Chapter 115: Questions Unanswered

A/N: Here's Another Update...

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers-S.S.

{"I'm running out of time and I'm feeling like a ghost...Got these aches in my body, feel it in my bones...I've been coughing up blood, I guess I don't need it...I've been burying myself in my feelings...Can't change the world, through the lens of glass ceilings...All these worries in my head...When the sky falls new horizons...Been coming up short all my life...",Viktor "Arcane Rap" DPS/Golden EMP}

The Forbidden Forest, Wizarding World...

The moment he'd been out of Harry Potter's line of sight, Severus S. Snape had collapsed amid the looming dark trees and cool dirt as he scrambled to find his footing when his knees had gone weak. His stomach was in knots and all he could see was the old man falling as if for an eternity in slow motion all the life drained from his blue eyes, the unnerving twinkle long gone as his body fell to the ground. Emerald green eyes blazing with hatred had lingered upon him much as they had so long ago before he'd seen them lifeless at Godrick's Hollow. He found it difficult to breathe as he crawled along the mud and muck choking on his own sorrow as it began to rise making him feel light headed as he rolled onto his back feeling his pale eye lids grow heavy as he attempted to get his bearings.

Snape had not known what it was but he felt a good deal of agony rip through him a he attempted to compose himself and apparate to Malfoy Manor to give his report of Dumbledore's death directly to The Dark Lord. He had known Bellatrix had delivered the news first so as to clear Draco of any obligation but he knew the despot would want to hear it from him to be satisfied enough to grant him a boon.

Sadly he'd been much too exhausted to make the trip as his body seemed to be working against him and he found himself losing consciousness in the middle of the forbidden forest. He had not been so out of it that he had not recognized the appearance of a rather sorrowful Narcissa Malfoy as she approached him. He'd been much too weak to argue as she levitated him and took him home to Spinner's End.

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The Infirmary, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...

Harry had been the picture of panic as he opted for Madam Pomfrey to see to an ailing Hermione Granger as she'd been rendered unconscious in the wake of finding out that Snape had killed Dumbledore. The concerned and distraught young wizard had not left his best friend's side much too afraid of losing her too in the wake of all that transpired with the onset of the second wizarding war. He had not expected Hermione to be so affected by what he told her, of course he'd been surprised he hadn't collapsed himself after witnessing Snape's callous murder of The Headmaster. Hermione seemed to have been coming around after a while squeezing Harry's hand as she opened her eyes.

Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she attempted to make sense of what happened between the last time she'd been with her husband and the moment she found Harry hysterical and raving about her husband being the one to kill Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Mione." said Harry pleased to find her awake.

"Harry?" she said composing herself.

"Thank Merlin you're alright." said Harry with a sigh. "I couldn't bare the thought of something happening to you too, not after what that greasy git did to Dumbledore."

"W-What happened?" asked Hermione confused as to why he'd say such a thing.

"Snape killed Dumbledore and I told you about it and you fainted." said Harry softly. "You just collapsed right in front of me."

Hermione sighed as she attempted to sit up in bed.

"Don't over do it Mione." Harry warned. "You've only just woken up after all."

"That's not possible," said Hermione reflecting on what she'd been told. "He couldn't have...he's been working for Dumbledore for years."

"It was all in a bid to get close to him so he could kill him." remarked Harry bitterly. "Snape's evil, he killed Dumbledore the moment he trusted him most and took off with the other death eaters."

"Harry," said Hermione in disbelief.

"IT'S TRUE!" shouted Harry frustrated. "SNAPE'S A MURDERER AND HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE I SAW IT MIONE, I SAW IT!"

It had taken a few moments for her to adjust but she refused to believe that her Severus could or would do such a thing, he'd been through hell and back for the sake of saving Harry's life just to throw it all away and join the despot?

She had deduced rather cleverly that there was far more to this story no matter what Harry attempted to make her believe.

Recalling that she'd been only recovering, Harry took a deep breath and walked out of the infirmary. Hermione attempted to calm herself for a few moments before swiftly collecting her wand and shoes. She snuck out of the infirmary by way of a window and summoned a broom to take off where she figured her apparently sought after husband had gone.

"Severus." she said not at all wishing to believe the worst of the man she loved. "What's happened to you, why have you done this?"

Hermione focused on her flying as she made her way off the grounds careful to hide from the line of sight of the other staff members whom had been on high alert following the death of the infamous headmaster and departure of Professor Snape.

Despite everyone coming to the conclusion that Snape had in fact been responsible for Dumbledore's death, Hermione still refused to believe it, deciding that she'd go get the answers she was seeking directly from the source. She didn't care if he had turned his wand on her in the end in order to protect his secrets, she need to know for herself if her husband had done such a horrid thing, if their entire relationship had been based on lies, and if he truly had become the monster everyone said he'd been.

Even he had done his best to warn her of his apparent true nature from the beginning.

"You will regret this." he had told her.

As she flew toward the spot where she discarded the broom and apparated on foot, Hermione Granger-Snape had not known what to feel about the drastic turn of events that had befallen Hogwarts. Her head screamed at her to steer clear of Severus Snape and anything to do with him but her heart declared otherwise, there was no way her Severus could have done this, could he?