Amour

SECRETS

"What do you mean?"Snape was utterly confused.Hermione calmly began to explain,"Before the start of term,while I was at my aunt and uncle's I lost my cool to another aunt,who was speaking ill of my parents;I stormed out with my things and sat alone in the street."What?She was all alone in a deserted street?Oh,what could've happened!She continued with a shudder,remembering the night,"I saw something watching me from the shadows.Just before the Knight bus picked me up,illuminated by the bus's headlights,I saw it was an enormous black dog.When I was looking through some books in the library,I saw a book in the restricted section,named Omens and Death,whose cover featured the same dog.Then I came to know about The Grim being the omen of death,which is symbolised by a black dog,from Professor Trelawney and how I am being followed by death."She looked troubled.Snape tried to reason with her,"That night it was probably just a stray dog and perhaps it wasn't even black but only looked so in the dark.And this rubbish about omens and death these are all superstitions.You cannot possibly believe-"Hermione shook her head,"I know but...in the last match,before the dementors arrived,I got distracted by a shadow that fell on the clouds.I looked down and there it was,a shaggy black dog,standing at the highest seat of the gallery;The Grim."
Snape was stunned.......................
Hermione tucked away her invisibility cloak under her jacket and took out the Marauders map.She was again going to sneak into Hogsmead and thus tiptoed her way out through the secret passageway and out of the castle.Once there,she kept a low profile and began searching for her friends."We need to talk Minerva."Hermione whipped around hearing Snape's voice.She saw Snape,McGonagall,Cornelius Fudge(Minister for magic) and Madame Rosmerta(the pub owner) going into the room above the pub and Hermione decided that ditching the cloak would'nt be a good idea.She followed them up the stairs and managed to get herself in before they closed the door and she lodged herself between the sofas where McGonagall and Snape sat.She clasped her hand over her mouth to not even mistakenly utter a single squeak.She was at a great risk of being discovered but she did it to get information.....................................
Snape busily began,"Herm-Ms.Granger knows that Sirius Black is after her."To which everyone made shocked noises."She heard us talking about her that day Black broke into the castle.She's not afraid but she is troubled by something else-you see,Sibyl predicted her death this year and she told me she has been seeing The Grim."Snape got a dramatic response to this,as anticipated.McGonagall started to ask how he knew about this but was distracted by the others."The dementors are at your disposal 24 hours a day.She's surely being provided maximum security."said Fudge.Rosmerta looked confused,"I don't understand..I thought Black was a mass murderer and everyone had equal threat from him.Then why is he targeting this particular girl?"McGonagall began her story gravely,"You don't know the half of it,Rosmerta.What Black did isn't widely known.Black was friends with Granger's father.Although both her parents are muggles they were acquainted with the magical world through Granger's grandmother,who was the only witch in the family.They were four;the best of friends-Patrick Granger,Sirius Black,Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.When You-Know-Who came to know about the prophesy of a Muggleborn,or Mudblood,as they call it,born on the 29th of September,to be his ultimate nemesis,he zeroed in on Patrick and Catelyn's daughter,Hermione Granger."Snape flinched,not liking this open discussion of Hermione.McGonagall continued,"Dumbledoor,who was of course working tirelessly against The Dark Lord,was bent on protecting this child.He requested one of the friends to undergo the vow of secrecy so that You-Know-Who would never find out where the Grangers were hiding,unless he found out the secret carrier and forced the truth out of him.Right after the ritual was performed, Sirius Black revealed his true loyalty to The Dark Lord and being the secret carrier himself,divulged the Grangers' hiding place to him,leading to their murder."This was followed by sniffles from the ladies and sighs from the men in the room.Bloody bastard.Thought Snape.He has as much blood in his hands as Him.Fudge spoke,"Ms.Granger was unharmed by her mother's love which acted as a protective shield against You-Know-Who;his curse rebounded and he dissappeared,leaving Black in a nasty position indeed.He was confronted by one of their friends,Pettigrew whom he killed off,along with a street full of people,before the Ministry of Magic could catch up to him.He had been in Askaban till he escaped God knows how.."Fudge shook his head."All that was left of Pettigrew was a finger."Snape was lost in thoughts of Hermione.I can only imagine how she would react if she came to know about this.She would be completely broken.If I could only find some way to protect her from that.Suddenly he got a whiff of a familiar scent that he recently liked.Hermione's perfume.He quickly looked around the room.There was no one there besides them.You are now imagining her when she's not even around."That is awful."Rosmerta gasped.McGonagall sighed,"You know what's worse?"Rosmerta was beyond belief,"Worse?What could possibly be worse?"McGonagall looked at Snape before saying,"Sirius Black remains to this day,Hermione Granger's godfather."