How could someone so brilliant, have made all the wrong choices in their life? How could someone so obviously above everyone around them allow themselves to be placed so far underfoot? How could one life, be so unbelievably unfair? Hermione had no answers to the questions that had brought tears to her eyes.

She folded back the letter that had been hidden inside the book he'd left for her. She was sure he had forgotten that it was even there. It had been stuck inside a small hole in the back binding, meticulously hidden away.

He had given her a medical textbook that she was sure had been used during his Mastery. It was old and heavily worn. Countless notes scribbled on the aged pages listing all the improvements he had made to every potion inside.

The letter had been from a woman. A woman whose name she had instantly recognized. It was short but unbelievably heartbreaking to read. The date in the corner would have been just a month after they would have graduated from Hogwarts. His letter to her had been at the top and was just as painful to read. Not only had she broken his heart, but hadn't even bothered to keep the letter.

Hermione sniffled softly and rubbed her eyes before carefully putting the letter back into its hiding spot. The man who had come to care for her was so much more complicated than she had even begun to understand. Is this what happened to a heart that had nothing left to give?

Her morning had slowly turned to afternoon. Stuck in her solitude. She had taken the potions he'd left behind for her, small portions that looked to have been laboriously measured out. She had even noticed, to her great surprise and adoration, that he had mended her hair. He had even left behind a brush for her next to the sink inside her small bathroom, complete with a new toothbrush.

It was the small things really. The small things he had done that made her really step back and look at him again. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something had changed. Something between them had changed.

Hermione rubbed the side of her neck pensively. She could still feel the small ridges from where the brand was. Still unaware that her noble act had removed its power to harm her. She wondered briefly if perhaps it was the brand that had been pressing these feelings onto her but she couldn't find an instance in her recovered memories where he had commanded her to like him. Her eyes turned over the small space while she let her mind wander. He had said he had a plan, but would any of it truly be worth it?

Her back gave a small twinge forcing her out of her dark mind space. She had felt wonderful that morning until she stood to go to the bathroom. Her entire torso had felt as though she had been strapped to a board as soon as her feet touched the floor. It had taken a rather large amount of time to try and stretch the muscles loose again.

Now it was starting to swell again, she could tell. Sort of like a blister, it didn't hurt, per se, but it was a tad uncomfortable. She'd stayed in bed using the pillows to prop herself up hoping to keep herself loose. The pain potion he'd left her had only worked for a few hours. It had been a 1/16 of the dosage he had given her before. She would guess it was so her body would be able to process it without becoming intoxicated.

She started when the two knocks came to the door. She set the book aside and waited for him to come inside. As he did she couldn't help but see how unbelievably exhausted he looked. His eyes were dark, so dark she would have sworn he'd cast a spell to make them look that way. Even his normally tight shoulders were angled down.

"How is your back?"

"A little sore..." Hermione shifted slightly turning her head as he came closer.

"This should help... it's a bit weaker, you'll have to put it on more frequently but you won't be in danger of boxing your kidneys."

"Thank you..." She shifted her legs so that they were crossed in front of her, "And for my hair, you really didn't have to..."

He didn't look at her fully as he set down the fresh salve on the bedside table. He pulled two more bottles from his coat setting them down beside before he even addressed her appreciation.

"I meant what I said," He gave her a small glance when he turned to pull the chair back over to the side of the bed, "I prefer it long."

Hermione's brow twitched slightly, when had he said that? A memory, fuzzy and dark pressed in lightly but she didn't linger over it. Instead, she shifted herself to face away from him. She didn't even pause in unbuttoning her shirt. She pulled her arms out slowly, pulling the shirt around to cover her chest before pulling her now restored hair over her shoulder and out of his way.

A tense silence filled the room, made even thicker by the creaking of the chair as he sat down. Hermione turned her eyes up catching his face in the small bathroom mirror. She was sure he was unaware that she could see him. His brow had relaxed, from a deep scowl to one of relaxed concentration. The hardness around his eyes was gone too.

A soft gasp slipped past her lips when he pressed his fingers into the swollen ridge. The salve was still warm as if he'd just finished making it. It instantly soothed the pulsing on her back. Her head lowered down with a content sigh but she didn't pull away. His touch was light, hypnotically so. Her skin itched to feel him elsewhere but she tried to push the thoughts away.

Snape could sense her wandering thoughts. Though just the surface of her needs. He shifted his hand to where she wanted him, using his thumb to work the muscle along her spine. The one side effect of his rapid muscle regrowth potions was tense muscles. He had long forgotten the feeling of anything else but he was sure she wasn't as immune to that level of intensity.

A deep moan of gratitude passed her lips and she had to grab a pillow to keep herself from folding completely over. Her eyes closed then and she just submitted to his touch. He was finding all the right places, even the little spot just above her hip. She pressed her face tighter into the pillow to try and keep herself quiet.

Snape kept his mind forcibly clear. His eyes staying only where his hands worked. He worked it in just as he had that morning but the little noises she was trying to stifle kept disrupting his inner white noise. His hand dipped along the side of her waist where the whip mark met with the scar from where he'd healed her punctured lung. He felt a small hitch in her breath that stilled his hand. His eyes turned up as she started to move, unaware that the movement would cause his hand to slide further along her stomach.

Hermione froze in place when the very top of his hand brushed against something that was suddenly aching for his touch. She had meant to tell him that her side hadn't hurt, but the sudden bolt through her system had placed a weight on her tongue.

The tension between their locked eyes was heavy enough to fell a full grown dragon. Just as she remembered to speak his hand pulled back. He seemed to be as conflicted as she for the briefest of moments before a large cold wall of indifference fell over his features.

"When you've finished... meet me beside the fire."

Hermione opened her mouth but no sound came out. She watched his retreat with a deep-seated sadness. Her eyes turned down to the salve he'd left behind on the bed and slowly took it into her hand. How broken was this man?

oOo

What do you think they've hidden away on the sixth floor?

I have a strong idea.

Is it dangerous?

Not to us.

What do you mean?

I think that's where Britannica is being kept.

Kept? What do you mean? Isn't Britannica supposed to be with Lightning and Thunder?

Britannica hasn't been when LT since the beginning of the break.

They've been on their own this whole time?!

I've been helping.

You're amazing.

Neville looked up from his plate over the tables giving Luna the smallest of smiles. Luna blushed softly and lowered her head down to the parchment she had hidden in her book.

"You're getting as bad as Granger, Neville." Lavender took her seat down beside the boy causing him to close the book before he was able to see Luna's message.

"Just don't want to get in trouble in class for not knowing some obscure fact they're sure to ask." Neville gave her a kind smile before flicking his eyes up to the head table.

Luna and he had only been able to pass a few messages between them during their time in the library. As there were only a few other students that had been brave enough to go, they had each believed it too dangerous to continue their conversation there.

They had each retreated and regrouped. They'd covered the basics of her holiday skipping over the mundane details before they were expected to be in the great hall for lunch. Neville waited for Lavender to find interest in something else before he reopened his book. The message Luna had written had faded out as it was designed, he didn't linger over it and started to write again.

We can't leave them on their own.

We tried to get B out before. It hadn't ended well. Luna pointed to the bruise on her temple when he looked up.

What happened?

A house elf found us, took us far away. LT are still lights out.

How can we find her?

He's created a secret door or something. I'm not sure but I do know we can't go through the headmaster's office to get her.

You think the sixth floor is the key?

I have seen L's map. I'm certain B's on the sixth floor.

Tonight?

Maybe just a look, I'm worried something may have happened. Luna looked pointedly at the empty headmaster's chair before back at Neville.

Neville pursed his lips and followed her glance. He looked back down at his paper with a rather deep scowl on his face.

Do you think he's hurt her? Merlin help him if that greasy bat had hurt Hermione. He wasn't like Ron, but he did care about the well being of his friends. He fully believed it well within Snape's personality to ruthlessly torture someone for information. He was just like the others, heartless and cold.

I don't think it was him. Luna closed her book after that. She had noticed that the brother Carrow was giving her a rather lecherous stare. She did her best to pretend not to notice but it didn't help the feeling that rolled through her stomach at the mere sight of him.

oOo

"How did Potter destroy the other Horcrux?" Snape had a rather impressive array of texts around him when Hermione had entered. She'd taken her seat across from him and curled herself into the large chair. She had been startled at the question but willing to answer it.

"Which one?"

"The Locket."

"He used the sword." Hermione tried to surreptitiously glance at one of the open books sitting on the coffee table.

"The sword of Gryffindor..." Snape turned his eyes towards the office door. Did he still have it? Was that what they had really come for? He hadn't thought to check as he was certain that they had come to 'rescue' Granger.

"It's infused with-"

"Basilisk venom." Snape finished her sentence with an apathetic tone. He set the book out of his lap coming to his feet. He glanced in her direction, "Stay here."

"Like I have a choice..." Hermione mumbled under her breath certain that he hadn't heard her. She turned her eyes from his retreating back to the texts he'd placed on the coffee table.

"Undetectable...occlusion charms?" Hermione whispered under her breath shifting out of the chair a bit further. Her eyes reading quickly over the complex diagrams inside the various texts. Her eyes lingered over a book about slave bonds, the missing page putting a further crease in her brow.

Hermione quickly leaned back in the chair when the door to his rooms slammed open. She pressed back into the chair watching with wide curious eyes as he came back to his chair. He leaned over hastily pulling her journal from the bottom of the mess of open books, one of which fell to the floor showing it's cover. Hermione swallowed thickly reading the title, 'Complete Submission, History of Slave Bonds.'

He said nothing for a long tense moment before finally lifting his eyes, "Potter has the sword."

"Th-that's good right..?" The hope in her voice didn't match her face. He looked worried. More than worried.

oOo

Luna slipped through the halls with silenced ease. She lost the brother Carrow somewhere near the Ravenclaw common room before making her way towards the Room of Requirement where she knew Neville was waiting for her.

The corridor was eerily quiet but she took no chances. She looked down at the dragonfly pin on her uniform that'd she'd charmed to flap its wings as a sign that someone else might be around. It had a rather impressive radius keeping her alerted to anyone within 5 meters. It wasn't foolproof but it did work around corners and through walls.

She rounded the corridor before the room and paused taking time to clear her mind. After she'd finished she paced and turned her head as the door appeared. Once it was fully formed she gave one more glance over her shoulder before slipping inside.

She squeaked loudly before letting out a small giggle. Neville had captured her in a fierce hug for which she readily reciprocated. She was so short compared to him and had her face thoroughly buried in his chest.

"I've been waiting all day to do that." Neville smiled charmingly down at her as he let her step back. She gave him her iconic lopsided smile in return making his heart flutter. He really needed to tell her how he felt, but he was sure now wasn't the time.

"The room gave us a map of the entire school, it's not like Harry's but it does show all the rooms and secret corridors."

"That's wonderful, we can make a plan now."

"Do you think we'll need to keep her here first?"

"I don't know, we've been watching her through a scryer's mirror..." Luna's brows furrowed slightly, "I don't think she's 100 percent...but I think between the two of us, we can help her get back to Harry."

"What kind of scryer's mirror...? Do you think the room could make one for us?" Just as the words left his mouth a large mirror appeared affixed to the back wall. It was nearly 3 meters tall and 1.5 meters wide. Both of them turned their heads in unison as it formed before a large smile broke out on Luna's face.

"Neville, you're a genius." Luna turned her head up giving him a bright smile before hastily moving through the little 'war room' they'd made.

oOo

"Why didn't I revert to my fugue state when...Vol-" Hermione bit her tongue when Snape's warning glare shot to her. "The...Dark Lord beat me?"

"I've temporarily rewired your fear response." His scowl lessoned at her correction but he still regarded her with calculative eyes.

"Temporarily...? How temporarily?"

"I don't know..." Snape sighed heavily turning his head to avoid her accusing eyes. He didn't really want to have this conversation any more than he had wanted to do as he had done. "The point is, it's now keyed to a specific phrase. You can't revert until you hear it."

"So you can just flip me back and forth like a light switch?" Hermione wasn't happy at all. She had been grateful that he'd restored her memories from her fugue state but she wasn't so excited about what else be may have possibly done to her.

"Not exactly..." He pursed his lips still not raising his eyes to her furious glare. He didn't need to be a legilimens to know that she had gone passed upset and straight to pissed off. "The phrase only works once, after that I'm not sure what will happen."

Hermione seethed silently, she couldn't believe he had done something so completely irresponsible. He didn't know what was going to happen? He was the one who cast the damn spell! How could he not have taken that beloved brilliance of his and thought a few steps ahead?!

Just as she was about to unleash her tirade a small shine in the very corner of his eye stopped her. Everything about his posture suddenly called out to her. He didn't look at all like the man she knew. The strong, calculative, painfully methodical Professor who had stolen the light out of any room he walked in. No, the man before her now looked raw, broken and if she looked closely, perhaps a little afraid.

Her temper went out like a snuffed candle and her eyes grew softer. It took a moment for her throat to finally release so that she could speak, "What do we do now...?"

oOo

"Show me, Hermione Granger." Luna tapped the surface of the large black mirror with the tip of her wand but frowned when nothing happened. "Curious... that's how the other mirror worked..."

"Maybe it's a different type...?" Neville scratched the side of his head looking at the ornate designs around the frame. They almost looked like runes. "Do you think whoever made it would have put the instructions on the frame somewhere?"

"It's possible..." Luna turned her keen eye up, she had to take a step back to clearly see. The magic surrounding the mirror was strong, a deep blue mist was slowly curling around the edge into the wall. It made it difficult for her to see the markings on the silver beneath.

Neville took her place leaning down on his knee. If he were a magic mirror maker where would he put instructions? He ran his hands along the frame slowly. Feeling nothing along the right side her moved to the left.

Luna stepped out his way watching him curiously. When he came back to his feet and his hands made it about halfway up Luna felt the energy of the mirror shift.

"There. Do you feel anything?"

"There's something but, I can't get it out." Neville could feel the lightest impression of something along the edge, like a hidden panel. He gave it a smart pull but nothing happened.

"Aberto." Luna pressed her wand to the spot where Neville had stopped. Though she knew the spell was meant for doors she hoped it would have some effect on the hidden panel.

Neville jumped slightly when the silver popped open like a spring, a small door of its own revealing a tiny rolled parchment inside. He gave Luna a bright smile and hastily pulled it from the hole. He stepped back beside Luna, quickly unrolling it.

Luna pressed her cheek into Neville's arm trying to read, "Et ponere manum suam non indigent nisi ut in speculo ex corde et pura fortis...Indica mihi, est mundus."

"Put your hand on the glass?" Neville wasn't the best at Latin but he could make out some of the words. He passed the paper fully to Luna then waiting for her evaluation.

"Need only you place your hand upon the glass with a heart that is pure and strong." Luna smiled softly before running her finger over the last line, "Reveal the world to me."

"Do you think that's the spell to activate it?"

"It's too poetic not to be." She giggled softly and turned her eyes back to the mirror, "I think we both have to think about who we really want to see. We have to be sure that's who we want to see."

"Okay...Yeah. That makes sense." Neville came to stand beside her trying to clear his mind unaware that his heart was elsewhere. He took another step closer and very hesitant placed his palm on the glass, "Indica mihi, est mundus."

The mirror flared bright white nearly making him scramble back. He didn't feel anything but warmth moving beneath the glass. The image that formed, however, wasn't that of Hermione. It was that of his parents.

Neville let out a loud gasp when the surface of the mirror disappeared. There was a small pull on his wrist that he was too stunned to resist. In just two steps, the Room of Requirement was gone and he was standing inside the hospital room at St. Mungos. Neville spun on his heel his chest pulsing with the adrenaline of what he'd done. He could see Luna through the wall, watching him. He gave her a small thumbs up before turning back to the scene before him.

Was he really there? It felt so real. He could even smell the sterility of the hospital that had plagued his childhood dreams. His parents didn't move to his presence. But they never did. He took a slow step forward trying to calm himself. His father was sat in a chair staring out a charmed window. His mother similarily sitting but staring at a blank wall.

His heart sped up just a little more before he realized, he couldn't' hear any sound. Still, he pressed onward slowly coming to stand beside his father's chair. "Dad...?" Neville raised his hand from his side making to touch his father's arm only to have it pass through him, like a ghost. Neville grimaced slightly before pulling his hand back. He could see everything, every detail. But he couldn't touch them, he couldn't speak to them. It hurt.