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Immediately she began running to the castle without a single glance behind her. Without stopping Hermione ran back to his room and threw herself on the sofa, breathing heavily and removing the charm from her body. Her eyes drifted around the silent room as she desperately fought to catch her breath.

What was she going to do now? Wait here? If she did leave, Severus would be furious with her for so blatantly putting herself in danger. No doubt the Carrows would be stalking the hallways for the rest of the day.

So Hermione paced around the room, staring at the door and repeatedly picking up books and throwing them back down.

"Dobby?" Hermione called.

A sudden pop alerted Hermione to Dobby's presence.

"Mistress called?"

"Do you know where Severus is?"

"In his office, Madame,"

"Are…are there people in his office with him?"

"Yes Madame…it's the bad people," Dobby said quietly.

Hermione nodded and lowered herself onto the sofa.

"Will you please tell me when they leave?" she said.

"Of course, Mistress, anything you wish," he said bowing slightly.

"Dobby, you can call Hermione,"

Instantly the elf looked uncomfortable.

"If Mistress insists," Dobby muttered.

Hermione gave the elf a wide smile, and she saw his ears perk up.

"Will that be all?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you, Dobby,"

With a graceful bow, the elf vanished.

Hermione curled up on the sofa, thinking of Severus and what must be happening in his office. Within moments she was asleep on the sofa with her hair spilling across the cushion.

Again she found herself in Malfoy Manor, hearing the screams that she had grown so accustomed to. Her legs automatically pulled her up the stairs and to the familiar scene. Severus was sprawled across the floor, his black robes spread around him but covered in dirt. Voldemort stood over him with a wicked grin on his face, which proceeded to grow as he spotted Hermione.

"You can't help him now, Mudblood,"

Again he began attacking Severus, and Hermione was screaming for him to stop. She watched as Severus' eyes rolled back into his head and the veins protruded in his temple.

"Stop! Please stop!" she screamed, not being able to move forward and help him.

Voldemort turned towards her, smiling widely, revealing his horrible teeth.

"As you wish,"

A flash of green light caused her to stumble backwards and fall to the ground. Looking up quickly, she saw Severus sprawled out, still, with his limbs sticking out in odd angles.

"No! NO!" she screamed as the tears poured down her face.

"Don't worry, you won't be far behind him," a cold voice rang out.

Just as Hermione looked up, a green flash darted towards her and smashed into her body with a POP.

Hermione jolted up with a gasp and instantly saw that Dobby was at her feet, looking worried and saying something.

"What?" Hermione asked breathing heavily.

The door suddenly opened and Dobby disappeared with a pop. Hermione looked towards the door and immediately found dark eyes studying her closely.

"Who was that?" he asked, shutting the door softly.

"Who?" she asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"The elf," he muttered, entering the room.

"Dobby," Hermione replied, noticing that she was drenched in sweat.

"They're getting worse," Severus said when he reached the couch.

"What?" she asked absently while standing quickly.

"The dreams,"

Hermione refused to meet his eyes and he instantly grabbed her chin, forcing her face upwards. Those eyes. Her mind immediately flitted to her dream, seeing the lifelessness in the dark eyes she had grown to love. His eyes were burning now, contrasting greatly from what she was forced to see nearly every night.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said breathlessly.

"Like hell you don't," he snapped while pulling his hand away from her skin.

She lowered her eyes to her hands which were still shaking. Severus walked into another room and she could hear bottles clanking together violently. In a moment he was back in front of her, holding out a small bottle filled with a slightly brown liquid.

"I don't want it, I'm fine," she said even though she didn't know what it was.

"It's a Calming Draught, at least if you're going to lie, make it believable," he snapped, thrusting the small vial into her hand.

Hermione glared at his back for a moment before quickly swallowing the potion, feeling the sweetness on her tongue. Once the vial was placed on the table, she began picking at her already short nails.

"You spoke to the Carrows?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered shortly.

"And?"

"And what?" he asked whirling on her.

"I don't know," she said, drawing away from him slightly feeling uncomfortable with his attitude.

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment before settling them on her face. Hermione knew that he was drawing himself in, trying to control his temper.

"What do you want to know?" he asked quietly.

"What did they talk about?"

"Themselves," he said with a small humorless laugh while sinking into a chair near the fireplace.

She sat down on the sofa, keeping her eyes trained on his face.

"What were they saying?"

"They want to know how lavish their quarters will be," he replied with a scoff. " They're convinced that because we are…involved in the same things, that they will get special treatment, which is certainly not the case. I'm afraid I've given them a reason to pursue harsher disciplinary action when the opportunity arises,"

"They can't just punish people for no reason," Hermione said quietly.

"We are no longer in a world in which people maintain socially acceptable boundaries. The Ministry has fallen into the wrong hands. If the Carrows wish to torture a student, there is no one to stop them,"

Hermione didn't know what to do, so she gently placed her hand over his white knuckles and he turned to her suddenly.

"Your hand is cold,"

"Sorry," she said pulling her hand away.

He was suddenly on his feet in front of her and pressed his hand against her forehead. She remained still.

"You have a fever,"

"I feel fine,"

He pulled his hand away and looked down into her eyes as if he was trying to pull the truth from her mind.

"You've felt like this before, haven't you?"

Hermione studied his face for a moment, seeing the lines etched into his skin and the years of wear and tear.

"Yes," she said dropping her eyes.

"How often?"

"Every time I have the dream,"

"And how often is that?"

"Nearly every night,"

Severus lowered himself onto the couch beside her, allowing his head to fall back with his eyes closed. Hermione tucked her legs under herself as she studied his face.

"What does it mean, the fever and all," she asked.

"I believe the Dark Lord is attempting to weaken your defenses before you go before him,"

"How does he know that I've been practicing my shields?"

"He doesn't, he just assumes that Dumbledore taught you before…"

Hermione saw him flinch slightly and didn't push the subject. She leaned back into the couch as she thought through her dream. It all made sense to her now, and she knew what Voldemort was getting at. Hermione knew that it was all her fault. The day she offered to take Severus' punishment, she set the gears turning in that monster's head.

Hermione turned her eyes back to Severus, who was studying her closely.

"I played right into his hands," she said, staring at him.

"There's still time to strengthen your defenses again, and stop the dreams,"

Hermione stood up and walked to the fireplace. Having these dreams made her feel weak and helpless. She was allowing him to have power over her. The thought made her blood boil.

"You're disappointed in yourself," Severus said from the couch.

"Of course I am," she snapped crossing her arms over her chest.

"He did the same thing to me, twenty years ago,"

Hermione turned to him, and saw the anguish in his eyes that he tries too hard to keep locked up inside of himself. Severus suddenly stood and looked at her.

"We should start with the false memories; the Dark Lord is going to be asking for you any day now,"

The two remained in his chambers practicing for hours, until Dobby appeared and said that the train had pulled into the station. Hermione sunk into a chair with a sigh. The hours of practice had drained her of energy. Severus slipped his wand back into his robes and rubbed his face.

"I'll be back, after this dreadful dinner," he muttered pulling on his teaching robes.

Hermione stretched her aching muscles and sat back in her chair. She desperately wished she could be on the Hogwarts Express with her friends, buying things off the trolley and laughing with everyone. Instead, she would be forced to sit alone in the dungeons, not going to her classes, not speaking to her friends, and especially not going to the library.

Fingers brushed her chin and she immediately looked up to find Severus looking down at her.

"You did very well today," he murmured as his thumb brushed against her cheek.

Hermione's heart jumped into her throat as his eyes flashed over her face. After another second passed, he pulled his hand away and swiftly left the room. Hermione dropped her head into her hands with a sigh. How could she not allow these dreams to affect her? She was so hopelessly in love with him that any thought of bodily harm coming to him made her stomach twist. And the worst part about it was that the Dark Lord knew her weakness and would continue to us it against her.

Grabbing a book off the shelf, and a blanket, she curled up near the fire, trying to distract herself. Since she watched Severus on the floor of Malfoy Manor, she had set her mind to brewing a potion that could lessen the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. Whenever she was alone, she was taking notes, performing calculations, paying attention to intricate details of the potion she was anxious to try out. Plus, ever since Severus helped her after that day, she owed him more than anything.

After a while, Hermione heard rumbling from overhead, signaling the end of the feast. She closed her book and placed it off to the side while tugging the blanket tighter around her body. The noise slowly died away, but Severus did not return. Hermione desperately wanted to sneak up to her old room and see all of her old friends. Ginny was probably upstairs now, getting ready for bed.

Hermione anxiously glanced at the clock as the silence ticked on. What was taking him so long? Finally the portrait of the knight swung opened, while the knight complained loudly about being so rudely awakened.

Before she could say anything, black robes whipped into the room viciously, causing her to jump. Without looking at her, Severus immediately went to the cabinet where he kept the most expensive liquors he owned and pulled out a dusty looking bottle. Quickly he filled a glass and swallowed the contents before refilling his glass.

Hermione jumped up and grabbed his wrist before he could down another glass.

"Severus-"

"Let go!" he snapped, wrenching his wrist from her grasp and swallowing the contents again.

"Severus, what happened?" she asked reaching for him again.

The glass suddenly went hurling across the room and shattered violently against the stone wall.

"This is my school now! I will not have the scum of the wizarding world attempt to come in here and undermine me! I will remove them from their positions and I don't give a damn what the Dark Lord thinks!" he roared.

Hermione stood back, completely petrified. She had never seen him so angry before, and she knew that she needed to stay out of the way and let him clear his head. A moment later he sunk into the armchair by the fire, muttering to himself.

Hermione felt her heart clench at the sight. Severus Snape could conduct himself with so much power and force, causing any living thing to shutter, but at other times, he was just a sensitive man who had become buried under twenty years of servitude.

She quietly walked over to him and kneeled in front of him, taking his hands gently in hers, soothingly stroking the coarse flesh. A few minutes passed and he still refused to meet her gaze.

"What happened?" she finally asked quietly.

She watched as he swallowed deeply and took a deep breath.

"I found them in the hallway, after all the students had gone to bed,"

Hermione gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"There was a Ravenclaw girl there,"

Hermione tightened her hold on his fingers as he breath caught in her throat.

"They thought it would be good to set an example early on, using a first year girl,"

"No!" Hermione gasped throwing her hands over her mouth.

"I took her to the Hospital Wing. She was still out cold," he murmured.

"Well…it's a good thing you were there," Hermione muttered, not finding anything better to say.

Severus slowly reached out and took a small lock of her hair between his fingers. Hermione stared at him, watching his eyes watching his fingers.

"When I first found her…I thought…she looked…she looked so much like you,"

Hermione instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tighter than she ever had before. She desperately enjoyed these moments when he revealed to her a small bit of himself. Hermione sighed deeply.

"You can't throw them out, you know that,"

"I know," he muttered, sounding so broken that Hermione pulled him tighter against her.

After another moment, Hermione stoop up, forcing their arms apart.

"I think we should turn in, its been a long day,"

Without a single retort, Severus prepared himself for bed, and instantly fell asleep when he climbed beneath the sheets.