A Crown of Thorns
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
21
Views:
9,340
Reviews:
99
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
21
Views:
9,340
Reviews:
99
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
As Time Goes By
**DISCLAIMER** All characters etc. belong to J.K. Rowling and I am making no money from this. Don’t sue because I’m sure that I don’t have anything that you’d want anyway. The basic plot for the story was a challenge presented by ArienAstera.
Chapter Three – As Time Goes By
Hermione returned to her room that night and went immediately to the bathtub. She sank into the hot water in an attempt to ease her body from the aching aftereffects of being repeatedly subjected to the Cruciatus Curse.
If someone had told her a year ago that she would be living with Lord Voldemort in the middle of nowhere, training to become his successor, she would have immediately booked them a one-way ticket to the psych ward at St. Mungo’s.
Although in her heart she knew it was all a charade, Hermione was frequently plagued by a deep-seeded guilt that she was in some way betraying Harry by being here. Logically she knew that she wasn’t here by choice, but still, the idea of learning how to become strong enough to one day defeat those who loved her didn’t sit well with her conscience. Time and again she drew her strength from the fact that when the final battle came, she would take her place beside Harry and Dumbledore and use her powers to destroy Voldemort once and for all. However, keeping up the appearance of loyal Death Eater-in-training on a daily basis was beginning to take its toll, but she must have been doing a good job because he hadn’t killed her yet.
In fact, she hated to admit it, but despite his reputation, Voldemort really did make an effort to treat her well. When she had begun her training, he had told her that she would be rewarded for her achievements and he had kept his part of the bargain. Throughout the past year she had earned the privilege of unlimited access to the greenhouses and libraries in the castle and last month he had begun allowing her to go for walks on the grounds unescorted. Of course, before she was allowed outside on her own Voldemort would bind her powers and heavily ward the perimeter of the grounds so she couldn’t escape, but Hermione didn’t mind.
Despite her trips outside, she still had no idea where she was being held, but judging from the harsh weather and the frequent heavy snowfalls, she could easily draw the conclusion that she was in the far North somewhere. Not that knowing her whereabouts would do her any good, she hadn’t seen an owl yet since she had got here. In fact, the onontaontact she had was with Voldemort, Lucius and a few house-elves and none of them were her idea of good company.
Sighing, Hermione hauled herself out of the tub and got ready for bed. She climbed wearily into the big four-poster in the middle of her room and drifted off to sleep, dreaming once again of home.
~~~~
Severus Snape sat at his desk attempting to grade the papers in front of him, but something in the back of his mind just wouldn’t let him concentrate tonight. He quickly scanned through the remaining parchments, scribbling a biting remark here and there but his heart really wasn’t in it. When he was finished, he went into his private chambers, poured himself a scotch and sat down in front of the fire. Gazing into the flames, he let his mind wander to what he had been trying to avoid thinking about all day, Hermione Granger.
Today marked the one year anniversary of her disappearance.
‘Disappearance, what a silly word’, he thought with a sneer.
Witches didn’t just ‘disappear’, especially a witch like Hermione Granger. And despite the reports that the Ministry had put out regarding her disappearance, Severus and the rest of the Order knew damn well that she had been kidnapped and who had done it. The thing that bothered him the most though, was that nothing about her abduction had been mentioned at any of the Dark Lord’s gatherings over the past year.
If she had been killed, there is no doubt that Voldemort would have made a spectacular showing of her death because she was so close Potter. She would have been a gift of sorts and whichever Death Eater had brought her to the Dark Lord would have been greatly rewarded. Severus’ instincts told him that she was still alive, but whatever Voldemort was planning to do with her must be tremendous because lately he had been summoning the Death-Eaters less frequently and that could only mean that he was preoccupied.
The hardest thing for Severus over the past year was that he was forced to sit back and do nothing. He couldn’t very well go up to Voldemort and demand to know the girl’s whereabouts since that would most definitely ensure his immediate death. And although he wasn’t particularly fond of Miss Granger he would never wish her any harm. He knew what happened to women that were held prisoner by the Death Eaters and she wasn’t yet a woman. Thinking of the horrors that she was most likely being forced to endure at Vodelmort’s hands made Severus thoroughly nauseated. He had seen firsthand what the Dark Lord was capable of and it wasn’t pleasant.
Severus rose, frustrated, and thought about their efforts to locate Hermione over the past year. Alerts had been sent out to all of the Order’s Headquarters throughout Europe and Asia and even the American Ministry had been notified, but not even the strongest tracking charms and locating spells had led them to her whereabouts. The Aurors were having no luck at all since none of the Death Eaters that were captured seem to know anything about Hermione’s whereabouts. Nevertheless, something in his gut told Severus that whatever had happened to Miss Granger, Lucius Malfoy was directly involved and although he didn’t know how, he intended to find out.
~~~~
Several weeks had passed before Severus decided to go speak with Dumbledore about his plan.
“Lemon sherbert.” The stone gargoyle began to turn revealing a spiral stair and Severus made his way to the Headmaster’s office where the door swung open when he approached.
“Come in Severus, please have a seat,” Dumbldore greeted him, “what can I do for you?”
“Albus, I need to speak with you about Miss Granger.”
As Severus sat down he noted the momentary flash of sadness that clouded the Headmaster’s usually twinkling eyes, for he knew that Albus cared greatly for Miss Granger.
“It’s been quite a while since you were last summoned, have you heard news since then?” Dumbledore asked hopefully.
Severus shook his head reluctantly, “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t heard anything, but what I wanted to speak to you about concerns Lucius Malfoy.”
Dumbledore looked at Severus questioningly over the top of his half-moon glasses.
Severus continued, “You are already aware that I have been unable to find out any information concerning Miss Granger’s abduction. With your permission I would like to monitor Lucius’ activities. I believe that whatever Voldemort is planning involves Miss Granger and I also believe that Lucius is directly involved.”
“And exactly how do you plan on monitoring Lucius without being discovered?”
Severus hesitated for a moment, “Well, for quite some time now I have been an unregistered animagus,” Dumbledore’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at this revelation and Severus continued, “And I could easily follow Lucius in my animagus form without being detected.”
Dumbledore thought about it for a moment before speaking, “Severus, you know that I care for you like a son and I would never ask you to put yourself in more danger than you are already in. The decision is entirely yours. Whatever you decide, you will have my support.”
Severus stood to leave and looked at his old friend, “I will find her Albus. You have my word.”
Severus returned to his chambers in the dungeons. It was Friday evening and he had the entire weekend ahead of him, no better time to than the present to set his plan in motion. Grabbing his cloak from the wardrobe Severus made his way to the school’s front gates and apparated to the woods on the edge of Malfoy Manor.
Moments later a large, black bird flew from the trees and settled itself on the window ledge outside of Lucius Malfoy’s library. Ruffling his feathers, Severus settled in for what was undoubtedly going to be a long night.
Chapter Three – As Time Goes By
Hermione returned to her room that night and went immediately to the bathtub. She sank into the hot water in an attempt to ease her body from the aching aftereffects of being repeatedly subjected to the Cruciatus Curse.
If someone had told her a year ago that she would be living with Lord Voldemort in the middle of nowhere, training to become his successor, she would have immediately booked them a one-way ticket to the psych ward at St. Mungo’s.
Although in her heart she knew it was all a charade, Hermione was frequently plagued by a deep-seeded guilt that she was in some way betraying Harry by being here. Logically she knew that she wasn’t here by choice, but still, the idea of learning how to become strong enough to one day defeat those who loved her didn’t sit well with her conscience. Time and again she drew her strength from the fact that when the final battle came, she would take her place beside Harry and Dumbledore and use her powers to destroy Voldemort once and for all. However, keeping up the appearance of loyal Death Eater-in-training on a daily basis was beginning to take its toll, but she must have been doing a good job because he hadn’t killed her yet.
In fact, she hated to admit it, but despite his reputation, Voldemort really did make an effort to treat her well. When she had begun her training, he had told her that she would be rewarded for her achievements and he had kept his part of the bargain. Throughout the past year she had earned the privilege of unlimited access to the greenhouses and libraries in the castle and last month he had begun allowing her to go for walks on the grounds unescorted. Of course, before she was allowed outside on her own Voldemort would bind her powers and heavily ward the perimeter of the grounds so she couldn’t escape, but Hermione didn’t mind.
Despite her trips outside, she still had no idea where she was being held, but judging from the harsh weather and the frequent heavy snowfalls, she could easily draw the conclusion that she was in the far North somewhere. Not that knowing her whereabouts would do her any good, she hadn’t seen an owl yet since she had got here. In fact, the onontaontact she had was with Voldemort, Lucius and a few house-elves and none of them were her idea of good company.
Sighing, Hermione hauled herself out of the tub and got ready for bed. She climbed wearily into the big four-poster in the middle of her room and drifted off to sleep, dreaming once again of home.
~~~~
Severus Snape sat at his desk attempting to grade the papers in front of him, but something in the back of his mind just wouldn’t let him concentrate tonight. He quickly scanned through the remaining parchments, scribbling a biting remark here and there but his heart really wasn’t in it. When he was finished, he went into his private chambers, poured himself a scotch and sat down in front of the fire. Gazing into the flames, he let his mind wander to what he had been trying to avoid thinking about all day, Hermione Granger.
Today marked the one year anniversary of her disappearance.
‘Disappearance, what a silly word’, he thought with a sneer.
Witches didn’t just ‘disappear’, especially a witch like Hermione Granger. And despite the reports that the Ministry had put out regarding her disappearance, Severus and the rest of the Order knew damn well that she had been kidnapped and who had done it. The thing that bothered him the most though, was that nothing about her abduction had been mentioned at any of the Dark Lord’s gatherings over the past year.
If she had been killed, there is no doubt that Voldemort would have made a spectacular showing of her death because she was so close Potter. She would have been a gift of sorts and whichever Death Eater had brought her to the Dark Lord would have been greatly rewarded. Severus’ instincts told him that she was still alive, but whatever Voldemort was planning to do with her must be tremendous because lately he had been summoning the Death-Eaters less frequently and that could only mean that he was preoccupied.
The hardest thing for Severus over the past year was that he was forced to sit back and do nothing. He couldn’t very well go up to Voldemort and demand to know the girl’s whereabouts since that would most definitely ensure his immediate death. And although he wasn’t particularly fond of Miss Granger he would never wish her any harm. He knew what happened to women that were held prisoner by the Death Eaters and she wasn’t yet a woman. Thinking of the horrors that she was most likely being forced to endure at Vodelmort’s hands made Severus thoroughly nauseated. He had seen firsthand what the Dark Lord was capable of and it wasn’t pleasant.
Severus rose, frustrated, and thought about their efforts to locate Hermione over the past year. Alerts had been sent out to all of the Order’s Headquarters throughout Europe and Asia and even the American Ministry had been notified, but not even the strongest tracking charms and locating spells had led them to her whereabouts. The Aurors were having no luck at all since none of the Death Eaters that were captured seem to know anything about Hermione’s whereabouts. Nevertheless, something in his gut told Severus that whatever had happened to Miss Granger, Lucius Malfoy was directly involved and although he didn’t know how, he intended to find out.
~~~~
Several weeks had passed before Severus decided to go speak with Dumbledore about his plan.
“Lemon sherbert.” The stone gargoyle began to turn revealing a spiral stair and Severus made his way to the Headmaster’s office where the door swung open when he approached.
“Come in Severus, please have a seat,” Dumbldore greeted him, “what can I do for you?”
“Albus, I need to speak with you about Miss Granger.”
As Severus sat down he noted the momentary flash of sadness that clouded the Headmaster’s usually twinkling eyes, for he knew that Albus cared greatly for Miss Granger.
“It’s been quite a while since you were last summoned, have you heard news since then?” Dumbledore asked hopefully.
Severus shook his head reluctantly, “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t heard anything, but what I wanted to speak to you about concerns Lucius Malfoy.”
Dumbledore looked at Severus questioningly over the top of his half-moon glasses.
Severus continued, “You are already aware that I have been unable to find out any information concerning Miss Granger’s abduction. With your permission I would like to monitor Lucius’ activities. I believe that whatever Voldemort is planning involves Miss Granger and I also believe that Lucius is directly involved.”
“And exactly how do you plan on monitoring Lucius without being discovered?”
Severus hesitated for a moment, “Well, for quite some time now I have been an unregistered animagus,” Dumbledore’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at this revelation and Severus continued, “And I could easily follow Lucius in my animagus form without being detected.”
Dumbledore thought about it for a moment before speaking, “Severus, you know that I care for you like a son and I would never ask you to put yourself in more danger than you are already in. The decision is entirely yours. Whatever you decide, you will have my support.”
Severus stood to leave and looked at his old friend, “I will find her Albus. You have my word.”
Severus returned to his chambers in the dungeons. It was Friday evening and he had the entire weekend ahead of him, no better time to than the present to set his plan in motion. Grabbing his cloak from the wardrobe Severus made his way to the school’s front gates and apparated to the woods on the edge of Malfoy Manor.
Moments later a large, black bird flew from the trees and settled itself on the window ledge outside of Lucius Malfoy’s library. Ruffling his feathers, Severus settled in for what was undoubtedly going to be a long night.