Severus didn't know what to think. How had this happened? What did they know? Who had done it?
He had transformed into a tiger before he'd realized, and he found himself standing with his hackles raised and his lips drawn up over his teeth, and his claws digging into the hardwood floor. Hermione had jumped up from where she'd been lying on the couch, and was looking down at him, her ears pinned back nervously.
Severus blinked and focused his attention on her, relaxing his body so as not to frighten her. He knew he wouldn't lose control of himself, but she didn't.
"Hermione... I found the curse." He told her. Her mouth parted slightly in surprise, and she said,
"What? You did?"
"Yes." He said.
"Can you fix it? Who did it? Can you tell?"
"Yes, Hermione. I can tell. It was..."
"Who? Who did it?"
Severus took a deep breath and said slowly,
"It was a Death Eater."
They were both silent for a moment, and Severus could practically feel the wheels turning in Hermione's head. After a moment, he spoke up, asking softly, but firmly,
"Do you have any idea when this could have happened?" She nodded her head slowly, and he took a step towards her.
"Tell me, Hermione." He pressed.
"It must have been at the Ministry." She said, her voice a whisper in his mind.
"The Ministry?" He asked, and then in a sudden rush it came back to him. Of course! Lucius's failure at the Ministry. When he'd tricked Potter and his gang to go after the prophecy, and Sirius Black had died.
"How in the world did they know?" He said, more to himself than to Hermione. He hadn't expected her to respond, although she did.
"Know what?" She asked, and he heard himself growl in frustration, but Hermione didn't seem to notice. She jumped down from the couch and approached him, staring intensely into his eyes. "Talk to me, Severus."
He paused a moment, then said,
"How did they know that you were taking Animagus lessons?"
There was another stretch of silence, both of them thinking rapidly, when Severus heard Hermione gasp. His eyes focused on her instantly, and he took a step closer, their noses almost touching.
"What, Hermione?" He said, his voice deep and strong, reverberating through her mind.
"Harry." She whispered, and then she was talking rapidly, and he took a step back, becoming overwhelmed. "It must have been Harry! Oh, God, I'll kill him. He lied to me! He told me the reason why he knew Sirius was at the Ministry was because he'd gone to look in the mirror Sirius had given him and Kreacher had told him that he'd been taken. But that wasn't what happened, was it? What if we're right? What if there's a connection, and Voldemort used it to trick Harry into thinking Sirius was at the Ministry? Can that happen? Could he do that? And if he could get in Harry's mind, he could have seen that we were going to be taking Animagus lessons, and -"
"He could have had the Death Eaters at the Ministry curse you into becoming trapped in your Animagus forms."
Hermione was breathing heavily, her eyes wide, and she nodded. She didn't have the energy to respond to him.
Severus moved away from her and began pacing, his tail swinging absently from side to side, his claws still extracted and scratching the floors as he walked. His head was low and his eyes were moving from side to side as he lost himself in thought, trying to piece together past events, running through conversations he'd had with both Albus and the Dark Lord, searching for clues, trying to come to a conclusion on how this had happened. Hermione stood still, watching him, until she could stand it no longer.
"Severus?" She asked, and he stopped mid stride, turning his head slightly to look at her.
"What?" He asked, his eyes unfocused.
"Are we going to talk about this?"
"Wha- Oh, yes, of course. My apologies." He said. He was still not used to having another person to discuss ideas with, or to confide in.
"If there is a connection, and the Dark Lord has already realized it and has been using it to his advantage, then Albus must be made aware immediately. This has gone beyond us, now. The danger is too high to keep this to ourselves."
Hermione nodded, trying to slow her rapid breathing and gain control over the butterflies that were ravaging her stomach. This was a horrible situation. Much worst than she could have ever imagined.
And she really, really didn't want to take this to Dumbledore. She wasn't sure she could keep herself from attacking the old jerk for what he'd just done, only that morning, to Severus, and what he'd been doing to him, it seemed, ever since Severus had pledged his allegiance to the Light.
She felt a snarl rising up in her throat at the thought, but she swallowed it down. She didn't want Severus to know that she'd heard their conversation. She was sure he would only push her away.
Severus looked at her, his eyes suddenly intense, and Hermione flicked her ears back in uncertainty. He took a step towards her.
"Are you alright, Hermione?" He asked, his deep voice rumbling through her mind. Hermione reveled in the strength of the vibrations of his words, and she felt a calmness settle down over her. She met his eyes and nodded.
"Yes. Thank you."
Severus nodded slightly, but turned away, and in a matter of seconds he was human again and striding towards the door.
"This will not be pleasant." She heard him murmur under his breath, and she wholeheartedly agreed.
If Albus was surprised to see Severus again, he did not show it. He gracefully accepted Severus into the room, ushering him in with a low sweep of his good arm. Hermione padded in after him, and Severus did not miss the intense glare that Hermione shot in the old wizard's direction. He didn't have any time to process it, however, because Albus was sitting himself down behind his desk and raising an eyebrow in Severus's direction.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Severus?" Severus bit down a snarl, and tried to push down any thoughts of the last conversation they'd had, saying seriously,
"I have discovered the source."
"The source...?"
"The source of the curse cast on Miss Granger."
"The curse?"
Severus snarled. He couldn't hold it in any longer, not with Albus playing dumb. Bastard.
"Yes, the curse."
"You're certain?"
Severus felt himself shaking with anger, but he was able to refrain himself from an angry outburst by the steady heat of the lioness pressed against his leg, the steady, comforting presence that gave him the edge he needed to stay in control. Taking a deep breath, he settled on narrowing his eyes, and said slowly,
"I'm certain."
"Well, who was it?" Albus asked, shifting forward in his seat.
"It was a Death Eater."
Albus rose, planting his hands onto the desk, leaning over it towards Severus.
"How did this happen? Did you know about this?!"
Hermione growled at his side, and Severus was reminded how much he appreciated her, and how nice it was to have an ally.
"Of course I didn't, Albus. I just discovered it, and I came directly to inform you."
"I had to ask, Severus."
He just wanted to curse the prick into oblivion. He looked down at Hermione, his eyes focusing on her claws, which were digging into Albus's polished floors. It seemed she did too. Feeling validated, Severus returned his attention to the man before him, and gave him a half smile full of malice.
"Of course you did, Albus." Inclining his head in a mock nod of respect, Severus continued.
"There seems to be one logical explanation to this. Considering Potter's recent -"
"Don't bring Harry into this." Albus said sharply, cutting off Severus mid sentence.
"Pardon?"
"You heard me. Harry has nothing to do with this."
"What are you implying?"
"I'm not implying anything, Severus. I'm merely telling you that Harry was not involved."
"You're wrong. Potter has a connection with the Dark Lord, and you know it. You can't cover it up, you can't hide it, Albus. We already know. Why in the world didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't you know already? Hmm? Why didn't you know about how Voldemort was using his connection to manipulate Harry?" Albus was rounding the desk, moving closer and closer to Severus, his blue eyes cold and flashing dangerously.
"I didn't know, Albus. I've told you this a thousand times. I don't know everything that goes on with the Death Eaters. He's more careful now. He's paranoid. He has different groups that are assigned different tasks, and they don't speak of it to anyone else. I am not made privy to all of these tasks. I don't like it any more than you do, but there's nothing I can do about it. This... This is something you can address. You should be teaching him Occlumency! This all could have been prevented!"
"I have been teaching him Occlumency, Severus. As soon as I realized what had happened at the Ministry. Did you not hear about Lucius's assignment? About his failure?"
"No, I didn't." Severus growled, standing absolutely still, back ramrod straight, hands curled into fists at his sides. "Are you not listening to me? I knew Lucius had a mission, but I didn't know what. By the time I found out, it was too late. And I didn't know how he'd done it, Albus. I would have told you as soon as I knew. And you didn't instruct me to find out, so you know what, Albus? I figured that you already knew and that you were keeping that knowledge from me, because that's what you always do. And I was right. That's exactly what you did, with no thought of the consequences."
"There were no consequences, Severus."
"No consequences? What do you call this?!" He erupted, motioning to the lioness at his side. "She's been stuck in this form, and who knows how much information about the Order the Dark Lord has gleaned by sifting through Potter's mind! How long has this been going on?"
"I told you, he's been receiving Occlumency lessons."
"How long Albus?"
"Who was the Death Eater?"
"I don't know! I haven't gotten that far yet! Answer the damn question."
"I don't answer to you, Severus. But I assure you, Voldemort has not accessed any important information regarding the Order."
"He knew that the Trio were taking Animagus lessons, and he made a targeted attack in that regard. You knew this whole time that a Death Eater had done this, but you told no one. Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
"I was delaying the inevitable, yes."
"Why? Do you realize that everyone knows I have a familiar now? Malfoy has bragged about it, for fuck's sake. You don't think the Dark Lord hasn't put two and two together? You ignorant -"
"That's why you must perform the actions I've requested of you, Severus. You will be put in the best possible position in his ranks. He will trust you completely."
"Wha- Are you serious? First, you never requested, second -"
"Severus." Albus said, paused in his advance on Severus only by the lioness standing at his side, pinning her ears and exposing her teeth.
"He knows that I'm in contact, close contact, that I'm living with one of the Trio for Merlin's sake, and I haven't said a word to him about it! He will not trust me, Albus. You've royally fucked this up."
"Keep your opinions to yourself, Severus. I know what I'm doing."
"You pompous -"
"That's enough!" Albus roared, and Severus clenched his jaw, and Hermione shrunk back into him, stunned.
"You're dismissed."
Severus remained silent, fuming.
"Oh, and Severus, Horace has arrived. You may take over the position as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. You'll keep your same quarters, however. Horace made it clear in his terms that he would not live in the dungeons."
A/N - I'm so sorry for the delay on posting this chapter! I haven't been able to work on this at my house due to computer/internet troubles, and then I was on vacation so I wasn't able to use the computers at school like I normally do. Speaking of which, Happy late Thanksgiving to all who celebrated!