Witch Hunt

5

Harry's brow was furrowed as he tried to catch up. "I don't understand, how would Snape know you were here? What's this got to do with Kate?"

Hermione reached across the long forgotten tea service and gripped the witch's right hand, pulling on it to show Harry her jewellery. "It's not just a pretty bracelet, is it?" She asked, fully suspecting the answer.

The corners of Kate's lips pulled into a quivering frown. "He saved me, nursed me back to health. I could only do the same for him."

Harry fingered the bangle delicately. "Merlin's beard, Kate... Why didn't you say anything sooner?" His fingers passing over the inscription. "Is this a cuff? He's been tracking you all these years."

Hermione took a shaky breath, rubbing her eyes. "Nimue's great tits, you've been living with him." She groaned. "And you tricked Harry into believing you were going to help us. He asked you to come here to see if I had left the Burrow. Harry, we've been duped. She was never going to help me."

She stood then, towering over the younger witch. "Snape is a good man. You ought to be grateful. He has only ever looked out for you."

Harry stood as well, standing between them. He faced his aunt, angry that she would raise her voice at his friend. He was hurt, he felt betrayed. "Why would you help him instead of us? You told me you would help."

Kate's eyes welled with tears that slowly spilled and ran down her cheeks. She raised a hand to his face, stroking his cheek gently. "I would die to protect you, Harry. A thousand times over to protect my beloved brother's son. My long lost love's godson." She whispered, her promise heavy with truth. "But you aren't in danger here. Snape isn't the enemy."

He held up her hand, his fingers around her wrist. "How can you say that after everything he's done? He's been tracking your every move, Kate. He's shackled you!"

She laughed, though there was no joy in the sound. It was rough and mocking. "I hated him too. For the sole reason that James told me to. Just like every one of the Marauders. Hated him because he was different, because he was poor, because he loved Lily, because we were told to." She spun the bracelet, watching it turn, the diamond catching the light every time it made a full turn around her wrist, the words becoming a single blur. "And then, just like that, he was all I had. We had both lost everyone we had ever loved. Dumbledore had dumped me mangled and broken on his doorstep. He had taken me in without so much as a snide remark. I resented him for saving me. Healing me to the best of his abilities. Somewhere along the way we became friends."

Hermione scoffed. "Friends don't give their friends permanent jewellery laced with tracking charms and use them against their family."

Harry's shoulders slumped. "He didn't trust you to stay out of trouble." He stated, understanding. "A Potter family trait. Magnets for trouble."

Kate met his eyes, a crooked smile meeting her lips. "I didn't say he was reasonable. He had his own selfish reasons for keeping an eye on me, though it was never malicious."

The young man nodded. "That's why he dealt with Sirius' taunting when he attended Order meetings. He suffered his moods because he knew you might never get the chance to. One time I thought Snape might hex him into space. Never understood what made him hold back." He took her hand again. "It was you. He was thinking of you and how much you loved Sirius."

She squeezed his fingers. "You are blinded by hatred, both of you. It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore. Dumbledore trusted Snape, therefore I did too."

Hermione scoffed. "I am not." She retorted, her arms crossed.

Kate eyed her pitifully. "Yes, you are. You've come a long way from childish antics, though the prejudice and build up from years of anger and injustice have clouded your judgement."

There was nothing Hermione hated more than being so obviously wrong. She had wanted to argue that they had saved Snape, that meant they didn't hate him. Though that was entirely besides the point. There she was, promised to him, and on the lam. She didn't want to marry him because he was a bad man they knew growing up, he had been a deatheater, he had killed. She was not at all being objective about the match.

She turned to her friend, shaking her head. "I can't believe any of this. Not only did you omit the fact that you have a living relative but that said relative was Snape's roommate. What are the chances of that?"

Kate pushed back her hair from her face. "It's a lot to take in, I'll grant you that." She admitted, scratching the back of her neck. "Look, I am no one to tell you what to do. Though, I think it only fair that I tell you what he is like. Yes, he is foul tempered and cruel with his insults. He is quick to defend, his words mean and sharp like a blade. He is antisocial and distant, cold. But he is caring, he can be so gentle, he never forgets a birthday and has a knack for knowing just what to say to comfort someone. He is broken and bruised, he is damaged. Impenetrable fortress walls protect his heart from being broken again. He is devoted and undyingly loyal. You could do worse for a husband. Snape is callous but he is good."

Harry frowned. "Do you really know him that well? I don't think dad would have felt the same."

Kate snorted. "Your father, Harry Potter, was a bully. We all were. Your mother would not have loved someone as awful as James painted him out to be." She shook her head. "James and I were fortunate to have been born into wealth. To have never wanted for anything. We could have never known what it was like to grow up the way Snape did. Understand why he was the way he was. Of the three years I lived with him, I hated him for two."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you're so keen on defending him, why don't you marry him?" It was a stupid question, really. Only to change the subject so that she didn't have to question his goodness. The whole point of all this was that she was running from her marriage. She didn't want to stop and consider the alternative.

The other woman's features went hard, her fists clenched. "My heart lived and died with my brother and his wife. With Sirius, with Remus. With my nephew who was unfairly kept away from me. I died the day my brother did. Acknowledging integrity does not equate to love."

Hermione flinched as the woman spoke. Her words were poignant and angry. She was trying to prove her point and Hermione was all too aware of just how angry she was. Harry pat her shoulder gently, trying to comfort his aunt, sending Hermione a look that warned her to shut it.

Being upset for her own sorry situation did not give her the right to question someone else's pain. Someone else's heartache and grief. Especially not someone who had only just come out of hiding, risked their safety just to speak with them.

"Your bracelet... He loved you, obviously. Cara mia... Doesn't that mean beloved?" She asked tentatively.

Kate smiled, touching the bangle. "There are many types of love, Hermione. To be beloved is to be cherished. You cherish Harry, don't you? Would you marry him?"

And it was as if a switch had been flipped. She suddenly understood why Kate had come. She was helping them. She was warning them of what he was capable of. To love deeply, to the point of mania. No matter the type of love, he had cared for her so strongly as to track her for years after she had left him. He had loved Lily so deeply as to protect her son for nearly two decades, to fight a war in her name. To be so incredibly loyal to someone you considered a father figure as to agree to murder him.

He was obsessive.

And now he had his sights set on Hermione.