That Which Lurks in the Daylight

WL1031: Alright folks, I\'ve finally gotten a Hermione and Snape story up for your reading pleasure. I know, I know that I\'ve not finished \"Infinite Possibilities\" but I really had to get this out of my head, so that I could get some sleep! .:shoves Jade in frustration:.

Jade: Hey! I\'m not that annoying! I\'m only doing what a muse is supposed to do!

WL1031: Oh you mean bugging me until I write the story? Hovering about, you mean, until I can\'t think of anything else, even when I was at work?

Jade: .:rolls her eyes:. Oh, please, it got you to write didn\'t it? Really people, she\'s just being funky over nothing. Well, get on with the disclaimer, then!

WL1031: Fine.

The Harry Potter universe, including all of the characters and places, does not belong to me. It is the fabulous brainchild of the equally fabulous J.K. Rowling and all of her publishing company friends with their lawyer friends.



That Which Lurks in the Daylight
Chapter One: Where’s the Girl?

The girl awoke, finding herself leaning against the wall of a dark room. Her brown eyes could barely adjust to the light sneaking under the doorway. Turning her head, she could hear the small sound of something moving along in the blackness of the room, scratching its way towards her. Stomach recoiling with anxiety, the girl tried to shift positions, only to find that she was unable to do so. A loud clanking sound filled the gloomy silence of the room. Lifting her head, her brain finally made the connection as to why she couldn’t feel her arms: they were restrained, crossed at the wrists to a length of chain that snaked its way to what could have been the ceiling. Immediately, the panic set in; she couldn’t understand how she ended up in such a place. Even more, she didn’t know how long she had been held in the small, dank room. She remembered leaving her house and going to the market, but that may have been hours or days ago. Was this even happening? Maybe it was just a dream, one of those weird dreams that she always had for some reason unknown to her. Or maybe—her thought train was derailed as the loudness of a metal door opening slammed into her ears.

Raising her eyes, Hermione Granger squinted against the harsh light filtering in behind the visitor. The person, a man, stood in the doorway and then moved to stand directly in front of her. He held himself completely still, examining her for a moment, before leaning his face down directly into hers. Tears of fear blurred her sight when he smiled and ran a gloved finger along her cheek and lips. Closing her eyes, Hermione began to shake as the man pressed a kiss to her forehead. His warm breath tickled her skin while the gloved hands slid into her hair, brushing the long strands away from her face and back behind her ears. More tears slipped down her cheeks when her gaze connected with his, the sinister lust glowing in his dark orbs shifted her body’s flight response into high gear.

Laughing, the man smiled brilliantly at the girl. “My dear sweet girl,” he murmured, “did you not think that we would meet again?” The gloved hands rested on her cheeks before lowering down to rest on the exposed column of her neck.

“Y-yes… I th-thought—”

“Oh, do not be so hasty to be rid of me,” he said as he caressed her throat, his thumbs moving up and down leisurely. “We have so much to catch up on, my luscious Mudblood. I never got the chance to finish what we started so long ago.”

Hermione began to sob, the fear of it all overwhelming her. There was no possible exit from this terror she found herself in—it was only a matter of time before he started in with the torture; only a matter in time before he killed her.

“Oh my poor girl, there is no need to cry!” The man gathered the weeping girl in his arms, rocking her in consolation. Kissing the top of her head, he allowed a fully evil smile to settle on his face. “Besides, there is no one to hear your screams,” he pressed his lips against her ear and bit on the lobe softly and continued, “but that is good, darling, for if you scream loud enough, I may just let you go.”

Hermione screamed as loud as she could before his lips crashed onto hers.

Leaning back in his chair, Albus Dumbledore rubbed his temples. It was only the first day of the new school year and problems were already arising. One of the boats carrying a group of first years tipped over, nearly drowning the poor children. A small pack of salamanders escaped from a holding pen and set fire to a row of rosebushes, only to be found rolling happily in the flames of their destruction. Then, one of the greenhouses had to be closed because an overgrowth of devil’s snare decided to refuse entrance—it became particularly nasty when Professor Sprout tried to force it back. Unfortunately, the poor Herbology instructor was left worse for wear as she was currently laid up in the hospital wing with a sprained wrist and ankle. But all of those things paled in the shadow of a more pressing matter.

The Head Girl was missing.

Hermione Granger had been missing for three days, seemingly vanishing from her home. She didn’t appear at the Headquarters, rather her school trunk and a hissing Crookshanks turned up in her place. None of those sent out to find her had been able to turn up neither hair nor hide of the girl; none of which boded well for her friends and family. Letting out a sigh, the old headmaster stood up wearily. Fawkes sang out a series of consoling notes, ruffling his feathers as he went along, before gliding over to perch on his master’s shoulder.

“I know, my friend,” he sighed, “I know. And it’s barely even time for the Welcoming Feast.” He headed towards the door of his office and stepped onto the revolving staircase.

Black robes billowing as he made his way up the stone path, Severus Snape approached the main doors of the castle. It was now the early evening, well beyond the time of the sorting and start of the typical welcoming feast—not like he was missing much as it was the same year after year. He was, as usual, focused on other thoughts. The Head Girl, the know-it-all Granger, had been missing for exactly three days, nigh on four. She went missing on Mundungus Fletcher’s watch—why Albus sent him out was beyond him when he did such a shoddy job—and he was hardly surprised. That, however, did not make him any less angry about it. Shaking his head, Severus also could not puzzle out why Miss Granger thought she would be safe in the non-magical world. She begged and pleaded to return home for a week, the last before her final year, saying that she would be fine and that nothing would happen.

She was wrong.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Feeling a headache pulling behind his eyes, Severus debated over going into the loud, noisy room or down to his rooms for some much needed peace and quiet. Foreseeing the questions and concerns he knew Albus would spring on him, quickly solved the problem. Entering the hall, Severus stood and looked around at the crowd of talking, laughing and eating students. He surveyed each house table, noting the new additions by their scared yet awed little faces turning this way and that. Turning back to Gryffindor, he noticed Potter’s apprehensive expression, as well as Weasley’s worried one, as he continuously glanced towards the doors and the head table. Looking towards the Headmaster, he saw the normally twinkling eyes pinched with worry over the Head Girl’s situation. A weathered hand stroked the fiery down of Fawkes as Dumbledore ate his meal. The phoenix being there was a sign that things were troublesome enough for his human if he made his presence known to the students. Suddenly, the fire bird gave out a startling cry and left in a flash of flames. Another shrill cry sounded causing Severus, and everyone else, to turn their eyes back towards the great doors. The fire bird had reappeared in the open doorway, hovering over the still form of a bedraggled woman. She made a few steps inside, her body trembling in a last-ditch effort to reach safety before she lurched forward.

Moving with a speed no one in the school thought possible, Severus snatched the woman up inches from the stone floor. He picked her up into his arms, becoming alarmed at the near weightlessness of her bruised body. Her head rolled onto his shoulder, the long brown hair falling over his arm.

“H-help,” she started in a scratched whisper, “help me.”

In the wake of the stunned silence of all present, Severus turned and ran with the almost lifeless Hermione Granger in his arms, the phoenix gliding closely behind.

The Head Girl had returned.

Harry Potter pushed against the arms holding him back. “We just want to see her! We need to know if she’s going to be okay!” Ronald Weasley was there as well, trying to get past the strict mediwitch.

“I said no Mr. Potter,” Madam Pomfrey said sternly, “and the same to you, too, Mr. Weasley! Miss Granger needs to be isolated for a few hours so that the proper tests can be conducted.” Her voice softened at the stricken looks on the boys’ faces. “Now, please return to your dormitory. You will be informed when she is awake. I’m sure that she will be ready to see you by then.” She made a shooing motion with her hands before stepping back.

The large doors slammed shut when the mediwitch turned around. Harry and Ron were left staring at the now closed entryway, wondering and deeply concerned about their best friend. Their eyes connected before they nodded in unison, agreeing to the thought hanging between them.

“Right then, as soon as she wakes up?” Ron said quietly.

“Yes, as soon as she wakes up, mate,” Harry echoed, “we’ll be there as soon as she wakes up.”

Quickly, the two companions made their way to Gryffindor Tower, each filled with thoughts of revenge for the one who hurt their friend.

Several floors down, Severus sprawled in a squashy chair near his fireplace. A glass of Firewhiskey was balanced in his left hand, his right forefinger tapping against his pursed lips. For the last hour, his thoughts kept circling back to the abused form of Hermione Granger. The feel of her nearly weightless body cradled in his arms made his nerves quiver; the dull plea shining from her eyes made him want to vomit the lunch that he had yesterday, so badly did it bother him. And her voice, the almost silent scratch did not compare to the irritating bookish tone she usually carried.

“Help me…” her voice scratched into his mind over and over.

He didn’t understand why it was affecting him so much, but it did, nearly to the point of madness. Who did that to her? Who could have hated her so intensely that they would let her live after the torture? Around and around, the questions grew with each rotation.

“Argh!”

Severus threw his glass against the wall, the collapsing sound of glass and liquid doing little to stop the unresolved questions from forming. Pushing his hands into his hair, he leaned back and sighed in immense frustration. He sat there for a few minutes before rising to clean up the glass. Hearing the roar of the flames, he turned to see the Dumbledore’s disembodied head hovering amongst the green fire.

“I’m busy, Albus.” Gathering the broken tumbler, Severus muttered a quick charm to sop up the spill. He ignored the elder man as he went about his work, keeping his back to the fireplace.

“I’m sure you are, but there are more pressing matters.”

Severus let out a breath. “And what would that be? It better not be anything trivial as I have things to do before I take my rest.” He walked with the floating remains and flicked his wand in the general direction of the rubbish bin. He ticked off a list of errands on his finger as he walked past the roaring flames.

“Oh, I assure you, Miss Granger being awake and screaming for you to help her is nothing trivial.”

“I still have to do my rounds, check on a potion in the lab, grade a small stack of essays, and go help Miss Granger—” Severus stopped his musings and spun towards Albus. “What did you say?”

“That Miss Granger woke up screaming for you to help her— where are you going?” Albus’ watched as his Potions Master moved quickly towards his chamber door, his black robes billowing in his haste.

“Where else is the girl, Albus?”

The door slammed shut and the wards rose before the elder wizard could respond.

Shaking his head, Albus ended the floo connection in his own fireplace. “Well, he could have totally refused.” He stroked his silvery beard for a moment and then made to leave his office again. Fawkes ruffled his feathers in response, a soft note echoing in the room as he glided over to settle on his human’s shoulder.

“I know, my friend,” he sighed wearily, letting his shoulders drop for just a moment. “I know.”


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WL1031: Okay, that\'s the first chapter.

Jade: Yup, you guys know what to do: read and review!

WL1031: Cookies to the first 10 people!