Death and Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own the Potterverse, it belongs to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I'm not making any money from this (too bad, huh?).

Chapter 23: Death and Discovery

A sudden, high-pitched scream startled Hermione, pulling her eyes away from their fallen foe. The fighting was intensifying outside the Room of Love.

"Come on!" Ron called, heading for the door. Harry and Hermione exchanged a quick glance, then followed their friend into battle. It was terrifying and chaotic, but when all was over not a single Death Eater remained alive within the Department of Mysteries. All of Voldemort's inner circle had chosen to fight to the death, knowing, by Harry's presence, that their master was vanquished.

In truth, the Order of the Phoenix had been in dire straights when the three friends had joined the fray. The young people's attack was both unexpected and fierce. And the fact that none of the trio could be touched by the magic of the Death Eaters had given new heart to the rest of the Order. The real turning point had come when two squads of Ministry Hit Wizards had arrived. Battle-hardened, ruthless and cunning, the specially-trained personnel began taking Death Eaters out of the fight – permanently.

Victory was achieved, but the price was high. Order members, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and Elphias Doge, were dead. Hermione was saddened to realize that the old Auror would never remonstrate them with his trademark 'Constant vigilance!' again. Two Hit Wizards had been killed and a third squad member, one of the Hit Witches, was gravely injured and not expected to survive. Arthur Weasley had lost his right eye and his son, Fred, his left foot. Fred and George, the twin masters of confusion and mischief, would never be entirely identical again.

Almost no one escaped the battle in the Department of Mysteries unscathed, even if the scars were solely emotional. Kingsley Shacklebolt had sustained a jagged wound across his midsection that bled profusely, although he protested that it was neither deep nor serious. To Hermione's surprise (and pleasure), Nymphadora Tonks had emerged with nothing more than a small cut on her forehead and a bruised shoulder. The young Auror's everyday clumsiness disappeared completely when she was dueling. Neville Longbottom sustained a broken leg, but nothing worse; he counted himself lucky to have come out of his duel with Rodolphus Lestrange alive. He had fought using every bit of knowledge and skill he possessed, finally gaining the upper hand and Stunning his opponent. A Hit Witch had then dispatched the notorious Lestrange once and for all – fair play being a useless concept in her merciless profession.

In the aftermath of battle, those who were able began to transport the injured to St. Mungo's. Bill carried his father out of the labyrinth of rooms while George, and shockingly Percy, assisted Fred. Hermione watched in amazement as the three brothers left the room together, Fred suspended between George and Percy, an arm over each of their shoulders.

"Mum invited him to the twins' birthday party," Ron said suddenly, startling Hermione out of her amazement. "She insisted that if he came, the twins had to treat him better than the last time he was home." He grinned, happy to see the old rift between his brothers being overcome by their mutual concern.

"Where is your mum? Is she here?" Harry asked.

"No," a feminine voice interjected. "She stayed at the Burrow with Ginny." The trio turned to see Tonks, grinning at them as she helped little Dedalus Diggle up from the floor. He had a gash on his head – it was bloody, as head wounds often were, but apparently not debilitating.

As the hit squad helped their colleagues, Hermione scanned the room to see if anyone else needed immediate assistance. "Professor McGonagall!" she shrieked, spotting the familiar stern face and now-disheveled black bun of her former Head of House stirring feebly on the floor. Dashing to the older witch's side, she dropped to her knees and helped the dazed woman sit up. "Are you injured?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"No. At least I don't think so," Minerva McGonagall replied, sounding shaken. "He got me with a Stunner just as I punctured his diaphragm." She nodded toward a black-robed figure sprawled a few feet away. "It's a fool's trick. But then, he never was much good at dueling," she said in an oddly-strangled voice.

Hermione examined the profile of the fallen Death Eater. It's Avery. She recognized him after seeing him at the Malfoy's cottage. She grimaced, suddenly realizing that McGonagall was unhappy about killing a former student, no matter how wrong he had gone. Mentally putting that aside, she turned back to McGonagall. "Here, let me help you up, Professor. Can you stand?"

"Thank you, dear," the elderly witch replied, gratefully accepting Hermione's aid.

As they passed through the room, they wended their way around the numerous black-clad forms of fallen Death Eaters. Blood was everywhere, and the moans of the injured punctuated the anxious voices of the survivors who were coherent enough to talk. As Hermione led her professor from the room, supporting her unsteady steps, she saw Ron and Harry attending to a pair of injured Hit Wizards. Watching them, she was startled by her professor's sudden gasp. McGonagall had halted, staring toward the right with a revolted expression on her lined face. Following her gaze, Hermione was transfixed by a gruesome sight. It was Rabastan Lestrange. He lay on his back, eyes open and staring sightlessly at the ceiling. His throat had been slashed by a powerful Slicing Hex. The wound gaped open like a hideous, misplaced grin across his neck. An ever-widening pool of blood flooded the floor around him. Hermione felt a wave of nausea rise up in her and, tearing her eyes away from Lestrange, hid her face against the other woman's shoulder.

"Come, child," McGonagall murmured, urging her toward the door. Clinging together for mutual support, the women made their way out of the Brain Room at last. And although they left the scenes of carnage behind, they both knew that the memories would stay with them – fresh and raw in their minds for a very long time.

Several long minutes later, Hermione and her former professor emerged into the corridor of Level Nine and made their way haltingly along the passageway. With a rattle and clang, the left-most lift opened, disgorging several Aurors surrounding a tall, black-cloaked figure. Long, lank, black hair partially obscured his face, but this did not prevent the two women from recognizing him instantly.

Hermione stopped short. "Severus!" she whispered in shocked tones.

The prisoner's head snapped up and he, too, stopped abruptly. For an instant, his eyes met Hermione's, before he deliberately averted his face and assumed a stiff, expressionless mask. One of the Aurors tugged on his arm and the group resumed their progress down the corridor. Snape kept his gaze fixed straight ahead as he passed Minerva and Hermione, giving no sign that he noticed their existence. The phalanx of Aurors guided him silently to the stairwell, disappearing into the dungeon-like depths of the building where the holding cells were located.

"It's all right, child," McGonagall murmured, patting Hermione's shoulder reassuringly. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Hermione turned haunted eyes toward the older woman. "He never did," she answered hollowly. "He never would."

---------------------------------------

Snape reclined on the hard, thin mattress of the bed with his back propped uneasily against the cold wall of the tiny cell he now occupied. Since the moment he had uttered the curse that had ended Albus Dumbledore's life, he had known this was a possibility. He had just never seriously considered that the Ministry idiots would be able to successfully capture him. Then again, they didn't. It was her doing. The last person I would have suspected of treachery. His mind veered away from the painful topic and the Delilah who, with a damp kiss and a full Body-Bind, had betrayed him. He wondered briefly how many of his one-time 'comrades' were imprisoned here. Because he was in a high-security isolation cell in the bowels of the Ministry, he had seen no one except the guards.

But only a few minutes later, his thoughts were back to the place he couldn't seem to avoid – the person he couldn't seem to get out of his head: Hermione. It was like a sore tooth that your tongue cannot help prodding, again and again, even though you know it hurts every time you touch it. Why did she turn against me? Did she somehow find out about the memories the Dark Lord sent to Potter? Is this her retribution? Perhaps, he reasoned, I overestimated my influence on her – or underestimated her damned Gryffindor 'nobility.' And he wondered, for perhaps the hundredth time in the past day, What did she mean by those last words she said to me? He remembered them as clearly as if she were standing in the room this moment. 'I can't abandon everything I believe in just to secure my own happiness. That would be the ultimate Unforgivable.' He turned her words over and over in his mind, trying to understand. Did she mean that not abandoning her friends, or her struggle against the Dark Lord, was more important to her than her than what they had shared together? (Even in the privacy of his thoughts, he shied away from the word 'relationship.') Or was it some deep existential thing, rooted in 'feelings'? If so, he would never fathom it. But he knew that she cared for him. Hadn't she said that she didn't want to leave? But then, why did she? He shook his head again. No. There's no understanding it. I'll probably never know why. He sighed in defeat and vowed to stop allowing his mind to run in circles.

At least she is still alive. Although , I don't know why I should care, Snape thought bitterly. But he knew that in spite of his anger, he did care. He was relieved that she had lived through Potter's confrontation with the Dark Lord and the subsequent battle.

His prison guards had informed him, with unconcealed relish, of his former master's demise. Apparently, they assumed he would be distressed by the news. Idiots! he thought derisively. If I were only free of this cell, I would be celebrating the Dark Lord's death with more enthusiasm than they could ever muster! In addition, the guards had regaled him with the details of the battles, both inside and outside the Ministry. He felt genuine regret at the news of Rabastan's death. In spite of their recent falling out, they had been friends for many years. He also felt a twinge of pain on hearing that Draco, as well as half a dozen other youngsters he had mentored as Head of Slytherin House, were dead. Evidently, most of the scouts and soldiers the Dark Lord had placed around the Ministry had fled when the Aurors arrived in force. However, a small group, led by Lucius Malfoy, had made a stand, fighting to the death. Father and son had died together – an ignominious end to the illustrious Malfoy line.

A day later, the guards brought more news. He was going to be tried for the murder of Albus Dumbledore.

---------------------------------------

"Good to have you back, Remus!" Arthur started to rise so he could shake his visitor's hand.

"No, don't get up!" Remus exclaimed, pressing the head of the Weasley household back into the most comfortable chair in the Burrow's parlor. "You're supposed to take it easy! No sudden moves, remember?"

Arthur made a disgusted sound. "You've been brainwashed by Molly, I see. She seems to think that I'm going to fall apart at the slightest change in the weather."

"Well, you've just spent two days in the hospital, Arthur. She's entitled to be a bit protective."

Arthur sniffed. "I can't wait until the tissue has healed enough to get a Magical Eye implanted. I only wish there was a corresponding device for Fred," he finished sadly.

"I thought that the prosthetic foot was supposed to interface with the rest of his leg seamlessly," Remus replied with a puzzled frown. "Molly said he will be back to his usual activities sooner than you."

"Oh, he will," Arthur agreed. "The new prosthesis will completely restore movement – it's just that... well, he won't be able to feel with it like a natural foot. It doesn't have the magical integration that the new replacement eyes have."

Remus placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder consolingly. "I'm sure Fred will do just fine. He's young – he'll heal quickly and be back to his trouble-making self in no time," Remus said with a smile.

"Yes, I know you're right. It's just... just a father's worry. So, how's your head?" Arthur inquired, abruptly switching the focus of their conversation to Remus. "No side effects from the concussion? I see Tonks isn't clucking over you like a mother hen," he said, somewhat enviously.

"No. She's not the motherly type – thank Merlin! Anyway, she hasn't the time to spend in worry right now. She's been at work almost constantly for the past two days. The Auror Office is still trying to recoup and reorganize. It's a shame about Gawain Robards," Remus commented sadly.

"Yes. He was a good man and a dedicated Auror." Arthur sighed. "I heard in St. Mungo's that he took out Lucius Malfoy. Is that correct?"

Remus nodded.

"So many good people... lost to this insanity over the last two years. It's such a waste."

Remus nodded again, his thoughts on his fellow Order members. Alastor Moody, Emmeline Vance, Elphias Doge, Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black, all gone forever. Merlin! I still miss that willful miscreant Sirius – even after two years! He smiled sadly as he remembered his dear friend. But look how many survived, a tiny voice piped up inside his head. Against all odds, Harry had endured, defeating the most powerful Dark wizard history had ever recorded. There is hope in the world, after all.

Suddenly realizing that the house was strangely quiet, Remus asked, "Where are the young people hiding?"

Arthur shrugged. "Upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside – they come and go so often that I can't keep track."

*****

Upstairs, the four friends were holding a long-delayed conference. In the aftermath of the events at the Ministry, they had all spent a great deal of time at St. Mungo's. Now that the injured Weasleys were convalescing at home, there were many questions that needed to be asked and answered.

"...and after we found out that you were being held hostage, we received letters saying Hogwarts was closed until further notice. Parents were expected to home-school their children – except for the N.E.W.T. level classes offered by the Ministry," Ron said pedantically.

"But we didn't have to take very many of them," Harry interjected. "Ron, Ginny and I got tutored here at the Burrow by Order members for some of our classes."

"So, you three have been taking certified classes all this year?" Hermione asked with poorly concealed envy. She shot a look at Harry, then at Ron. "You... you two will probably be able to take your N.E.W.T.s this spring! Wish I could...." This last was directed toward her shoes.

Harry opened his mouth but was stopped by Ginny's elbow in his ribs. She shook her head meaningfully at him. Hermione was still examining the tops of her shoes, her lower lip grasped firmly between her teeth. The young men exchanged a helpless look. Hermione had always prided herself on her grades – clearly the fact that her friends were now academically ahead was a serious blow to her self worth. Her friends said nothing; even Ron was able to maintain a tactful silence while she attempted to suppress the impending tears. Finally, she drew a shaky breath and congratulated them.

"Well done, you two," she said with a nod to her best friends and a small, forced smile. "So, did you take all the classes you needed to get into Auror training?"

"Yeah," Ron confirmed. "But Harry is already part of the program – they took him on early, seeing as he admitted to Scrimgeour that he really was the Chosen One! He's the proverbial golden boy, he is!" Ron jibed, glancing sidelong at Harry to see if he would take the bait.

"I am not a golden boy!" Harry objected vociferously. "It's not my fault that..."

Ron let out a bark of laughter, interrupting his friend's objections. "You're so predictable, mate."

At this, Ginny and Hermione burst into peals of laughter at Ron's stratagem. Harry looked from one to the next for a few surprised seconds, then broke down in laughter himself.

A minute later, Harry regained control of himself, wiping his streaming eyes. "You really are a git, Ron," he retaliated, attempting to stifle his wide grin.

"At your service," Ron said cheekily, returning the grin.

The four young people fell into the easy banter they had shared for years. Eventually though, they returned to discussing the events that had led up to Voldemort's demise.

"Harry?" Hermione asked curiously, "How did you know what to do when Voldemort cornered us in the Ministry?"

"It was a lot of things, all coming together at the right time," he answered. "After Sirius died – that night at the Ministry – do you remember how Voldemort tried to possess me, but couldn't?" He waited for Hermione's nod before continuing his explanation. "Later that night, Professor Dumbledore told me that it was because I had love inside me. Voldemort couldn't stand the feeling. The Headmaster also told me about that locked room. He said it was filled with the power of love. After we got to the Ministry the other night, I remembered all that stuff and I knew I had to go there. I figured that room would put Voldemort at a disadvantage... and I was right," he finished smugly.

"Bloody brilliant," Ron commented in an awed voice.

Ginny just beamed at Harry.

"That was an excellent deduction, Harry. Good job, you!" Hermione added with a smile. "But, it was a bit of a risk, wasn't it?" At Harry's puzzled frown, she explained. "Well, what if Voldemort had been able to escape death again – the way he did when you were a baby? The whole cycle could have started over again, couldn't it?"

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Ron asked irritably. "We, that is Harry, Remus and I..." Ginny cleared her throat loudly. "...and Ginny," Ron amended hastily. "We hunted down and destroyed all the Horcruxes! Without them, Voldemort couldn't come back."

"Horcruxes," Hermione repeated thoughtfully. "That sounds so familiar, but I just can't place it. What are they?"

Harry and Ginny were giving her blank stares, as if they had suddenly stopped understanding English. Ron looked thunderstruck.

"What?" Hermione snapped, aggravated by their inexplicable behavior.

Ron began stuttering. "But... but... it was your idea... we all planned...."

"Her memory's been modified," Ginny said flatly. She stood, and, grasping the confused witch's hand, gave a tug to get her moving. "Come on, Hermione. Let's go and talk to my Dad. He'll know what to do."

They found him in the parlor, chatting comfortably with his visitor. Ginny explained the situation and appealed to her father for help.

Although Arthur Weasley did not know how to determine whether Hermione had been subjected to a Memory Charm, Remus Lupin did.

"If you will allow me to perform Legilimency on you, I should be able to see if there are any obvious gaps in your memory," he informed Hermione.

"Of course, Professor," she agreed in a faint voice.

"Call me Remus, like the rest of this lot does," he said, indicating the other young people with a wave of his hand. "Just sit on the couch and relax. This won't take long," he assured her.

A dozen minutes later, he withdrew from the young woman's mind and sat back with a sigh. "There's no doubt. You were subjected to a number of Memory Charms."

"When?" Hermione asked.

"It's difficult to say with accuracy. Your memories from the last several months or so are all intact, but I located gaps in the year preceding that. I would estimate that the modifications were made about eight months ago."

Harry inhaled sharply. "That's right when she was captured," he said.

Hermione looked upset, but struggled to maintain her composure. "Is there any way to tell who did it?"

"No."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. Get a grip, Granger. There's nothing you can do about it now! she exhorted herself. "Well," she addressed her friends, "let's go back upstairs. It looks like I have a lot of catching up to do."

*****

A few hours and several hundred questions later, Hermione had heard all the details that Harry, Ron and Ginny could remember about their adventures locating and destroying the Horcruxes. "So the snake that tried to attack you that night was the last Horcrux?" she asked tiredly.

"It was," Ron confirmed.

Hermione was silent, thinking hard. Severus was the one who destroyed Voldemort's pet snake. And he and Harry had that odd exchange of words afterwards. At the time it had made no sense to her, but in retrospect, it was obvious they had been referring to the Horcruxes. That means that Severus knew about them. Her mind made the next connection rapidly. He must have found out from me, when he drugged me after my capture. And that means that he also was the one who Obliviated me. But why? To save my life, or his own?

Ron, obtuse as ever to the consequences of thinking aloud, voiced some of the same thoughts she had been mulling over. "You know, I still can't figure out why Snape killed Voldemort's familiar. You would think he would have let the snake get us."

"He was only saving his own skin!" Harry replied angrily. "If he thought he could have got past the snake, he would have left and let it kill us!"

Ron exchanged a brief look with Ginny; they were both familiar with Harry's volatile outbursts whenever their former professor was mentioned. Their usual tactic was to drop the topic.

Hermione, too, knew how much Harry hated Snape, but unlike the others, she no longer felt the need to placate her friend with concurrence or even silence. She had lived with the man for the past eight months, and while she couldn't approve many of his actions, she knew that he was not the 'essence of evil' that Harry believed him to be. "That's not fair, Harry. You can't assume you know his motives and then condemn him based on that. He's the only one who can say why he did it!"

"You're defending him?" Harry yelled, jumping to his feet. "After everything he's done? He killed Professor Dumbledore! He was responsible for my parents' deaths! And even Sirius! He goaded Sirius into leaving his house and got him killed too!

Hermione was on her feet a split second after Harry. "Voldemort killed your parents Harry – not Snape. Snape was at Hogwarts when it happened, already working for Professor Dumbledore! And as far as Sirius goes, you might want to consider that we," and here she made a gesture that included all the room's occupants, "are more culpable in his death than anyone except Bellatrix Lestrange! He went to the Ministry that night to rescue us! I won't deny that Severus Snape killed the Headmaster, but you can't blame him for everything bad in the world!"

Harry was dumbstruck for a few seconds, an incredulous look spread across his features.

"Harry, he protected me," she continued in a softer voice. "He saved my life more than once. Even you should be able to see that he's not totally evil."

Harry shook his head in disbelief. He strode to his trunk, pulled open the lid and rummaged through it. He rose jerkily and thrust a small box into her hands. "Here!" he sneered savagely. "If you're so convinced that Snape is innocent, take a look at those!"

Opening the box, she found that it contained three vials of silvery-looking fluid. "Wh... what are they?" she asked uncertainly.

"Memories. Snape's memories, to be exact. Voldemort sent them so that we would believe you were a traitor to the Order; he even quoted some writer named Forster to imply you were doing it maliciously. Take a good look at those, then tell me how 'noble' Snape is!" With that, he spun on his heel and fled the room, pounding down the stairs.

A minute later, they heard the kitchen door slam. Ginny peered out the window. "He's headed for the Quidditch paddock," she said softly. Turning to Hermione, she added, "I think you should view those before you talk to Harry again. If Remus is still downstairs, he can probably help you find a Pensieve to borrow."

*****

Hermione emerged from the final stream of memories white-faced and shaking. Backing awkwardly away from the basin, she stumbled, only to be caught by Remus. He lowered her into the nearest chair. "How many people have seen these?" she whispered.

"The entire Weasley family, Moody and I viewed all of the first two sequences. However," he added hastily, seeing her panicked look, "only Harry, Ron and I entered the third one."

"I'm surprised that you – all of you – didn't believe I was a traitor. If I hadn't been through it myself...Well, even I would think that I had turned my coat. The specific incidents, even the order they were presented, were so..."

"Incriminating?" Remus supplied.

She nodded. A tear rolled slowly down her face. They knew. They knew about me and Severus and they still came to rescue me! She felt horrible – so exposed. How could Severus have given Voldemort that memory?

"For what it's worth, initially your friends were upset, believing the worst. But Moody and I convinced them you were being manipulated."

"Is that what you believe?"

"To a degree, yes. He certainly used your love of knowledge to influence your decisions." He knelt in front of the distraught young witch, grasping her hands and speaking earnestly. "As to your relations with Severus – well, people do unusual things under stress. I speak from experience, there," he admitted with a faint smile that let her know he would not judge her. "Hermione, your two friends firmly believed, and still believe, that you were under the Imperius Curse. They think Severus forced you. They can't understand how you could not hate him after that."

She nodded her head again. "I have to see Severus," she said painfully. "I have to know why he did it." She realized as well that she would have to tell her friends the truth. Otherwise they would never forgive her for what she was planning to do next.

*****

Harry had avoided her for an entire day after he'd given her the memories, but finally she was able to corner him and demand that they talk. She made certain that Ron and Ginny accompanied them upstairs; they could serve as a possible buffer against Harry's unpredictable temper. Besides, she would rather tell them this truth all at once and be spared the anxiety of repeating it.

As soon as the door was locked and a Silencing Charm was cast, Hermione addressed them collectively. "First, I want to say how much I appreciate you all. Your friendship – knowing that there were people out there who cared about me – was one of the things that kept me sane while I was a prisoner. But it wasn't the only thing that helped. Which brings me to the second point: Snape."

"You're not going to give us that shite about how he's really not so bad, are you?" Harry demanded aggressively.

"Will you shut it and listen to me, please!" It was a demand rather than a question. "This is difficult for me to say, but I'm not going to lie. You two," she continued, looking from Ron to Harry as she chose her words with great care, "saw all of the memories Voldemort sent. You know... you know that Se... Snape and I were... physically intimate." Ginny's sharp intake of breath alerted Hermione that, until that moment, she had not known.

"That bloody bastard," Ron growled through clenched teeth.

Ginny took in her brother's reddening face and from the look on her own, came to a conclusion that plainly horrified her. "Do you mean... were you... raped?" she whispered.

"No, Ginny. It was worse than that!" Ron interjected. "He – the git – put her under the Imperius Curse so that she would appear to be willing. He wanted us to think that she had betrayed the Order."

"That's not true, Ron," Hermione denied softly. "He never used the Imperius Curse on me. He never forced me in any way."

Ron turned to Hermione with a look of absolute confusion. "What are you saying?" he demanded hoarsely.

"I'm saying... that it was consensual. We were together by our own choice."

A profound silence followed her declaration. Ron's legs folded involuntarily and he dropped gracelessly onto the bed behind him.

"YOU TOOK SNAPE AS A LOVER?" Harry roared. HOW COULD YOU? YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT HIM! AND WHAT ABOUT RON? HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT?

But Hermione was not even looking at Ron. Her attention was fixed on Harry as she advanced to stand nose to nose with the enraged wizard. "How dare you judge me? You were here! You had your best friend and your girlfriend to turn to. You had a home and a family – and don't tell me the Weasleys aren't your family, Harry, because you know they are. You even had the entire Order of the Phoenix to depend on, to turn to for help, to give you lessons," she said furiously. "I had no one! I was taken by Death Eaters and tortured. For months on end I was completely and totally isolated from my family, my friends, the Order, EVERYONE! I had to deal with Wormtail trying to grope me and Draco and his mother denigrating and humiliating me at every turn. I had my magic curtailed and my every move watched and monitored. And through it all, I had no idea whether I would ever be rescued or whether Voldemort would suddenly decide that today was the day I had outlived my usefulness as a way to get to you! So don't you pass judgment on me, Harry James Potter! You have no idea what I went through and no right to decide what I could have or should have done!"

"But...Snape?" Ginny said in a small voice.

"Yes, Snape," Hermione answered shortly. She turned to address Ginny more fully. "Severus Snape saved my life – several times! He protected me from the other Death Eaters. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now! In Voldemort's eyes I was nothing but a tool. To the Death Eaters I was only a Mudblood – not worthy of being treated as a person. Severus was the only one who treated me with any degree of humanity. He tutored me, confided in me and eventually became a friend. I'm certain that, within his limited capabilities, he cared for me. And he wasn't entirely loyal to Voldemort; you two heard him say so the night you rescued me," she reminded the two young men with a pointed glance at each of them. "He was going to abandon Voldemort and the war – for my sake. We were going to flee. But in the end, I chose to do what I believed was right – rather than what was easy. I chose to help all of you – to help fight that evil monster." She met Harry's green gaze squarely. "So don't tell me that I betrayed you! If anyone was betrayed, it was him, Severus."

Harry was staring at Hermione as if he had never seen her before. After a few seconds, she whirled on her heel and stalked out of Harry's bedroom, retreating to the room she shared with Ginny.

And through it all, Ron was silent, shocked, apparently, into total incoherency.

******************************************************************************

Author's Notes:

1. Hit Wizards and Hit Witches: employees of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (first mentioned in PoA).

2. Fred's magical foot: non-canon – if there can be magical replacement eyes, why not magical replacement feet?