Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine. The only thing I'm getting from this is the pleasure of writing it.

Thanks to my beta LadySunflower and any reviewers out there.

Chapter 2

Harry Potter could not sleep. He sat in the Gryffindor common room in front of the dying fire, Ron Weasley snoring in the seat beside him, his stomach too full to stay awake. The Marauder’s Map lay open on his lap, his unblinking eyes peering through the glasses almost slipping off his nose.

Harry had been in the same position ever since the feast had finished, having washed the blood off his face from Malfoy breaking his nose after he had spied on the junior Death Eater. A simple Notice-Me-Not spell had kept anyone from discovering what the map was. Harry didn’t want to give up, but he was beginning to admit that this was hopeless. Hermione had vanished.

The only things the map had revealed was Dumbledore was conspicuously absent, McGonagall was twitching in her rooms (probably sleeping restlessly) and Snape was pacing in his new office. Now, that last one was a surprise. Although now Harry thought back on it, Snape had seemed almost concerned when Harry had asked the greasy git where Hermione was after the great bat had been summoned by Tonks’s Patronus to escort him to the school. Why would the Head of Slytherin show concern for a Gryffindor, especially one he frequently called an ‘insufferable know-it-all’? Did Snape have any idea where she was now? Where Dumbledore had gone?

Harry prodded the map with his wand as he contemplated what to do. He got to his feet, grabbed the map and pulled his Invisibility Cloak on. After pushing the Fat Lady’s portrait open, he made his way through the moonlit corridors, down the main staircase (which was unusually quiescent) to the third floor. The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was open, but the door to the office was locked.

Harry knocked on the door, which opened after a few seconds. He was greeted by the sight of Snape scowling in his direction. The scowl faded into a puzzled frown, as Harry was still wearing his cloak. The scowl returned as Harry pulled the cloak off.

“Potter! It is well past curfew. Twenty points from—”

Harry hurriedly interrupted Snape, not wishing Gryffindor to be any further in the negative in terms of house points before lessons even began. “Professor, I’ve been watching my map, and I know Hermione is still not here. Professor Dumbledore’s not here either. Do you know why?”

Snape waved Harry into the office, motioning him to sit. “The Headmaster set out after the feast this evening. He had received word from the Ministry that Miss Granger is currently in St. Mungo’s.”

“Is she alright? What happened?” Harry asked. The way Snape had said it, Hermione was alive.

“Apparently she was involved in a car crash on her way to King's Cross. As for her condition, I do not know. Rest assured that the Healers will do their best, Potter.”

Harry was glad that he was sitting down. It seemed surreal that in a time like this, with Voldemort on the loose, that a common Muggle accident like a car crash was still a threat. He was vaguely aware of saying, “My aunt lied to me about what happened to my parents. She said that they’d died in a car crash.”

“As fascinating as that non sequitur is, Potter, you are still out of bounds. I hope your questions have been answered, because Gryffindor is highly unlikely to win the House Cup this year.”

“No, I want to know why you’re so concerned about Hermione. I mean, you hate her. Sir.” Harry belatedly remembered to attach the honorific, not wanting to lose any more points.

“I do not hate any of my students, save you, Potter. Quite frankly, Miss Granger is the top student in this school and as such one of the few worth teaching.” Snape leaned forwards, looming over Harry menacingly.

“Now, as to your punishment…” Snape murmured, a cruel smirk twisting his thin lips.

“Sir, please, I just needed to know about Hermione. No more points lost, even detention would be better.”

Snape’s black eyes glittered. “Very well. Detention, Potter. Report to me tomorrow,” he twisted his head around to look at the clock set on the wall, which currently read ‘so late it’s early’ and amended his previous statement. “No, later on today, after dinner. I’ll have arranged something suitable for you. Now, return to your dormitory.”

Harry scurried off before Snape could change his mind. At least the git hadn’t confiscated either the cloak or the map, even if Harry had to put up with whatever punishment Snape managed to dream up. Knowing Snape, it would involve considerable pain and humiliation on Harry’s part.

Severus shut the door, relieved to have rid himself of Potter’s presence. When he’d opened the door to find the brat there, he’d almost cursed Potter’s big head off. While the boy’s concern for Hermi—‘Miss Granger, dammit!’ was touching, it had alarmed him to realise that even a thick headed idiot like Potter had noticed his concern for a Muggleborn. If the Dark Lord caught wind of that, Severus would be in some very hot water.

What Severus had told Potter to explain his concern was true; Miss Granger was in possession of a remarkable mind. But her compassionate nature was also a key part of why Severus cared for the girl.

It had been a week or so after the tragic end of the Triwizard Tournament, over a year before, that she’d expressed concern for him to his face when he’d returned from reinstating in the Dark Lord’s service. She’d overheard Albus mention to Minerva what Harry had reported: that none of the free Death Eaters who failed to turn up for the summons in the graveyard could expect a warm welcome. Severus had still been under the influence of the aftermath of repeated casts of the Cruciatus Curse and had welcomed Miss Granger’s concern like a man in the desert accepts water. In a moment of weakness, Severus had accepted her as a confidant and exchanged letters ever since in the guise of letters from Viktor Krum to prevent anyone, friendly or otherwise, from discovering the truth.

Severus returned to pacing, knowing that he would be unable to sleep in his current frame of mind. As the resident insomniac of the castle, the lost sleep would just have him in top form for terrorizing the students later on that day.