Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Come on, let's go." Hermione said finally. It's getting late."

They turned to leave and were headed across the field when four large pops sounded and they were surrounded by four Death Eaters. Severus and Hermione whipped their wands out and stood back to back, ready for a fight.

"Voldemort has a warning for you, Mudblood!" one of the Death Eaters snarled.

Without waiting, Hermione blasted the man. At exactly the same time, Severus blasted one of the others and watched him fly backwards with a satisfying thud. The other two were prepared by now and started throwing spells at Severus and Hermione. The two kept their backs to one another and threw spells at their attackers. Severus sent another one of them flying, but he was replaced by the man Hermione had knocked out. Hermione shot a hex at one of the Death Eaters but barely noticed a spell coming for her. She barely had time to cast a Protego Charm to shield herself. Severus sent spell after spell at the Death Eaters, but nothing seemed to faze them. All four of the Death Eaters had now regained their feet and were shooting spells so quickly, Hermione and Severus were having a hard time keeping up. Hermione sent a flock of birds soaring toward the two Death Eaters facing her. The two men stooped low and started waving about, trying to shoo away the attacking birds.

"Nice one," Severus encouraged her.

"It works well on stupid boyfriends too," Hermione divulged as she cast a Stupefy hex at another Death Eater.

"Stupid boyfriends?" Severus inquired.

"The ones that go snogging other girls to make you jealous," Hermione said quickly as she shot more spells at the Death Eaters and ducked their own onslaught.

Severus grinned as he fought, but his grin soon disappeared as the two Death Eaters who weren't fighting off the birds turned and destroyed all of the attacking blight. The crouching Death Eaters rose with evil grins on their faces.

Soon, all four of them were sending hexes almost simultaneously at Hermione and Severus. Before the two could do anything more, strong ropes surrounded them and they stood helplessly in the middle of the attackers.

Hermione struggled with her bonds and growled at the Death Eaters. "Let him go; he's just a student. I'm the one you want."

"Hermione!" Severus growled.

"He's been seen with a Mudblood; he deserves what he gets!" came a voice to their left.

The first Death Eater came up to Hermione and put his masked face up to hers.

"The Dark Lord wants you to know he is not without compassion, even for someone as lowly as yourself. Leave your position at Hogwarts and discontinue your sullying of the purebloods that attend that school. If you do not leave, the next time we find you it will be your death."

Hermione snarled at him. "You think you're tough tying up a woman and a student?" She struggled to get at the Death Eater. "Does that make you feel like a man? Tell your stupid Dark Lord this: I will never give in to his demands. He will never make me cower in fright. He does not intimidate me in the least; he is nothing but a little man with little ideas."

Severus closed his eyes. He knew the Death Eaters would not take kindly to her blatant disregard for Voldemort's powers. As brave as she was, she was being incredibly stupid.

The Death Eater backed away and snarled, "How dare you speak against our Lord!"

He raised his wand and shouted some spells. The ropes fell away from them, and Severus was knocked to the ground, unable to stand. He heard Hermione scream and fall beside him. She continued to scream in agony as the Death Eaters disappeared and Severus struggled to get to a sitting position. He wasn't in pain; he just was incapable of moving and bearing weight on his legs. Finally, he managed to sit up and looked over at Hermione. She was unconscious. He had to get her back to Hogwarts.

He struggled to stand and picked Hermione up. He fell back to the ground and began again, this time able to support himself and Hermione on his wobbly legs. Turning on the spot, he Apparated back to the gates. He fell to his knees as he appeared in front of the wrought iron gates. Thankful he hadn't splinched either of them. He struggled to stand with her again and pushed the gates open, hurrying up the walk. Within a couple of minutes, and with much stumbling, he had entered the infirmary and placed Hermione on a bed. Severus sunk to the floor in relief and exhaustion. Madam Pomfrey rushed over and asked what happened as she waved her wand over the unconscious woman.

Severus told her quickly and she exclaimed, "Her insides are like they've been set on fire. She's got burns all over her organs!"

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Hermione once again.

"Augamenti interno," she chanted to stop the spell's progress. She then set to work repairing Hermione's internal injuries.

Severus pulled himself up and collapsed on the bed next to her. He had barely made it to the infirmary, he was so weak. Finally, Poppy had finished with Hermione. She turned her attention to Severus and waved her wand over him. He immediately felt better. She went over to her supplies and procured a potion, which she had him drink.

"If you had brought her in five minutes later, Mr. Snape, I don't think she would have survived," she told him as she watched him down the potion. "She owes you her life," Poppy continued. "Now, you need to rest here tonight. You can go in the morning. Professor Granger, however, will probably be here for a few days." She rose and left the room.

Severus looked over at Hermione. She was still unconscious. He thanked Merlin that he had gotten her here in time. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if she had perished. Scooting his bed a little closer to hers, he continued to watch her, hoping she would regain consciousness soon. If she could just open her eyes and speak to him, he would know that she would be alright.

He sighed in relief a little while later when Hermione's eyes slowly opened. She looked over at Severus.

"Are you alright?" she asked him in a weak voice.

He smiled at her. "You're the one who almost died."

She grimaced. "I knew I was in too much pain to be dead."

"Madam Pomfrey said you would be fine in a couple of days."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm just a bit weak. I can leave in the morning."

Hermione reached her hand out to Severus. He reached over and took it.

Looking at him with tears in her eyes, she whispered, "Thank you for saving my life."

He gave her a tentative smile. "What else are knights in shining armor for?"

Hermione smiled back at him. She took her hand back and looked up at the ceiling. Her mind went over the events that had gotten her to the infirmary. She berated herself for being taken by surprise. With the relative nothing going on in this time frame, she had seriously let her guard slip. The whole incident made her recall Mad-Eye Moody's favorite saying, 'Constant Vigilance.' She had really dropped the ball this time, and it had almost cost her life and Severus' as well.

"I'm sorry I endangered you, Severus," she told him. "I was caught by surprise. I should have been ready for an attack. I wasn't."

"Hermione, they popped out of nowhere. Even if you had been prepared, there were too many of them. They would have subdued us eventually."

Hermione sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'm still sorry."

"Don't apologize. I would have felt terrible if you had been alone."

She smiled ruefully. "That's funny, I would have felt better."

"So you think that being dead would have made you feel better?"

"Okay, you're right, it's better to be alive, even if every part of my body feels like it's on fire. I just wish you weren't caught up in all of this."

"You'll recuperate and I'm fine."

"How did they find us, anyway?"

Severus looked at her for a moment. "I would assume one of my housemates told their parents that you were to chaperone today. The parents must have gotten back to You-Know-Who and he gave the order to his men."

Hermione nodded, deep in thought.

"Are you going to go back to your own time then?" Severus asked tentatively.

She huffed at him. "Hardly! I'm not nearly finished with Malfoy, and I won't be intimidated by that despot."

"Hermione, he won't stop until he's killed you."

Hermione looked at Severus in determination. "He'll have to catch me first."

Severus regarded her in exasperation. He didn't know whether to admire her bravado or think she was foolish for not returning to her own time and to safety.

Noticing his expression, she gave him a caustic look. "And what kind of message will I be sending if I just pack up and disappear? There are enough people in our world that turn a blind eye or hide themselves in the face of danger. I have never been one of them, and I'm not about to start now!"

He knew Hermione had been a war hero, but he had not realized just how brave she truly was. Here she was, willing to risk her life, just so she could make a better future for everyone. Could he ever do such a thing? He didn't know. He was quite fond of his life and did not know if he would be so magnanimous as to risk it for others, especially those he didn't even know. Of course his future self had done just that, hadn't he? Perhaps he did have that kind of bravery within himself.

"You're incredibly brave, Hermione," he said finally.

She scoffed at him. "I have always just done what I had to do. Bravery never had much to do with it."

He looked at her skeptically, but decided to drop the matter. They lapsed into a companionable silence, each filled with their own thoughts. Severus continued to marvel at Hermione's lack of fear. She might make light of her bravery, but he knew it took an incredibly strong person to stand up to You-know-Who like she had. He truly admired her. She always spoke her mind, no matter the consequences. Her sharp tongue had been something he had appreciated about her from the beginning of their relationship. He did hope, however, that she could learn to keep it in check when faced with danger in the future. He sincerely doubted it though.

Hermione, however, gave no thought to her supposed bravery. She was thinking of the incident that preceded their attack. The memory of his kiss seared into her mind. She had never felt like she had when he had kissed her. He had sent shivers throughout her entire body. Whenever she had kissed Ron, or Viktor for that matter, it had just been pleasant. This kiss had been all consuming. She realized that she wanted him to kiss her like that all the time. But that couldn't happen, could it?

Hermione felt a pang of guilt for pushing him off. She knew he was probably hurt and confused, but he had not shown any of that. She couldn't do it. She couldn't fall in love with him; it would be too hard. He would be left alone when she needed to return to her time. She had seen what the absence of Lily had done to him. Vowing she would not be the source of him pushing everyone away or of him pining away for a woman who was unattainable, she concluded that any relationship with him would be impossible. Hermione turned away from Severus and tried to sleep. Before she knew it, she had drifted off, dreaming of his lips on hers and his arms encircling her.

A/N: Next up: Dumbledore's wicked proposal.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you might be able to tell, even though Hermione has sworn off Severus, she can't keep her feelings for him from growing. Thanks everyone, for your support, for reading, and especially for those who review. I really enjoy reading your comments.