Love And Revolution

XV

As soon as they came back Hermione ran straight to her room, still in tears and her impassioned outcries brought everyone out of their cubbyholes. Snape had to stay back and explain what had happened. Together, they came to the conclusion that it was probably Townsend who had tipped the Ministry police to take Lee a prisoner but he had been already killed off by friends of Azazel or Crouch Jr's other henchmen.

Hermione had guessed as much by now, but she still couldn't get over the fact as to how cruelly Lee had been murdered and his body left to decay. He had been a most useful tool in this entire revolution and he was the glue that bound all the different links together and his fate had been worse than any others'. They hated him because of how much he knew and how much help he had been, so much so that the killing curse wasn't enough, that they gutted him like a fish! Or they could have done that to him while he was still alive...

Hermione was going to be sick. She rushed to the toilet and retched but nothing came out except more and more whimpering lamentations. She came back and fell on the floor beside the bed and continued bawling, till her whole body felt numb and drained and only occasional shivers passed through her. 

There was a curt knock on her door and she sighed before finally getting up to open it. Snape stood there, his expression compunctious as he searched eagerly at her face, grieved as to what a sorry sight she was indeed. 

"Are you okay...?"

She couldn't reply but she threw her hands around his shoulders and sought comfort in his embrace, hiding her face in his chest as she continued shedding tears. He was startled at her need to cling to him but he could see that she was really hurt and she needed the compassion and the solace, so that he enveloped her in a hug.

She wasn't very clingy but tonight, after all the insanity of the past few weeks, all the deaths and all the terror- intimacy and amenity was all she craved. He gently rubbed at her back in a calming motion. "I'm sorry...I know you can't be allright...I'm really sorry about what happened..."

She sniffled, more tears leaking out of her and onto his coat, wetting it. He slowly held her by the sides and brought her at arm's length so that he could look at her face. Gently he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just stay with me. Will you stay with me for a while? I don't wanna be alone. Please..." she begged.

His lips parted but he didn't want to protest at such a time. "You want me to...?"

She nodded vigorously, pulling at his coat, so that he was fully inside the room. He proceeded to close the door and Hermione got into bed, pulling him along with her. He laid back uncertainly but he opened his arms for her to snuggle into his chest, curled into almost a fetal position. His body was tensed at first but he gradually relaxed in this position, letting her cuddle closer to him, nestling her head in the crook of his arm and chest. She wasn't sobbing anymore but tremors were passing through her, making her body tremble like a leaf. He brought his hand up to run his fingers through her hair in an extremely soothing way, untangling the knots and gently massaging her scalp. 

They lay in silence, her breathing getting more even now, as her eyes started to droop.        

"This system...this whole system must be destroyed."

He didn't reply at first but she knew he had heard her. He gave a sigh. "Yes."

"The Ministry needs to be burnt down to the ground," she continued in a small but determined voice, "No matter if we're born to muggle parents or all-magic parents, no matter if we have any magic within us or not- we all deserve to live."

"Yes," he said again, the objective of their journey growing clearer to him now.

"This is not just their fight- it is everyones. We must all fight, and if necessary, die to tell people the truth."