III

III

Professor Dumbledore watched Cedric closely as he sat behind his massive desk, his fingers folded in front of him. There was a ghost of something in the young man's eyes that was hard to decipher, something that grew darker the longer that Harry was gone. The Hufflepuff seeker fidgeted in his seat by the fireplace, clenching his fists against the velveteen fabric. The headmaster could see the unease written clearly on his face, burning orange in the firelight.

"Is there anything I can get for you, Mr. Diggory?" Dumbledore asked quietly. The younger man did not answer or give any indication that he had heard anything. "Would you like me to send to Madam Pomfrey for a calming drought?"

Cedric finally turned toward the headmaster with pain in his eyes. His pale blue eyes were glistening with tears. "You can find Hermione for me, Professor."

The headmaster's heart nearly broke at the sound of Cedric's voice. He stood and crossed the room to kneel at the younger man's feet. "Listen to me, Cedric," he said softly, looking up into the hurt filled eyes of a young man in love. "We will find her, no matter where she is. You must believe that. Harry and I will do everything we can, but you must remain and do something for me. Can you do this?"

"What... what do you want me to do, Professor?" He felt a twinge of comfort overtake him as Professor Dumbledore spoke.

Smiling softly, the headmaster patted Cedric's hand in a grandfatherly way. "Go to the Gryffindor common room and wait there in case Hermione comes back while we are away. I will send a message to Professor McGonagall letting her know that you have special permission to be there." Dumbledore returned to his desk and began to scribble on a piece of parchment in front of him. Once he was finished, he sealed the letter with a swipe of his wand. "I am sending you to Professor McGonagall's office now, Cedric. Give her this and she will summon a prefect to take you to Gryffindor tower."

Cedric stood on shaking knees and took the note from the headmaster. "Hermione is a prefect," he mumbled to himself. He crossed the room and had his hand on the doorknob as a thought occurred to him. "You will send someone to tell me when you find her, won't you, Professor?"

"Of course," Dumbledore replied, nodding. "Don't worry, Cedric. She will be found."

Hermione opened her eyes to a dark room. The candles had burned themselves out and a peaceful dankness settled around her. She stretched herself languidly; pleased to find she wasn't sore from the hours she'd spent in bed with Snape. The thought of him brought a flash of his dark eyes to her vision and the realization that she was alone. Her maker was nowhere to be found, though his presence was always on the periphery of her consciousness. What was most surprising was the fact that she was no longer in pain.

She sat up, hardly aware that she was still naked, and went in search of her maker. A faint pang of hunger registered in her brain; although she was much more interested in the way Snape had disappeared. I wonder where he has gone? she thought lazily as she walked around the bedroom, lighting the candles the Muggle way as she went. There were several shelves of leather-bound books of a dozen different shapes and sizes. The titles were embossed on the spines in dark, black ink and in silvery foil. She ran her fingers over them lightly, savoring their worn softness. A few of them looked as if they were first editions and an overwhelming urge to devour them crept over her. She smiled inwardly, grateful to feel a bit of her former self returning.

For a long while she stood in front of the bookshelves, looking up and down the rows trying to find one that appealed to her. She finally chose a well-worn copy of Mansfield Park and slipped into a remarkably comfortable high-backed chair in the corner. Curling her feet beneath her, she rested her head in her hand and began to read. Time seemed to be non-existent as she sat, wholly immersed in the world Jane Austen wove around her. She could feel nothing more than the pulsing of the air around her, hear nothing but the wood and stones of the castle as they creaked and sighed as they settled. Even the sound and smell of the blood pumping through the students of Hogwarts were drowned out by the all-consuming rapture that engulfed Hermione as she read.

Harry knelt by the trunk in the boys' dormitory in Gryffindor tower, his fingers deftly feeling along the bottom for the crumpled parchment that hid the Marauder's Map. It felt as if it had been months since he had held the document in his hands as he watched the tiny dots that were the inhabitants of the castle scurry to and fro across the page. He felt a slight twinge of self-loathing that he had not thought of the map as soon as Hermione had gone missing. It was sure to show exactly where she was as long as she was still in bounds. And she was much too well behaved to go out of bounds without permission from the headmaster.

He was tempted to activate the map there in the dorm, so desperate was he to find out where his friend had disappeared to. But he could hear the voice of the headmaster in his head, calmly directing him to do as was asked and bring the map to Dumbledore. Perhaps the headmaster knew a bit more about the map than he had let on the past three years. There may yet be secrets of the Marauders that even Harry could not unlock without Dumbledore's help. It was for that reason that he shook off his temptation, stuffed the map in the pocket of his jeans, and jogged briskly out of the dormitory. The quicker he returned to the headmaster's study, the quicker he would find Hermione.

Ron was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes questioning whether their friend had been found. The look on Harry's face was enough for him to figure out that they were no closer to finding Hermione than they had been when they went to bed the night before. "Don't worry, mate," he said, clapping Ron on the shoulder. "We'll find her. Dumbledore's helping."

The redhead's face brightened perceptively as Harry scurried out of the portrait hole and walked quickly back toward the headmaster's office.

Minerva McGonagall read through Professor Dumbledore's note a second time before turning her piercing eyes on the young man standing on the other side of her desk. There was a pained look in those pale blue eyes as they stared back at her. The color had completely drained from Cedric's face as he waited, wondering where Hermione had disappeared to and if she was okay.

"Now, Mr. Diggory," said Professor McGonagall with all of her usual sternness, although there was a soft glint in her eyes. "I have instructions from Dumbledore to allow you to wait in the Gryffindor common room in case Miss Granger returns there before the others have been able to find her. Is that the understanding you reached with the headmaster?"

Cedric nodded, his hair falling over his eyes. "Yes, ma'am," he murmured, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Well, then, since you have been given special permission by the headmaster, I suppose that I have no choice. Not that I do not trust you, Mr. Diggory. Far from that, actually." Here, she smiled pleasantly at him. "It is simply that this is highly irregular, a student from another house in my common room. However, seeing as it is in Miss Granger's best interest, I will gladly take you to the common room myself."

She stood, and slipped the cover off of a tin of cookies on the edge of her desk. "Have a ginger snap, Mr. Diggory. You look as if you could use something in your stomach." She smiled encouragingly again as he took several cookies, popping one in his mouth. Professor McGonagall placed a gentle, guiding hand on Cedric's shoulder. "Come along then, the sooner we get you to the common room the better."

Cedric followed her through the corridors, his head down and his mind on Hermione. He could see her as clearly as if she were standing beside him. Her brown and butterscotch curls fluttering in the cool drafts of the castle corridor as it fell over her shoulders. Her face, pale from many hours in the shadows of the school, was slightly flushed from running up the stairs on her way to the library. There were light circles under her deep brown eyes like pale, lavender bruises from staying up late and studying. But she was smiling, her perfect and dazzling smile that showed her slightly oversized front teeth. He always thought she looked devastatingly pretty, especially in her Muggle clothes. His phantom Hermione smiled and waved shyly at him before vanishing like so much mist on a warm morning.

Professor McGonagall watched the emotions play over the handsome face of Cedric Diggory as they made their way up the staircase to the Gryffindor common room. She felt a pang of sadness for him. "Dumbledore will find her, Mr. Diggory. You can be sure about that. There is little that goes on in this school that Professor Dumbledore doesn't know about. Miss Granger will be perfectly fine."

They were standing at the Fat Lady's portrait. Cedric drew a cookie from his pocket and began chewing slowly, desperate to avoid looking in the older woman's eyes. "Aurora borealis," she said softly to the portrait, which, with a strange look at Cedric, nodded and swung open.

Professor McGonagall led the way into the common room, which was deserted except for Ron, who was sitting in his favorite chair by the fireplace. He looked up at the sound of the portrait swinging open. "Have they--"

"No, Mr. Weasley," she replied curtly, not waiting for the rest of his question. She saw his eyes flick questioningly to Cedric, who stood uncomfortably at her side. "Mr. Diggory will be waiting here in case Miss Granger returns before Professor Dumbledore has found her. If she is found, word will be sent here to let you know that she is safe."

McGonagall gave Cedric a reassuring pat on the shoulder before disappearing through the portrait hole once more. Cedric looked around awkwardly for a long moment before Ron spoke up. "Have a seat over there, mate," he said, indicating Hermione's usual spot. "No need of standing there. Harry thinks it may take a while."

Smiling thankfully, Cedric settled into her favorite chair and averted his gaze to the fire that flickered in the grate. He could almost sense her in the room, curled up in the very chair in which he now sat, a book balanced precariously on the arm, her hair drawn back in an elastic. Gods, he missed the sight of her, the way his heart seemed to stop for a fraction of a second when she came into the Great Hall so blissfully unaware of the effect she had on him.

"So," came Ron's voice, breaking through his thoughts of her. "Now we know why you can't keep your eyes in your head on Hogsmeade trips."

Professor Dumbledore was waiting at the top of the stairs to his study when Harry came rushing down the corridor. The young man took them two at a time, clutching at a stitch in his side by the time he reached the top. "Here you go, Professor," he panted, pulling the slightly crumpled map from his pocket.

They made their way back into Dumbledore's study and flattened the Marauder's Map on the desk. Much to Harry's surprise, the headmaster drew his wand and, tapping the map, said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Images began to appear on the apparently blank parchment as if someone had spilt ink on the page. The outline of Hogwarts castle and its grounds formed along with a multitude of miniscule dots that represented each of the inhabitants of the school.

"How did you..."

Blue eyes twinkled behind the headmaster's glasses. He smiled and tapped his temple. "Ah, yes, well... Let us just say your father and his cohorts did not keep as many secrets from me as they would like to think. Now," he muttered, turning his attention from Harry back to the map on his desk. His eyes searched the parchment carefully as his wand poked and prodded, causing the map to shift its view from one floor to the next. A faint frown discolored his features as Harry watched. Something was very wrong.

"What is it, Professor?" he asked, standing to look over the older man's shoulder. "What's going on?"

Dumbledore looked up from the map, twisting the end of his beard in his fingers. The headmaster spent nearly half an hour examining the map, looking for any sign of Hermione.

He finally turned his attention back to Harry, a look of worry and frustration on his face. "Miss Granger does not appear to be anywhere on the map. I will send word to Hogsmeade to have the aurors search for her there in case something has happened that I am not aware of as of yet." While he spoke, something strange caught his attention. He watched the map a moment longer, flicking quickly through the many floors. The dot labeled Severus Snape was missing as well.

A unreadable expression appeared on the headmaster's face, a look that somehow frightened Harry. "Professor? What is it?"

Miss Granger disappears, having lastly been known to be en route to see Severus. And today, both Miss Granger and Severus seem to have disappeared, thought Professor Dumbledore. Perhaps it is merely coincidence. But I cannot take that chance.

"I believe I may know where Miss Granger is, Harry. Stay here." With that, Professor Dumbledore stood and promptly disappeared from his office leaving Harry to stare at the map in confusion.