Trust, Betrayal, and Destruction

Trust, Betrayal, and Destruction chapter 3


AN: Rowling\'s characters. My story.

I will post the next chapter after at least 5 reviews. I want to make sure people are actually enjoying this story. :)

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Return to Darkness
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Severus Snape had seen a young witch or wizard standing by the door, completely out of place. His or her voice was shaking and low and the hood of their robe was pulled over their face, so he wasn\'t sure if it was a man or woman. He shrugged his shoudlers as the person ran terrified into the street. \'Probably some Hogwarts student got lost and ended up here,\' he thought. After collecting the ingredients for the potion he wanted to create, he paid the shop keeper and made his way back up the dark street. When he reached the opening where Hogsmeade began again, he didn\'t notice the shadow to his left that silently follwed him. He wanted to stop by the Hogs Head for a drink, but he wanted to start the potion more, so he veered from the pub and walked down the path that led to the school. \'Albus would probably get on my case if he knew I was here. Even more so if he knew what I was doing here.\' A crooked grin graced his features as he contemplated the look Albus would have on his face if he knew exactly what potion Severus was planning on brewing. \'He still trusts me, but only just. Damn the old bastard for catching me off guard! I have an explanation for that night.\' He raised his eyebrows. \'Well, not really, but I\'ve had time to come up with one that\'s believable.\' The horrible grin once again on his face, Snape quickened his step towards Hogwarts.

Hermione had cast a Disillusion charm on herself so she wouldn\'t be easily spotted by the dark figure. Still, she was nervous. She used to trust this man with everything, but now...now she wasn\'t so sure. He hadn\'t been himself on classes---sure, he had taken points away from Gryffindor left and right, but he had on more than one occasion stopped dead in the middle of a lecture and simply stare--no, glare-- into space. After a few moments, he would come to and continue talking as if nothing had happened. Hermione didn\'t know what to make of it, and it worried her.

Snape had almost reached the gates of the castle when Hermione, due to thinking about him rather than her footing, tripped over a large rock in the middle of the path. She cursed. Snape whipped around, but didn\'t see anything due to the charm.

\"Who\'s there?\" He had his wand out and ready.

Hermione stay absolutely still.

\"Show yourself! I know you are there!\" He sounded dangerous and Hermione tried hard to keep her breath as quiet as possible. It was futile. Snape marched over to where he heard the noise and started kicking the air. It didn\'t take too long for it to connect with Hermiones\' shoulder as she huddled on the ground.

Snape quickly pointed his wand and uttered a revealing spell. Hermione shimmered slightly before coming into vfull view, her eyes wide in fright.

Snape first looked shocked, then angry. Very angry.

\"What the hell do you think you are playing at, Miss Granger?! How long have you been following me?\" He spat the words out like venom and Hermione visibly cringed. Snape softened. A little.

\"Miss Granger, get up off of the ground.\"

She obeyed, her lip quivering between her front teeth.

\"Now, tell me...what were you doing with a disillusion charm on you and WHY were you, seemingly, following me?\"

\"I...I....\"

\"Yes?\" Snape raised his eyebrows at her intimidatingly.

Hermione had to come up with something fast. Her mind had failed her once before. Hopefully it would do it again.

\"I was trying to get away from Harry and Ron, and when I noticed I was behind you, I didn\'t want to draw attention to myself in case you...you..said something to me to alert Ron and Harry to my whereabouts.\" She said this all rather fast, but her voice was steady.

Snape rolled his eyes...partly in annoyance, and partly in relief.

\"Very well, Miss Granger, I honestly could care less about your games of hide and seek. Run on ahead of me little girl, and don\'t get in my way again.\" His eyes were glittering. He loved treating the students like the children they were, but especially ones like this particular witch. He smirked at her obvious dismay at being called a \'little girl\' and watched as she dusted off her weekend robes and marched past him throught he castle gates. She mumbled something about a \'blackhearted bastard\', but Snape decided to ignore it. For now. He could always call her on it later and assign a nasty detention with Filch. Yes. That would be wonderful. WIth a crooked twist of his lips that could almost be called a smile, Snape passed through the gate and his robes billowed behind him as he made his way to the door of the castle.

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Hermione had already run inside and made a sharp right towards Dumbledore\'s office. Her hair was out in all directions and her robes were ascue by the time she reached the stone gargoyle guarding the stairway to his office. Breathing heavily, she panted, \"Ton-Tongue...t..toffee\" before running up the moving spiral stairs. The door opened as soon as she reached the top.

Albus was sitting in his desk, obviously waiting for her. Ron and Harry were pacing in front of the desk and quickly burst into a storm of questions when they saw her.

\"Hermione! Are you alright?\"

\"Did Snape try to hurt you?\"

\"Snape didn\'t see you, did he?\"

\"Did you catch him doing anything wrong?\"

\"Would you like to take a seat, Miss Granger?\"

Hermione looked at the speaker of the last question gratefully and plopped down into one of the over-stuffed chairs. Then she decided to answer the other questions.

\"Yes, Harry, I\'m fine. No, Ron, Snape didn\'t try to hurt me. He did see me, but not until we were almost back here and I made up some story about hiding from you two,\" she gave them a small smile at that then continued.. \"I didn\'t catch him doing anything wrong, per se...unless Devil\'s Lane is illegal..\" she glanced at Albus, who started at her words but didn\'t say anything.

She sighed then went on again, \"I followed him into a potion ingredients shop...it was horrible. I only saw a few of the things he bagged and didn\'t recognise any of them. The shop keeper saw me and started asking me questions, so I left as quickly as possible then waited for him at the entrance of Devil\'s Lane.\"

Albus had steepled his hands on his desk and was resting his chin lightly on his thumbs in thought. After a moment, he nodded and then looked into Hermione\'s chocolate eyes.

\'Thank you, Miss Granger. I appreciate the risk you took in providing me with this information. You are doing an excellant job at being a spy.\" He smiled down at her in encouragment, but Hermione only frowned at his words.

\"A...spy. Yeah, I guess that\'s what I am, isn\'t it?\" She was talking more to herself than anyone in the room, but they all heard her.

Albus cleared his throat. \"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, if you two wouldn\'t mind letting me have a few words with Harry...\" he looked at the door pointedly. Obediently, the two left the office; Hermione was quiet and Ron was muttering angrily under his breath about \"Harry getting to know everything and not him\".

Once they were gone, Albus turned his attention to the black-haired boy.

\"Harry, there was something you wanted to speak to me about, am I correct?\"

At the look of confusion on Harry\'s face, the older wizard went on..

\"Your are an open book, my boy, when your emotions are running high with concern for a friend. Tell me...what exactly is on your mind?\" He gave Harry a fatherly look and then waited patiently for the young man\'s answer.

Harry swallowed. He felt a lot of anger towards the old man right now and didn\'t want it to show.

\"Well, Headmaster, I..\" he let out a long breath, \"I want to know why you asked Hermione to do spy on Snape.\"

Albus raised his eyebrows at Harry. \"I thought we had discussed this already, Harry.\"

\"Yes, you\'ve told me that she is a smart witch and will know what to do, but you can\'t expect me to believe that\'s the only reason.\"

Albus smiled sadly. The boy was right. How could he have been such a fool to think Harry wouldn\'t question him further? Well, there was nothing else to do.

\"Harry, you and I both know how Severus...Professor Snape...can be when his mind is made up.\"

Harry thought back to third year in the Shrieking Shack.... \"Yeah. I can. But what does that have to do wi-\"

Albus held up a hand to stop Harry from going further. \"Even I have trouble convincing the man when his heart is set a certain way. I don\'t match up anywhere near when it comes to wit and stubborness. But I can think of someone who does.\" He looked meaningfully at Harry, who furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

\"I don\'t understand...\"

\"Think, Harry. Who do you know who has a biting wit and a stubborn streak that can\'t be beat?\"

Harry frowned \"But Sir, just because Hermione has-\"

\"Sshhh, Harry. Believe me, if I did not think Miss Granger capable of somehow softening that man\'s heart, I would never have put her in this position.\"

Harry still didn\'t seem pleased or convinced. \"But why do you need to \'soften\' him up, anyway? I thought his attitude kept him from being discovered by Voldemort.\"

Albus\' eyes darkened considerably. \"Harry, I must tell you something. That night when Severus...killed your uncle, he was not forced to do so.\"

Harry looked up, mildly shocked.

Albus went on, \"He was laughing, Harry. Laughing the way Voldemort laughed when...\" his voice dropped to a whisper, \"when he killed your father and your mother.\"

Now Harry looked up, fire in his eyes at the vision, but he was still not sure what Albus was trying to tell him...

\"Harry, after looking into Severus\' thoughts that night and watching him discreetly, along with the \'information\' he has given me from meetings with Voldemort, I have come to a terrifying conclusion.\" He took a deep breath. \"Severus Snape is no longer on our side. He has once again joined ranks with Voldemort and may turn out to be or most fearful enemy next to Voldemort himself.\"

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Harry left the headmaster\'s office with a light head. He knew Snape\'s actions were suspicious, but he didn\'t think Snape would actually turn against them. After all of those years of Hermione defending him, beating into Ron and Harry about how he was \'helping the light and putting himself at terrible risk\', Harry wasn\'t sure he could believe what he had heard just now. If it were true, why wouldn\'t he try harder to keep Snape locked inside Hogwarts? Or send him to Azkaban? \'Because, stupid, Voldemort can easily break him free from Azkaban, like he did his other Death Eaters. Here, Albus can keep an eye on him, make him think that he was still trusted.\' Harry shook his head to clear his mind. He had asked the headmaster why he needed Hermione to spy on Snape if it was already known that he was a traitor. Albus had refused to give Harry a full answer, only reiterating what he had said about Hermione having a wit and stubborn streak similiar to Snape\'s. He didn\'t expect Hermione to change the gits\' mind, did he? No. That wasn\'t possible. But then...Albus had a distorted view on ways to get things done.

He had told Harry not to mention any of this to Ron and especially not Hermione. He wanted her to continue believing that Snape was only going through a phase of sorts. A phase that, if left alone, could turn Snape back into the dangerous wizard he once was. Yep. It definetly would do no good to tell Hermione it was already too late. Harry shuddered. If Snape really WAS a full blown Death Eater again, would Hermione be safe? What would happen if he caught her following him...again?? Harry couldn\'t take it anymore. He ran to Gryffindor tower and up the stairs to his room. Ignoring Ron\'s questions, Harry flung open his trunk and took out a small bottle of amber liquid. Sitting on his bed with the coverings surrounding him, he downed half of the bottle of Fire Whiskey and then lay his head onto his pillow for a nap...despite it was only late afternoon. Once the alcohol started to take effect, he smiled at the ceiling. His curtains were charmed to keep sound out unless it was an emergency. He knew Ron was yelling himself hoarse out there... he looked at the bottle in his hand and grinned again. It had taken a lot of Slytherin tactics to get this in the castle and into his room withouth being found. Parseltongue wasn\'t the only thing given to him through the scar on his forehead...

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Thank you to all of my reviewers!! Keep it up!

-Gwen