Dangerously In Safe Hands

A/N: This chapter is for Lariope, who is immersed in lots of RL crap. And I miss her. Thank you, Lulabelle72, for being my main squeeze... erm... I mean, main beta on this chapter, your input is always welcoming. And to my Britpicker, RedSkyAtNight, thanks.

Hermione sat in a small, wooden chair, elbows propped up on the kitchen table, her head resting in the palm of her left hand. She lazily stirred her tea, the spoon clinking loudly against the porcelain edges.

She cut her eyes towards the annoying wooden clock hanging on the wall. The second hand crept along the face of the clock, as if in slow motion, taunting her into madness.

Tick.

Had she only been here for half and hour? Impossible.

Time was mocking her, forcing her to be patient when she wanted--needed--answers to the obscene amount of questions that raced through her mind.

Would Dumbledore come here? What was happening back at the castle? What had become of Severus? Why had she been sent to this cottage, which she obviously couldn't leave, sequestered from the world?

And when, for Merlin's sake, would someone turn up?

Hermione leapt from her seat. She needed to move, to satisfy the nervous twitch that crawled through her skin, demanding that she do something to occupy her time.

She yanked opened the cupboard drawers. Finding a rag, she grabbed the kettle from the stove, emptied the contents down the sink, turned the water on and began cleaning the inside of it, scrubbing away the limescale that was imbedded into the metal finish. Not once did the use of magic cross her mind--no, this was a need to do something physical. She marched over to the table, snatching her mug and spoon, her eye momentarily darting to the piece of parchment sitting next to the milk bottle.

She had written down all her thoughts about her life over the last few weeks, attempting to analyze what went wrong, what she had missed. Her conclusion: She loved Severus Snape. And love is blind.

Disgusted with allowing herself to fall into the traps of clichés and emotionally wrought ideals, she growled and flung the mug and spoon into the kitchen sink, the ceramic shattering against the metal. I should be furious with that man!

Love. How could she think that she still loved him, after he had tried to kill her, after everything he had done! She shuddered as she contemplated the things she didn't know about the mysteries surrounding him.

She closed her eyes, massaging the back of her neck, hoping to rub away her tension. Through her closed lids, she noticed the lights inside the cottage flickered, followed by a flash of blue.

Hermione froze, her eyes flying opening.

What the bloody hell was that?

Again the lights flickered and flashed blue, but this time, Hermione whipped her wand out of her pocket, slamming her back against the closest wall.

She held her breath, listening to the lock on the front door click open, the handle jiggling as the heavy door was pushed opened.

"Miss Granger?"

Recognizing the voice, Hermione stepped away from the wall and walked into the next room.

Dumbledore had let himself inside, with Lupin behind him, levitating Severus' unconscious body.

Hermione was helpless against the uneasy feeling that weighed heavily in the pit of her stomach as Dumbledore moved towards her. Only seconds ago, she was anxious to see him, to be informed of the situation, but now... she could feel it in her bones that something was wrong.

Lupin floated Snape to the sofa and dropped him on the cushions. Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. She didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"Hermione, there isn't much time. I have made a grave mistake regarding Severus and his loyalty--"

"He's for Voldemort," she stated, her heart racing from mentioning the one thing that had truly frightened her.

"No, it's not such a simple tale. Nor is it mine to tell. But I will say this: you can not possibly comprehend how much he needs you. Everything he has done has been for you. I know you must be enraged with him, but please, I beg of you, Hermione, listen to him. Do not turn your back on him, as I foolishly have done. He loves you with every ounce of his being."

Pushing aside Dumbledore's desire for her to trust Severus, Hermione said, "But he tried to kill me!"

"Blame the power of the Horcrux, not him. The guilt of that is already devouring him."

"Remus?" Hermione questioned the man standing in the shadows.

"Severus has his reasons for what he has done, and he will answer to the wrongs he has committed. But somewhere in that stone heart of his, he has a soft spot for you--don't ever question that."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Voldemort and the Death Eaters are searching for you. It is best if you stay here, in hiding, with Severus. This cottage is my private home. I am the Secret Keeper, and it is under wards that not even Severus can break. You will be completely safe here. A house-elf will be sent here weekly with food and other necessities."

"You're just going to leave us here, abandoned? But sir--"

"It's for the best."

"And what shall we do while we wait for the war to finish?" Hermione snapped.

"Gather anything you can from him regarding the secrets that he chooses to keep hidden from me. Miss Granger, your role in this war is research. The Order and I need certain information to succeed--information that only Severus is privy to, and only you are able to get from him."

Hermione nodded, willing her annoying habit of flushing not to make an appearance on her face. If she had learned anything from Severus, it was to control her emotions. And she refused to let Dumbledore and Lupin know that she was furious with them, with the game they wanted her to play. She had heard the message between their words: her love was the way to control Severus Snape. And they wanted to leash him, like a fucking dog. They wanted her to use him, to be nothing more than another master.

Dumbledore slid his glasses onto his face, temporarily shielding his annoyingly twinkling blue eyes. "I'll re-ward the cottage. When the lights flicker and flash blue, it signifies that I, and I alone, am removing the enchantments to enter. If they ever flash red, prepare yourself for an intruder."

Dumbledore snapped his fingers, dropping the spells placed around Snape, and he and Lupin walked towards the front door. "Oh, by the way... There's a pensieve in the cellar," he mentioned, leaving Hermione alone with Snape.

After an hour, Snape fluttered his eyes, unaware of the hell that he was waking to.

Hermione had found the pensieve and set it on the coffee table. Although she despised what Dumbledore wanted her to do, she did know that seeing his memories would be the best way for her to believe him, beyond just his words.

And so, she waited for him to fully awaken and face her.

"Hermione?" he asked, rapidly blinking his eyes, waking from his deep slumber.

"Severus."

He groaned, slowly sitting up, the bones in his knees and elbows cracking as he moved. He rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles and massaged his forehead. He looked around the room, then back at her, drinking in her appearance as if he had never seen her before.

"I--I never thought I'd see you again," he whispered, his voice raspy from sleep. He cleared his throat. "Hermione--"

"No, Severus. I don't want to hear your apology."

"Then what do you want?"

"The truth."

"About?"

Hermione huffed. "About everything. Why did you keep the Horcrux hidden? The lies, who you're loyal to, why you used me and hurt me--you could have killed me! I want to know everything, Severus Snape!"

Snape snorted and stood up, facing the picture window, looking out into the dark forest. "Dumbledore put you up to this, didn't he? Get the truth from Severus because you are the only one able, correct? So that Dumbledore can use it against Voldemort and win the war." He whirled around. "Well, fuck that, Hermione! I'm finished being the puppet, and I refuse to have you turn on me as well!"

Hermione growled and leapt from her chair. "Turn on you? You're the one who tried to kill me! If anyone has betrayed the other, it is you! You lied to me, you used me knowing full well you had that fucking Horcrux. You're... you're just... a fucking typical Slytherin!"

He raised one eyebrow in response to her outburst.

She sighed. "I love you, and you broke my heart, Severus." Hermione shook her head, forcing the tears to keep away. "Do you even care? Or are you really the heartless bastard that you make yourself out to be?"

He stood stiffly across from her, his mouth barely twitching. She waited--prayed--he would say something to her question. But all he did was swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

The silence was too much.

Not able to face him any longer, Hermione fled to the smaller of the two bedrooms, not in a cowardly fashion, but for the safety of herself and him.

She was seconds away from cursing him.

Hermione had cried herself to sleep, wallowing in her heartache the entire day. When the hunger became too much, and drinking the water from the tap in the attached bathroom wasn't enough anymore, she decided to leave the room. She quietly pried opened the door, peering into the living room, hoping that he wasn't sitting on the sofa. She wasn't ready to face him again. She cautiously exited, tip-toeing, and just about tripped over the stone basin that lay at the foot of her entry.

It was the pensieve, and sitting inside were several glass phials of the silvery substance that were memories. Confused, Hermione squatted down, lifted the bowl, carried it to the desk in the bedroom and sat it down. She picked up a phial, rolling the cool glass between the pads of her forefinger and thumb. She turned it horizontal, reading the tiny label: For Hermione.

Forgetting about her hunger, she tipped the contents of each phial into the pensieve, eager to see what he had given her.

A/N: I know this was short, but I hope it was powerful.

My point in telling you all this? Just wanted you all to understand that everything I do, has a reason behind it, and I think the titles are just as important as the chapter. (They're clues, people! If you still haven't got any idea where this story is going, read the chapters! Lol!)