16

AN: In honor (and preparation for) what will be Tropical Storm Irene, I am posting this chapter early. Should I still have power on Monday, then I will post the next chapter in celebration. If not, well... *shrugs* ;-)

Thanks as always to Ayerf and Septentrion for their eyes and advice.

Snape watched with concern as Hermione left for bed. It had been a long and tiring day, to be sure, but he was surprised by her pessimism. She hadn't seemed so invested in the potential of the Grey Lady's knowledge to account for such an uncharacteristic display.

His gut twisted when it occurred to him that he might be rubbing off on her.

Snarling – whether at himself or at Hermione he was not sure – he got up and grabbed his cloak. It had been too long since he'd roamed the castle grounds. While his skin itched for the freedom of the dark halls and empty corridors, his soul sought the solace of fresh air.

He made it out the front doors unpestered, though he'd seen the Bloody Baron hovering near the dungeon's stairs. He was glad the Baron had kept his distance, though it would have surprised him had the ghost actually approached him. The Baron only talked when there was an emergency; the students were all too wary of the Carrows nowadays to require the Baron's assistance.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to release thoughts of the students as he did so. It didn't work. It never did. He slowly walked down the front steps, heading toward the lake, trying, once again, to find ways to subdue the Carrows.

Alecto wasn't too bad. Her curses were nastier than Amycus', but she preferred to use the children's imaginations against themselves. She terrified the children with her sociopathic spells, but she only used the physically taxing curses on the older ones.

Severus knew the psychological scars the children bore were terrible, but it was easier for him to bear if only because he couldn't see them. The children had always looked terrified around him anyway. However, he couldn't erase the memories of the children screaming under the Cruciatus from his mind, especially when the scars from the curse formed on their faces.

Snape shuddered, and took another long, deep breath. The wind picked up and pressed his clothes against him, sneaking through the layers and reminding him that winter hadn't let go just yet. He looked around. The lake was beautiful in the moonlight, but so dark and bleak under the clouds that covered the sky now. It looked like a void in space and time. He almost wished it were, as then it would be easy to solve his problems.

He sneered at himself. His time would come soon enough. No need to rush things. Especially since Hermione's fate was in his hands alone. The thought of what would happen to her without his guardianship was enough to make him shudder again and look back toward the castle.

His eyes were drawn to his tower. It was one of four lit windows throughout the entire castle, so it was easy to distinguish. He hoped that the ever burning light wasn't drawing suspicion, but decided it didn't matter if it was. No one would question him to his face, and even if they did, they wouldn't ever think of the right questions to ask. No one would suspect him of chivalry.

He scowled, but his eyes soon softened, thinking of Poppy, Minerva and Hermione. No, there were a few people who just might believe in him. There was even one who believed the best of him, as silly and foolish as it was of the girl.

His heart clenched with emotion as he let his feet take him back to the school. He figured he might as well start searching for the diadem, though he still had no idea where the Dark Lord might have put it. Hogwarts hid so many secret spots, and Snape was afraid that only Dumbledore had a better knowledge of them than Voldemort. But the sooner he started looking, the sooner he could set Hermione free.

No one sentient was around as he entered the castle, much to his satisfaction. He let his body go on autopilot as he prowled the corridors, wand in hand, stretching his senses to pick up magical signatures beyond those that belonged to Hogwarts.

He was relieved that as he reached the halfway point of his patrol, not one student was lurking out of sight. He was especially relieved because as he came to the kitchen's entrance, he met Amycus coming out.

Amycus raised his brows as he looked at his outfit, and Snape inwardly cursed his lack of foresight. Stashing his cloak somewhere would have been intelligent, but it was too late now.

"Night, Severus."

"Good evening, Amycus. Have your patrols been fruitful?"

Amycus looked back at the painting of the fruit bowl and started laughing. He found the pun a little too funny, wearing on Snape's patience, so he started walking away. He wasn't surprised when Amycus followed. "It would have been more fruitful if you'd been that Longbottom brat, but I suppose this snack will have to make up for it."

"It's a shame we don't always get what we want, isn't it?"

Amycus gave him a sly look. "You did."

"Mmm. And it only took twenty years to get it."

Amycus raised his brows and tried to be witty. "You been lusting over the Mudblood that long?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Don't be disgusting, Amycus. I was talking about the headmastership."

"But the Mudblood is what I was talking about."

Snape raised his brow. "You seem very interested in her."

"I'm more interested in why you wanted her, her being a Mudblood and all."

"She was also one of the banes of my existence, and seeing as she was the only female bane..."

"Alecto says it's transference."

Snape snorted. "She would."

Amycus was silent for a while, seeming to sense the conversational dead end he'd reached. He wasn't completely done with the subject, however.

"I'm surprised to see you out and about, though. It seemed like you were in for a good night."

Snape twisted his lips up. "I had a good night. And then when she was worn out, I found myself missing the solitude of my evening walks. I've been rather neglectful of them the last week or so."

"But... Do you think it's a good idea to leave her by herself? What if she tries to escape?"

Snape didn't hide his scorn as he said, "Do you really think I would leave her alone if she were conscious?"

Amycus took it the way he would, and he broke out in a lascivious grin. "You lucky bastard."

"Yes. Yes, I am," Snape agreed with a smirk.

Snape had been subtly steering them toward Amycus' quarters, and as they reached them, he stopped. Amycus looked around in mild surprise.

"I'll take over your shift, if you don't mind, Amycus. I have a yen for patrolling tonight."

Amycus looked pleased. "Sure thing, Snapey. I'll warn you, though, it's a really slow night. Haven't even seen any familiars about."

Snape nodded gravely. "Yes. I imagine it's the calm before the coming storm."

Carrow nodded thoughtfully, suddenly tense. "Imagine it is. Well, well... Maybe your gift will give the rest of us something, too. Maybe it'll draw out those lousy kids once and for all."

"I think it will indeed. But not tonight, I think."

"No, probably not. Not if they have any brains, anyway," Amycus agreed, relaxing again.

Snape nodded at him with a smirk. "And I believe a few of them do. Good night, Amycus. Sleep well."

"Night, Severus." Amycus entered his quarters while Snape continued on his way, hoping that would ease Alecto's suspicions of his duplicity once she heard it. He didn't really want either of them on guard for attack, but he was pretty sure Alecto already was expecting it. He was also convinced she wasn't keeping an eye on just the students.

Snape continued through the castle, probing for magic as he went. When he came to the seventh floor, his skinned crawled as he felt something different. The Room of Requirement was along here, but that wasn't what he was sensing.

His heart sped up in excitement; could it be this easy? Could the Horcrux really be here somewhere? Could he go back to his room and wake Hermione to triumphant news?

And then he heard the whispers.

"What are you doing here? Do you have any idea what danger you're in?"

"Potter, I... you never know who will come by. Granger's not worth–"

"Expelliarmus!"

Snape groaned to himself as he felt his Oath twitch. There really was no way to win. He walked toward the whisperers, making no effort to mask his footsteps. He found it interesting that Draco was warning Potter, though. Very interesting.

"Someone's coming! You need to get out of here!"

Snape heard footsteps, and rounded the corner just in time to see Potter disappearing around the other end of the corridor. He lowered his wand and stared at the frightened blond boy who stood before the absurd tapestry.

"Professor Snape!" Draco exclaimed, paling even further.

Snape waved his wand, binding Draco so he couldn't do the runner he was thinking of doing.

"Well, well, well. Aiding and abetting, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco's skin turned ashy as he gulped, but Snape was proud to see that his mouth snapped shut. He wasn't going to talk willingly. He also remembered Occlumency existed.

"Good boy," he said with his nastiest smile, feeling a little sorry for the boy, but not willing to risk anything at this point.

He looked around him already knowing there was nowhere nearby to safely stow the boy while he went after Potter. He was glad there were no witnesses, however, as he flicked his wrist and levitated Draco through the hallway to the nearest empty room.

Plopping Draco down on one of the chairs, he reinforced the bonds and applied a powerful Silencio for good measure.

"I will deal with you after I have found and dealt with Potter."

He swept out of the room, taking care to close and lock the door behind him. He took a step away, paused and then cast another, more dangerous, ward around the entire room. Thus reassured of Draco's safety and silence, he set off for his office and Potter.