Don't take that sinner from me
Chapter 13: Feel again
A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes. So, I just finished the last chapter of this story (it ends at chapter 23), and thus I will update it three times per week now, instead of two! This way you'll be able to complete this story a little faster, yet, I do hope you'll enjoy your last remaining time of reading it. And in case you would like to know, my update days will be on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Although, these days might vary per different time zone.
Snape glided his eyes over the students, trying to find the bushy haired girl among all the people – but it was to no avail. She had probably been hiding somewhere else as he noticed her dimwitted friends all snuggled up tightly away from anyone else.
The burn in his arm ripped him out of his thoughts, and he suddenly understood why she wasn't present at dinner. They had been summoned. Swiftly, he moved out of his chair and strode through the Hall, not paying anyone attention as he headed straight for the Hogwarts grounds, getting out of the castle without bothering to put on his Death Eater clothes. He had been permitted not to use them – for it would arouse suspicion if anyone were to see him wearing them.
The girl and he had agreed to go separately when they weren't in close reach of each other. And so, the minute he set foot out of the gates, he apparated to the Malfoy manor, flicking his wand at the gates as he walked through them with ease, the charm wearing off behind him as he had went through it.
A sudden high pitched cry had him stop dead in his tracks as he heard the faint "Crucio" from the Dark Lord. The scream was unmistakable – it was hers. Speeding up his pace, he walked his way up and entered the open room, watching the girl sprawled out on the ground with the Dark Lord standing in front of her.
Upon noticing his entrance, Voldemort lowered his wand and Snapeseated himself at his usual seat at the table, waiting for him to speak. "Your wife has failed to grant me the information I have given weeks for to obtain. Failure shall be rewarded by punishment, I'm sure you'll know that, Severus."
He gave him a curt nod, relaxing his features as his eyes landed on the young girl laying on the ground. It seemed like she was trying her hardest not to cry, and he silently scoffed. Her scream had been showing weakness enough – tears were not needed to be held back any longer.
"Please, my lord, let me punish her." Snape averted his eyes to Bellatrix, whose eager eyes watched her master in excitement. "Very well, Bellatrix, as a reward for your success, you may have your fun." Snape nervously swallowed as he watched her jump out of her seat, approaching the motionless girl with a burning fire dancing in her eyes.
Taking out her wand, she forced Hermione to turn herself around on her back, and he observed the way her eyes twinkled with fear – her body trembling as Bellatrix seated herself on the girl's body, taking out a silver dagger from the pocket of her robes.
A nasty smiled tugged on her lips as she raised Hermione's left sleeve, the Dark Mark fainted on her arm. The dagger lowered to her arm, the scraping of skin filling the room – along with the screaming of the young girl.
"This will teach you to not ignore your lord's commands, you filthy Mudblood." Bellatrix hissed, and continued scrabbling on her arm, the screams growing louder as the dagger seemed to go in deeper.
"Will you, Severus Snape, promise to protect Hermione Granger from harm, to the best of your ability?" His voice echoed around in his head, making him analyze the situation to see if there was anything he could do to help. But his ability to protect her only stretched so far. Standing up against the punishment of the Dark Lord would ensure them a one way ticket to death.
Minutes passed, and the screams slowly died away as Bellatrix removed herself from Hermione, taking back her seat at the table with a satisfied grin tugging on her lips. A sudden surge of anger went through him, and he was glad to hear that the Dark Lord had told them to leave.
Snape moved over to the girl laying on the floor, seeming only half conscious as her eyes blinked slowly. His own eyes drifted to the exposed arm, watching the word mudblood being written into her skin, right underneath her dark mark, the fresh blood still leaking out of her arm.
Ignoring the comments from the other Death Eaters, he leaned down and lifted the woman up into his arms, carrying her bridal style out of the manor, apparating to Hogwarts as soon as he could.
Snape scowled as he saw the three people approaching him, having noticed the now unconscious girl in his arms. Just my luck, Snape thought bitterly as he ignored their hurried footsteps while heading for the dungeons.
"Professor Snape!" The Weasley girl called out behind him and he sighed in frustration, coming to a halt as he let them catch up with him. "Hermione!" Potter exclaimed worried but the girl did not reply. "What did you do to her, you filthy git?" Weasley spat and Snape felt the anger returning once more.
"Watch your mouth, Mr Weasley. I did not do anything to her." Snape focused his eyes bitterly on the Potter boy, "If anyone's at fault, it would be you, Potter." The Weasley girl clasped a hand to her mouth with a loud gasp upon seeing the word that was carved into the girl's arm.
"What d'you mean, Harry's fault?" Weasley demanded, having raised his wand at him. Snape cocked an eyebrow warningly, "Put that wand away, Mr Weasley." He ordered dangerously low. "In case it has escaped anyone's notice, Hermione has been working as a spy for the Dark Lord. I'm sure you know what that means, or do I need to explain it once more to get it into your thick skulls?" Snape sneered and shifted his hold of the girl, for his arms were starting to ache by the weight of her body.
A dawn of realization formed on the Potter's boy, and Snape was pleased to see the immense guilt written all over his face. "Because we've been ignoring her, she didn't have anything to show him.." Snape nodded, "Now that you've all activated those fried brains of yours, I'll be leaving then."
"You're not going anywhere with her!" Weasley threatened, raising his wand once more. "I'll go with my wife wherever I want to go, Mr Weasley." Snape said calmly and watched in satisfaction as his face scrunched up in discomfort. "This is the second time you've raised your wand at me. Twenty points from Gryffindor." They all groaned in frustration, "You can't do that!" Potter said exasperated and Snape raised an eyebrow at him, "I think I just did, Potter."
Not wasting any more time on the three kids, he turned around and walked to his quarters, making it just in time to the leather couch before his arms were getting numb. Carefully laying her body on the couch, he tucked one of the pillows underneath her head for support.
Snape let out a sigh as he looked at the motionless body, cursing himself for the concern and worry he felt over the girl. As they were spending much more time together over those past few months, he had grown closer to her than he'd ever like to admit.
To his utmost dislike, he found out that he cared for the girl. That explained his anger whenever she was brought into a shaky position of her safety. He just wished that he could go back to the times where she was just a student, and not his wife. Where her hand waving to get his attention and her endless need to share her knowledge only got him riled up out of frustration, and not because he understood her need for acknowledgment.
In some ways, she resembled him way more than he thought possible. Yet, in their alikeness, they still had their difference. He kept his knowledge inside, whereas she vocalized everything she knew. With a sigh he walked out of the quarters and into his office, rummaging in his cupboard for a numbing potion.
Having found it, he reentered the quarters and saw her stirring, but she didn't move. Her eyes flung open and he looked at her, taking in the puzzled expression as she took in her surroundings, wincing when she tried to move.
Snape put the potion he was holding down on the table near the fireplace and helped her sit up straight, wincing internally at her hissing of pain. He then picked up the potion again, and ordered for her to open her mouth. Obliging reluctantly, he poured some of the contents into her mouth and waited for her to swallow it.
Relief spread over her face as she visibly relaxed into the couch. "Thank you," She croaked out and the corner of his mouth turned up slightly, before he composed himself again and dropped the smile, replacing it by a nod.
Hermione's eyes flickered to her arm, and he observed her internal battle as she debated over it. Her hand reached out to her left arm, but he didn't want her to see. Not as long as he could help it. Stretching out his own hand, he placed it on top of hers to refrain her from rolling up her sleeve. "Please, I need to know what she did." Hermione pleaded but he shook his head. "You don't want to know, trust me." He spoke calmly, his features softening as she nibbled on her lip – a habit she had formed whenever her emotions were too high.
"I was going to fix it, you know." Hermione began, her eyes lowering to their hands, but he did not have the heart to pull his hand away, nor did he really want to. "I was on my way to talk some sense into Ginny, make her see reason to my situation. Explain the necessity that they understood." Her voice was weak and she bit her lip as she cautiously entwined their fingers.
He tensed as he felt her delicate fingers surrounding his, but forced his body to relax when he noticed the hesitation in her eyes. Knowing that she would pull away if he didn't give his approval, her gave her hand a gentle squeeze in order for her to continue.
This seemed to motivate her as she continued her story, "But then I felt it – the burn. I figured you were already in the Great Hall at dinner, and I did not see how I could make it to the staff's table without getting unwanted attention, so I left on my own after changing my clothes."
"As soon as I arrived, he asked if I had news. Well, as you may have found out, he wasn't all that pleased when I told him I didn't." Hermione sighed heavily as her thumb unconsciously stroke the back of his hand.
"This is all my fault, isn't it? I should have never let my friendship drift apart.." Not wanting her to take all the blame, for she held none, he decided to jump in before she would come up with any more daft reasons. "The blame does not rest with you, Hermione. The nutshells you call friends are the ones to blame. Even Potter was smart enough to realize that upon seeing you."
Hermione's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Harry saw me? When?" Snape sighed, "I unfortunately had the luck to walk into them when arriving inside the castle. They demanded to know what was going on, and I kindly reminded them who was at fault."
Hermione scoffed, a small smile tugging on her lips. "Kindly? I'd love to see that day." Snape smirked, "You're not the only one." He said as he tried to imagine putting on a friendly face to the Potter boy, but could simply not bring himself to it. Way too much did he resemble his arrogant father.
Hermione groaned loudly, "I think I failed in proving I'm not weak, professor." Hermione said, adding the noun for a humourous effect. He appreciated her joke, but could not bring himself to smile as he understood her hidden message underneath it. "After all the hard work you've showed me, I do not consider you weak, Hermione." His voice was frighteningly gentle, unlike he ever heard himself talk before. But he needed her to understand that all that was happening to her; it wasn't her fault.
Her eyes met his; full of confusion, curiosity and appreciation. Unable to look into those mesmerizing eyes for too long, he shifted his gaze to her arm once more. "Do me a favour and don't confront yourself with it." Snape said, his vision blurring the more he stared at her covered arm. "You expect me to never look at my own arm again for as long as I live?" Hermione asked amusement and he looked at her twinkling eyes.
"You get what I mean." Hermione sighed as she nodded. "I won't for as long as I can help it." She said and he nodded in satisfaction. "You should head off to bed, it's been a long day." Hermione nodded and carefully got up, having released his hand that lay on hers.
"Take this with you, in case the pain returns tomorrow morning." Snape said, holding out the potion when she had gotten up. Hermione smiled and took the bottle from him, wordlessly making her way to her room. Right before she entered it, she stopped and her tired eyes fell on him as he saw her fingers fumbling with the bottle. "Thank you, Severus." She smiled and Snape cocked a half smile as he watched her retreating back.
This woman was going to be the death of him – literally.