Survivor

Chapter 5 - Summoned By Satan.

Hermione had never thought much of the subject of Divination, instead choosing more relevant studies like Ancient Runes. Yet, she found herself wishing for some kind of warning for the events that were about to transpire.

The event in question occurred late one evening. She and Snape had shared a meal at his small dining room table, foregoing small talk and instead eating in comfortable silence. Severus had retired to his Potions room, that she had been instructed not to enter under any circumstances. Deciding to give the man his peace, Hermione settled with a book in the living room. She was ignorant of the passing hours as she delved deeper through the pages and found solace in her knowledge. She was only alerted when great thundering footsteps echoed through the hall, causing her to become curious and crane her head to see her shared living partner.

There was an expression on Snape's face that Hermione only recognized from the classroom. It was loathing. His posture was straight as a board and his hands were coolly at his sides as his robes billowed behind him in the usual Snape-like fashion. He was wearing a black woolen travelling cloak, Hermione noticed. In his right hand, his wand.

It was almost as if he had forgotten her existence. His eyes brushed over as though she was nothing but a cat lounging on the sofa. But something in his mind clicked, and Severus spun on his heel and pointed his wand directly at Hermione.

"Don't you dare. Leave. This. house." He spat. Apparating on the spot.

Hermione let her book fall to the floor. Logically, it would happen sooner rather than later. After all, it had been almost two weeks since she had woken in Professor Snape's bed. It was a snap back to reality for her. It had been easy to pretend that Snape was nothing other than a normal, middle-aged wizard. Living with him, eating with him and reading with him made Hermione forget about the tragedies taking place in the real world. Snape was a Death Eater. He had killed and tortured. He had brewed potions and created spells that had caused pain and sorrow to many.

Yet after he had been fully pardoned after the First Wizarding War, Severus had continued to strut around the castle as Professor Snape and teach minors how to create potentially volatile concoctions. Hermione didn't think that he would have been allowed to return to teach in a muggle school. She was also incredibly glad that her parents didn't know the full truth about Hogwarts.

The Headmaster was a tyrannical wizard who was arguably centuries old. He was a known associate (and maybe something a little extra) with one of the most powerful wizards of all time. It was fair to say that Dumbledore had questionable morals and his decision-making skills were nothing but biased towards his own Gryffindor house. The school itself was filled with menaces that Hermione had come face to face with daily during her time at Hogwarts: a troll, a Cerberus, a basilisk, a Whomping Willow and various other uncountable creatures that lived in The Forbidden Forest or deep beneath The Black Lake. There had been several dangerous individuals that had come through the gates in her time: The literal incarnation of Voldemort, a gold-digging narcissist, a werewolf (who admittedly was the least harmful of the bunch), an escaped prisoner impersonating an Auror and a toad-faced Ministry official who tortured her students.

Compared to those, the threat of detention from Severus Snape almost sounded nice. Hermione now realized that she would rather spend her evening secreting slug mucus than being forced into having tea with Professor Umbridge. Most people at Hogwarts didn't seem to think like that, although most people at Hogwarts didn't seem to continually find themselves in trouble. Perhaps it was all part of the role of being best friends with The-boy-trying-to-live. Hermione wished that she had been given a job description.

It was unnerving that she hadn't heard from Harry and Ron during her time at Spinner's End. It was also terrifying to think of the two boys, wondering around aimlessly without her help. However much Snape had sneered over their "mission", Hermione knew that they had been doing at least something to aid the cause. Not to mention the fact that they were forced to go on the run,  anyway. But he seemed to forget that part.