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Spark	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 20930 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter
10: Secrets and Changes

Hermione's first thought
was to leap from the table and sprint straight to the dungeons to
find Severus. She knew how unlikely it was that she would find him,
he was most likely either in Dumbledore's office or at Voldemort's
side somewhere. She slammed an angry hand down on the paper and
tossed it to one side. Harry retrieved it and began reading it
carefully, as Ron sat there with his mouth hanging open in shock. The
noise level in the hall was rising as other students got their copies
of the paper and news spread like wildfire of the incident.

In a sudden rush of
activity, people got up and bustled from the hall. Ron stood quickly
and glanced around at the others moving in pairs and small clusters,
each throwing angry and mistrustful glances at the Slytherins as they
went.

"I'm going to owl
home, check that everyone's ok and see what they know." Hermione
nodded and she and Harry watched him go, after quickly saying
something quietly to Ginny, who was sat with her friends a short way
away.

"Are you alright?"
Hermione's attention came back to the room and away from thoughts of
Severus. She looked at Harry and nodded slowly. "We knew this
was coming, 'Mione. Not when exactly, but we knew it couldn't be far
off." He placed a tentative hand on her arm in a very male
offering of comfort.

"I know. I'm ok. I
think we should talk to Dumbledore." Harry shifted uncomfortably
in his seat and fixed his eyes on the half-eaten food in front of
him. "Harry, come on. You know we have to." Hermione didn't
know exactly what had changed in Harry since the previous summer, she
could tell his feelings towards the headmaster had changed though and
felt an intense curiosity to know why. She stood up and took hold of
her friend's elbow, tugging him to his feet. He resisted slightly but
gave in quickly and they made their way through the now quiet hall
with a number of eyes on them.

In silence the pair made
their way to the entrance to Dumbledore's office. To their great
surprise the gargoyle leapt to life without the password and they
stepped onto the moving staircase.

"That was weird."
Harry muttered, Hermione puzzled over it on the short ride up, her
brow furrowed in concentration. As they came to a halt in front of
the large wooden door it swung open suddenly before them, McGonagall
was standing there looking livid, her face pinched tight and her hair
not in its usual pristine bun, but wild and loose down her back. She
was still in her tartan pyjamas, a shawl slung around her shoulders
and her stern eyes fixed on the pair of them. After a long and
stunned silence a soft and tired voice floated from inside the dusty
old office.

"Minerva, do let
them in." She stepped aside and ushered Harry and Hermione
inside, closing the door behind them. Hermione cast her eyes around
the circular room, there were chairs everywhere, much more than
usual, it was clear that the room had been filled with people until
very recently. Dumbledore was at behind his desk, his head in his
hands, a cup of tea untouched in front of him. Finally he looked up
at them, his eyes were dark and puffy, he had obviously not slept,
but he offered a trace of his smile as he held out his hand,
indicating that they sit themselves down.

"I'd better prepare
for my first class." McGonagall said in clipped tones and made a
hasty exit without waiting for any response. Harry was resolutely
silent, his lips drawn tight over his teeth. Dumbledore simply sat
watching them both and Hermione's patience was wearing thin.

"Sir." She said
in an irritated voice, "You know why we're here. What's
happening? What's being done? Has the Minister been here? What's our
next move?" She fired the questions at break neck speed, while
carefully avoiding the one she most wanted to ask, 'Where is
Severus?'

Dumbledore sighed and
rubbed his eyes behind his half-moon spectacles. Hermione crossed her
arms and sat back in her chair, she didn't like this one little bit,
he was withholding information and there was a horrible atmosphere
between the old man and Harry at her side. Had they perhaps had some
sort of argument that neither were able to move past?

"Miss Granger, I
wish I were able to answer all of your questions." A muscle
twitched in Hermione's cheek, an old suspicion flared inside her that
Dumbledore knew exactly everything that went on in his school and
knew just what her unspoken question was. She tried desperately not
to give anything away in her face and made sure to avoid eye contact.
"Unfortunately, at this time, all I can really tell the two of
you is that both the Ministry and the Order are working hard to track
down the escapees and secure a new location to hold prisoners now
that Azkaban has been washed away. I urge you to refrain from panic
or drastic action, there is nothing you can do now." The old
man's eyes lingered on the top of Harry's head, Harry apparently
found his shoes particularly interesting this morning. Hermione put
her hand on Harry's arm and gave it a squeeze, she hoped he knew she
meant to provide strength against Dumbledore's obvious instruction
for Harry to not act the hero on this occasion. He tilted his head of
scruffy black hair to cast her a knowing look and she gave a slight
smile as understanding passed between them.

A few minutes later,
Harry and Hermione were walking slowly through empty corridors,
vaguely aware that they were both expected in lessons.

"There's something
funny about it all." Hermione was muttering to herself more than
anything, but Harry made noises to suggest he agreed. "I mean,
I feel really out of the loop, which is silly because I've never been
in it, I know that. I hate being kept in the dark though. Don't you?"
Harry looked up, startled by her question.

"Erm. Yeah, of
course. It's frustrating." Hermione came to a halt and pulled
him to face her.

"You say the words,
but I don't hear frustration in you voice, Harry. It's like you're
completely detached from this. All morning it's like you've been
hypnotised. What's going on?" He shrugged his arm out of her
grip and looked away from her, an angry frown creasing his forehead.
"That's better!" Hermione exclaimed, a bit louder than she
had meant to. "Get angry, Harry. Come on. You should be angry."

"I'm not angry,
'Mione. I know you think I should be, but I'm just not. There's
stuff, complicated stuff going on and there are things I haven't told
you that make me feel something other than anger right now. I want to
tell you, but I don't really think I'm ready yet. I'm sorry."

Hermione's eyes were
wide, he hadn't told her anything she didn't already suspect, but he
was now, at last, acknowledging these things to her. It was definite
progress.

"No, no it's fine."
She said quickly, reassuring him. "I know you'll tell me in your
own time. But if you need any help with it you know you can talk to
me any time." He nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

"We'd better get to
Charms." They set off in companionable silence and Hermione's
worries were alleviated slightly. Her thoughts returned to Severus
and concerns about what Dumbledore wasn't sharing. It was going to be
a long day.

~#~#~#~

Severus watched from a
discrete distance through the eye holes in his mask. He pulled his
cloak tight against him in the chill air and suppressed a shiver. He
watched the scene unfolding before him with absolute horror mounting
in his stomach, he hadn't felt this sick in years. Lord Voldemort's
high-pitched, cackling laugh ripped though the dark January morning
air like shards of ice. The wind whipped around the circle of black
robed and masked Death Eaters, robes and hair billowing in a chaotic
fashion, particularly the long, platinum blond hair of the recently
liberated Lucius Malfoy. He was stood at Voldemort's side, mask yet
to be returned to him, with a sickening smirk on his pointed
features. The others were standing awkwardly behind the blond, Crabbe
and Goyle senior among them, all with dopey smiles and grunts of
brutish laughter. None of them looked particularly traumatised from
their incarceration, or relieved by their regained freedom, they were
all just bathing in sycophantic glory of their master.

Severus rolled his eyes.
It was a wretched display of insincere gratitude and gross ego
stroking that he could barely tolerate. He was angry, not to mention,
worried, that he hadn't been involved in the jail-break of the
previous night. Although, from what he could tell, he was far from
alone in not being privy to the Dark Lord's plans. It seemed the
whole thing had been arranged and executed quite quickly by only a
handful of people, the innermost circle of Bellatrix, who was looking
very pleased with herself, MacKenzie and West. Both of whom were now
notably absent, but it had been made clear by Voldemort's comments
moments ago that they had played key roles in setting free the
prisoners.

Severus tried not to
dwell upon the knowledge that before Voldemort's partial downfall
fifteen years previously, he would have been one of the few trusted
enough to perform such an operation. It would have been him by
Voldemort's side, gloating and awaiting ample reward for his good
work. Had the circumstances been different, he would have been
resentful of his status being in the hands of a Potter, but as it
was, he knew he had no desire to be that close to the Dark Lord any
more. Much as Dumbledore wanted him to wangle his way back into the
fold, useful as it would have been given the current state of affairs
and the free men standing before him, Severus wasn't sure he would
survive under the close scrutiny of the ever watchful red eyes of his
former master. The years of Voldemort's incorporeality had softened
the spy, he was out of practice and in very recent months been
weakened by his soft spot for his star pupil and now, now what?
Lover? No, not yet. Girlfriend, he thought with a silent snort.

If Voldemort got his
hands on that little bit of information, Severus wouldn't live
another minute. No, it was much better in the long run that he be
distanced, he could still perform his role as spy, passing on the
information he could and live long enough to actually make a
difference. It wasn't as if he was completely on the edge, after all,
Voldemort still believed Severus was a spy for him, he
required updates and a certain degree of intimacy stood between them.
Over the last year and a half, since Voldemort's return, the implicit
trust his old master had held in him in the old days had not been as
strong and he'd been content with that. Now, however, he was
beginning to worry. Something this big should not have been kept from
him and with a masked grimace, Severus secured the old defences as
the circle broke up into casual conversations, and made his way over
to the serpentine Lord to attempt to repair some damage.

~#~#~#~

Hermione worried her
lower lip as she sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Ron, her
eyes darting up and down along the staff table. He wasn't there. All
the other teachers were present and correct, but Severus was still
absent, he hadn't been at lunch either and Hermione's thoughts were
threatening to swallow her whole. Ginny sat down next to her and gave
her a little hug, dragging Hermione from her visions of horrific
possibilities for the man she cared so deeply for.

"It's terrible."
Ginny said solemnly.

"Sorry?"
Hermione asked quietly, not sure what her young friend was referring
to.

"The jail break. I
can tell you're worried about it. Looks like Snape's hard at work
trying to get to the bottom of things though doesn't it?"
Hermione blinked at the red head as she tucked into her dinner.

"Yes, I was just
thinking that." She half lied.

"People are going to
notice how much time off he's had. There was that week before the
holidays, now today. I mean, people are bound to suspect because it's
so rare that he's off." Ginny was being far too flippant for
Hermione's liking.

As if in confirmation of
her morbid thoughts, the door behind the staff table opened and Madam
Pomfrey slipped through it, almost entirely without notice by the
busy students. Hermione watched as the nurse whispered to Dumbledore
and promptly slipped back out the same way, Dumbledore and McGonagall
exchanged short words, she looked worried, he didn't. That only
angered Hermione further. She jumped up from the table and rushed
from the hall without a word or backward glance, and made her way
quickly to the hospital wing. Every bed was empty, Madam Pomfrey
wasn't there, or in her little office and the private room was also
empty. It was a small consolation, but it also opened up all manner
of more terrible possibilities.

Hermione took a
shuddering breath and made for the dungeons. As she reached the
entrance hall, the nurse came bustling from the corridor down to the
dungeons, carrying several bottles and looking highly irritated. She
spotted Hermione and gave her a courteous nod before jogging up the
grand staircase. Hermione watched the woman out of sight then set off
at a run for Severus's quarters.

Barely two minutes later
she came to a halt in front of the large, torch-lit door at the end
of the dark corridor. Without hesitation, Hermione's hand flew out
and she opened the door, darted inside and shut it behind her almost
silently. The living room was cold and dark, not the warm and
welcoming sight that had greeted her last time she was here. The door
she assumed led to the bedroom was closed but low, flickering light
crept under it and she dashed for it, bumping into one of the sofas
in the dark.

"Damn." She
muttered as she rubbed her thigh and reached her target. She gave a
gentle knock on the door and waited for a moment. A shaky voice
barely reached her through the thick wooden door.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Severus, it's
me. Can I come in?" There was a pregnant pause, Hermione's mind
was racing, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst
from her chest. She had to see him now, she would break the door down
with raw human strength if necessary. It wasn't, the door opened
slowly.

Severus stood in the
small gap, hunched and clutching his right side. His eyes were dark
and wet, his hair was dripping down is front and onto the flag stone
floor between them. He was wearing a black towelling dressing gown
that hung loosely from his slender frame, gaping from the neck to
waist where it was loosely tied. Hermione's eyes ran down his body,
even in the dense shadow she could make out dark hairs on his bare
chest and lower legs, he was thoroughly wet, confirming that he had
only just showered.

"You shouldn't be
here." He hissed. Hermione blinked at him, sudden uncertainty
hit her.

"I know. I was
really worried though. Are you alright?" She tried to keep her
voice even, not giving in to the panic, relief and confusion that
were coursing through her in varying strengths.

"I am alive."
He spat.

"Severus? Please let
me in." A pleading tone slipped through that Hermione hated, she
sounded whiny. He looked away from her, wincing slightly and
clutching his side more tightly. "You're obviously hurt."
She managed to say. "Here." She took hold of him, planting
his arm around her shoulders and turning him back into his bedroom.
She kicked the door closed behind them and helped him to the bed, he
didn't put up a fight, but he scowled at her ferociously.

As Hermione tucked
Severus into the bed she took in their surroundings. The bedroom
wasn't huge, there was a small fireplace, which was alight and
providing the only light in the room, a large wardrobe stood opposite
the end of the four-poster double bed and night stands and the floor
was covered by thick rugs. All the wood in the room was mahogany, the
soft furnishings were navy blue with gold trimmings and splashes of
rich burgundy.

Severus shifted in the
bed, grabbing Hermione's attention. "I like your room." She
said with a warm smile. He glared at her with his heavily hooded
eyes. "Can I get you anything?" She asked, refusing to take
his attitude personally. He shook his head and leaned back against
the stack of pillows, closing his eyes. Hermione sat down on the edge
of the bed and watched him breathe slowly in and out, his chest
rising and falling with a certain unsteadiness. Once he had drifted
off to sleep, Hermione stood up carefully and moved around the room,
she stoked the fire as quietly as she could and sat back down on the
other side of the bed, kicked off her shoes and curled up next to
Severus, her arm resting across his chest. There would be time to
talk tomorrow, right now she felt tiredness sweep over her. She
didn't care if they were caught in the morning by the almost certain
visit of the headmaster, the thought didn't even register as she
slipped into a deep sleep.

AN: Sorry for the delay
on this story, I lost my way with it a bit but have got back on track
now. The next chapter (11) will be up tomorrow after some tweaking
:-) Please review, it'll help me get chapter 12 written! Big thanks and kisses to those who have reviewed so far!
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