Harry, Ron, and Luna landed heavily on the foggy earth. The sun was even turned a fiery red casting a most ominous glow over the tall hedges in front of them. The world around them was deathly quiet and unnaturally still.

Luna was the only one who didn't look the least bit afraid. Her face filled with wonder at the magic around them. She could see all the intricate runes and charms glowing faintly along the walls of the entrance. A sight that had always served her well, even it no one else would even recognize her skill. She didn't mind. It made her feel special in her own way and allowed her to navigate the world around her with a peaceful reverence she was known for.

"Right. Let's go." Ron was the first to take a step. His chest puffed out and his adrenaline running full steam. He opened the map and turned it in his hands until it was oriented and took the first step into the maze.

Harry and Luna quickly came to his side as the fog grew thicker around them. Luna had a hand on Harry's jacket but Ron was two steps ahead. His body fading in and out inside the fog.

Ron counted in his head he steps marked on the map, so focused that he hadn't seen the stone wall he was quickly approaching. A large bronze lion head marked the center and it was also the first thing his head struck. He yelped and fell back a few steps into Luna and Harry before a strong gust of wind roared through the split path.

All three heads turned when a figure appeared out of the mist to their right. The path they were meant to take. Luna held into Harry tighter as the feminine form started to take shape. The burning light overhead cast a shadow over their face and Luna could easily make out the mark of a golem on their forehead glowing bright red.

"It's alright..." She whispered to Harry who had grabbed onto Ron. "It's a golem, if we're quiet we can pass right by...they can't see..."

Ron rubbed his forehead trying to keep quiet. He glanced up at the image feeling his heart skip a beat. They needed to go that way, that was what the map had said, could they really make it past? He saw Luna come around in front of him and he held his breath as she lowered herself down. The fog was waning and her blond hair stood out against the otherwise darkened sides.

Harry followed straight after, giving Ron a small pull before he turned away completely. Neither one of their footsteps made a noise as they walked over the gravel path. Having each cast a silencing spell on their shoes. Ron wracked his brain as he tried to remember the spell. Thankfully, Harry looked back and cast the spell for him whispering it under his breath.

The golem turned slowly then, it's long arms reaching out of ahead. The light shined down then highlighting the grotesque nature of the beast. Completely made of dirt its face held two large black pits where the eyes should have been and it's body looked mangled and contorted.

Ron held his breath, carefully slinking down the path, his eyes tracking the creature as he passed. He was just around the bend when his hip brushed through a low hanging branch ruffling the foliage.

The golem turned, a bright red light, like molten lava, emitting from its misshapen mouth. A scream more bone-chilling than any of them had ever felt washed over them and they knew the creature had seen them.

oOo

Hermione curled her knees to her chest. The pain was dull now, but her body still shook. The lapse in time from when she came from the shower and ended up in the chair was starting to grate on her senses. Small lapses weren't uncommon when you did routine tasks but since when was navigating Snape's rooms a routine task? How long had she been there? Truly? Had he lied to her? Something else was going on. She was sure of it.

Her mind thought back to when she'd opened the door on him. The sharp pain that had sent her to the floor didn't seem like a residual effect of the cruciatous curse. No, it felt new. Sharper.

She lifted her still trembling hands. How was she supposed to be functional when she couldn't even close her hands without them shaking like a leaf in a rainstorm? Would she even be able to hold a wand again? A sob welled in the back of her throat and she lowered her head down to her knees. She was angry. She was hurt. Why had she even agreed to let him hurt her?

That was another puzzling problem. It was almost like he couldn't do it. Like he, just as much as she, didn't want to do it. Then, at the end, his power had felt even stronger than when Bellatrix had sent her to the floor. She was sure she'd blacked out then.

Snape lowered the gate over the fireplace with a heavy hand. His body was tense, his time in the shower now wasted. He turned his eyes to the empty frame of Albus and thanked the fates for small favors. He had already decided that he was not going to put the girl through more torture. Her mind was a complete mess.

He looked over the portraits, some still sleeping others silently watching, ever present. He looked for one, in particular, one well before his time. He moved around the sofas and over beneath the looking glass that allowed him to see within all of Hogwarts.

"Scrimgeor."

The pompously dressed man inside the painting jolted awake to the call of his name. He harrumphed at being disturbed before looking down with a glare equal to the young headmaster's in front of him.

"What do you want, filthy traitor?"

Snape ground his teeth, not all those who hung in the office supported him, or even Albus in what they had done. Still, they held the knowledge of their time and it was that to which Snape sought.

"What do you know about fugue states?"

"Why do you want to know?" The man scowled even deeper, "It's for that mudblood isn't it?"

"Save your epithets for someone who cares." The word did rile his temper but he didn't let it show. So much pain centered around that word. Useless, unnecessary pain.

"Fugue states are created by severe stress or traumatic events. Whatever her trigger is, will set off the fugue state. There is nothing you can do to stop it. She's broken."

Snape snarled at the man's apathetic words, "But she came out of it."

"Persons with fugue states often go in and out. When the stress that triggered the fugue wears off they are likely to find their true self again. But the lapse in time often drives them to madness. Just give up. The best you can do now is put it out of its misery. Save you a lot of hassle in the long run."

Snape resisted the urge to throw the frame into the fire when the man left. He hadn't been as helpful as he'd originally thought. He turned away from the frame and glared at the door. What had he really expected from a man who had secretly experimented on muggles and muggleborn witches and wizards?

All the information wasn't useless. He did recall the way her eyes had looked at him after he'd removed her pain. If pain was the trigger, perhaps pleasure was the revert? His mind continued to turn, a plan forming in his mind. Perhaps the brand could be more useful than he originally thought.

oOo

"To the right!" Harry shouted as the stones slipped out from under his feet. He'd accidentally set off another trap by stepping on a slightly inlaid stone making the entire walkway start to crumble. Luna was running behind him when he heard her let out a small shout. He'd just jumped the gap when he saw her fall. He turned back as quickly as he could, still on his knees from landing and grabbed onto the shoulder of her jumper as her hand scrambled to keep hold of the remaining walkway.

"I've got you!" Harry leaned over further taking hold of her arms. "Ron!"

"Levicorpus!" Ron cast the spell from the safety of the ledge rising Luna from the deep pit below. Harry adjusted his hold guiding her over. Ron released her safely on the ground with a heavy sigh. "This is the safe path? I don't even want to imagine what the dangerous path is."

Harry and Luna both hummed in agreement helping the other to their feet. Thus far they'd dodged two golems, a chimaera that nearly took Harry's arm off and ducked under a low hanging spike trap that had fallen just as the last of them had cleared it.

"How much farther?" Harry dusted off his pants taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Two turns." Ron folded the map back into his pocket looking down into a thick black fog that filled the entire walkway in the direction they were meant to go. He looked the other way and frowned, it was perfectly clear. So clear he could see the turn at the end.

His brows furrowed when someone or something peeked around the far end. "Who's that?" Ron pointed just as Harry and Luna came to his side, both turned their heads to look.

"I don't know... but I don't think we should go ask..." Harry felt a coldness sweeping through him just at the sight. Whoever it was ducked back behind the hedge for a moment before a painful scream ripped through them all. Its timber, very familiar.

"Ron, no!" Harry ran after the redhead who was two steps ahead and tackled him to the ground before he could leave the junction. Another form appeared from around the hedge and Harry felt his heart thump louder.

Bellatrix Lestrange stood before them, a wicked smirk on her lips. She laughed lowly as she started to approach, a blade twirling in her fingers beside her face. Harry struggled to keep Ron down, but even he was starting to believe in what they were seeing. When another horrible scream cut through him, he lost his grip on Ron.

"Hermione!"

"Ridikulus!"

Luna's spell hit the mark. The form in front of them instantly transformed. Bellatrix's black corset and skirts turning into a rather fluffy pink ballgown, the knife she'd held turning into a wand you would have seen in a muggle fairy tell, complete with the shining star on top.

Harry scrambled to his feet a second too late. Ron had crossed the threshold. A large wind shook everything and both boys found themselves flying backward hard. Harry's head cracked against the stone leaving his ears ringing while Ron landed halfway over top knocking the air from both of them.

"Come on!"

Luna's voice broke through the haze of Ron's mind and he relented to her rather impressive pull. Harry pushed himself up with gasping breaths. His head flicked to the right as one of the golems they'd left behind started towards the pit. The light burning brightly from their mouth.

Head still on tilt he fumbled his way forward guided by Luna's small hand in his. Luna pulled the both of them into the thick blackness without a thought.

oOo

"Miss Granger?" Snape didn't need to be a mind reader to tell the teen was upset. Her curled position was nothing new to him. He had paused by the potion's cabinet grabbing a small canary yellow vial. He rounded the edge of the chair with caution taking to the chair a safe distance away while he waited for her to acknowledge his presence.

"Wh-at's...hap-pening to-to me?" Her voice was more than popping now, a stutter was starting to form. Her head slowly came up from her knees, her neck twitching from the effort. Her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Wh-why am I-I he-re?"

Snape's brow furrowed and his eyes lowered just so, he turned the small vial in his hand before leaning forward, "Take this first...it should help."

Hermione looked at the vial with disdain. "Wh-at is it?"

"It's to help with the cruciatous curse." He kept his calm, but her hand was starting to move on their own.

Hermione watched herself, like an out of body experience, her mind felt foggy until her fingers wrapped around the vial. The imperious curse. Had he cast an imperious curse on her?

She flicked her eyes over his body but he hadn't his wand in his hand, in fact, other than appearing tense, he didn't have anything near his person. She looked down at the vial shaking in her grasp. She gave him a look before reaching up to take the cork. Her fine motor skills were that of a toddler and she could barely take hold of it.

Snape watched her struggle for a few seconds before taking her hands in his. He removed the cork with a flick of his thumb before guiding it towards her mouth. When the glass touched her lips he pulled back letting her do the rest.

Hermione closed her eyes following his direction. The potion tasted sickly sweet like chocolate and caramel had a child of pure sugar. Her face depicted her observation but when her hands started to slow their tremble her eyes grew wider. All the little muscles that had been wound tight were starting to release, even the ones in her mind that had left her at odds end. He was brilliant, simply, wonderfully brilliant.

Snape smirked slightly and took the empty vial slipping it into his coat pocket, "Better?"

"Loads..." Hermione blinked from her blissful stupor, "What...wh-at happened to me?"

"Our plan was successful...but there an unforeseen occurrence." How much should he tell her? Should he tell her at all? He could already hear the wheels that had been jammed inside her mind start turning again. Her brilliance would not be caged for long. She deserved to know. It was only right.

He pushed himself up to his feet turning away towards the fire. He could lie, not that she would know the difference. As brilliant as she was, she couldn't read people. Too fact based. A life, too safe, to need the skill.

Hermione's jaw clenched tight, her throat felt raw and scratchy. Her voice had been her first concern but now, she could tell by his stance that something else had happened. When she'd taken her shower she hadn't found any new marks on her skin. Though her mind did briefly wonder about the healing wound along her hip, it looked infected, as though he had missed it in his initial going through. She was almost relieved to think that he hadn't thought to remove all of her clothing but at the same time found herself in need of his services once again.

"Tell me...please..." She kept her voice a whisper keeping her throat from popping, the stutter from before having gone away with the potion now in her system. Her body felt more relaxed than it had in a very, very long time.

"You've been branded."

"Branded?" Hermione looked down at her forearm, "Like...the darkmark?"

"In a way..." Snape watched her through the curtain of his hair, "You've been marked a slave."

Hermione's jaw clenched tight, her eyes wide with anger. "A s-slave?" Her brow furrowed and she pulled the sleeve of her shirt up. The only thing that looked back at her was the very irritated carving Bellatrix had left behind.

"It's not there..." Snape swallowed thickly flicking his eyes down to her neck.

Her eyes raised to his before flicking down to the side, her brow twitching. Her hand rose cautiously to her neck. She hadn't seen anything in the mirror but she knew nothing about slave bonds. Was that what had sent her to the floor? The sharp shock of pain that had run rampant through her system until she followed his command? Hermione lowered her head down. Her hands coming up to grab the hair at her temples. "Wh-at do we...do now?"

Snape felt floored by her words, so much so that his face clearly showed it. He had expected anger, rage, fury. Not this. Her eyes rose to his, a strength awakening inside them. Something he had only witnessed in the classroom when she was proving herself well beyond her peers. It took him a long moment to truly grasp what she was saying. Didn't she want to know whom she belonged to? What the brand would do? Didn't any of that matter to her?

"We...prepare."

"For what?" Her voice was distant now, her eyes looking pointedly at his shoes. She didn't need to hear him confirm what she already knew. That she'd been given to him. It only made sense, what she didn't know was who else had control over her. Who else, could command her to do their bidding. It didn't seem logical to her now, as to what Voldemort could possibly gain from having her marked, but she was sure there was a reason. A reason she very much wouldn't be happy to hear.

"There's going to be a party tonight...you're expected to attend."

Her hands came down from her hair, her jaw raising. She closed her eyes for a long moment before slowly raising them up into his own. "What do I need to do?"

Snape couldn't understand anything in that moment. Her mind was clear, there was no outside force pressing down upon her. Yet still, she chose to take the path less traveled by and put herself back into the snake's den. How on earth had she lived as long as she had with such reckless ambition? It was beyond foolish. Where was her self-preservation? Where was her will to live? Didn't she even remotely comprehend what he had said to her?

"There is a theory I want to test...about your fugue state..." Snape had to jump in feet first, there was so little time to formulate a plan. Pushing the shock of her reaction aside for later introspection; he pressed on with the more important matter of her surviving the night.

"Do what you want..." Hermione turned her head away, her shoulders lowering down with defeat. A new feeling was starting to take hold of her heart. A deep-seated pain that she had more often than not been able to keep away. Though it had come many a dark night before. The fire that burned inside her was going out. Her will to see herself beyond the end of this frivolous fight was waning. She was so tired of fighting.

He had seen that look before, many times, in his own eyes. It pained him to see the light inside her growing dim when she had so valiantly fought against him before. His anger at himself was overshadowed by the man who had truly put them all into the position they were presently in. The twisted world of a man trying to seek redemption for his past misgivings. He had served him well along that road, but now, it was paved with more than blood.

Snape moved slowly taking a knee down beside her, "I don't want to hurt you anymore..."

Hermione's eyes rose to the raw emotion inside the impenetrable man's voice. A man who always seemed to take great pleasure in making her and anyone else he could life's miserable. His heavy hand and tilted justice scale his guide. His words made little sense, but she could feel them from his heart. There was a softness there, deep inside, protected heavily by the walls he had built around himself. The walls that life had given him. What could she possibly say?

"We need to understand your trigger...what sets you into a fugue state...Why are you afraid of Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione pursed her lips, not following his line of thinking, "I'm not..."

"You saw him, today, you don't remember, as soon as you saw him you went into your fugue state."

"I...I don't know..." Hermione shook her head slowly.

"He was there, the day you were captured, wasn't he?"

"I...I don't really remember...it's all sort of fuzzy..." Hermione rubbed her throat swallowing down to try and sate the burning.

"Something about that day put you into a fugue state. I was successful in putting you into it again but I'd rather not risk permanent damage if it can be avoided."

"I was scared that day...I know that...but...I don't..." Her eyes closed tight. It was like her mind was refusing to relive that horrible experience like it was locked away in some other lifetime.

Snape turned his eyes towards her neck, a plan forming. "I can't ask your permission, but I will seek your forgiveness for what I'm about to do."

Her heart beat a bit faster with his words. She had already given her consent though she hadn't been specific in what she'd consented to. Her arms wrapped tighter around her knees as she watched him come to his feet, a mask of cold indifference covering up his wounded heart once again. It was such a quick change she wasn't sure if she'd actually seen anything else.

Snape straightened his back, turning his eyes cold, "Stand up."

Hermione felt a small spark on her neck but slowly uncurled her legs before the pain came. She wrapped her arms around her waist, watching him through the tops of her eyelashes.

"Go to the edge of the bed."

Hermione turned slowly, her arms holding tighter to the sweater vest. She felt her legs start to move on their own before she took over to following his command. Her eyes glanced to the side as she noticed he had come to walk beside her. When she came to stand at the side of the bed her eyes rose again, her mind ticking away as to what his goal was.

"Remove the vest."

Hermione was starting to become more concerned, her eyes glanced at his for any sort of clue but his face remained completely blank. She reached down and pulled the sweater vest over her head before tossing it onto the bed. Her arms crossed back over her stomach protectively and she couldn't help but press her legs a bit tighter together.

"Remove your shirt."

"No." Her neck seared to life but she fought against it lowering her head down, baring her teeth to swallow down the pain. Her arms, however, had already started to move, the pain in her neck continuing even as her body obeyed. "No!" Despite her pleas, her fingers continued to unbutton the shirt, from the bottom up.

He forced himself not to look away when the fabric fell off her shoulders to the floor. His body hummed with his restraint, amazed that she was still able to resist at all. He suspected that because he truly did not want her to follow his command that her resistance to it wasn't as severe.

"Jeans next."

Hermione's heart was thumping into overdrive. Her head shook now but her hands disobeyed her. The pain in her neck was making her throat tight and her breaths just as constricted. What was he going to do? "Please...don't ma-ke me do th-is...Please...any-thing else..."

He didn't want to, he truly didn't. He just wanted to make her afraid, hoping that fear, not pain; was the trigger. He wasn't sure he'd be able to hurt her again like he had before. It had taken nearly everything inside him to do what he had done. He couldn't risk losing her completely just so they could fool the Dark Lord again. There had to be an easier way.

He had to make her afraid. His hand rose to her neck as she stood in the puddle of her own clothes, her last layer all that was standing between them. His hand took the underside of her jaw raising it to meet his gaze, "You're mine now. I think it's time, you paid your respects for all the help I've given you."

"No...please..." Her hands came up to hold his arms but she couldn't find the strength to push him away. The cold of the room was nothing compared to the fear that was growing in her stomach. The pain in her neck was fading in and out like a pulsing beacon.

"On the bed."

"Please..." She clung to him as her legs went backward. Her head shook back and forth while tears ran down her face. How had this all changed? Was he really going to do it? How could she have believed that he was truly on their side? Had this been his plan all along? Why had she been so stupid? So trusting? She truly was a fool.

Snape pried her hands from his arms, she wasn't turning. What was keeping her there with him? Why wasn't she trying to run from the room? What was keeping her there? How far could he reasonably take this before his own mind ceased to function properly?

"On your knees."

Hermione lowered her head down coming to sit up on her knees, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest clawing at her own flesh. She'd trusted him.

He couldn't do this, he couldn't go any further. A deep breath left his nose and he reached out carefully to raise her chin. His hand cupped the side of her neck over the brand and his thumb raised her jaw. He waited for her watery eyes to meet his, his thumb absently wiping away a tear that had spilled over, "Please get dressed Miss Granger."

He turned away from her then, walking straight towards the office. The door slammed heavily behind him so much that it shook a vase on the table beside the door. Her body trembled as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. He could've...but he hadn't...was he trying to scare her? It had worked...but she was still willing to fight him. She would have rather gone mute from the pain.