A/N: The aftermath of Hermione's apparent disappearance.
They were entering Gringotts when he felt her reach for the bond, no doubt checking in on him. He let his magic meet hers for a moment before occluding further, he needed to focus on the task at hand.
There was something smashing against his mental barriers when they had finally retrieved the cup. Once safely away from the bank, Severus lowered his protection and was accosted by the rolling fiery touch of Hermione's magic mixed with something sickly and sharp. His protectiveness kicked in and he sent his magic to meet hers across the bond and the lightness and comfort seemed to engulf the sickly interloper until it was no more. Before he could think further Remus reminded them that they needed to deal with Bellatrix. Once more enforcing his occlusion while feeling anxiety roll in, Severus continued with the last phase of their plan.
Severus felt the ring burn just as they left Bellatrix with a temporary memory block in a muggle homeless shelter somewhere in France. Severus immediately shut away the anxiety that had erupted at her call for help. "Remus, we have to go back to Hogwarts now!"
Remus pocketed the pouch that held the Hufflepuff cup and looked at him worried. "What's wrong?"
"Something's happened to Hermione," Severus grabbed the werewolf's wrist impatiently. With a turn he apparated them to the Shrieking shack. Before Remus could ask anything of him, Severus was running down into the tunnel to make his way back to the castle. He did not wait to see if the werewolf followed. He reached for the bond and felt the family touch of her magic but it was faint, nearly nonexistent, a sign of her descent into occlusion. Dread suffused his every thought as he raced into the castle.
He stumbled feeling a sharp pain in his chest that was all too familiar. Severus occluded further. He would not allow himself to succumb to the pain when he knew she was the one truly suffering through it. Thinking of the night they spent together holding each other in his bed, Severus sent off not one, not two, but three patronus. He summoned Draco and his Mother, as well as the Weasleys and then Harry to his quarters. If he were not so panicked he would have cared more that his patronus had taken on a new form.
"Severus?" Remus had caught up to him and was staring wide eyed at the spot where the last patronus had hovered before it too ran off to send its message. "What's happened?"
"She's not in the castle. I've called everyone to my quarters. Come, we cannot waste anymore time," Severus said, forcing his voice not to waiver. He led the way back to his quarters, taking a passageway that was dusty with disuse as he had walked it since the last time he was summoned.
Severus and Remus had barely entered his quarters when he felt someone passing through his wards. With a swift flick of his wand his door opened to allow Draco and Narcissa through, closely followed by the younger Weasleys.
"Uncle! We can't find Harry or Hermione!" Draco was frantic with worry.
"I knew Harry was going to try and talk to Hermione so we thought that they might just be somewhere private," Ginny said, standing behind the couch. "But no one's seen either of them for ages."
"The bond has been restless and she sent notice to me that she was in danger. I can barely feel her magic through the bond," Severus's voice was grave.
"Do you think it could be Harry again, Severus?" Remus' frown deepened.
"He doesn't have a horcrux this time and from the way he's been wallowing in his guilt, I don't think he would fall prey to darkness like that again," He opened his mind to the bond once more and found a solid block from Hermione's end. "Fuck, she's in deep occlusion."
Ron Weasley seemed to be the first to recover from his shock at seeing the normally controlled Professor having such an outburst, "You don't think she's left the castle, do you?"
"Not willingly," He reached out to the bond again, trying and failing to feel her essence. If the bond were not there he would think her presence had disappeared completely.
"Ron, does Harry still have the map?" Remus rounded on the students.
"It's probably with him, Remus. He was going to use it to find Hermione. She's been disappearing somewhere to study for the last few weeks. We know how she likes quiet and with everything else going on we were giving her space," Ginny admitted, looking abashed for not making sure she knew where her friend was.
"You've checked everywhere?" Remus pushed.
"We've checked everywhere. Harry and Hermione might not be here at Hogwarts at all," Narcissa's voice was soft with reticence.
"Fuck! I sent Potter a patronus. It would have found him no matter where he was. If he's being held captive, whether by a Death Eater or the Dark Lord himself, they know that we know he's gone. We've lost the element of surprise!" Severus growled and turned away from the group to try and reign himself in.
"Severus, we should contact Lucius. If they have either of them then he would know," Narcissa appeared at his side.
"No, we need to tell Dumbledore," Severus loathed getting the old bastard involved but if anyone could tell if Potter was still somewhere in the castle the headmaster would know. In his mind's eye he pictured the soft look on Hermione's face when she kissed him on the astronomy tower, "Expecto Patronum! Albus, Hermione and Potter are missing. We will be in your office momentarily."
"Severus, your patronus…" Narcissa had her hand covering her mouth in awe, "When?"
"I don't know. I've only had to cast it today. The last time it was still a doe," Severus gritted out, quelling the emotions that came with the image of the glowing and happy otter. He shook his head and in front of everyone he donned his usual aggressive persona, "Come! The floo will be open now."
Without further ado, Severus took a handful of Floo Powder and entered the hearth. The last thought before he appeared in Dumbledore's office was a hope that Hermione wouldn't need the headmaster's help, help that she might not receive.
Harry stood frozen and involuntarily immobile, staring at the door that Hermione had shut behind her. She had played him, easily. He couldn't truly blame her for doing it. If the roles were reversed Harry probably would have done the same thing. That didn't mean he wasn't simultaneously angry and heartbroken. Was that kiss even real or just a way to distract me? She said she loved me. No! She's never once said she loves you. But that doesn't mean she doesn't! The girl you love is going to try and destroy a Horcrux on her own! It does not matter if she feels the same. You love her and you protect the people you love.
He could feel his magic flare up with his emotions. As he tried and failed to release the sticking charm he cursed his laziness when it came to wandless magic. Hermione had been pushing him to practice and he had kept making excuses and getting distracted. Now he would be stuck until the charm wore off. By then it may be too late.
The bond made itself known, warming his arms and pulsing like a living thing beneath his skin. A sense of foreboding came over Harry. This wasn't good. With his fear for Hermione's safety multiplying by the minute, he tried again to free himself. His right hand shifted a few millimeters which told him the spell may already be wearing off. But who knows what would happen to Hermione by that time. Harry roared in frustration. Everyone else was outside. Remus and Snape were still out and he didn't know if Draco and his mum were back.
The feeling of being utterly useless was so abhorrent to him. After all this time, the things he had survived, he would not be held back because of a sticking charm. Taking a deep breath to center himself, he closed his eyes and focused on his hands. Finite
The relief of his skin lifting off of the top of the desk was short lived as a patronus flew through the air and up to his face. The sight of the otter would have been a relief it hadn't been the Potions Master's voice that left its mouth. "Potter, I have reason to believe Miss Granger is in danger. I've called a meeting in my quarters. Come at once."
If there was anyone to witness his pallor losing color, they would think he was a ghost. Something had happened to Hermione but no one else knew that she went off to destroy a horcrux on her own. But nearly equally horrible, was the realization that the greasy bat of the dungeons genuinely loved Hermione. Induced feelings from the bond could never change the form of a patronus, only true feelings could. The jealousy grew in a dark part of his mind, the one he now recognized was the dark magic Voldemort had left inside him. Harry Potter you reign that shit in right now! Hermione needs you and you are going to save her even if it means working with Snape.
Harry tried to control his breathing and noticed that his magic had lashed out, overturning desks and chairs. He looked to the door knowing that, on any other day he would not be able to break through Hermione's wards, but in a great sweeping motion he blasted the door open. He felt the wards shatter around him from the sheer force of his magic. But as he took a step across the barrier his scar exploded with pain that brought him to his knees. Harry grabbed at his head, feeling like he might be torn in half by whatever was trying to rip through his forehead.
"Fenrir, I must say I am impressed. I was growing weary with disciplining your mutts for not bringing me Severus. But this, this is almost as sweet of a prize," The raspy voice of Voldemort was speaking somewhere above his head.
Harry recalled the attack on Arthur Weasley and knew instantly that he was connecting with the snake. He felt the snake slither across a marble floor and up a dais to rest along the evil wizard's feet. When the snake eyes looked back across the room fear took hold.
Hermione was laid out, unconscious on the floor in front of the raging fireplace. Her leg was bent at an unnatural angle and her lip was split. Harry could hear Voldemort but couldn't understand him with the roaring of blood in his ears. Then he noticed the ugly visage of Fenrir as he fisted Hermione's hair and dragged her across the room, dumping her at the base of the dias right in front of the snake that was Harry's eyes.
"You're looking rather eager, Fenrir. Don't worry. I will break her mind but you can break her body when I'm done with her. But I do hope you keep her alive long enough for Severus to watch her die in front of him," The callous laughter from the dark wizard would have sent a shiver down his spine if he had truly been in the room.
"I'll make sure to show Severus the proper way to use a mudblood whore. It will be a treat to also claim her from Lupin's pack," Fenrir snarled in a way that would have been a chuckle of amusement if he were a normal man.
With each veiled threat on Hermione's future Harry grew more angry and more afraid. He was desperate to move, to help her, to take control of this thrice damned snake and devour the Death Eater and his master himself.
"Reenervate," The effect of Voldemort's spell was instant as Hermione's eyes opened. The groggy haze of unconsciousness faded from her eyes in a moment as they darted around. Then she winced and groaned as the pain of her injuries took over. Harry watched, seething as Hermione levitated in front of the cult leader. "Miss Hermione Granger, most valuable mudblood on the side of Dumbledore. What secrets do you keep? You made me quite angry by taking one of my best. But it seemed he was never mine to lose. However, I'll take pleasure in making sure he loses you."
To Harry's horror his best friend stared down Voldemort with defiance. Her eyes seemed to shift, and close off, like she was folding in her reactions and emotions and leaving only the bare minimum to function.
The Dark Lord stood and Harry felt the snake move away to curl around the side of the throne, watching the humans, "Before I let Fenrir have his way, let's see what Albus has falsely entrusted you with. Legilimens!"
The nightmarish scream that rented through the air was the last thing Harry heard.
Dumbledore had been frustratingly nonchalant as his godfather tried and failed to instill the severity of the issue into the old man.
"Severus, I can assure you that Mister Potter is still within the castle. Hogwarts would have informed me if he was to leave the premises. As for Miss Granger, she has been known to pursue her own plans, as you are well aware," The old wizard seemed to love goading his Godfather for his own amusement.
"If you won't help us find Hermione, then locate Harry for us, Albus. We have reason to believe they were together before she disappeared," Lupin had managed to stay calm, but only by a thread if Draco took the man's shaking fists as an indicator.
The headmaster seemed to acquiesce as he stood and placed a hand on a square of bare wall behind him. The silence was tense as the wizard closed his eyes, seemingly communicating with the castle. The long moment passed and then he turned back to the audience of students and Order members.
"Well?" Dracco asked, unable to hold back.
"Harry is on the fifth floor. It seems he's been locked in a room," Dumbledore rounded his desk and headed for the office door. Belatedly he turned and said, "Miss Granger is not with him."
Draco felt a wave of loathing directed at the so-called great wizard when it became obvious that he only cared that Potter was being held somewhere and not that Hermione remained missing. Without a word the wizard swept from the room with the rest of them in tow. The look on his godfather's face was one of barely controlled rage and he could not fault him for it.
Lupin, his mother and the Potions Master followed closely behind Dumbledore, leaving Draco to trail behind them with the Weasleys.
"What do you think, mate? You think someone managed to take her? You destroyed the two way cupboard at the end of last year so how would a Death Eater get in?" Ron whispered a quick aside even though the Order members were focused on their own murmured conversation.
"No, you're right. I made sure the cupboard was destroyed last year. I think Hermione was the one who locked Potter in whatever room he's stuck in," Draco said. He fully believed that Hermione had not been taken from inside the castle. The fight she would have put on would not have gone unnoticed.
"I think you're right. But that would mean she left the castle on her own," Ginny chimed in, worry marring her brow.
"I don't think it was something planned in advance. She knew we were going for the cup today. I assumed that Hermione would be waiting anxiously for Uncle's return," He had honestly pictured the girl waiting for their arrival in the Shrieking Shack when he and his mother had returned and had been disappointed when she hadn't met his expectations.
"How do you think Snape knows she's in danger? I mean, just because we can't find her doesn't mean she's with a Death Eater, right?" Ron's voice was shaky between breaths as they trekked up the numerous stairs up to the fifth floor.
"They have these rings. Like the DA galleons she made. If either of them has to alert each other that the bond is retaliating from lack of contact the rings warm and glow. It was her Christmas gift to Uncle. It's come in handy before. She must have activated hers before he came back to the castle," Draco explained.
"But there's no way to know if it's just her needing something to do with the bond or if she's actually in danger?" Ginny twirled her wand in her hand nervously.
"No," Draco intoned softly, anxiety palpable. They were making their way up the last flight of stairs when his Uncle stopped in his tracks and turned abruptly, grabbing Lupin by the forearm and dragging him down the stairs. When he reached Draco his eyes were desperate.
"Weasleys, continue up to the fifth floor," He barked at the gingers who obediently followed though they glanced back several times before his mother urged them on, nodding at him to tell him to follow his godfather.
When the group hit the landing and turned a corner Severus gasped and fell to his knees clutching his chest with one arm while Remus tried to take on the taller man's weight. "Uncle! What's wrong?"
Severus jerked violently, almost toppling down the stairs with Draco and Lupin in tow. His groan was muffled but his grimace of pain gave him away.
"Hermione…cruciatus…" Severus choked out between spasms. Draco tried to help the taller man up from the floor but another seizure of pain forced him back to his knees.
Draco pulled out his wand, thinking quickly, he knocked Severus unconscious and levitated his twitching body. "We have to get him to the hospital wing! I-if it's anything like it was last time his magical core will be drained, not as fast as Hermione but still…with the way the bond is now it is still a mutual connection even if it's lopsided. We just have to hope that she can't pull from his core as quickly as he did hers."
Lupin's mouth was pursed in a grim frown. Draco turned, intent on getting his godfather to Madam Pomfrey while the werewolf cast a patronus to catch up to the others.
"Tell my mum to get to the hospital wing as fast as she can!" He called over his shoulder, trusting that the former professor would soon follow.
—-
Thrust back into awareness in his own body he slumped against the wall surrounded by the debris of the doorway he had blasted through moments ago. He had barely picked himself off the floor when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps. At the end of the corridor, led by Dumbledore, were Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Malfoy.
Harry stumbled as he rushed to meet the group halfway, "He has her! He has Hermione! It was some big manor with marble floors and a fireplace! Voldemort is already rooting through her mind!"
"Calm down, my boy. Are you alright?" Dumbledore looked down at him, concern plaguing his visage but his eyes were empty.
"Professor, I'm fine but if we don't hurry he'll kill her! He said he was going to let Fenrir Greyback have his way with her!" Harry yelled, vehemently trying to get the old man to understand how dire the situation was.
"Harry, you've been through a lot. Where have you been? Everyone has been looking for you," The Headmaster pressed on as if Harry wasn't screaming in his face in desperation.
"Sod that, Dumbledore! Hermione could be dying right now! It doesn't bloody matter where he's been. We need to know where to go!" Ron scowled, coming up to Harry and gripping his friend's shoulder in support.
"Now, Mister Weasley, must I remind you what happened the last time you all went off running to save someone without confirming that what Harry saw wasn't simply a bad dream?" Dumbledore raised a brow and his eyes were steely as he looked at the two young men.
Ron seemed to lose some of his fight after that. Harry also winced, remembering how they had all nearly died when they rushed off to the Department of Mysteries in fifth year. But Harry pressed on. "Professor, this time was different! I know it was!"
"Harry I cannot let you go wherever you think Tom may be. You have a role in this war. Once we can confirm what you saw the Order will handle the rescue. If Miss Granger needs rescuing," The sternness had been replaced by a false caring that made Harry's skin crawl.
"We have to contact my husband then! He'll be able to tell us if it's true. The Dark Lord has been using Malfoy Manor as a headquarters for months and our ballroom has marble floors," Mrs. Malfoy interrupted the battle of wills between them and the Headmaster. But before anything else could be said the misty loping form of a wolf patronus padded toward the group.
"Hermione is being tortured, Severus can feel it. His magical core is draining. Narcissa, we need you."
Hermione sat at her desk in her mind's library. She had a vague awareness of the outside world where her body was racked with pain. Distantly she could also feel as her occlumency walls were hit with the battering ram of Voldemort's legilimency. She'd talked to Severus about this before, how dangerous deep occlusion could be the longer it was implemented. But she had no other choice. There was no way that the evil snake could learn how far they had come to ending his reign forever.
With a sigh that felt inappropriately nonchalant considering what was happening, Hermione lifted one of the books on the desk and flipped to a page that contained the memories of her childhood. She sank into the familiar warmth of her parents and their love. Love that was a shield to the pain that may well bring about her end.
A part of her was satisfied knowing that Voldemort would learn far too late that all his back up plans had been thwarted. He would not learn any of it from her. She would rather lose her mind then allow him entry into her sanctuary.
A/N: What do you think will happen next? Do you hate Dumbledore as much as you hate Voldemort?