"Severus."

"My Lord," Snape had to swallow down the bile rising in his throat. The way the man purred his name made him sick. He lowered his head before taking to the offered seat before the Dark Lord. The fact that he was offered a seat at all was promising but the way Bellatrix was grinning in the chair off to the right didn't help him relax at all.

"I heard that you enjoyed yourself."

Snape took his seat forcing his mind to go calm and blank, leaving only the surface filled with misleading images. "I did my lord."

The snake-man smiled and leaned back in his chair, "You've broken her?"

"Yes, My Lord. I feel that she is very close to being useful to you."

Voldemort hummed softly running his fingers over Nagini's head. Snape kept his jaw up and his eyes straight. Feigning complete confidence in what he'd said.

"The boy is going to attempt to enter Hogwarts tonight." Voldemort grinned slowly, "He's searching for the girl, as you predicted." Voldemort gave him a slow look and Snape held out his hand showing him the two finished stones. "Are they complete?"

"Nearly, My Lord. The potion needs three days to brew. I've just acquired the ingredients I need to begin."

Voldemort turned the stones slowly in his palm. A heavy silence settled over the room. "Make sure he doesn't get past the front gates."

"I understand."

oOo

"What time should we go?" Luna handed a bowl of soup over to Harry.

"I don't fancy running into Snape, maybe if we go really late he'll be asleep and we can sneak past him."

"We may not have to." Ron had only looked away for a moment to get some of the bean soup Luna had made. When he looked back at the map Hermione wasn't in the headmaster's rooms anymore. She was in a storage room on the sixth floor, "Look."

"How did she get there?" Harry shifted his bowl out of the way and looked where Ron was pointing. "She was there, now she's all the way over here."

"Snape's not on the map either." Harry furrowed his brows, "Did we do something to it?"

"I don't think so. Look, it's showing everyone else's where they were." All three of them looked over with confusion trying to figure out what had happened.

"I think we need to rethink our strategy..." Harry looked at Ron sadly expecting him to burst with anger. Instead, the redhead just nodded slowly.

oOOo

Hermione rubbed her stomach idly. She wasn't scratching exactly but there was a soft pain just under her right rib that was slowly digging away at her focus. Presently, she was curled up on the bed with the book on her knees her blanket over her bare feet. She had made it to the section about altered conscious. It was fascinating to know that even wizards had mental ailments. Just bringing more to the fact that there wasn't so much difference between muggles and magical kind.

She was just getting to the part about fugue states when the door to her room came open. She looked over her knees and sagged with relief. He hadn't come back injured. That was something she would never be able to get out of her mind. Her eyes looked him over before she realized something was wrong.

Her mouth opened but she didn't know what she could possibly say. Thankfully, he hadn't anything to say either and merely came further into the room. He had a small chest in his hands and his brow was more focused than she'd ever seen it.

"I need to clean your blood." He set the box on the table and opened it with a heavy bang. "Your liver and kidneys are not going to take much more of the potions I've been giving you."

Hermione set the book down beside her and pulled her legs over the edge of the bed. That would explain a lot. Her brows furrowed, "How...how are you going to clean my blood?"

Snape set down a clear bludger sized orb down onto the table and made a small hole in the top, "I'll have to remove it."

Hermione's eyes widened, "You are going to put it back in right?"

Snape glared over at her. She had to know how ridiculous she sounded. "No, I thought I'd re-paint the office. You know, a fresh look for spring."

Hermione pursed her lips for a moment, was that a joke? Had he just made a joke? A chuckle bubbled in her throat but she stopped it with a small smirk. She had felt stupid as soon as she'd asked the question but his response to it wasn't nearly as insulting as it could have been. Rather, she found it oddly hilarious.

Snape rolled his eyes back down to what he was doing, ignoring the smile that was crawling over her lips, "I'm going to put you to sleep with Draught of the Living Death."

That cleared her sinus', so to speak. Her heart gave a small thump,"But if you're trying to get the potions out of my system why are you giving me another?"

"Different potions metabolize at different rates. One of the reasons the Draught is as powerful as it is. Is because it metabolizes extremely slowly. It should last about 2 hours inside you before it is cleared from your system. It won't actually reach your kidneys or liver until they're already clean."

"Are...are you a qualified healer?" The equipment he was setting up didn't look all that simple and despite how bleak her life was, she didn't fancy death by potion overdose to be the way she wanted to go.

"All Potion's Masters who have received proper training are more than qualified to be healers. Though the same could not be said in reverse." He lifted a yellow liquid up to the light, speaking complacently, "You must have extensive knowledge about how a potion effects a body. How long it will stay in the system. Where the lymphatic will collect it and what possible side effects might occur. I assure you, as a Potion's Master I am more than qualified."

Hermione hadn't anything to say to his little speech. She wasn't sure why she doubted anything he did anymore. She stayed quiet watching him work. She'd never really seen him making anything so closely before. He was completely focused and his hands as large as they were, were extremely adept.

"It's daunting being around someone who has more knowledge than you." His voice held an edge to it. His eyes looked at her over the top of another liquid he was measuring out. "The company of idiots must be so good for the self-esteem."

Hermione snarled at him but her look held no heat, "They're not stupid."

"Really?" His snort made her jump slightly.

"Okay, they're not top of the class but-"

"They're beneath you." Snape poured the mixture slowly into the orb that was now slightly hovering over the table top.

Hermione's jaw twitched, was that a compliment or an insult? Could it have possibly been both? "They're still my friends...they mean a lot to me."

Snape turned towards her, his dark gaze felt as though it could see down into the very depths of her soul. "Enough to die for?"

Hermione pulled her eyes away for a long moment. She had faced death countless times with them. This was the first time she'd ever truly experienced looking after herself on her own. She missed them terribly. She knew they were getting on, how well she wasn't sure but they hadn't gotten themselves into anything they hadn't been unable to get out of thus far. At least, as far as she could tell, the war was far from over.

"Yes, I would." Hermione raised her chin to his then. That same piercing look washed over her but she didn't look away, not this time. Her heart hurt to look at him. Her words had made a shadow fall over his features. Something painful had happened to him. Something he still hadn't gotten over. She wasn't sure how he had hidden it so long. Now that she'd seen it, she couldn't forget it.

"Hold out your tongue." His temper was rising, his defense was up and his tone was heavy.

It all seemed pointless to him, healing her. It was like giving cancer treatment to a prisoner on death row. What truly was the point? Hope. Hope steadied his hand as he pulled the very narrow dropper from the clear potion in his palm. "You'll have 30 seconds before you'll be out."

Hermione nodded slowly, she wanted to hug him. She didn't know why but she desperately did. She wanted to comfort him, even though he wasn't in obvious distress. A deep breath opened her mouth and she stuck out the tip of her tongue. She never really thought about the lives of her teachers before. Perhaps it was time she stopped looking down into books and started to understand the world around her.

Snape pressed the bulb extremely slowly, when the most perfect drop formed, he released. Her life lesson may have been too many days too late. He watched and waited, counting in the seconds in forefront of his mind.

At 5, she reached up; her fingertips lightly touching his cheek. At 8, she smiled at him, a soft innocent smile. At 10, her eyes fell closed. At 15, her entire body leaned back heavily into his hands that had moved to catch her. At 20, he laid her head on the pillow; pushing her hair from her neck. At 25, he tracked her chest which had started to slow. At 30, her chest gave one last shuddering breath before going completely still.

His fingers rose up and pressed into her neck. There was no pulse to meet his fingertips. He conjured a lifeline over her head. She was alive but clinically dead. He turned away from her, raising the sphere to rest over her head along the headboard of the bed. He took hold of her wrist and turned it, his eyes lowering down to the word still healing on her arm. His thumb brushed over it ever so lightly before he turned his eyes back on task. How much hatred one little word could bring; how much fear could be produced with a name. It was a marvel really.

He pulled a silver blade next making the smallest cut in the bend of her elbow unconcerned as her blood wasn't presently flowing enough to stain the sheets. He moved the blade to her neck, using his fingers to find the vein that led most directly to her heart. With the precision of an experienced surgeon, he pressed the blade into the vein and turned to exchange it for his wand.

oOo

"We need to try and sleep so we can be alert tonight." Harry shook out his wet hair from the quick shower he'd taken in the small popup stall that was in the corner of the tent. It wasn't very pleasant but it got most of the dirt off. Scourgify spells could only do so much.

Luna was sitting on her cot, already having gone before him. The boys had taken to the outside of the tent to help preserve her modesty. Now she sat curled up in the clothes they'd rescued from the Snatcher's safe house. She was fiddling with something in her hand but looked up when he spoke.

"Do you think we should sleep in shifts?"

"Probably, should we draw straws?"

Ron was grabbing his clothes to go to the shower next, "I can take the first watch, I need to shower anyway. How long do you think we should sleep?'

"Two hours each should be alright right?" Luna tucked the necklace she'd been examining into her shirt.

"That would still leave early evening to go over our plan."

"Sounds good to me." Ron glanced at Luna who was settling down onto the cot.

"Alright, wake us in two hours." Harry sat down on his, kicking off his shoes before letting out a deep sigh.

oOOo

"Do you have everything you want to take with you Draco?"

"Yea, I think so." He didn't bother to lift his eyes as he tossed another one of his uniform sweaters into his trunk. Normally the house elves had put his things in for him. Not anymore. He glanced up at his mother when she came into his room.

"There are others who could have done that for you."

"I don't want any of Bella's...pets... to touch my things." Draco slammed the trunk loudly keeping his mother from seeing what he'd put inside.

"Do they really bother you so?" Narcissa hadn't really grown accustomed to having them around the manor either but she hadn't dared to speak out against them. They kept her sister and husband occupied. That was enough for her.

"This house reeks of blood." Draco turned to his mother then, his eyes were deeply shadowed. Seeing Granger at the revel had brought back all the memories he'd been trying to suppress since she came to be there that night.

"Just a bit longer...you can do this Draco, you're strong." Narcissa rose her hand to touch his face but he swatted it away with the same look Lucius often gave her when he had lost his temper.

"This isn't right."

"It is what it is."

Draco snarled at her and turned away shrinking his trunk down, "I'm going to the library, make sure none of those...things... bother me."

Narcissa put her hand on her heart watching her son leave. It pained her to see him hurting, but what could she do? There wasn't anything any of them could do but accept what life had given them. It wasn't pretty but it was as it was. There was nothing she could do.

oOOo

Snape set a stasis charm over the potion he'd been working on. Hermione's notes were just as detailed if not more so than his own. He had three batches of the potion needed to imbue the stones, each one a slight variant over what she'd written. He still needed the final piece.

He turned his eyes up towards the clock. One more hour, one more hour then he could ask her himself. Or rather, pull the memory from her mind. A heavy sigh followed him out of the room and he took to the chair beside the fire. The day had suddenly grown slow, his mind was ticking off the tasks he had yet to complete.

How was he supposed to keep Potter from entering the castle? How would he even plan to enter? All of the secret passages were blocked. He couldn't very well ask any of the teachers to watch the halls, they'd roll out the red carpet as soon as they spotted that scarred head of his.

He briefly thought about the Carrows, but they were just as insane as Bellatrix. Voldemort had said to keep him out, not maim him. No, he'd have to do this on his own. Too bad his mirror was damaged, he could have watched multiple entrances at once.

oOo

"Show me, Hermione Granger," Ron whispered since Harry and Luna were fast asleep. He'd taken his shower and dried himself before the little fire they had in the kitchen. He glanced through the doorway while the mirror started to take form.

Satisfied that he hadn't disturbed them, he looked down into the mirror. Her arm was in focus, it was turned up, her fingers still and upturned. She was still but what really wrapped a cord around his heart was the word that was permanently carved into her arm. His eyes couldn't help but trace each letter, each one adding weight to his heart. He wanted revenge. He wanted to carve something into that insane witches forehead before slitting her throat.

She probably didn't even bleed. Barely even human as she was. She'd probably just emit a black smoke or something just as equally demonic. Ron took some solace in his mind's vision before shifting the mirrors view. He leaned back a bit bringing her chest into view, about to move up he paused when his brain alerted him to something he didn't initially understand.

He went still for a long moment, even so much as holding his breath. It was when his body reminded him to breathe that he realized, she wasn't. He was sure that couldn't be right. His heart moved into his throat, starting to speed up. Were they too late? Had Snape killed her and dumped her off into an old storage room?

"Projektas maxima."

There wasn't enough power left in the mirror to create a solid overlay. The room she was in faded in then out, the walls then her body following. He'd barely gotten a proper look when the mirror went completely black. He cursed rather loudly before dropping the mirror down on the table. A soft whimper from the other room caught his attention before his temper got the best of him.

He pushed himself up slowly, an apology on his lips for waking them. When he turned the corner his mouth closed. Harry was still asleep. The blanket over his head to keep out the sun that was pressing against the side of the tent. Ron's eyes moved over to Luna who normally slept in the most unusual of positions, sometimes even upside down. Her brow was furrowed and her arms were over her head pushing at the pillow that was under her head.

Ron wasn't sure what he should do, Hermione never had nightmares. At least none that he could recall. He was a heavy sleeper though. He took a small step closer to the cot. Despite him not wanting her to be there she had been invaluable thus far. She wasn't Hermione by any stretch of the imagination but she was very clever.

"Luna...?" He kept his voice low as he knelt down beside her. His hand hovered for a moment before coming down onto her shoulder. "Luna are you alright?" He gave her a small shake eliciting a soft groan. Her head turned towards him and her baby blue eyes slowly opened. "Hey...you alright?"

"Is it time already?"

Ron swallowed thickly at her sleep-heavy voice. How could she remain so calm all the time? She hadn't sounded like she was having a good dream, but he wasn't a mind reader, "No...not yet...I uh...you were uh...having a dream of something..."

Her arms slowly came down from over her head and she averted her eyes, "I'm okay."

"Right...uh...you have another thirty minutes...sorry to wake you..."

Luna gave him a soft smile and turned away, she shifted back down onto the cot before letting out a heavy sigh. A lone tear ran down the bridge of her nose as she pushed away the images he had disrupted.