Time was up. Snape set down his quill. He had a plan, a real plan. He just needed to keep her alive long enough for it to work. He pushed himself up from the chair closing his books with a wave of his hand.

He had a theory now about her fugue state and possibly how to control it or even remove it completely. He needed it now, but there would be a time where it wouldn't be so convenient. He was sure he could use it to dissolve the slave bond before setting her loose. It was just a matter of proper timing.

He suspected that Voldemort had other plans, but he was confident that his own was just as good. He pushed open the door to her room with a new purpose. His shoulders were tense but his mind was clear. He could do this.

His eyes immediately settled on the sphere over her head, the cleanser he'd put inside to draw out the potions in her system had turned black. He approached her slowly. She was so still. His jaw twitched as he ran the required diagnostics. Her blood was clear of all toxins. The only thing left was the Draught which was slowly making its way out of her system. He would be able to wake her soon.

For reasons unknown to him, he slowly sat himself down on the bed. All his brilliance, all his planning, it meant nothing. That was the hardest thing to come to terms with. He was sorry for so many things in his life but he was able to accept the pain that had been given as punishment. It was the only thing that kept him moving. It was like a drug. A fix, a need for it.

His hand came down lightly tracing the lines in her palm. She felt cold. Nothing responded to his touch. How could she have so willingly allowed him to do what he'd done to her? Why was she still relying on him? Why couldn't she see who he really was? A monster. His eyes rose to her face, so young, so innocent. She was nothing like him. She fought for a cause, as foolish as it was, it was admirable.

A soft chime indicated the process was complete. The line of blood that had been floating up from her arm and down to her neck came to a slow stop and the orb glowed gold before sealing shut. He released her hand that he hadn't even realized he'd taken hold of and lifted the orb by hand from its place.

He carried it back over to the chest from which it came and set it down carefully inside. Another wave of his hand replaced all the items he'd used back inside. He turned back to the bed and cast two small healing charms over the marks he'd made before shifting the pillow that was behind her head.

No doubt coming out of the sleep was going to be extremely disorienting. He had to ensure that the damage to her lungs would be able to handle not having the potion he'd given her. He pressed his fingers against he neck. Her body was starting to grow warm. He could just barely make out the slow beat of her heart coming back. He adjusted her pillow again and transformed it into a sort of wedge to give her some assistance with breathing. His hand lifted the bottom of her t-shirt making sure that the large scar that had been sealed with Dittany hadn't reopened. Satisfied that she was still intact he pulled the shirt back down and waited.

He counted the seconds in his mind. He expected it to take just almost long as it had to put her to sleep and he was right. His hand that rested against her arm gave a light squeeze when her chest started to rise and fall again. He waited until the time was up before gently reaching to cup her cheek. Her eyelids twitched from the contact easing the stress on his heart.

"Miss Granger, can you hear me?" He kept his voice low, it's natural octave, deep and smooth. He waited a few more seconds before making to ask her again only to be stopped but the softest of murmurs.

"Mmm..." Her eyes fluttered for just a moment and Snape pulled back his hand, waiting for her to fully open her eyes.

Hermione didn't feel much of anything aside from being extremely heavy and cold. It had taken almost all she had to speak but she needed him to know. She needed him to know she was there. When his hand pulled away it left behind a burning sensation that was starting to be overshadowed by the rest of her body.

Everything felt as though it had gone through a meat grinder. Even breathing was a substantial effort. The pain was just coming to its height when a cool feeling washed down her chest. A deep numbing feeling ebbed away the stitch in her left side and the soreness over her breast.

Feeling a little stronger, she opened her eyes fully, blinking him into focus. Her Professor was there. He was always there. She took a slow breath and tested the movement of her arms. She was starting to feel better, more awake. Her hands obeyed her command and rose to her chest, a soft smile stayed on her face despite the feeling inside her. She was safe, as long as she was with him.

"You'll feel heavy for a short while, the pain...will return... I'll have to find something you can take..." One look into her eyes brought worry to his brow. He wasn't speaking with the real Hermione, it was clear from the smile that was growing around her eyes.

What had he done?

oOo

"I think we should let her sleep a bit longer." Ron had woken Harry at the proper time but he'd been worried that Luna hadn't gotten as much of a rest as Harry had.

"I don't think it would hurt..." Harry rubbed his face, he'd slept hard, harder than he thought he would have. "Try and get some rest. I'll start mapping out a way for us to get through the corridors. Luna said there were secret passages in the walls, maybe they're on the map too and we never noticed."

"Right..." Ron stepped aside letting Harry pass, before climbing up onto his cot. His mind was still worried about the image he'd seen in the mirror. They had to get her tonight, they just had to.

oOo

"You're so warm..." Hermione hadn't wanted to let go when he'd carried her from her room to sit and warm up by the fireplace. She liked feeling his arms around her, they were strong and safe. He'd given her a blanket to wrap herself in and though it smelled of him it wasn't enough.

Snape had decided to push through with the rest of his plans. Believing that her fugue state was the sort of luck he needed. He set out to try and see if he could locate the memories that were trapped just beyond the wall of consciousness keeping the two halves apart. Her fugue mind was much less busy than her normal self and he believed that the absence of thought might actually help him with what he needed to do.

His top priority, however, was to remove the brand from her neck and finish the stones. He had bold faced lied about needing three days to complete the potion. In actuality, it only took one hour to brew. He'd had all the ingredients as well but it was a perfect excuse. As adept at magic, as Voldemort was, he was no potions master. No, his skills laid firmly in the dark arts.

He'd taken some time during her treatment to finalize his plan with her mind. The book he'd relinquished from her had held all the information he needed to try and sort out what had happened.

He was going to try a technique called guided hypnosis to possibly break down any will she had left. He needed her to completely submit to him for the binding to be removed. There had been no counter-curse in the text he'd found. The page where it should have been had been torn out and time was running short on trying to find another book of similar topic.

"What is my name?"

"Professor." Hermione turned her eyes towards him, that is what he told her, why didn't he look happy to hear it?

"From now on, you are to call me Master." It was probably the hardest sentence he had ever made but he kept his will strong.

Hermione tilted her head slightly shifting just a bit to pull the blanket up under her chin. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. "Okay..."

"Okay, what?"

"Master..."

Snape let out a heavy breath through his nose and looked down at his notes, "You are my slave, I have treated you well because you were injured. You are no longer in need of immediate care. Your true place is beside my feet."

Hermione's brow deepened but she glanced down to here his finger now pointed. She looked up at his face but his unspoken command was clear. She slowly unwrapped herself from the blanket and moved down to the floor. She didn't think to stand as she crawled over the small space between them. She leaned back against the chair curling her knees back to her chest before raising her head.

Snape was struggling to find anything else he could possibly do to make her more submissive. He could tell her almost anything and she would believe him. She was a blank canvas. How far would he need to go for the brand to recognize her total surrender? Would it be so far that he would never be able to return? What would she possibly resist even in this state?

"Your only purpose is to serve my needs." He forced his hand into the back of her hair, a mockery of a lover's gentle caress. "Your body and will solely belong to me."

His eyes flicked to the brand that was starting to appear on her skin, it wasn't black as it had been but rather a deep blue. Were his words enough? Could he possibly be so lucky?

"Yes, Master..." Her eyes lowered down to the gentle feeling of his hand in her hair. She had already come to accept his touch. He was kind to her, she could trust him. She wanted to be held by him.

His brow ticked when the mark started to fade away again. He needed to do something more. What more could he possibly do? He could feel her want growing inside. Her will to please him was growing but there was still a wall, a small part of her that was afraid of completely letting go.

"Do you want to touch me?" He didn't want to touch her. He didn't want to be anywhere near where he shouldn't be. It was a line he never wanted to cross, especially with her not in her right mind.

Hermione shifted closer putting her chin on his knee, "I like feeling you, master..."

"That isn't what I asked." The hand he had in her hair took a sharp grip. A little pain to remind her to answer properly.

"I'm sorry, Master..." Her back arched like a cat held by its scruff and her eyes widened considerably. "Please...I want to...I want to touch you..."

Snape swallowed down the lump growing in his throat. This was more difficult than he thought it would be. He relaxed his grip keeping a watchful eye on the mark that was steadily changing shades along her neck.

"If I want to touch you?"

Hermione let out a shaky breath when the hand in her hair released. She could see such pain in his eyes from what he did to her. It only made her feel more ashamed for not having answered him properly.

"I'm... I'm your's, Master..." Her eyes lowered down, even as she said it she couldn't fully stand by her words. She wasn't sure if it was her own or whether it was the pain in his face. It just felt wrong.

He couldn't do this. Those words, from her mouth, the way she looked at him. It was too much for his mind to handle. He had just not two hours before spoken with the true Granger. This...this person before him was just an outer shell of someone else. A masquerade on all that had made her who she was.

He closed his eyes covering them with the hand that he'd pulled from her hair. Why did the world hate him so? Were his crimes really so horrendous to warrant such unrelenting punishment? Anger filled his heart. A deep long growing anger. A hatred for all that he was and had ever been. He just wanted the nightmare to end so he could finally be at peace. Why had he tried to make it right? Why had he dared to step on the road towards redemption? There was going to be nothing left by the time he reached the end.

Hermione raised her eyes when his hand left her hair. She had done everything he'd asked, why did he look so tormented? A weight grew inside her heart. She didn't know what a slave was supposed to do when their master was clearly hurting. He had said her job was to please him and clearly, he wasn't pleased.

Cautiously, Hermione rose to her feet. Her eyes watched his face but he didn't move an inch. Slowly, with all the grace she could muster, with limbs still stiff from cold, she pressed her knees beside his own climbing up into the chair. She waited for anything, anything at all to tell her what she was doing was wrong. Still, he did not look at her, he did not move his hand.

Her own lightly trailed up the arm that gripped the chair, her fingers gliding over the thick fabric that protected him from the world. She shifted herself closer; bringing her knees to rest beside his hips before slowly settling back in his thighs. She watched him, waited for him to realize she was there. Still, he did not seem to notice.

She leaned forward, wrapping herself under his arms and onto his back. Her head lowered down to his shoulder. Her head turned away watching the fire jump in the fireplace and she pressed herself as close as she could.

She didn't know what he needed; she didn't know what he wanted. She only knew that she would have given him anything, in that moment.

Snape had felt her move. He had felt everything that had gone through her mind. Was he really that pathetic? Was he really so weak? Everything inside him screamed for him to push her away. To throw her from the chair and curse her to tears. To make her hurt just as much as he. It was only when her head settled down against his ear did he feel something snap inside him. Like a crack on a frozen lake. It hurt, but it also felt immensely relieving.

He moved his hand from his face to look down into the mess of curls spread out over his chest. She had wanted to hug him before; what she was doing now wasn't so far from her true self's desire. He swallowed thickly and lowered down his palm to the top of her head. She flinched slightly before pressing herself closer.

He wasn't a physical being by nature, almost any contact sent spiders crawling up his spine. Too many years of being constantly beaten had seen to that. Yet, when she laid against him, he felt no fear.

He pulled her hair back from her neck, his fingertips brushing along the sensitive flesh. His eyes turned down, tracing the mark—his mark— with the very tip of his middle finger. What if he had gotten it all wrong? What if true submission meant acceptance? Acceptance of what another had to offer. What if the one weakness of the curse was kindness?

She had been terrified in this state before, constantly brought into it by fear. This was the first time where she had woken completely at peace in this state. Normally it was the other way around. Had he reset her mind when he'd reset her body?

"Look at me."

Hermione turned her eyes from the fire without hesitation, a soft gasp passing her lips when his spell hit unexpectedly. Snape pressed in as gently as he could. His wand kept her from moving and he was able to slip inside her mind space.

It was a void, a dark whispering void. He could make out faint memories she had created but nothing beyond their time together was present. He pushed past all he could before feeling a small resistance.

He moved around it trying to locate its source when he saw a wisp of a memory that couldn't have belonged to this version of her. He could see himself, leaning down before her, just hours before, her eyes watched him but the feeling that came with the memory before it dissolved was a feeling of trust. Had she felt that before? In her other state? Was that what was making her so compliant now?

He pulled back from her mind as gently as he could and released the spell he'd placed on her to keep her still. Her eyes closed slowly before opening again. The way she looked at him made him feel so extremely exposed. Like she was able to see through every wall he had put in place to protect his heart. What happened next, he never could have predicted.

Her lips were so soft against his own, light and hesitant. His hand fell down from the back of her head to curl into the back of her shirt. When he did, she pressed closer. His mind was reeling. He'd never been kissed, not this way. So, gently. His hand that he had moved to pull her away went still. His eyes lidded and hers closed.

He suddenly became hyper-aware of everything she touched. Her knees, her legs, her chest, her hands, all pressing so firmly against him. Time was moving too slowly, everything was happening too quickly. His hand didn't obey his command to pull her back but rather flattened out over her back.

It hurt, his entire being hurt. He shouldn't, he couldn't. The breath he'd been unaware he'd been holding released slowly through his nose and he watched her slowly pull back to lean into his hand. Her eyes rose again and he could see it, right there in the corner of her eye. Something he couldn't explain, something he didn't have a name for.

His breath shuddered between them and his eyes flicked down when she very lightly licked her lips, "Don't..." His words died in his throat. His eyes shifted to her neck, watching with wonder as the mark turned a nearly imperceivable grey before fading back out.

oOo

"Thanks for letting me sleep a little longer, you really didn't need to." Luna kept her voice low and took a seat beside Harry.

"It's no problem..." Harry didn't look up, his eyes were completely focused on two names that were much too close for his liking. "Hey Luna, do you know if you can make doors that lead to places they shouldn't?"

"What do you mean?" Luna looked down at the map, she too curious about what he was looking at.

"Well... it's just that, I was trying to map out the safest way for us to get to the sixth floor using those tunnels you added but when I looked up both Snape and Hermione were in the storage room. I thought maybe he'd used another path we didn't know about. You know?"

"Mmhm."

"And there names sort of... overlapped for a second and it looked like he walked straight through this wall." Harry touched the map, "Then their names were gone. I looked and looked until I found them here. You can't apparate inside Hogwarts and there was no way, using a tunnel or otherwise that he should have been able to get there that fast."

Luna pursed her lips. She had heard of doors that could be made but it was well outside even her knowledge, "I suppose it's possible... He's the headmaster, so maybe he has special privileges when it comes to the castle?"

Harry swallowed and nodded, it seemed logical, "It goes straight to his private rooms. The map says the rooms are attached to the office but it doesn't show a door..."

"Are you thinking we should try to get back into the headmaster's office instead of going to the sixth floor?"

"I don't know maybe...this tunnel, it's closer to the head office than the central staircase...even with the tunnels it does seem like a shorter route..."

"What about Snape?" Luna could understand the logic behind his plan but she didn't think even the three of them could out-duel Snape.

"That's the problem I can't solve..." Harry sighed deeply and hung his head in his hands. It all seemed impossible.

oOo

It took a long time for Snape to come back to his senses. So long, in fact, the girl in his lap had completely relaxed against him, resting her head back down on his shoulder. His hands had returned to the chair but the weight of her against him had made his mind turn slow.

With all the will he had left inside him, he had finally removed her from his person. He'd moved the other chair closer. So close that her knees that rested over the seat pressed between his own. She hadn't said anything else. She hadn't done anything else. She merely sat, awaiting his instructions.

He took a deep breath and raised his wand. The brand was still there, there was nothing more he could do. He suspected that until her other-self submitted to him as well, there was nothing more he could do. He was so close he could almost taste it.

"Look at me." Her eyes which had fallen down to some place to his side rose without hesitation. He lifted his wand slowly, no flash of fear crossed her face. She was completely at peace.

It seemed most cruel that he was going to bring back all the pain she had suffered. He wanted to leave her as she was. She was happy, even if it was all a falsehood. He cleared his own mind and leaned forward just a touch.

He needed complete focus for what he was about to attempt. Clearing her mind of everything was not going to be an easy task. A complete obliviate hadn't been attempted during his lifetime.

"Do not look away from the light." He moved the tip of his wand in front of her eyes a ball of light forming at the tip. Once he released it, it started to sway back and forth creating a hypnotic rhythm that stilled her mind. After she had fallen completely under, he shifted just a bit closer.

He pressed his wand to her temple and whispered the incantation. A white wisp appeared around the tip of his wand and he pulled back slowly. Right as it began to break free he cast it in an arch. A band of color started to move around her, like an old cinemagraph, the images took shape moving as it turned.

There wasn't much to remove but it was still a daunting task. The hours ticked by as more and more memories filled the band moving around her head. Each one needed to play out completely before the next one could be taken. She resisted as much as she could trying to turn her inner eye away. He wouldn't be so easily foiled. The hypnosis he'd put her under kept her from truly resisting but he could feel her desperately clinging to the memories of him.

A glistening tear came from her eye when he removed a memory he hadn't seen from the cellar. He couldn't stop to take it in. His own focus was waning. The spell was extremely taxing. He pressed his wand again reaching to pull her final memory.

"Please..."

Her plea pulled so tightly on his heart. He could feel her resistance to release the memory to him. The tears that ran down her cheeks shined in the glowing light. When the last of it pulled free, all emotion left her face. Her head lowered back into the chair and the light in her eyes was gone.