Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next day, Hermione Apparated to Severus' cottage. Severus awaited her inside. He wore the same sunglasses he had worn the other day, but today he had chosen black pants once again, and a dark maroon robe for his outfit. He would never admit it, but he didn't mind dressing in something other than black for a change. It was a small diversion from his very mundane life, but a welcome one. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as there was a knock on the door. He opened it and looked down appreciatively at Hermione.

She wore a casual but elegant navy blue robe that was trimmed in white and had a white sash tied around her waist. It accented her shape nicely, and Severus found himself unable to draw his gaze from her. Another white sash was tied around her head, somewhat like a headband, with the ties dropping to her shoulder on her left. Hermione smiled at him.

"Are you ready to go, Severus?" she asked.

Severus managed to nod his head and step out of his home.

"I thought we could just go Side-Along, if that's okay with you, as I know where the library is."

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. "How many times have you done such a thing, Hermione?"

Hermione laughed. "More than I can count, Severus, and I think if I can do it properly when being chased by Voldemort and a giant snake, then a little Apparition to Leeds ought not to cause me any trouble."

Severus frowned at the mention of Nagini. He looked over at her quizzically with his eyebrow raised. "When did that episode occur?"

Hermione explained her trip to Godric's Hollow with Harry and their narrow escape from Voldemort.

"Ah, yes, I remember he was in a bit of a snit when that happened. I wasn't aware that you were the one who pulled that escape off by yourself. It seems that I have underestimated your prowess, Hermione."

"Please, Severus, all of these compliments are definitely going to make my head swell," Hermione joked.

Severus, of course, scowled. That made Hermione smile. She took his arm and they twisted and Disapparated away. They appeared in between two white stone buildings, one with a large clock tower on it. Hermione turned away from the clock tower and motioned for Severus to follow her.

"The entrance to the Wizarding library is at the back of this building," she explained.

They soon had entered the building, and Severus was happy to note they had not seen any students whatsoever in the minute it took to walk to the back of the student library. His elation was short lived as there was a witch sitting at the desk at the front of the library where they entered.

Hermione noticed Severus' scowl and got close enough to whisper to him.

"You really didn't think we wouldn't run into staff here, did you?"

Severus growled at her, but said nothing. Hermione approached the woman, intent on asking her about what she was looking for.

"Excuse me, we need some help," Hermione said.

The woman looked up at the couple and smiled brightly.

"What can I do for you?"

"We are looking for an old book. I did some research at the Ministry of Magic and found a reference that it was located in this library."

The attendant looked curiously at Hermione. "How old is the book you're looking for?"

"Five hundred years old," Hermione offered.

"You'll want to head to the very back of the library. Go through the gate on the back wall. All of our old and rare books are located in the room back there. There's a catalog in that room containing a listing of the contents of the Rare Books Room. Let me know if you're having trouble finding what you're looking for."

Hermione nodded and thanked her. Severus and she headed to the back of the library. They came to the back wall and found a set of golden barred gates that opened inward. They stepped through the gates and came into a small room with two long shelves and a wall full of books. There was a little podium near the door with a box of cards on it. Hermione waved her wand over it, and the card for Incantations for Potions popped into her hand. Hermione read the card and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked.

"The card says that the book was on loan to the library and has now been returned to its owner."

"Does it say who the owner is?"

Hermione handed the card to Severus. His eyebrows shot up when he saw who the owner was.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," he murmured.

"Do you know where Rodolphus is? Has he ever returned to the Lestrange estate?" Hermione asked curiously.

"As far as I know, he has been on the run since Voldemort's defeat."

Hermione put her finger up to her lip and thought.

"I could Apparate over there and see if I can get into the estate," she mused. "Actually, this is probably good news. I was worried as to how we might convince this library to let us have the text once we found it. If the book is at the Lestrange estate, I can simply take it. Lestrange, being a criminal, has no say as to what happens to his property."

"You will not go there alone!" Severus commanded.

Hermione regarded Severus for a moment. "I thought you didn't want to be seen in public."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't, but I want you poking around in a Death Eater's home by yourself even less. I will go with you." His demeanor left no room for argument. He would be accompanying Hermione no matter what.

"Oh, you're so sweet, being concerned about my welfare!" Hermione joked, resulting in a huge scowl from Severus.

She laughed out loud and replaced the library card. They left the rare books section and thanked the librarian for her help, explaining what they had found. In a matter of minutes they had returned to the Apparition site.

"Are you sure you don't want to do some window shopping?" Hermione asked with a grin.

Severus scowled at her.

"I shall lead the Apparition this time, Hermione, as I know where Lestrange's home is."

Hermione nodded, finding his scowl at her suggestion to window shop amusing. Before she knew it they had Disapparated and reappeared in front of a mansion at the end of a long street. The mansion wasn't as grandiose as the Malfoy Mansion, but it was very elegant nonetheless. At least it had been. It had stood vacant for six years and must not have been well taken care of before that. There were broken windows, and the grounds were unkempt. The grey stucco coating the brickwork was falling off in places. The entire home was run down and battered looking.

Hermione started for the gate, but Severus' hand on her arm held her back.

"Do not underestimate appearances, Hermione. Lestrange may be hiding away in here. We must be careful."

Hermione's eyes widened with realization and she nodded her head to Severus. He went forward and pulled the gate open. It groaned loudly, announcing their arrival. Severus frowned, unhappy that anyone who might be lurking in the old house now knew they were there. Of course, if there was someone there, they had probably set a ward that would alert them to visitors anyway. He went up the walkway closely followed by Hermione and they approached the door.

Severus extended his wand and motioned for Hermione to do the same.

"We should explore the whole house first, before looking for the book, to make sure we are alone," he explained.

Hermione nodded her agreement.

He opened the door quickly, ready for a sneak attack, but none came.

"Homenum revelio," Hermione chanted. "There's someone upstairs," she told Severus after a moment.

"Can you tell where upstairs?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "We'll have to explore the whole floor."

Severus nodded and led the way up the staircase. At the top, he felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take this room, you go in that one over there," she advised.

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. "It's too dangerous. We stay together."

"Severus, I'm perfectly able to . . ."

"We stay together," he growled in a low voice.

She eyed him unhappily, but nodded in the affirmative. He pointed to the doorway on the right, and they both entered quickly, ready for anything. They were greeted by an empty room with furniture that was covered by sheets. Hermione sighed in relief, but both of them kept their wands extended. Severus wandered over to a door and snapped it open to reveal a small empty closet. Hermione flicked her wand at the thick, green curtains around the windows to push them aside. There was no one hiding behind them.

With a nod to each other, they silently left the room and went across the hall to the next room. They found much the same there. The following room was the library. Hermione was anxious to look for their missing book, but she knew that doing so was foolishness until they found whoever was hiding up here. After assuring that the library was empty, she wistfully closed the door behind her, and they went on to the next room. The search went along the same lines for the next few minutes. They had gone through half of the rooms on the floor with no luck in finding the individual hiding in the mansion. Hermione cast the locator spell again and confirmed that the subject was still on the same floor as they were.

Severus took the handle of the next door and silently opened it, sticking his wand through and peeking around the door. He immediately cast a shield when he glanced into the room, spying a figure crouched in the corner. A spell came at him too late and bounced off his shield. Hermione stepped around him and cast a hex at the figure, but the person cast a quick Protego spell to shield himself.

The person scurried to a standing position and sent hex after hex at Severus and Hermione. As the figure came into the light, they saw the crazed face of Rodolphus Lestrange. They hardly recognized him. His hair was long and unkempt. It wildly framed his face. He had a beard that went down to his chest. His clothes looked like they hadn't been changed in months.

"Get out of my house!" the creature screamed and sent another hex at Severus.

Severus dodged it and sent one of his own. Before Hermione could cast a spell, ten knives flew at her head. She quickly ducked, and they passed over her without hitting her. She quickly cast the Repello spell silently. The next few hexes just bounced off of her as she cast some back at Lestrange.

The man's crazed ranting was interrupted by his scream. He was enraged that his spells were doing nothing to the two interlopers in his home. His wand spurted green sparks. He let another spell course toward Hermione. The combination of his insanity and the curse broke through Hermione's defenses, and she was shot backwards and crashed into the wall, falling in an unconscious heap. Severus narrowed his eyes at Lestrange and shot a final spell at him. The man crumpled to the floor, his eyes staring vacantly at the wall, all life having dissipated from his body.

Severus rushed over to Hermione and examined her. She was unhurt on the outside, but Lestrange had cursed her with a spell that was slowly turning her lungs to mush. He didn't have much time. In a matter of minutes, her lungs would be unable to be healed. He lifted her up and Apparated directly to St. Mungo's.

A/N: Next up: A foolish choice.

Thanks to all of you, too, for reading. I'm glad you are all enjoying this. Sorry for the cliffie, especially so close to the end date of the challenge, but, you know, you gotta do what you gotta do. Suffice it to say that the prompt certainly wouldn't be fulfilled if this ended tragically. ;)