Sight

Chapter 15

Harry and Ron's arrival had been like a bucket of cold water. Gone were the peaceful meals or cups of tea they shared, mulling over Shakespeare and Neruda. The lab was still a refuge, away from prying eyes and inopportune questions, but the rest of Number 12 Grimmauld Place was fast living up to its title of as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
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He hadn't come to her. For the first time in months, he hadn't seen her once he was back. He hadn't even gone to a Death Eater gathering, it was a meeting with Dumbledore, at Hogwarts of all places, probably about lesson plans or something... So why haven't you come back to me? Worrying was getting her nowhere. Slipping out of her room, she made her way up a flight of stairs and to the mahogany door that she had crossed so many times. She lifted her hand, caressing the wood as it opened to let her through.

The room was dark and deathly still. Hermione let her eyes roam over the sparse furniture, the few personal effects, before settling on the object of her affections: hunched over on the side of the bed, hands gripping his hair, elbows resting on his knees, tension radiating from him like heat from a fire. She reached out her hand to place it on his shoulder-

"Don't touch me."

Don't touch me? She removed her hand only to try and rest it on his cheek, but even as she drew close, his hand shot up and caught her wrist.

"Severus..."

"No."

She wrenched her arm from his grip, and as it slipped through his hand, her fingers caught on his, their skin touching for the first time that night.

"Why on earth did you even put it on? The ring is obviously cursed... I cannot stop it, merely slow the progression..."

And then she saw Dumbledore's hand, black and shriveled...

"The Dark Lord has tasked Draco Malfoy with your murder."

"And if he fails, you are to complete his assignment?"

"Yes. Narcissa and Bellatrix-"

"You must be the one to kill me, Severus. We both know Draco is no murderer- and to kill me in cold blood would destroy his soul."

"And what of my soul?"

"You alone know what granting a fast and painless death to a dying, suffering man will do to your soul."

Silence, clenched fists, laboured breaths.

"Take the Unbreakable Vow they will ask of you, Severus."

"Hermione? What did you see? Hermione?"

"Dumbledore."

"Hermione..."

She shook her head, burying her face in his chest as tears streamed down her cheeks. His arms came up around her, his head laid on top of hers, his nose touching the wild tangles as silent tears sprang from his eyes. It could have been an eon that they held each other, lower limbs tangled in the bedding, pressed so close together they could be one. She couldn't feel the tension in his arms, the grip of his hands on her skin, was too numb to; he didn't register the jackhammering of her heart.

When she emerged from the room hours later, face red and splotchy and hair flying everywhere, neither spoke. Remus didn't comment as they passed in the corridor, Sirius didn't say anything when he came to wake her in the morning and she was laying on the bed, perfectly still, eyes open and watching the ceiling.
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