The Serpent and the Lioness

Chapter 35

"We'll...be downstairs then if you need anything..."

Harry's dejected voice stilled some of the frustration building inside Hermione and she let out a deep sigh dropping her arms. Her head hurt. Everything was just as Severus had said, her emotions were everywhere, clouding her normally logical mind and making her on edge. She pushed everything aside for now for a much simpler task of finding something proper to wear. It was then her eyes landed on the bedside table.

"Our wands!"

Severus' head turned sharply following her gaze. He all but jumped from the bed and snatched his wand pulling it to his chest. Hermione joined him just as quickly pulling hers close as well. It felt grossly oversized in her hands but the magic that thrummed through her arm was enough to quell her fears.

"We're going to be unstoppable now." Severus' mischievous glint in the corner of his eye sparked one of her own. He briefly wondered if he was rubbing off on her before remembering she had her own bit of evil running through her.

"Clothes first, then the world."

"Yes, of course." He put on a serious face nodding his head. He raised a brow at her snort before rolling his eyes and turning toward the closet.

"I really can't help it," She half whined as she followed after him.

"I said nothing."

"I can hear you, you know."

"Not my fault." He reached up trying to play aloof. When he finally pulled one of his shirts free from the hanger he noticed Hermione had gone still. He turned towards her slowly with concern, "What?"

"Severus...why can I hear you?"

His brow dipped lower, it took his mind a few ticks to jump onto the same track as hers and when it did he found himself without an answer.

Her mind was turning, he could hear it; clicking away, filing and pulling out everything she could possibly equate to their current situation. He gave her a good ten minutes of stewing before his brow locked onto one of the ideas that skittered past very quickly in her mind.

"That's it."

"What?"

"That memory, the information you pulled about Voldemort's resurrection" Severus moved closer, "I think I know what's happening to us."

"Explain."

"You've got part of the puzzle." He said his brain starting to kick into gear now. "It's like that night, of course, you weren't there but what Harry told you about it, can you remember anything else?"

"No, no it's wrong...something else..."

"What else?"

"The Horcrux...the one that lived inside Harry."

"What about it?"

"That's...that's what he did to us!"

"What? Who?"

"The healer!" Her hands rose now, "The scar over our heart?!"

Severus' eyes widened, his jaw went tight and his back straightened. "But Horcruxes can't be..."