Indecisive, Hermione stared into the white foam that enveloped her. She was dying to discuss Snape with Ginny, to ask her questions, to tell her how he treated her just now. She wanted to know what this man was up to. But the few moments she could be alone with her were too precious to discuss this subject. It was too important that they used their time to develop a plan to overthrow Voldemort.

"If Snape's statements are to be trusted, You-Know-Who will not return to England until mid-December."

Surprised, Hermione looked up at Ginny sitting in a chair next to her. Her friend took the decision from her and without hesitation opened the subject that really mattered. And there was something else that puzzled her. "Snape knows? As far as I've overheard at Malfoy's, no one there knows what exactly the You-Know-Who is doing or when he plans to return."

"No wonder," Ginny replied, "according to Snape, Lucius Malfoy has yet to re-join the inner circle of Death Eaters. The fact that Malfoy was allowed to choose his slave second at the time was obviously only because Snape had put in a good word for him. And obviously he had intended to sell your virginity for a profit. That is, not only for gold, but also, in case of doubt, for a favour. He wanted to use you to rise in favour with high-ranking Death Eaters..."

Hermione closed her eyes. She remembered the evening when the offer had been made, just as she remembered overhearing a conversation with her master that he had sold her out. Why he had chosen Snape of all people, however, was beyond her - after all, the relationship between the two men had always been quite good, Lucius Malfoy didn't really have to beg for his favour. Reluctantly, she shook her head stop thinking about it.

"We don't have time to philosophise about Snape or Malfoy. Do you know anything else that might be useful?"

"Not really," Ginny said slowly, "I guess it's business as usual at Hogwarts. That means complete control by the teachers, only pureblood students. Anyone who even dares to express so-called dangerous ideas will be severely punished."

"Only pure-blood students? There's probably barely enough there to fill a year."

"Snape has merged the houses, so now all the students in a year have classes together. It gives the teachers a lot more free-time and correspondingly more opportunities to monitor the students."

"So, Hogwarts is lost to us," Hermione mused. She felt despair creep up again, making her almost cry. Nothing was the same as it had been before. There were no allies left in this world who were not slaves themselves. A thought suddenly flashed through her mind. "What about the Muggles? Does the world know that we ... that is, that wizards exist?"

Ginny shook her head. "No. From what I understand, You-Know-Who is working right now to forge alliances in other, important countries to make worldwide wizarding rule possible. After all, in many other countries, it's still business as usual."

"Unimaginable. Don't they know what's going on here?"

"Sure, they do," Ginny replied cynically, "but they don't want to mess with You-Know-Who. How did Snape put it? As long as the wizards in other lands keep their feet still, the Dark Lord won't bother with them."

"But he's hardly going to be able to control the whole world at once! If the others were to join forces–"

"Impossible, Hermione," the young woman interrupted her, "the whole situation is too confusing for that. There are followers of the pure-blood idea all over the world. No one knows how his acquaintances really feel about it. Just remember the first reign of You-Know-Who - his greatest triumph was the all-encompassing distrust that gripped all wizards. No one trusted his neighbour anymore, even family members betrayed each other. And ... the Order of the Phoenix is dead."

Again, Hermione closed her eyes, held her breath, and immersed herself deeply in the hot water of the bathtub. For a few moments she enjoyed the feeling of the all-encompassing warmth, then she emerged. "Enough with the talk about what looks bad and what we can't do," she said firmly, "Let's think instead about what options we have."

"Do you think everything will change when You-Know-Who is dead?"

"Well, maybe not right away, but I think without him, there won't be anyone to hold everyone together."

"So, we have to find a way to kill Nagini first and then him," Hermione summarised.

But before she could continue, the door opened and Snape entered. "Lucius has been informed, I will apparate with you to Malfoy Manor and stay for lunch. Miss Weasley, see to it that Miss Granger has another hot meal before she leaves us."

Before either woman could respond, Snape closed the door. Once again, silence reigned in the small bathroom.

"You're leaving today already?" Ginny finally whispered.

Hermione nodded. "There was a little incident just now. I provoked Snape and that seems to be his reaction now."

Without warning, Ginny burst into tears. "God ... Hermione ... I was so blind! Snape was kind and respectful to me - all the time! It's like in the last few weeks I forgot who he was, what he did! I have lived here, without fear, without imagining what others might suffer! It was like I didn't want to see who or what he was!"

Sympathetically, Hermione squeezed her friend's hand. "Don't blame yourself, I understand. We live in a small world that consists only of the Death Eater who holds us captive and thus, we eventually forget what happens outside."

"I'm scared, Hermione!" Ginny sobbed, "What if Snape–"

"Don't think about that, Ginny! I don't want to leave you a little pile of misery!", Hermione spoke soothingly to her, "What if thoughts don't get us anywhere, they only paralyse us. You're stronger than I am, don't let worry crush you now!"

oOoOoOo

deep in thought, Snape descended the stairs. He had heard enough. It was no wonder that these two women were afraid of him, just as he should have expected Ginevra Weasley to treat him with suspicion and timidity in the future - still, this fact annoyed him. There was a reason why he did not keep a house-elf and had lived alone until now. He appreciated the peace and quiet in his apartment, the opportunity to pursue his thoughts undisturbed, to read, to educate himself. Dealing with other humans or human-like beings always carried the risk that there would be misunderstandings, that he would have to be considerate, compromise, or bend to the will of others. He had always been bad at everything that social contact entailed. It was almost laughable that the Dark Lord, of all people, was now making him deal with another person on a permanent basis, trying to understand their feelings, and be considerate. If it had been up to him, he wouldn't have chosen a slave. But he knew that would not have been an option.

With a stiff expression, he entered his living room and looked at his immense wall of books. There had been two reasons why he had chosen the young Weasley - one was that he had judged her to be an uncomplicated woman, the least likely of all to be a burden to him. Looking back, he wondered if Hermione Granger would not have been a better choice. But he knew the answer to that himself: She would have been worse in every way. Her intelligence and inquisitiveness had been unbearable at times, even when he had been her teacher, and the fact that she had an incredible amount of empathy as well as cleverness reminded him all too much of another woman he had once loved.

Slowly, he sank into the armchair in front of the fireplace. He was the most loyal follower of Voldemort the world had ever seen - why was it always Muggle-borns, of all people, who aroused his interest? Sure, he wasn't a pureblood wizard himself, but as long as the Dark Lord wasn't bothered by it, that fact certainly wouldn't become public. Voldemort had only laughed at his affection for Lily Evans, an aberration of taste based on childhood memories and her manipulative nature. He certainly would not dismiss a second such "aberration of taste" so easily, loyalty or not.

Still, he couldn't deny that he wanted to know what was going on in the Malfoy house. Why did Lucius bring his slave girl to him to get her well? Why didn't he take care of it himself? And why had she gotten into this state of life-threatening hypothermia in the first place? He remembered clearly sensing his colleague's arousal as he had watched Greyback and Granger. Had something happened between them that Lucius regretted afterwards? Had he wanted to get rid of her? But then why would he save her after the fact? As he had many times before, he had the distinct feeling that something was very wrong behind the old walls of Malfoy Manor.

Soft footsteps from the stairs told him that Ginny was on her way to the kitchen. Obviously, she had been talking to Hermione for some time - her confidence in being able to overthrow the Dark Lord single-handedly was admirable, but foolish. Snape knew too well that there was now no way to change anything about the final victory - unless several Death Eaters suddenly banded together, but that was unlikely. Young slaves, even more so without a wand, would certainly not be able to be dangerous to his master.

Another pair of footsteps could be heard on the stairs, and shortly thereafter Hermione Granger sat down next to him. Snape noted with interest that she was sitting bolt upright in the armchair by the fire, staring stubbornly into the flames. This did not change when she began to speak softly.

"I want to thank you. You saved my life. It can't make up for what you did before and I will never forgive you. But I know that if you had not agreed to help me, I would not be alive. I don't know the reasons, in fact, I fear they are not as noble as the act itself, but I still acknowledge that you helped me. I couldn't live with myself being somehow in your debt or not having expressed my gratitude, so I'm telling you this now. Thank you."

Hermione took a deep breath. She had thought carefully about those words after Ginny had left the bathroom. She knew she had to thank Snape - not only because the situation might require it, but also because she herself could not have lived with not having expressed her thanks. Her unending hatred for him was not compatible with feeling she owed him anything or had to be grateful to him, and so she decided to express her thanks directly and thus put the matter to rest. After these words, she would again be able to indulge in the feeling of hate with a clear conscience.

Shyly, she looked up at the man next to her, who still had not answered, and was shocked by the expression on his face. It seemed as if she had pulled off a mask, because she could clearly read his emotions - surprise, disbelief, anger and something else. Hermione was not sure what she was seeing, it almost seemed as if there was something like warmth in his eyes. Quickly, however, his features smoothed out again, and his voice sounded dismissive as he spoke.

"You don't have to thank me, Miss Granger, especially not in this ungrateful way."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. She got over herself and expressed her gratitude to this man, and instead of him acknowledging how hard that must have been for her, he met her with coldness and derision? Angrily, she replied, "I am grateful! If I weren't, I wouldn't have said it! But you can hardly expect me to ... to feel any less hatred for you because of it!"

Again, it seemed to Hermione that she hit a sensitive spot with her words, for again she could see the hint of anger flit across his face for a brief moment.

"You don't have to tell me several times a day how much you hate and despise me. If you have nothing more to say than that, you'd best keep your mouth shut." His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it that prevented her from spitting out the sharp retort she wanted to throw at him.

Boiling with rage, Hermione stared back into the flames. As much as she enjoyed Ginny's presence and the fact that she was getting decent, hot food here - she missed Lucius Malfoy's considerate nature, his strong arms comforting her.

Abruptly, she straightened up bolt upright again. She missed her slave master?