harry!" Ginny cried.

Hermione ran towards him and nearly tackled him to the ground.

"You're alright!"

Severus found his wand in the grass and slipped it back into his robes. He had to admit, he felt awkward standing there after everything that happened.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"Harry, it's not what you think, we were wrong, please-" Hermione said trying to calm him.

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?"

Potter had pulled his wand out, but Hermione stood in front of him.

"Get out of the way, Hermione!"

"No, we can't fight amongst ourselves! Harry, the others haven't even made it back yet!"

"What?" he asked distracted.

"Ron and Tonks, Mr. Weasley and Fred, Bill and Fleur, and Mundungus and Mad-Eye haven't come back yet. They've all missed their Portkeys," she said.

"Who did make it back?" Potter snapped.

"Remus and George…" she looked uncomfortable suddenly.

"What?" Potter asked. "Hermione, tell me,"

"George was hit by a curse...his ear," Lupin said.

Potter rushed into the house, and Hagrid stood their glaring at Severus. The rest of the group remained outside, staring into the sky. Severus joined the group, standing close to Hermione's side.

"This is my fault," he whispered.

"No, it's not,"

"I looked into Fletcher's mind and found out,"

She was quiet for a moment, making him feel worse.

"You had to do what was needed of you,"

A whooshing noise suddenly broke out through the silence, and Mr. Weasley and Fred landed softly on the ground and were immediately engulfed by their family.

"Remus, she'll be fine," Hermione was saying quietly to the shabby man.

"I worry about her…not the swiftest thing on two legs. She makes me worry," he murmured, keeping his eyes on the sky.

But a moment later, a purple haired woman suddenly crashed to the floor, and Remus darted towards her. Both Hermione and Potter darted towards the red head, and the three stood their embracing for a while before Weasley was pulled into the house. Hermione stood back at his side and stayed with her eyes trained on the sky.

Severus couldn't help but study her face. She seemed strained and exhausted, and he felt slightly guilty about that. He just wanted to force her to look at him so he could explain everything to her.

"Tonks and Remus got married a few weeks ago," she said quietly, staring at the stars.

"She'd marry a werewolf?" he asked, without thinking.

"He's not like the others," she snapped, her eyes flashing. "They love each other very much, that much is obvious. She doesn't care about what her husband is,"

Severus knew she was hinting at him, but chose to ignore it. Turning his eyes to the stars, he stared without really looking.

"We need to talk. I think we've put it off long enough," she said after a few minutes.

"And what would you like to talk about?" Severus asked folding his arms behind his back.

"You know what I want to talk about!" she snapped while turning on him.

"I can assure you, I have not the slightest idea,"

Of course Severus knew what she wanted to talk about; he just wasn't ready for that. He would never be ready for that discussion. Severus refused to allow feelings (if that's what you could even call them) to seep into their mission.

"How can you just…"

"How can I what?" he snapped rather harshly.

"How can you just stand there acting like nothing happened?"

"Miss Granger, nothing did happen,"

"Yes, because snogging is considered the norm," she said sarcastically.

"That, I can assure you, was a lapse in judgment,"

"A lapse in judgment?" she asked, sounding slightly hurt.

"Yes, a severe lapse of judgment," he said in a tone of dismissal.

"Well…thanks for that,"

Hermione turned and walked back inside the house, and Severus knew that he had hurt her, but it was for the best. It didn't make his shame or guilt feel any better. In fact, this is the worst he had felt since he so brutally killed the one man that he looked up to. Severus should have stopped her…and tell her what? He turned and watched her stomp back into the house. Now it was only him and Remus waiting, staring into the sky.

"So he really did ask you to kill him," Remus mentioned.

"Yes, he did," Severus snapped defensively.

"I'm not questioning you,"

"And what, you suddenly trust me?"

"No, but Hermione says so, and I trust her,"

"When did you two suddenly become friendly?" Severus asked harshly.

"No need to get so defensive. We're both married now. She was the one who brewed my wolfsbane when I needed it,"

"She wrote to me saying that she sat with you. I hope that wasn't during your transformation,"

When the man didn't answer, Severus looked at him, and noticed that his eyes were turned away.

"Lupin?"

"Well…"

Before he had time to say much more, Severus grabbed the front of the shabby robes forcefully.

"YOU LET HER SIT WITH YOU! DO YOU HAVE AN OUNCE OF BRAIN MATTER!"

"It was her decision!"

"She's barely eighteen! It wasn't her decision to make!"

"Stop it, the both of you!"

Severus was suddenly attacked from the side, but the force barely moved him. Releasing the man, Severus turned his eyes to Granger, who was fuming at him.

"Why do you have to do that? What is wrong with you?" she said breathing heavily.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You could have been killed!"

"Well I wasn't going to leave him alone! Tonks was gone, and you were gone. What else was I going to do? He needed company,"

He wanted to hex her into next week!

"I told you not to say anything, he always overreacts," Remus muttered.

Severus lunged at him again, but Hermione immediately stepped in front of him, pressing her hands to his chest. God help Remus if they were alone in the same room. The only reason he was controlling himself was due to the woman standing in front of him, still touching him.

"You do understand what we agreed to, don't you? This is completely unacceptable," he hissed.

"Oh, and you not showing your face for four months, and then another three is totally fine," she said sarcastically.

"Oh come of it!" he snapped turning away and walking along the fence.

"Severus," she began, but a sudden screech stopped them.

Bill and Fleur glided gracefully on a Threshel, and Remus rushed over to them. Once they were firmly back on the ground was when Severus noticed the girl had tears streaming down her face.

"What?" Remus asked looking between them.

"Mad-Eye's dead," Bill mumbled.

Hermione squeaked and threw her hand over her mouth while Remus slumped slightly. They all stood in silence for a moment longer, the women sniffling.

"What…what happened?" Remus dared to ask.

"Voldemort went straight for them, the moment we left the ground. The second Dung saw him, he Apparated. Moody was hit in the face. I saw him fall off his broom,"

Fleur nodded and gripped her fiancé's arm.

"I suppose we better tell the others,"

They made their way inside, but Hermione headed towards the gate, pacing rather violently. Severus stood there, awkwardly, not knowing what to do. What could he do about a crying woman? An angry crying woman by the looks of it. It also did not escape his notice that she had called him by his first name before. He watched for a moment longer, and she didn't seem to be calming down.

"Miss Granger," he said calmly, approaching her like one would approach a wounded animal.

He could hear her mumbling to herself, and see the tears on her face, steadily streaming down her cheeks. Severus sighed deeply while rolling his eyes.

"Miss Granger," he said louder.

"Oh, don't call me that!" she snapped, barely glancing at him. "We're married; we might as well use each other's names. I can't go around calling you 'professor' forever,"

She continued her pacing, muttering, and crying, and Severus finally had enough.

"Hermione!" he barked.

Hermione pulled to a stop and look at him.

"What?" she asked in a broken voice.

"Calm down. You're not going to get yourself anywhere going on like this,"

"Well what am I supposed to do?" she mumbled turning slightly away from him.

What was he supposed to do now? Pat her on the back? Talk to her about her feelings? He didn't do that stuff because he just didn't care. But there was something itching inside of him, something that he had been trying to bury for seven long months. Severus felt like he should comfort her. So, only coming up with one option, he slipped off his traveling cloak and walked over to her before wrapping it around her shoulders. Granted she had a sweatshirt on, being that she was one of the Potter's that flew, but that didn't prevent the chilly summer night from seeping through the material.

"Thank you," she mumbled while pulling the material tighter around her body.

He said nothing but continued to stare across the hills.

"I knew Dung was a bad idea," she whispered. "From the moment I met him, he seemed so…dodgy. I told Remus that we shouldn't take him, he wouldn't be able to stomach what was needed to be done, but he insisted that Dung come along. And because that slime ball couldn't deal with it, Mad-Eye is dead. Could you imagine if one of us were with him?" she looked at the side profile of his face.

"He was supposed to be a Protector, you know. One of us could have been killed tonight. And that bastard just disappeared!"

Severus could tell that she was becoming angry again, but he let her go. The more she expressed herself, the better off she would be with coping with her feelings in the long run.

"How do you just disappear like that? When someone is counting on you, you can't just back out because you're scared! And now Mad-Eye is dead. What are we going to do now? They're picking us off one by one. He was our best fighter, and best coordinator. None of us can remotely do what he did,"

"If I may offer my input, I'd say that the Dark Lord would have went after Mad-Eye anyway," Severus said smoothly.

"Why?"

"For the exact reasons you just stated. The Dark Lord would have predicted that Potter would be heavily protected, and Mad-Eye was the most skilled and experienced fighter. Either way, I'm sure that the Dark Lord's plan was to weaken the Order further than…than it already is,"

"Regardless, if I ever see that man again, I'm going to hex him into a million pieces," she growled.

Severus sighed deeply, but said no more.

"What are we going to do now?" she whispered, and he knew she was probably crying again by the tone.

"We're going to continue what we've been doing," he said resolutely.

"It's not the same anymore. While you were…busy for all those months, the meetings became worse and worse. We're all at a loss now. Dumbledore's gone, Mad-Eye is gone and we don't have a leader anymore,"

"What about Wonder Boy?" Severus asked sarcastically.

"Harry…well, Dumbledore left Harry something to do. Well, he left the three of us something to do. I don't have a single idea to help Harry, and I don't like it because I'm not usually in the position of…"

"Not knowing what to do?" he asked with a smirk.

"Well, yes. It's…well, to put it bluntly, I'm scared to death. We honestly don't have any idea what we're doing, but everything rides on this,"

"And what did he give you to do?" Severus asked as his curiosity got the best of him.

"We're not allowed to say, I'm sorry,"

"It's no matter to me," he snapped when she denied him an answer. "But remember the contract we signed,"

"I remember," she mumbled. "And I'm not going back on it,"

Severus dug into his robes suddenly, which made Hermione jump in alarm. He pulled her letter from an inside pocket and held it out to her. Gingerly, she took it from his hands, unsure of what to do.

"My letter?" she asked.

"Yes, I've kept is with me since that day," he mumbled, hearing his voice on the verge of cracking.

"You know it's not your fault,"

"I killed him, didn't I?"

"Yes, but you didn't choose to. He wanted it,"

"Well I didn't!"

"Yes, I know," she said sighing and opening the letter.

After a moment, she laughed.

"I really did get detention after that. In my effort to sneak around, my foot got caught on the armor, and the whole thing fell to the ground. You should have heard the noise," she said with a chuckle.

"You shouldn't have blatantly put yourself in danger like that, especially with Malfoy hanging around,"

"I thought you liked Malfoy," she stated.

"I do, he's my godson. But, due to the current circumstances, your safety comes before his…desires,"

"I'm sorry,"

"For?"

"The thing with Remus. I know it's dangerous, but…we both just needed someone,"

"You could have talked to your friends,"

"Yes, but none of them know about…this," she said motioning between the two of them. "Not a single word in seven months,"

"That's quite an accomplishment for you, I daresay,"

"He was having trouble with Tonks…he's very sensitive about his condition. He didn't want to force himself on her like that, but she loves him. He just needed to see that. So when he'd change, I'd stay in the cellar of Headquarter's with him. I'd read to him, I'd talk to him. Mostly he'd just lay his head in my lap to try and comfort me. It…well, it was a long four months of school,"

"I can imagine,"

"If I asked you what you were doing during that time, you wouldn't tell me, would you?"

"No,"

"That's what I thought,"

"It was still reckless, what you did," he scolded.

"Yes, I know, but it helped. He was the only person I could confide in,"

"Just refrain from spending time in the presence of a fully transformed werewolf, wolfsbane or not,"

"I'll try," she said with a smirk.

"As I understand, you've let your Occlumency go," Severus said, changing the subject.

"I've had a lot of things on my mind lately, but I've been working on things with Remus,"

"Lupin? He doesn't know Occlumency,"

"No, we don't practice. We just read books on theories and talk about them," she said, tugging the cloak tighter around herself.

"You shouldn't have let yourself slip. It could have been dangerous,"

"I know but it just happened,"

"It'll take years of practice to have your mental shields automatically hold themselves in place,"

"Do your shields hold themselves?"

"Yes, they do," he said quietly.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I didn't give you your present yet!"

Severus had completely forgotten about it, to be honest, but the twinkle in her eye made him hold his tongue. He didn't care how happy she was, as long as she wasn't crying, he didn't care what she did. Instead of rushing inside, she suddenly pulled a beaded bag from under her shirt, which was baggy because it was Potter's. Astonished, he watched as her entire arm slipped into the bag as she furiously dug.

"Undetectable Extension Charm," she said answering his unasked question. "Aha!"

Pulling her arm back, she revealed a package covered with cheery looking faces all over the wrapping with rosy cheeks. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I know it's nearly August, and the paper's a little worn, but I've had this with me since December," she said turning it over in her hands. "Well, Merry Christmas,"

Severus paused for a moment, staring at the package before gingerly taking it from her hands. He pulled the paper off and stuffed it into one of his pockets. Severus found two books in his hands. One had a leather cover with a gold clasp, and the other looked to be a book whose writing he couldn't see.

"This one," she said gently touching the one with writing on its cover. "Is 100 Most Useful Potions and Antidotes but I'm sure you know them all, I just thought you'd…enjoy it. And the other one is a journal,"

"Journal?"

"Well, I noticed that your notes aren't exactly…organized, so you can write everything down in here. You can add pages to any part of it, just in case you run out of room. I don't think that there's a limit on how many pages you can add, either. This way you'll have all of your notes in one spot, and not in a pile of parchment of a shelf," she said keeping her eyes down.

Severus looked between the two books, thinking deeply about them. Usually Dumbledore got him something for Christmas like this…but her gifts seemed more…special. He couldn't remember feeling so happy over a gift before in his life. For a moment, his chest felt tight as his eyes flashed between the two books.

"I didn't really know what to get you, but I just thought-"

"They're perfect," he said, cutting her off.

"Really…? I didn't-"

"They're…perfect," he repeated.

"I'm glad you like them," Hermione said quietly, keeping her head down so her hair shielded her face.

Severus couldn't help but run his fingers over the books, they were truly wonderful. Of course he wouldn't tell her how much they meant to him.

"I wanted to say thank you, again, for the book," Hermione said quietly.

"It was nothing," he muttered.

"It helped me…a lot over the last few months,"

"Hermione! Come in the house!" Miss Weasley yelled from the doorway of the house. "And Severus, come in for a drink!"

The two sat silently, staring across the sloping fields in the darkness. Severus slowly backed up, and began heading towards the gate.

"Where are you going?" he heard her say.

"Home. They don't want me here,"

"Well, I do, and you're still part of the Order," she said following him.

"Stay here," he said turning on her. "Do not step outside these enchantments,"

"Just stay for a little while," she practically begged him.

Her eyes were pleading with him, and he felt his will begin to crumble.

"You've been gone for seven months, I'm just asking for a few more minutes,"

"Let's go; get in the house," he snapped, heading towards the Weasley's home.

Severus could practically feel the girl beaming beside him as she walked with a new found spring in her step. He knew that he shouldn't be doing this especially showing her that he'd go along with almost anything she said. Severus was more than aware that half of the people in the house would want to kill him, and he really couldn't blame them. He wished he was dead.