Harry's desperate sprint back to the castle was interrupted when Voldemort sent him another vision, marking his time. He had to brace himself along the courtyard wall as a thudding strike echoed in his heart. Hermione didn't scream, her body curled tightly on her hands and knees as a nameless Death Eater delivered another blow with a thick leather whip. He could hear Hagrid though, pleading for them to stop.

Harry pushed against the sight with all his power bringing the destroyed castle grounds back into view. He had to be quicker. He pushed himself forward, his legs screaming from the effort. He could see masses of battle-worn people slowly making their way down towards the Great Hall but turned his course away. Still, under the cloak, no one turned their head to the sound of pounding feet that made for the Headmaster's office.

In the Great Hall that he left behind, people were slowly moving about. Beds, lined the walls with the fallen and the center aisle had become a sort of triage center. Madame Pomfrey was trying her best and the Aurors who had come, had the basic medical knowledge and were put to use on those with minor injuries.

Presently the mediwitch was attempting to save what was left of Luna's broken frame. She believed it was beyond her skills but she had to try. Such an innocent life, cut short. Her ribs had been mostly spared, compressed but unbroken, the lack of oxygen having put her completely out. Her legs and hips, however, were another matter entirely. It would take a long time, but maybe in the right healer's hands, she would walk again.

"There's nothing more I can do now...move her to the side..." It was with heavy heart that the elder moved away, her eyes now on the Weasely twin who was starting to come around. She noticed the vial clutched in his sister's hand and pursed her lips.

"Where did you get that?"

"Hermione... Hermione gave it to me..." Ginny released the vial, she'd only given Fred half a dose unsure of just how potent it was. "It knocked him out...I..." Ginny was beside herself on what to do. Her mother had his head buried in her chest believing that he too was soon to be lost.

"Molly put him down, your daughter may have just saved his life." Pomfrey flicked her wand conjuring another cot in front of them. Molly did what she was told with heavy sniffles before she lifted the cot to working height.

"Alestra! Give a 16th of this to anyone who's come in bleeding out. We might just be able to save more than we believed."

The auror who had lost the battle to save Collin Creevy's life turned and took the vial into her hand. Her eyes widening slightly when she recognized the contents before looking around the hall for anyone who might be in need.

oOo

Hermione coughed harshly from a thickly mudded boot pushing her from her hands and knees to her back. Her back burned but it was nowhere near as painful as having been on the whipping block. It had felt more like falling down a set of stairs. Her shirt had protected her back from any cuts but the boot to her side had kicked up the older injury at the bottom of her rib. She kept one hand clutched tight over the stone beneath her shirt not wanting it to fall out. The other hand reached out somewhat blindly to try and push away her attacker.

When nothing but air met her fingers, her head tilted up. Between harsh coughs and deep gulps, she blinked a man into focus that she had never seen before. His eyes were the most piercing blue she had ever seen, they almost appeared to glow in the dark. His skin was a light tan, and his hair was deep black. Long, longer than hers, it fell over his shoulder in bodiless waves as he leaned over her.

"She's still alive, My Lord."

"Keep her quiet."

His barked command made the man standing over her lean down further. A white wand slipped out of his cloak and he pressed it into her chest. Hermione closed her eyes tight unsure of what to expect, though when the tightness around her chest eased, she couldn't help but sag back into the salty earth.

Her eyes rolled slowly through the crowd that was starting to grow larger and larger. She could just make out Bellatrix's wild black hair through the group of people who'd just returned from the castle. Bowing to their knees to show their respect before moving further into the trees. Hermione hadn't known how large Voldemort's army had truly been. But seeing more and more of the forest turn black with cloaks was making her believe that her original plan to strike the snake here, was for nought. She'd have at least 50 killing curses fired on her before she could even blink. No, here, was not the time.

Hermione let out a slow breath, and the man beside her moved away again. Her chest felt lighter and for that she was grateful; her back, however, was starting to tighten like leather drying in the sun. She didn't want to think about what other possible torture Voldemort would allow his most 'faithful' to inflict upon body. She just had to hold out a little longer. She could do this.

oOo

Harry looked up at the empty portraits lining the walls of the headmaster's office, not a single person had lingered behind. The one headmaster who had helped him before was also gone. The room was just as he had left it, though it did feel a lot dimmer than before. Like the castle knew that its master had died.

A large device he'd never paid much mind too before was slowly ticking away in the corner. Large complex whirls and dials. It almost reminded him of the inside of a large clock. It hadn't been moving at all before and he suspected that it was extremely important now. However, there was no one with him to ask.

He pulled the cloak firmly from over his head and tossed it down on one of the couches as he came further into the room. His eyes searching for the small alcove Dumbledore had kept his pensive in before. Snape hadn't seemed to have rearranged much and so he hoped that it was still there.

He had to know what secrets Snape held. It was his only chance to meet Voldemort head on. He could tell by the tone of Snape's voice that he did, in fact, know something as to why the wand wasn't working for Voldemort. The words of his friends echoed in the back of his mind. Hermione's too, that she trusted him, that he hadn't hurt her. He had only seen a short glimpse into their teamwork but he could see clearly on Hermione's face when she had stood to protect him.

Harry tapped his wand against the beautifully ornate doors that he believed lead to the pensive. He took a small step back as they swung open silently. The brilliant light inside filling the otherwise dark and depressing room with a small feeling of hope.

With a heavy breath, he pulled the vial that he'd filled up towards the light. He only hoped that he hadn't ruined anything by mixing the two memories together. Technically they were from the same source, so logic leading, they should be alright.

A heavy breath passed his lips as he tipped the vial over the mirror-like surface. The colors inside shifted and turned accepting the memories. He pushed the vial back into his pocket before gripping the sides. Without hesitating, as though this would sate his torturing grief, he pushed his face beneath the cold surface and instantly felt himself spiraling away.

oOo

"Ginny...?" Ron's voice was weak with fatigue and tears. "Where's Hermione...I...I can't find Hermione..."

His sister turned away from the floor she was pensively staring at, her mouth opening slightly before her eyes lowered back down, "I don't know...She's not here...living or dead..."

"Harry...he...went somewhere...he said he'd be back...do you think...maybe?"

"I don't know...Ron, I don't know..." Ginny sniffled softly wiping at her nose, "He's still alive, otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten that message..."

"Yeah, but where is he? He-He-I'm his best friend!"

"Yeah, you are, and he let you stay behind to protect your family!" Ginny pushed herself up having already cried herself out. "He will come. Hermione...probably is with him."

"But the spiders...what if they..."

"I saw Hermione." Neville came over to them having overheard. Unable to look at Luna's prone form any longer, he'd taken to pacing the hall. His heart had been torn into too many pieces. "She-she came down before Harry..."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No...she didn't-didn't stop at all..." Neville looked down at his hand stained brown from holding Luna.

Ginny and Ron both came closer, their arms wrapped around the tall boy's shoulder and waist respectively. They all bowed their heads and just took their strength from the other.

oOo

"It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"

"It's real for us," said Snape. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" whispered Lily.

"Definitely," said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.

"And will it really come by owl?" Lily whispered.

"Normally," said Snape. "But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?" Snape hesitated. His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom, moved over the pale face, the dark red hair. "No," he said. "It doesn't make any difference."

"Good," said Lily, relaxing. It was clear that she had been worrying.

"You've got loads of magic," said Snape. "I saw that. All the time I was watching you..."

Harry could hardly understand all he was seeing, all he had seen, the scenes were going by so quickly mixing out of order. It was still a bit of a shock to know that his mother had known Snape as a child. Even seeing the raggedy boy had made him feel odd. He hadn't really known what he would have been like as a child. He'd never even considered the sour man had ever even been a child. Like he just appeared out of thin air, sarcastic and hateful.

The world turned dark, the beautiful hills transforming into large stark walls of dark stone. He was sure he'd seen that stone before. The memory felt different, as though it wasn't his own. The usually crisp clear edges were blurred and hazy. Harry turned as more of the room started to take shape. He recognized it now, it was the room they had found Hermione in, the cellar. Yet it was different, there were things that definitely hadn't been there before. This was...a torture room...

No longer was it cleared; men, woman, children, locked in tiny cages bloodied and bruised. He couldn't smell the air but he was sure it was most foul. The outside of the hall was growing dim and he forced himself down the small aisle that led to the stalls. The names overhead were blurred as though she hadn't taken the time to look at them, but his own mind supplied the names that he'd seen.

Harry forced his head painfully away as he passed a mother who was clutching her children to her chest. How had Snape gotten this memory? As far as he could see, he wasn't there. His mind ticked a little and he tried to think back to when they'd first rescued Hermione. How out of sorts her mind had been. Was this the memory that had been inside the vial he'd taken from the desk? Had he removed it somehow from Hermione?

He didn't want to, but he followed the path to the farthest stall. When he peered in through the door he felt his stomach curl. The words being whispered into his best friend's ear were most vile. He could hear them clearly as though it was his own ear that Scabior was whispering into. Why wasn't Hermione fighting him? Why...why was she just hanging there? He turned his head away closing his eyes tight as Scabior lifted her shirt. No, he didn't want to see this. He couldn't...bear it...How could she have...ever...?

oOo

Hermione panted weakly, another round of torture had passed. Their choice of weapon this time had been spells. Horribly painful spells that they'd hastily healed before they could finally do her in. Her clothes were frigid with the blood that had come free from a rather poorly executed cutting hex. Her legs and arms had taken most of the damage, healed without a scratch to be seen but the blood that had come free kept her in a perpetual state of cold.

The other spells had done havoc on her insides, leaving her body burning in odd places. She didn't have much blood to lose as it was and even with the potion Snape had given her there was only so much a body could truly endure. She had screamed, but only just, her body was growing weaker and she could feel the stone on her chest pulsing. They were both dying now...she could feel it in her heart.

oOo

His mother and Snape were walking across the castle courtyard, evidently arguing. Harry hurried to catch up with them, to listen in. As he reached them, he realized how much taller they both were. A few years seemed to have passed since their Sorting.

"...thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape was saying, "Best friends?"

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?" Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.

"That was nothing," said Snape. "It was a laugh, that's all- "

"It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny - "

"What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" Snape's voice had become urgent, demanding. His color rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment.

Harry could already feel the tension growing between them. Even though his mother didn't seem like she was all that close with her father, he could feel the sort of same feeling he'd felt when he'd been sorted into Gryffindor, the sort of banding together to protect your own.

"What's Potter got to do with anything?" said Lily.

"They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"

"He's ill," Lily's eyes lowered down as though she too wasn't so confident of her words, "They say he's ill-"

"Every month at the full moon?" Snape's voice rose, his eyes turning away. This definitely felt like a well-run argument.

"I know your theory," His change of stance had turned her voice cold, "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are." The intensity of his returned gaze made her blush.

"They don't use Dark Magic, though." She dropped her voice. "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there-"

Snape's whole face contorted and he spluttered, "Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to - I won't let you - "

"Let me? Let me?" Lily's bright green eyes turned to slits.

Snape backtracked at once. "I didn't mean-I just don't want to see you made a fool of-He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!" The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. "And he's not...everyone thinks...big Quidditch hero-" Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were traveling farther and farther up her forehead. Harry had never seen the overly controlled man so much as stutter before. Seeing him like this left an odd feeling in his chest. He could see it, just as he had with Ron and Hermione. His mother fancied him, at least partly and Snape was completely in love with her.

"I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag," she said, cutting across Snape. "I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."

"Slytherin House is different...you need to have allies..."

"That's not an excuse Severus..."

The world had changed again, this time to cold dark stone. Harry was grateful for the reprieve, but his heart had grown so heavy he was sure it was somewhere well beyond his feet. He turned to find Dumbledore slightly leaning against the window looking out. The normally cheerful Head office grey and dim. Snape stood nearly half the room away, his face pale and his eyes dark.

"So when the time comes...the boy must die?"

"It is the only way..."

"You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter!" Snape's voice rose, but only just. His words leaked venom and contempt.

"Don't tell me now that you've come to care for the boy?"

Snape's face twitched and his wand let out a flourishing arch. Harry watched the Patronus slowly grow to form before he felt his heart thud heavily in his chest. It was a doe-a doe. His mother's Patronus...

"Lily..."

"Always."

He couldn't bear to see anymore. He'd watched his mother grow-up before him, watched his best friend being taken into the arms of a man who he had so wrongfully believed to be the enemy for so many years. So much regret filled his chest as he thought back on all the times Snape had been there. He had been there, always.