Unsettling Surprises

AN: To: Lariope, Lulabelle72, and RedSkyAtNight: You girls are wonderful and put up with so much of my madness, thank you. I also wanted to thank OpalJade for... using her. (You know what I'm talking about, darling. I love you!) And finally, thank you to my readers--I know this is a long and dark tale, but I appreciate you all very much and adore your reviews. *hugs*

"How did this happen?" Lupin yelled to no one in particular.

The kitchen at Grimmauld Place was buzzing loudly with people shouting, questioning, and demanding explanations.

The oak door leading to the hallway swung open, and Dumbledore stomped through the doorway with Madame Maxime towering behind him, lowering her head as she walked under the threshold.

"Silence, please," Dumbledore commanded, addressing the room. He stood at the head of the kitchen table, commanding attention.

Instantly, the room became quiet, and all eyes turned towards the man in the long purple cloak--a man who had conspicuously lost the twinkle in his eye.

Snape hovered near the back corner, leaning against the pantry cupboard, watching the scene unravel before him.

About thirty minutes previous, Snape, along with a few Aurors and Order members, had received a Patronus announcing that Beauxbatons had been attacked, and an emergency meeting would be held at headquarters. Hermione had been with Snape and had insisted on accompanying him--against his wishes. When Snape had arrived, he had been bombarded with questions from the others--everyone demanding that the Death Eater tell them what had happened. He had casually and quietly stated that he had no information and had taken his place in the back of the room as Hermione sat at the table, behaving as if he hadn't been in the room, just as she used to.

"Death Eaters raided the school a few hours ago, attacking only Muggle-borns. Two sixth years fought off a man who, when they described him, fits the description of Dolohov. Unfortunately, they were no match for him, and he... molested them and..." Dumbledore cleared his throat, "and preformed unspeakable sexual acts to them. The girls are severely injured, and both are now resting in France's wizard hospital. Nine other girls, ages ranging from twelve to seventeen, are missing. One fifteen-year-old was found dead, and a letter was tied to her wrist. It appears to be written by Voldemort, but I cannot be positive until tests are run on it." Dumbledore paused and cut his eyes towards the Golden Trio.

"That letter was addressed to Hermione Granger."

The room filled with gasps. All eyes turned towards Hermione, who looked frightened and positively sick to her stomach. Although he wanted to comfort her, Severus stood in the back of the room, knowing what was going to happen. Hermione had been so blind when it came to Muggles--especially her cousin. She had never found the harm in telling Jezzie about her activities with the Order, because she was just a Muggle, and a Muggle that had no connections to the wizarding world. Oh, how she would be ashamed of herself if she only knew that her harmless chit-chat would cost her in the long run.

"What did it say, Albus?" Minerva asked, her hand over her heart and her brows furrowed.

Dumbledore's blue eyes bored into Hermione. Snape had seen that look before--the old fool was worried, confused, scared, and was taking a peep inside her mind, looking for answers.

Dumbledore opened a small piece of parchment, untied a green, sheer ribbon, and read the message out loud. "Your secret was invaluable. We shall meet again."

"I--I don't understand? W-why would he address it to me?" Hermione cried, shaking her head, her hair bouncing with each movement.

"We were hoping that you could tell us, Miss Granger. But that isn't our first concern at the moment. Right now, we need get those girls back. Everyone, you know your roles. The French Ministry and its own department of Aurors are going to help us attack Malfoy Manor as well as any other known locations that Voldemort has been spotted. Severus? Do you have anything to add?"

Snape stepped out of the shadows, disregarding the distraught girl who sat before him. "It is highly unlikely the girls are still alive. Especially if Dolohov was involved. And if they are at Malfoy Manor, there is no way inside, unless you are Marked. Or have a house-elf," he explained.

"A house-elf?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"Their magic is beyond ours--if I attack Malfoy Manor, then I will lose my position as a spy, but I do know that a house-elf will get anyone through the Dark Lord's wards."

"If you can't help us then what will you be doing, Snape?" a former student, who was now an Auror, angrily shouted.

Snape snarled at the boy. How dare he question me? "I can examine the letter, discuss the possible 'secrets' with Miss Granger--"

"No, Severus. I need you to take some of the Polyjuice Potion that I brought with me and help us attack the Death Eaters. We don't know if the girls are dead, and we need your help," Dumbledore demanded, pulling a phial from the deep pockets of his glittering robe.

Snape cursed under his breath. How could he possibly go into battle right now? He needed to watch over Hermione.

Because something was dreadfully wrong.

Voldemort doesn't leave fucking notes. And if he did, they would be on a large scale, such as a message written on a wall in the victim's blood--not tied up in a scroll with a green ribbon. Unless... he is tricking me into thinking that this is out of character for him. This wasn't the plan! I told him the location, to keep him off my back about the fucking Horcrux spell! He was to abduct the girls and that is all. How did this get out of hand?

The room thinned out with each person going to a separate room in the house to meet with their team members. Dumbledore handed Snape the phial, looked at Hermione and said, "If you don't mind, Miss Granger, please stay behind--I fear it isn't safe for you tonight."

In a daze, Hermione nodded her head and slowly looked at Snape, looking for any sign from him. As much as he wanted to comfort her, he couldn't. Not in front of Dumbledore. He popped the cork, tipped his head back and drank the contents.

The effects were immediate, and he felt awful, as if he might be sick, but it didn't last long, and before he knew it, he was the spitting image of Tonks. He had been Polyjuiced into a woman before--but at least she had been... plain and average, not something that stuck out like a sore thumb. Yes, he would be so helpful with his pink hair, lighting the way up a dark path at Malfoy Manor.

Fucking brilliant.

Snape glared at Dumbledore. Out of the corner of his eye, Hermione's hand shot to her mouth, suppressing a giggle.

"You must be having a laugh, old man."

"Not tonight, Severus," Dumbledore said solemnly. "If you are caught, they will not murder you right away because you are a woman. You and I both know they will try to satisfy themselves, giving you enough time to wandlessly and wordlessly defend yourself, alert us, and catch the bastards."

Dumbledore headed for the door and stopped. He looked over his shoulder at Snape. "Although it is nice to see you in a shade other than black."

Snape fumed as he followed Dumbledore out of the kitchen. As he walked by Hermione, he lightly caressed her back and whispered, "It will be all right, sweet one. I promise."

Hermione sat in the kitchen, alone, thinking about the personal letter from Voldemort. The noise from the rest of the house quickly died down as each team left in search of the missing girls.

What the bloody hell does Voldemort want with me? What if he saw something in my mind?

Hermione slammed her elbows on the table and dropped her head in her hands, trying to grasp the situation. She thought back to the night that he had looked into her mind--what could he possibly see that allowed him--

Oh, dear gods.

Hermione leapt from the table, pacing up and down the kitchen, arms clutched to her sides. "Did he see me telling anyone the location to Beauxbatons? Is that how he got in there? Wait. That wouldn't be right. It is a Secret Kept building--even if he looked in my mind, he wouldn't be able to hear me say it, because it wasn't directly to him."

Hermione noticed the small note from Voldemort sitting on the edge of the table. She picked it up and plopped down into a chair. With shaky hands, she untied the ribbon and unrolled the parchment.

Your Secret was invaluable.

We shall meet again.

"My secret is invaluable? What the fuck does that mean--my secret? My secret? Myyyy... My Secret! The 's' is capitalized! Oh, shite! He is referring to me being the Secret Keeper! But why me? I was just the first Keeper. That changed to Madame Maxime after I told ten people!" She threw the note across the table in anger, leaping to her feet. "I don't understand! Why me?"

She bit her lower lip, chewing on the skin as she always did when she was deep in thought. What if someone that I told had informed the snakey bastard? But who? Everyone on my list was a person in authority--someone in the Order or an Official.

Again, she paced, ticking the names of people she said the secret to. "Madamee Maxime, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Kingsley, Lupin, Moody, the French Minister, his assistant--the one with the curly mustache, Mademoiselle Lane, the Beauxbatons healer, and... and... Oh, bugger, who else did I tell? I can't remember!" Again, she ticked off the names, thinking about each occasion and conversation she had with them. Surely Mademoiselle Lane hadn't been the last person... She had conveyed the secret to someone else....

Hermione stopped walking and stared at her reflection in the glass cupboard doors. How could the know-it-all have been so stupid?

"Jezzie," she whispered to herself, finally understanding where her mistake had been.

I told Jezzie the location.

This means that Jezzie became a Secret Keeper. The only people who know of Jezzie are Harry, Ron... and... no. "NO!"

Not Severus... Please... Oh, gods! I have to find Jezzie!

Hermione Apparated to Jezzie's pub, pushing her petite body past the groups of people socializing and the people dancing obnoxiously with beers in their hands, and headed straight for the bar. The pub offered half-priced drinks at this hour which unavoidably brought in the students at the University and the 'younger crowd.'

An elbow was shoved in her ribs as she slid in between a woman and a man snogging while waiting for their drinks. Jezzie was behind the counter, along with two other girls, rushing madly around, mixing drinks, collecting money, and taking orders.

"Jezzie!" she shouted over the loud music and chatter of the crowd, but she barely heard her own voice and knew her cousin certainly hadn't heard her.

She wanted to talk to her cousin to see if she had accidently told someone about the location for Beauxbatons. Finally, Jezzie walked over to her and noticed her for the first time.

"What are you doing here?" her cousin said loudly, leaning over the bar, close to Hermione's ear.

"We need to talk!"

"All right! Give me forty minutes--I'll be on my break then!" Jezzie reached to her left and grabbed a chilled bottle of beer, popped the top and handed it to Hermione. "Drink this and be patient!"

Hermione seized the bottle and took a sip. And waited. Around her, the noise became louder, the gentle shoves of her body as people stood next to her at the bar became more frequent.

Those girls are hurt or worse, dead because of you, Hermione. You and your stupid blabber mouth! It's all your fault! You don't deserve to sit in this fucking pub drinking, while those poor girls... Those girls were probably raped and died terrified!

Hermione swallowed another gulp of her beer and noticed Jezzie was standing in front of her, watching her carefully. Hermione shrugged her shoulders, slid off the barstool and followed her cousin to the back room of the pub, where the sounds that had been echoing off the walls and hurting her ears were muffled.

"Remember when I told you the location of Beauxbatons?" Hermione said, suppressing a belch.

"Yes, why?"

"Did you tell anyone about the location?"

Jezzie looked at her, dazed. "Of course not--I know how dangerous it is for anyone to know about the wizarding world. Why do you ask?"

Hermione sighed. "Jezzie, Death Eaters attacked the school tonight--many young girls were hurt, and some might even be dead. The only logical explanation would be that someone I gave the Secret to informed someone who was then able to ambush the school. I told people who were in the Order... and you. Madame Maxime and Dumbledore were next in telling the location. Then it would have been you. I accidently made you a Secret Keeper--this is all my fault, and I just wanted to know if you mentioned the location to anyone--if anyone has been bothering you... if... if you told Severus."

"Hermione, I did not tell anyone, I promise. I haven't even seen Severus since... since..." Jezzie furrowed her brows, as if she remembered something.

"Since?"

"Well, I just had a strange feeling that I saw him just today... sitting on one of the benches at the park across from your house... but, no. That's not possible."

"Jezzie, when it comes to magic, anything is possible. How many times have I told you that? Try to remember--was it him or not? Did he say anything to you?"

Jezzie stared at the cracked tile floor and shook her head. "I must have been mistaken. I'm sorry. Do you suspect Severus of something?" Jezzie asked, tilting her chin up, looking at her.

Hermione rubbed her palms over her eyes. "I don't know. I don't know what to think! All I know is that someone I told the location to informed the Death Eaters--Dumbledore and Madamee Maxime wouldn't have been so... stupid! So, that only leaves me!"

"Oh, Hermione... "

"And they won't even let me help search for the girls! But there must be something I can do to help the situation," she shouted, her shaky voice reverberating off the white walls.

Jezzie hugged her and walked back to the bar where she made a drink for Hermione and had her sit on another stool.

Hermione slurped her martini and slumped against the bar. I should go back to headquarters, she thought, rubbing her temples in small circular motions.

She lifted her aching head from hand and noticed the two men on either side of her. The one on the left was a dark-skin man with a shaved head. On her right was a blonde.

The same one that she had drunk with once before--the surfer.

The blonde leaned over to Hermione and whispered in her ear, "Hello again."

A shiver ran across her spine as her heart began racing rapidly.

She shook her head, backing away from him. She remembered what had happened last time this man had talked to her.

"Leaving so soon?" he said loudly, and the bald man turned around, leaned his back against the bar, and watched her, grinning wickedly.

An uneasy emotion set in the pit of her stomach. It was the same reaction she'd had the last time the surfer had approached her.

Hermione fled.

A hand gripped her upper arm, guiding her across the room and towards green door. As soon as the door opened, and the cold night's air stuck her face, letting her breathe easy once again, did Hermione turn around.

The surfer had a hold of her arm, and the bald man was standing next to him.

Hermione tried to jerk her arm away, but the blonde man held tight.

"You know, Severus speaks so highly of your intelligence, Hermione, but you have just proven what a fucking idiot you really are. Only a Mudblood whore such as yourself would leave the safety of Dumbledore, especially on a night like tonight. Care to find out what really happened to the girls from Beauxbatons?" the blonde man said, his voice smooth and deadly as he squeezed her arm tighter, wrenching her to his body and dragging her towards the back alley.

Although Hermione was frozen with fear, she attempted to Disapparate, only to find that she couldn't. They had placed anti-Apparition wards around their bodies.

"Finite Incantatem," growled the bald man as they turned the corner, dropping the Glamour Charms and revealing the true identities of her attackers.

Fenir Greyback and Rodolphus Lestrange had found her.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short, but there is a lot happening in the fic and I felt it should be broken up.

Severus finds out what happened to Hermione.