Chapter 5

A/N: My Golden Trio each passed on this story: Shug (sshg316) alpha read, DeeMichelle beta read, and MagicAlly Brit-picked.

Rumour Has It

by Subversa and SubHub

Chapter 5

Hermione assumed her duelling stance automatically, her lips still burning from the hard kiss she had received from the man standing beside her. His body seemed to coil in upon itself, like a well-oiled spring...or like a serpent, preparing to strike. For herself, her entire being thrummed with screaming nerve endings...she had never felt so alive before.

The ground beneath their feet began to move up, like a lift climbing to its next stop, and she steeled herself for battle, feeling able to confront...and defeat...any challenge which awaited her. Good God, Severus Snape stood at her shoulder, prepared to fight with her. How could anyone or anything defeat them?

The fire itself, of course, could not hurt them, but inhaling the smoke in an enclosed space could be fatal. Their only option was to come out of hiding and deal with the consequences, whatever those might be. Hermione was not troubled by the notion of the kidnappers lying in wait to ambush them. Regardless of their number, she was filled with a heady conviction that she could battle them to a standstill on her own. After all, in a world where Severus Snape, the Dark wizard of her wildest dreams, could call her 'extraordinary' and kiss her so savagely, there wasn't anything she could not do. She would fight her way through at his side, for nothing would keep her from finding out what next miracle the universe held in store for her.

As if reading her crazily racing thoughts, Severus snapped, 'FOCUS!'

Hermione gripped her wand more tightly, and in the next instant, Severus leapt the remaining distance to the storage room, and the shouts of their adversaries filled Hermione's ears. Flashes of light pierced the smoky gloom, and as Hermione stepped out of the atlas, Severus cast a Shield Charm of such power that she was forced back a step.

Spinning to her right, she cast a Full Body Bind at the hulking figure advancing from that direction, and she could not contain her shout of vindication as Kenny Selwynn fell on his face, unmoving. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red light, and she pirouetted as she had learned as a little girl in ballet, her wand arm sweeping up with a speed and grace she had never before possessed. The unfriendly Stunning Spell flew past her face, impacting a pile of books at her back, and she retaliated in kind, her spell delivered with such power that Will Rowle, attempting to evade her, took the Stunner in his shoulder and hit the wall head-first, knocking himself silly.

Through the mere seconds it took for these clashes to take place, Hermione was constantly aware of the terrifying, deadly wand work taking place at her back. The flashes of green and the dreadful rushing sound which accompanied those flashes were being dodged and parried by a duellist of such skill and cunning that the two who confronted him, with combined efforts, were unable to break through his guard.

Now she pivoted and raised her wand, and as she did, she saw that there were not a mere two, but three armed attackers arrayed across the storage room floor. As she joined the fray, the one furthest from her broke from his fellows and lumbered away, dodging the bonfire of books, to reach the space beneath the trap door.

His defection seemed to unnerve the remaining combatants. A second attacker turned to run, while the sole remaining figure cast one last spurt of deadly green light accompanied by the sound of the rushing wind. Hermione could only watch in horrified silence as Severus Snape leapt aside and brought his opponent down with a Stunner directly to the face. The man, whom Hermione recognised as Stephen Nott, fell like a rag doll.

A wash of light poured into the storage room from the now open trap door, and the flames rushed for the new supply of oxygen, smoke quickly obscuring the burly figure of the fleeing kidnapper, closely followed by his confederate. Hermione watched as Severus launched himself in pursuit, his lips peeled back from his teeth in a fierce snarl. Hermione started after him, but he shouted at her without slowing down.

'Immobilise them!'

Hermione whirled around. 'Incarcerous!' she cried, and ropes flew from her wand to bind Stephen Nott, who lay unmoving on the floor. Hardening her heart, Hermione turned from him and repeated the process on Will Rowle and Kenny Selwynn. These men had betrayed their positions as employees of the Ministry, betrayed their duties as Retrievers, kidnapped her, interrupted her holiday, and attempted to extort gold from Severus. Worst of all, they had deliberately started a fire to flush her and Severus from hiding without even considering how their actions would endanger or destroy books!

Frankly, Azkaban would be too good for them.

She turned her back upon them and with a terrible pang, she let loose a great gout of water to extinguish the fire the fools had set. When the flaming books had died to a smoky, sodden ruin, she turned from the devastation and sprinted after Severus.

Severus propelled himself through the trap door, soaring into the air as the Dark Lord had taught him to do so many years before. Hector Bulstrode screamed when he saw the flying wizard, and he cried, 'Petrificus...'

Severus cursed Bulstrode with an almost languid wave of his hand, and the fool fell, downed by the very spell he had tried to cast.

Now Severus flew past him, continuing in the direction Bulstrode had fled, knowing he was now on the trail of the 'brains' behind the whole operation. He Disillusioned himself as he spied his prey, finding that he was filled with a white hot rage beyond anything he had ever felt before. Many fools had tried to do him harm through the years, though none had dared since the war ended. He cared nothing for that; he had always been able to take care of himself No, his ire was roused for a different reason altogether, and though he had not explored all of the ramifications of his new knowledge, he was entirely prepared to act upon it.

No one, but no one would threaten Hermione Granger or put her in danger. Not while he lived.

Swooping past his quarry, he lit upon the ground and with a regal sweep of his wand, lifted the Disillusionment Charm.

Horace Slughorn screamed and skidded to a stop, clutching his chest. 'Se-Severus!' he bleated, and Severus raised his wand until it was pointed between the old man's eyes.

'Give me one reason why I should not drop you where you stand,' he said icily.

Slughorn pulled a silken handkerchief from the pocket of his purple velvet coat and wiped his streaming face, wet with sweat and smudged with soot. 'Be reasonable!' he pleaded, his small eyes darting about from side to side, sliding over Severus without once meeting his eyes. 'All we wanted was a bit of gold!'

'Reasonable?' Severus said, his voice low-pitched. 'I find exploding owls unreasonable, Horace. Threatening the life of an innocent girl? Unreasonable.' The wand pressed forward, touching the skin between Slughorn's brows. 'Interrupting my daily routine? Completely unreasonable.'

Slughorn jerked back from the wand tip, and Severus advanced upon him, until the old man stood with his back to the wall, the younger man towering over him, continuing his tirade.

'You disregarded your responsibilities as an educator and led the most dim-witted of your former students into the criminality they never achieved as small-time Death Eaters. Congratulations, Professor Slughorn, your protégées have progressed from respectable civil service to kidnapping and extortion.' He smiled a ghastly smile. 'And they never would have made it without your tutelage.'

'Severus!' Slughorn wheedled. 'You know I would never have permitted them to hurt her. The war...the war didn't leave me well off, as it did you. I wasn't recognised for my efforts.'

Severus' snort of derision did not bode well for the success of Slughorn's explanations. 'What efforts were those, Professor Slughorn?' he demanded.

'You know I always came down on the side of right!' Slughorn cried indignantly.

Severus sneered in his face. 'You mean the right side...the winning side.'

Slughorn bristled. 'Winning? What did I ever win? I just needed the money!'

Severus shook his head. 'Then why didn't you ransom her to Potter? He's far richer than I will ever be!'

'Because everyone's afraid of Harry!' Slughorn cried. 'And everyone knows that ever since you were wounded in the war, you're just a shadow of your former self!'

A slow, sardonic smirk touched Severus' face as he swept a theatrical bow, his eyes and his wand tip never wavering from his prisoner. 'And as you can attest, Horace, everyone was right,' he said, then stepped back from him, disgusted to be too near. 'Did it ever occur to you to just ask for the money?' he asked wearily.

Slughorn's face crumpled. 'I'm just a proud old fool!'

Severus felt a stab of pity which left a foul taste in his mouth. 'Fool indeed, you vacillating, fortune-hunting coward. Money will be the least of your concerns in Azkaban.'

Horace Slughorn burst into ragged sobs, and Severus took another step back. From down the corridor came the sound of feet upon the stone, and a familiar voice called out.

'Severus!'

He glanced at Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had a small army of Aurors in tow, and raised one eyebrow interrogatively. 'Well, Kingsley?' he said.

The former Minister for Magic waved a lavender paper airplane memo in Severus' general direction. 'What's this about kidnappers and ransoms and exploding owls?' Shacklebolt demanded. He turned his gaze on Slughorn. 'And what you have you done to the old fellow?'

Just then, Severus heard what must have been the laboured breathing of a running girl, and though there was a fierce gladness in seeing her free and safe and rushing to him with open arms, it was tinged with sadness that she would find her malefactor to be an old, trusted teacher.

Her arms closed about him convulsively, her face muffled against his coat as she murmured, 'You're safe.' He held her with one arm, the other occupied with covering the blubbering old fraud. She touched the fingertips of one hand to his cheek, and he glanced down at her.

'Why is he here?' she asked, nodding towards Slughorn.

Severus pivoted to face Shacklebolt, pulling Hermione about with him. 'This, Kingsley, is your kidnap victim,' he drawled, tightening his arm about Hermione's shoulders in a proprietary way. 'And that,' he continued with a jerk of the head towards Slughorn, 'is her kidnapper.'

Hermione gasped and cried out, as Severus continued to speak.

'You will find his compatriots betwixt here and a storage room, if you continue down this corridor,' he said.

Hermione nodded emphatically. 'Just follow the smoke,' she added helpfully.

Two of the Magical Law Enforcement officers stepped forward and took Slughorn by the arms, while three of their fellows followed the direction of Hermione's pointing finger.

Shacklebolt crossed his arms over his chest and inquired, 'And the ransom?'

Severus sheathed his wand and reached into his pocket, withdrawing a heavy Gringott's bag. 'Safe and sound,' he said, and Shacklebolt burst into laughter.

'Well what did you need me for?' he demanded.

'Rubbish collection,' Severus replied serenely. 'You cannot expect us to stay and do everything. Miss Granger has already been delayed on her holiday.'

'But...' Hermione began...but Severus continued to speak.

'Considering recent events, I feel it would be unwise for her to travel unescorted. Therefore, I will provide personal security for her.' He looked down into Hermione's face, and informed her, 'Antigua awaits.'

Hermione began to giggle, and Severus stepped up to Kingsley, passing him the ransom note and the lock of hair. 'I'll be wanting those back at some point,' he said, sotto voce.

Kingsley tucked the evidence away and cast a knowing look at Severus and Hermione. 'Just as you say, Mr Snape, sir...will there be anything else?'

'Not presently.' Severus shot Shacklebolt a sharp look beneath his brows. 'I won't keep you any further. Carry on.'

Kingsley knew when he had been dismissed, and he needed no assistance to interpret the look which then passed between the librarian and the spy. He turned away, giving them their privacy, marvelling to himself that for once, Rita Skeeter had got something right.

A/N: Stay tuned for the epilogue!