Saving your life

The battle had continued for about half an hour after Snape had left. Then the Dark Mark had been conjured, and all the Death Eaters had Apparated away at once.

Once the fight was over, Ministry workers soon took control of the situation, going through the wounded and sending the ones they couldn’t heal themselves to St. Mungo’s.

She heard someone scream her name, and turned around to find Harry running in her direction, waiving to her. She sighed in relief at seeing he was alright, but once he reached her, she noticed he looked pale and nervous.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking him over, trying to see if he was hurt.

“I’m fine”, he said distractedly. “Where are the others?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen them since we got here,” she answered, and they both started searching the Alley, looking for familiar faces. She had been looking for the Weasleys ever since Snape had left, but with no luck.

“Harry, Hermione,” she heard Ginny’s voice call. They almost ran to where she was, and found her surrounded by her mother and older brothers.

“Where’s Mr. Weasley?” Harry asked as they reached them.

“He’s with most of the Order, helping the wounded,” Bill said.

“Where’s Ron?” Molly asked then, fear in her voice.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since we got here. I thought he was with you,” Harry answered.

“He’s at St. Mungo’s,” Hermione said.

“What? Why?” Molly asked before she could explain. “What’s happened to him? Is he alright?”

“He was hit by a curse, he…”

“Oh, Merlin,” Molly gasped. “What curse? When did this happen?”

“I don’t know,” she said, feeling sorry she couldn’t give the woman more information.

Molly looked around wide-eyed, and then back at her, too scared to say another word.

“We should go there, then,” Bill suggested, and they all agreed.

“Wait, we have to tell dad,” Ginny said as they were about to leave.

“Stay here,” the twins said as one and walked to the other side of the Alley. She watched them search the crowd until they finally stopped next to a wizard. They spoke to the man for a few seconds, and then she saw him turn around and nod in their direction once, before leaving what he was doing and Apparating away.

As soon as the twins were back with them, Molly held her daughter’s arm tightly and they all Apparated to St. Mungo’s.

They were surprised to find the usually much calmer building so full of witches and wizards, some unconscious on the chairs, or even the floor, some screaming, some crying, Healers running around the room, trying to decide who needed their help first.

“Merlin, do you think he’s still here, waiting?” Ginny asked, looking for her brother.

“He got here almost an hour ago, I’m sure they already sent him to a Healer.”

They all looked at her in surprise, having guessed, Ron had been sent there after the fight was over.

“Maybe we should ask the Welcome Witch,” Hermione said, trying to distract them.

“Oh, right. Yes,” Molly breathed, still clearly nervous, and walked hurriedly to the desk. After about ten more minutes, a lot of angry yelling, and some crying from Molly, the witch finally agreed to tell them where to find Ron.

They all walked silently to the fourth floor, ward forty-five, but were stopped by a young man as they reached the doors.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t be here,” he said, standing in front of the entrance.

“What do you mean? My son is in there.”

“I’m sorry, Madam, but you have to go back to the ground floor and wait there.”

“But the Welcome Witch told me to come here.”

“Well, you must be very convincing. She has orders not to let anyone up for now,” he said.

“Please, I just want to see him. I need to know he is alright.”

“What’s your son’s name?” the man asked, hearing the hint of desperation in Molly’s voice.

“Ronald. Ronald Weasley.”

“I will go find Healer Smethwyck and ask him about your son, but you have to wait here,” he said sternly, and then turned around, opened the doors, and walked inside the ward.

The minutes felt like hours as they waited, but finally the man was back.

“They’re still busy with him, but the Healer assured me he would be alright,” he said, and Molly let out a loud sob of relief. “He will talk to you himself when he’s finished, you can wait there,” he said, pointing to a small sitting room.

“Thank you so much,” Molly said gratefully, taking the man’s hand, and then they all walked to the other room to wait.

They had only been there a few minutes when Arthur walked in; looking like he had ran all the way there.

“Where is he? Is he alright?” he asked, panting, as soon as he reached the door.

“Oh, Arthur!” Molly whispered and ran to him.

“What? What’s happened?” he asked, looking at his other children, suddenly terrified.

“He will be alright,” Bill told him, and he visibly relaxed, still holding his wife in his arms.

“What happened to him?” he asked again, and everyone in the room turned to face Hermione. She had been hoping they wouldn’t ask.

“I was fighting a Death Eater,” she explained. “He was firing hex after hex, but I finally managed to stun him. Then I turned around, and another one was behind me. I heard him yell some words, but didn’t even have time to duck; then Ron appeared out of nowhere and pushed me to the side. As I fell I shot a stunner at the second Death Eater, but when I turned back around I saw Ron lying on the floor, unconscious.” She took a deep breath and the continued. “I carried him out of the Alley, away from the battle, but I didn’t know what else to do. A man saw us then, and helped me pull him away. I think he was with the Ministry,” she lied. “He tried to wake him up but couldn’t, so he used a Portkey to send him here.”

They remained silent as she explained what had happened, and even after she was done, no one spoke for a few moments.

“And you don’t know what cursed they hit him with?” Arthur finally asked.

“No, but the man said it was Dark Magic.”

Silence filled the room again as they waited for news from the Healers.

“You are here to see Ronald Weasley?” a man asked as he walked inside the waiting room, checking his noted to get the name right.

“Yes,” they said as they stood up.

“I’m Healer Wren, I work with Healer Smethwyck.”

“Where’s Ron?”

“Is he alright?”

“Can we see him?”

Voices filled the room before the Healer could say anything.

“Please, calm down,” he pleaded. “He will be fine. He hasn’t woken up yet, but he should by tomorrow afternoon. He was very lucky,” he said, with a slight smile. “That curse is illegal for a reason; it’s very powerful Dark Magic. If it had hit him fully, or if it had taken longer to get him here…” he trailed off.

“I assume he was hit during one of the Death Eater’s attacks tonight,” he said after a few seconds.

“Yes,” Arthur answered. “In Diagon Alley.”

“An Auror will be here later to question you and Ronald tomorrow.”

“Can we go see him now?” Molly asked.

The Healer looked at the eight people around him thoughtfully before answering. “Maybe just the two of you for now,” he finally said, looking at Molly and Arthur.

“Why don’t you all go over to the Tearoom?” Arthur suggested.

“We will wait here,” Ginny said, and they all nodded in agreement.

Finally, after a few more hours, Molly came back and asked them to go home, promising they could see Ron the next day. By the time they got back to headquarters it was well past midnight, so they were surprised to find several Order members still up, sitting around the kitchen table and talking animatedly. Remus had told them Ron was at St. Mungo’s, but that was all they knew.

As they joined in the conversation, Harry and the Weasleys telling the others about Ron and asking if anyone else was hurt, Kingsley walked to where she was standing and motioned for her to follow him.

“What happened tonight?” he asked her as soon as they were out of earshot.

“What do you mean?”

“There were five attacks, two of them in Muggle towns.”

“I warned you they would attack. I told you everything I knew.”

“For some reason I have the feeling you know much more than you’re telling me,” he said. “You asked me to move that Death Eater, Mulciber; to leave him in an unguarded flat.”

“Yes.”

“He’s dead, murdered by Death Eaters just a few hours ago.” She took a deep breath before speaking.

“I told you where Voldemort’s headquarters were, how to get there,” she said, and he nodded. “Only Death Eaters know its location.”

“So?”

“So someone had to take the blame,” she answered simply.

“He might have been a murderer, but it wasn’t up to you to decide his fate, to have me send him somewhere to be murdered.”

“Voldemort knew there had been a leak, we had to make sure he wouldn’t suspect the real spy.”

“And who is ‘we’, Hermione?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. You will know when the time is right,” she said sternly.

“I trust you, you know I do, but you shouldn’t be caught in the middle of this. We are fighting a war, and hard decisions have to be made, but you will carry that weight on your back forever, I know what I’m talking about,” the Auror said. “The fact that your information has helped us save many lives, helped us capture dangerous Death Eaters, doesn’t change the consequences of the choice you were forced to make, sending a man to his death like that. You are working with someone we don’t know, passing such important information that you would be murdered if anyone found out; or worse. It’s a dangerous game you are playing here, Hermione.”

“I’m not playing, Kingsley. I will do anything I have to do to help Harry win this war; it’s as simple as that.”

He was about to retort, but then he seemed to change his mind. Suddenly he looked worn and tired. With a sigh, he spoke again.

“It’s late, you should get some sleep,” he said, his voice much calmer. “We will discuss this some other time.” He started walking back to the kitchen, but stopped a few steps away from her. “I want to talk to him, can you arrange a meeting?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Goodnight,” he said after nodding, then walked to the kitchen and said goodbye to everyone else before leaving.

She tried to sleep, she really did, but there were too many things in her head now. With a frustrated sigh, she finally got up and walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs, but she stopped before she reached the kitchen. She had gone up to bed right after Kingsley had left, but from the noises, she could hear she knew the others were still awake in there.

Not really feeling like talking to them, and not wanting to go back to bed either, there was only one thing she could think of doing. Tiptoeing back up the stairs, she entered the room Harry shared with Ron, walked over to his trunk and took his invisibility cloak. Making sure she was completely covered with it, she crept downstairs to the door, and noiselessly left headquarters.

She held her breath as she opened the door, afraid to find someone else in the house. She noticed the place was completely dark, except for a faint light coming from the library. Guessing she would find him there, she walked down the hallway still covered with Harry’s cloak, and stopped as she reached the room.

Lit only by a few candles, the place looked even bigger than it had in broad day. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she finally saw Snape, dressed in his usual black clothes, sitting at the table, his nose almost touching the parchment in front of him. She looked around, making sure they were alone, and then stepped closer to him, wanting to see what he was reading. She froze in place when a floorboard creaked under her feet, holing her breath as she waited for his reaction, but he was so engrossed in his reading he didn’t seem to notice the sound.

She waited a few second and then dared move, but stopped again when he sighed loudly and stretched, slowly getting up. She only realized what was happening in the very last second, barely locking the cursed aimed blindly but with surprising accuracy; she threw the cloak off her shoulders before he could fire again, screaming, “It’s me,” as she held up her hands. She was surprised by the look of concern that crossed his face, but one of rage soon replaced it.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed, stepping closer to her and lighting the many torches around the room with a flick of his wand.

Well, what was she doing there? To be honest, she had no idea. She just couldn’t sleep, and didn’t feel like joining her friends, so visiting him seemed to be a good choice, but she couldn’t very well tell him that.

“Well,” he pressed, after a few moments of silence.

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright,” she said, not entirely a lie.

“I told you not to come here unless I asked you to. It could be dangerous.”

“I know, but I was worried. I still remember what happened the last time you were in charge of an attack,” she said, remembering how she had found lying on the floor, covered in blood and barely alive. She saw his face soften slightly.

“Well, you can see I’m perfectly fine,” he said. “Now what?”

“I don’t know.” After a few moments, he sighed and walked to a small sofa, motioning for her to join him as he sat.

“How is your friend?”

“He’s still at St. Mungo’s, but the Healer said he will be alright. Thanks to you,” she said, the last part a whisper.

“He was very lucky.”

“Did you kill Mulciber?” she asked after a few minutes, breaking the silence and he nodded.

“I had to, otherwise the Dark Lord would have killed me, and I’m useless dead.”

“I talked to Kingsley tonight.”

“What does he want now?” he asked irritably.

“He’s just worried about me”

“What did he say?” he questioned, his voice softer now.

“He asked me what had happened to Mulciber, and I told him what I knew. He wants to talk to you, asked me to arrange a meeting.” He seemed to think about it for a few moments before finally answering.

“Remember the cabin in the woods?” he asked, and she felt her throat go dry at the mere thought. Of course, she remembered the place; Lucius Malfoy had almost killed her there not so long ago. She just nodded, unable to speak.

“I want you to take him there tomorrow night, at ten. Just leave him there and Apparate away. Tell him I will meet him there, but don’t tell him who I am.”

“But if he sees you…” she rasped.

“Don’t worry, he won’t. I will be wearing my mask. He won’t know who he is talking to. Just make sure no one follows you.”

“I will. I should probably go now, before Ginny notices I’m gone,” she whispered after a moment, stood up and quickly walked to the door.

“Wait,” he said as she reached the doorway, and she turned around to find him rummaging in one of his pockets. “I have something for you.”

She stepped closer as he held out a small piece of paper in his hand. Her eyes fell instantly on the single word visible. ‘Hermione,’ it read; it was her mother’s handwriting. She could feel her eyes tear up as she reached for the letter and opened it. It wasn’t very long, and it only took her a few minutes to read it.

Her parents were worried about her, wondering why she hadn’t written yet. She was glad to read they were alright. The house they were staying at was big and comfortable, her mother had written, but they couldn’t to go out. ‘Your friend,’ as her mother called Snape, had visited them a few times, making sure they were safe and providing everything they could need. They even had a House-elf staying with them to help.

‘Please, send a letter soon. Your father and I are worried about you; we just want to make sure you are safe.’

“They were wondering why you hadn’t Owled yet, fearing something had happened to you, but I told them not to worry, assured them I would contact them if anything bad happened,” he said.

She didn’t know what to say. With everything that had happened lately, she had forgotten to Owl them; knowing they were safe, she had just pushed them out of her mind, focussing on more pressing matters.

“Can I see them?” she asked.

“No, but you don’t need to worry, they are safe.”

She was so grateful, surprised he had taken care of her parents, visited them when their own daughter hadn’t even written them a letter. She couldn’t think of any words that could let him know just how much she appreciated everything he had done for her and her family, so she did the only thing that came to mind.

With just two more steps she was in front of him again, one hand in his hair and the other around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Their lips met, the kiss slow and delicate, as she tried to convey her feelings, her thoughts. She nibbled on his lower lip and then, slowly, pushed her tongue inside, caressing his, deepening the kiss.

She felt like they had been kissing for hours, like she was lost inside of him, the world around them no longer important, and when they finally broke apart she whispered, “Thank you,” against his lips.

She didn’t have time to say anything else as he kissed her again, this time hungrily. She could feel his strong hands on her body, caressing her and pulling her even closer, flush against his body. Lost in desire and not wasting a moment, she started unbuttoning his shirt, the contrast between the black material and his pale skin so enthralling she couldn’t help bur stare. He cleared his throat after a few moments, and she could feel herself blush. She looked up at him and kissed him again, if only just to wipe the smug look from his face.

Before long her robes were pooled around her feet and she had her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, their lips still locked together as she felt him take a few steps and then slowly kneel on the floor. She could feel a hard surface behind her, and looked around just in time to see him vanish the books and pieces of parchment spread all over the small coffee table with his wand and then carefully lay her on top of it.

The glass was cold against her back, but she couldn’t care less, the warm body on top of her making up for it. She felt his hands on her again, running up her legs, pulling the nightgown she was still wearing up, and then his fingers slowly caressing her inner thighs, her hips, her breasts.

She giggled when she felt his lips soft on her belly, tickling, but the sound turned to a moan as soon as his mouth moved again, stopping as he reached her core. She could feel his lips on her, and then his tongue, making her hips buck wildly.

“Please,” she hears herself moan and his fingers moved back down her body, replacing his tongue inside of her. Her orgasm hit her so fast and with such force he had to move one of his hands to her hips to keep her in place, but when she came back down he didn’t stop.

Her whole body was so sensitive she felt she couldn’t take anymore, but Snape still didn’t relent. With another loud moan she buried her fingers in his hair, trying to pull him away, only to pull him even closer the next second, feeling another orgasm building fast. She pushed her hips up, closer to him, and he groaned, sending delicious vibrations through her body and pushing her over the edge again.

She was panting loudly, her eyes closed as her body slowed down, his lips finally pulling away from her core and slowly kissing their way back up her skin, leaving a wet trail as they moved all the way up to her neck. His body was on top of her now, and she could feel his erection pressed against her thigh as he nibbled her neck. Her hands snaked down between them, fumbling with his slacks, trying to get them open, wanting to feel him inside of her again, but after a few moments, she finally groaned in frustration.

“Need help with that?” he asked, slightly amused, his hands easily unfastening them. Then, after a few more seconds, she finally felt skin against skin, his erection touching her, but not entering. She hooked her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, but he stopped her before he was completely inside. She groaned again, pushing her hips up against him, but he slowly pulled back out with a sneer.

Straightening himself, he grabbed her hips, hastily flipped her over, and then, at last, entered her in one hard thrust. She moaned in pleasure at the feeling, her back arching against his chest as he slowly pulled almost all the way out, thrusting back in even harder after a few seconds. She could feel the small table hard against her body, bruising, but she couldn’t care less, not with Snape moving hungrily inside of her, his fingers teasing her clit.

“Come for me, witch,” he growled in her ear, his free hand now on her shoulder, pushing her back against him every time he thrust forwards, and she complied instantly. She was still surprised at the effect the man had on her, not entirely sure how they always ended up like that, but certainly not complaining.

He rode her orgasm, making it last so long she thought it would never end, and when it finally did, he started thrusting into her harder, faster. She yelped when he buried his hand in her hair and yanked her head back, hungrily crushing his lips on hers in a bruising kiss. “So good,” she heard him breathe in her ear, and she moaned loudly in return, their tongues fighting again the next second. After what felt like an eternity he broke the kiss and yanked her hair back again, pulling her from the table, her back flush against his chest, her arms around his neck, keeping his body close.

In this new position, she could feel him reach places inside of her she didn’t even know existed, the sensations amazing, making her muscles clamp around him again, trapping him inside her and pushing him over the edge too.

She had never felt so tired in her entire life, and as soon as his arms left her hips, she collapsed on top of the table, her arms still around his neck, pulling him with her. She felt his lips on her neck again, this time kissing her softly, and she moaned, too exhausted to say anything else.

At length he pulled out of her and pushed himself back on his feet, wrapping an arm around her waist and helping her up too. He turned her to face him and they stood in silence for a few seconds, before he gently brushed his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck again, moaning and deepening the kiss, but as she opened her eyes she gasped, her gaze on the clock at the other end of the room.

“I have to go,” she whispered, but as she tried to move, he tightened his arms, keeping her flush against him.

“I really do,” she said, her voice hoarse from screaming. “If I’m not back before Ginny notices…”

With a grunt, he finally relented and released her, wrapping his arms around her again the next second, just as she felt her knees give way.

“I believe you are in no condition to Apparate on your own,” he said, smugly. She watched him as he reached for his wand, and after a moment, they were both dressed once more and covered with Harry’s invisibility cloak. He kissed her again as he walked to the door, half carrying her and taking his time, and when they finally left the house he Apparated them away.

“We are here,” he whispered, breaking the kiss, and she groaned at the loss. He smiled then and pushed her roughly against the wall, right next to the headquarters’ door, kissing her hungrily again, grinding his hips against hers as she buried her nails in his shoulders, wanting to pull him even closer.

“You have to go inside,” he said, his body pushing against hers a few more seconds before he stepped back.

“Cruel,” she whispered and he laughed loudly.

“Do you think you can walk?” he asked, and when she nodded, he gave her one last heated kiss before stepping away and Disapparating.

She waited for her heart to slow down and her legs to recover before going inside, up the stairs and into her bedroom. She froze on the spot when she saw Ginny sitting on her bed, clearly waiting for her.

She slowly turned around and closed the door behind her, trying to come up with an excuse as she did.

“Where were you?” Ginny asked, thankfully in a whisper. Before she could answer, another question left her lips. “Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought someone had kidnapped you or something!”

“I just needed…”

“Oh, I can see what you needed,” she said, looking at her neck, and Hermione felt herself flush. “You could’ve at least told me you were going to see your boyfriend.”

“I know, Gin, I’m sorry. It wasn’t really planned,” she said, glad her friend thought it had been just a romantic escapade and not sure she wasn’t right.

“Well, even a note would have been nice. I was just about to tell Harry you were gone.” Her eyes widened then, and Ginny snorted angrily. “No need to worry, I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Oh, thank you, Ginny,” she said gratefully, but the girl just got up, walked to her side of the room and got into bed. “If you ever do that again…” she threatened, and Hermione simply nodded.

As she was taking her robes off, she noticed something sticking out of her pocket. It was a blank piece of parchment and her parents’ letter. Promising herself she would write back in the morning, she crept under the covers and instantly fell asleep, exhausted but with a smile on her face.