Through Tinted Windows

Chapter 16

'Little pig, little pig, let me in!'

'Not by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin!'

'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!'

And the big bad wolf huffed and puffed, but try as he might, the house would not fall down...

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

"The man is insufferable and thick! Can he not take a hint?" Severus hissed quietly over the banging to Hermione.

She merely stared listlessly at the door, her eyes wide and full of fear as she clutched the Potions Master close to her body. Her mind was blank and her face showed it. Letting out an exasperated sound and almost literally dragged her to the living room and closed the door shut to muffle the sound of the insistent knocking. Safely away from the main entrance, Severus took hold of her shoulders and shook her violently.

"Hermione come to your senses!" he commanded angrily.

He was relieved to see that emotions were becoming evident in her eyes, but winced when she pried herself free and glowered furiously at him. "The bloody hell is wrong with you! You didn't have to do that, you greasy git!"

"Good to know you're back to normal," he muttered sarcastically. "You could've done without the whole 'greasy git' comment since it certainly detracts from our relationship."

"What relationship? You're the one who refuses to reveal it to the whole world," she retorted, folding her arms stubbornly, looking like a small child denied a ride in the carnival. "Oh, you must be talking about the one where you're my father's jolly old friend, hmm? Well, I'm sure as long as he doesn't see how much I'm disparaging you, he won't mind."

"Merlin help me, you are the most insufferable individual I have ever met! I already told you that others would not accept our relationship as of yet considering the age difference! If you're so desperate to be ridiculed by the rest of the free world to be a pedophilia case, then you go ahead and deny the comment I said to the policemen!" He ran an impatient hand through his hair, ruffling it to a more disheveled state than usual. "Look, Hermione, that isn't the problem we've currently got. You went all - Neville on me, blank as a vegetable - and you expect me to carry on while you stand staring like an idiot while that Krum idiot goes on a rampage in our current residence?"

She opened her mouth to make a rebuttal but came up with no answer. He won their verbal sparring and she did not like it. Almost immediately afterwards, with flaming cheeks, she changed her expression to neutral and said, "So what will we do about Wonder Boy, banging away at the door?"

Smirking triumphantly, he turned away from her and began to pace. "I believe the only thing that we can do is have some sort of face off with him to get him off our backs once and for all. It seems that the previous encounter proved to be more of an encouragement on our part for him to pursue you. We must make it so that he will not be returning anymore."

"So you're saying we let him in?" she cried incredulously. "You cannot be serious, Severus. Don't you remember how he was the last time he was here?"

"Yes," he shot back haughtily. "Quite a weakling if you must know. He was not even able to say a proper curse before someone hit him with a disarming spell! Really, Hermione, what difference would a day or two make on him? He can't have gained the strength of a dozen oxen that a spell could not hurt him."

She bit her lip worriedly; annoyed that Krum could still elicit the same fearful reaction from her as he had a half a year ago. She made a move to sit on the settee but was quickly reminded of the image of him sitting there. Grimacing at the memory, she stopped midway and stood there, clenching her hands at her side. Hermione turned her head to Severus's pacing figure with a frown on her face. "He's not coming in," she stated.

He stopped pacing, looked at her and sighed. "Hermione, you will have to face your fears to get over it," he said quietly as he walked over to her. He held her arms with soothing hands and began to rub them in reassurance. "I know that it took a lot of courage to see him the other day, but you will have to show me that same Gryffindor courage today because he needs to be confronted."

"Please, Severus," she pleaded, her eyes so sad that caused him to stop his ministrations. "I can't do it... not again. It's too difficult for me."

He tilted his head and gave a small genuine smile. No smirk evident there, she thought, surprised, as she watched him. "Aren't you the one who loves challenges? Think of this as one of those brain-teasers, Hermione. You are the most capable individual I have ever met. If you are able to endure all of those horrendous adventures that you had with Potter and Weasley, then you will be able to get through this. Just believe in yourself."

"If your students heard you speak as you did just now, I'm sure they would be running out of the dungeons, screaming that the apocalypse has begun," she joked, but turned serious, afterwards. Taking a deep breath, she looked straight into his obsidian gaze. "Bring on the bull, then."

He looked at her one more time, trying to determine whether or not she was ready. He knew he was taking on a big risk by allowing a madman in the cottage, but it was a chance he was willing to take for their lives to be brought back to a somewhat normal state. Inhaling steadily he let go of her and went to let hell break loose. Hermione waited tensely in the middle of the living room, watching the door and waiting; dreading the sound of a horrendous cry that would indicate Severus's defeat. Instead, she heard a shuffling of feet before Severus ran back in the living room and shielded her. Viktor came bursting in, a wild look in his eye. Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu at the scene that was currently playing out at that certain moment.

"Where is she?" he rasped. "Where is Hermione? Give her to me now!"

"I allowed you in here not to get her, Mr. Krum," Severus seethed coldly, his smoldering eyes trained on the younger man. "The fact is, I allowed you in for the sole purpose of 'kicking your arse' as many of the younger generation say."

"What is this, a 'how-to-be-hip' class taught by the world's oldest - and can I say ugliest - man alive?" Krum sneered. Catching sight of Hermione's lithe form, his eyes widened and gained a hungry glint. He took a step forward, but Severus brought out his wand swiftly.

"You wouldn't want to do that, little boy," the Potions Master warned in a low, dangerous voice. "... not unless you want to feel excruciating pain."

"Hah! She did more damage than you the last time I was here and that was without a wand. I should be more afraid of her than you!" He turned to her with a leering smile. "I like a fighter. Makes the whole act of violating you so much more fulfilling."

Something snapped in Hermione that had her trying to break free of Severus's barrier. "Damn you! Let me near that no good son of a bitch! Severus let me through!"

"No," he whispered vehemently to her. "You're not going to go near him while you're with me! I will not have that! He's just trying to get to you, Hermione. Get a grip!"

Her breaths were quick and sharp as she sent Krum a daggered look. She stopped struggling against Severus and folded her arms as she raised her chin defiantly. "You will never have me - not in any shape or form! Keep dreaming!"

Krum let a furious growl and lunged, not caring about the fact that Snape was armed and he was not. Severus shouted a spell, but let out a strangled cry as it missed his intended target and was hit with the full force of the younger man's body. He yanked Hermione from behind so that she was away from harm's way and took the full impact of falling onto the floor. Krum straddled him and tried to whip out his wand as the man beneath him struggled to get free. With one strong buck, Severus got the weight off of him and rolled so that he held the Bulgarian down in a death-grip. Hermione's mind was working at that point and she made a move to grab her wand and pointed it directly at Krum, but by the time she could aim it at him, he was throwing Severus off of him.

To her horror, Viktor's attempt to push the Potions Master off had him knocking his head against the settee, knocking him unconscious. Letting out a gasp, she dropped her wand and ran to her lover, not realizing just what danger she was putting herself into. Just as she got a foot away from Severus, Krum grabbed her by the waist and she screamed, struggling to break free of his hold. Her nightmares were coming true - he threw her to the ground, and she grimaced as shafts of pain. As she opened her tearful eyes, she saw him loom over her; felt him take hold of he wrists in a vise-like hold and press her flat on her back.

She could never forget the look in his eyes, the look of pure dark satisfaction that made her shiver involuntarily in fear. Her breath hitched as she watched through wide eyes as he brought her hands over her head so he could hold them down with one hand and began to run his wretched hand over her body.

"Get away from me, you sick bastard!" she screeched, but to no avail, as all he did was laugh in his horrible way.

He rose over her and was attempting to yank off her shirt when the sound of a gun went off. Krum's eyes grew large and blinked once, then, in jolting movements, looked down at his chest. Hermione did the same, but saw nothing. He opened his mouth to say something that ultimately came out as a gurgle. He froze for a fraction of a second before he collapsed onto her. Hermione began to sob as there was no beat to be felt where his heart was supposed to be pounding. He was dead. Someone had shot him. Summoning the remainder of her strength she shoved him off of her. She didn't notice the other figure come closer to her; hold the butt of the pistol high in the air, in a ready striking position. She was getting to her feet when the metal came crashing down onto the back of her head and knocked her unconscious.

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

Severus did not know how long he was unconscious, but when he came through, the first thing that came to his mind was Hermione. He came to swift awareness, remembering what had happened just before he was knocked out cold, and attempted to get up, but something kept him firmly in place. It was then he realized that he could not see a thing, and felt the blindfold that was over his eyes; the cloth that was stuffed into his mouth. His hands were tightly bound behind him, as he sat on a wooden chair that was none too comfortable.

Knowing that attempting to use his sense of sight, touch or taste would be useless, so, relying on his potion-making instincts, he used his sensitive nose to detect any scent that would give at least a slight inkling to where he was. What he smelt was relieved and alarmed him at the same time. The spring scent that could only mean Hermione was right close to him, but the smell was mixed with the odor of blood. It could not have been his own as the smell would have been stronger, so upon assuming, he guessed it was Hermione's. She was hurt! By Merlin, he was a fool to let that insufferable little git in his home - or even anywhere near her.

His ears detected a faint movement that was definitely not one of his own and sat up, alert and ready for anything - blows, hexes - but not the sound of a serene voice. "Ah the dear potions master is awake," a voice said. He could not detect anything from it as it seemed to belong to something that was not human. Voldemort's voice was not even like that. The fact that he could not put a finger on the sound caused the dread to flow in his voice. The other person clenched a fist in his hair and yanked, bringing his head back. He grimaced at the pain he felt, but became aware of the person pulling the cloth out of his mouth. He began to cough, trying to bring the spit back to his mouth.

"What do you want with us?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"I don't want anything from the two of you... only Hermione," the individual said with no trace of malice.

"Merlin, why is it always Hermione?! She is innocent enough!" He struggled against the bonds. "Is that it? Is it because she embodies innocence itself that the whole world seems to want her so badly?"

"I've watched her grow strong," the other hissed into his ear - he could feel no breath upon his face, as if the individual did not need air to sustain themselves. "I was so close to her the whole time, yet so far that I could not touch her. Do you not know how insane one can become just by that? Do you know what I have been through? And then you come along and screw things up! I thought the auction would be -"

The individual cut themselves off before revealing too much. Severus could feel a smirk come from the other person and almost shuddered at the coldness that he felt emanate from the individual. "It doesn't matter. I'll have you out of the picture before you can say 'I'm just a greasy old git' one time through. All I have to do is pull the trigger and you're brains will splatter all over the floor of this place." He heard the resolved click of something he was quite unfamiliar with. This thing the other was holding was not a wizard device. It was a muggle one! What would a wizard be doing with such an item when a wand was just as lethal - if not more so - than any muggle device.

Everything seemed to piece together...

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

Hermione could not see. Her eyes were not covered, but there was no light to enable her to see at least any surrounding figures or items. All she was able to detect was the faint sound of rustling clothes. She shifted and realized that she was literally chained to the floor and was stricken by the fact that this was how Severus was when he watched Helene die those years ago. But who would do this to her? What did they want from her?

There was a voice at that point that called to Severus in a mockingly serene way. The quality of it told her the individual was using a scrambler so that the voice would be distorted instead of their own. It had to be some kind of sick joke. As she listened, she noted that Severus was a mere few feet away from her. There were footsteps headed away from her, and towards the direction of his voice, alarming her. She wanted to scream and divert the person's attention, but was fearful of what the outcome of that would be. What if they ended up threatening to kill Severus? She couldn't risk such a thing. She waited patiently instead, straining to hear what the two were saying.

When she could make nothing out, she merely found comfort in hearing Severus's voice, relieved by the knowledge that he was still safe and alive. She grew tense once again at the sound of a pistol being readied to be fired. She knew where it was aimed for - at him. Why him? Why not me?

"Who are you?" Hermione sobbed out, unable to say nothing any longer. "What do you want?"

She heard frantic steps towards her - not calculated and graceful, like Severus's, but quick and light. "Oh, dearest Hermione, are you feeling okay?" There was genuine worry in the scrambled voice she heard, which was quite discerning. "Here, let me take these awful shackles off. We don't want to be hurt, now do we?"

Immediately after saying that, the person holding the two against their will released Hermione from her bonds and put on a light above her. She blinked at the sudden blinding light and she strained her eyes to see who it was that was her captive. The figure was too distorted, however, to make out a sure outline of the individual.

"Now, now, love," the other crooned in a kind manner. "Don't overdo things. Everything will come gradually. Then you can see the finale of this chapter of your life!"

Hermione paused. "What do you mean by 'finale'?"

"All in due time, dearest Hermione. You will see what I mean." The words should have been riddled with malice and vileness, yet it remained almost singsong, and easy. She knew that there was something bad happening. Acting purely on impulse, she rammed into the figure, causing the individual to cry out. The fall seemed to last forever but when they finally hit solid ground, Hermione took advantage of the other's shock and grabbed both sides of their face and banged it against the floor. The impact was soft enough to not break the skull, but hard enough to knock the other individual out. Once the person was rendered unconscious, she began to pull and yank at their head. Instead of finding skin and hair, she found cloth, which slid off of the face easily. Under the bright light, she was able to just make out who the person was, despite the fact that her vision was still distorted.

She gasped.

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

Albus Dumbledore knew when something was happening. He always got a funny inkling when it came to those who were under his care. He was seated at his desk in his office, Fawkes preening his feathers as he was there upon his perch. There were papers to look over sent by the Ministry of Magic, there were complaints by a few parents - surprisingly mostly Ravenclaw - that needed to be noted. He couldn't help but notice just how petty their problems were - 'my son is complaining about the fact that there are rats in the common room!' or 'my daughter says that her potions professor is a terror. You should get him fired!' the last complaint was probably the most popular one of all. The Professors left for the spring holidays were going to be meeting for a small celebration for the sole reason that it was still vacation and nothing would disrupt their enjoyment.

Dumbledore was far from all of these things, however, as his mind was concerned with a certain new couple. He had no doubt that they were meant to be together. Had they not, then they would not be in the 'predicament' - as Severus kept on insisting to call it - they were in now. He didn't think that the auction was a bad idea at all; no the old wizard thought far from it. By the looks of their faces earlier that afternoon, they, too, were changing their minds about that certain item. He almost smirked in an un-headmaster-like manner. Those two were going to be one heck of a number once the news hit the school. Of course the Potions Master would insist on privacy, saying that he would not want to be under the world's scrutiny like some kind of bug under a magnifying glass.

Despite their willingness to be together in such a relationship, they were bound to run into very rough spots. Miss Granger had the issue with her old boyfriend to deal with while Severus had his inner demons. It was hard to determine whether they would be stubborn enough to break things off, or if they were malleable enough to bend and compromise with each other. Only time could tell. Even he was not gifted with the knowledge of the future.

Just as the Headmaster was reaching for the bowl of lemon drops on his desk, the feeling came. Danger! Danger! A voice kept screaming in his head. The soft and kind cerulean eyes turned worried and alert as he pushed his seat back. The Potions Master was in trouble; he could feel the anxiety filling in him. And if Professor Snape was in trouble, so was Hermione. He walked swiftly out of his office, regal clothing billowing grandly behind him. Fawkes watched the Headmaster with hope in his eyes.

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

Hermione left the figure and groped in the dark, searching blindly for Severus. She was just about to give up, her hand felt silky cloth beneath her fingertips. Frantically, her hands trailed upwards and realized that it was his leg. Behind it, she touched would, giving her the idea that he was seated upon a chair. Her touch seemed to spark something in him for he began to struggle anew against the ropes that kept him down.

"Hermione!" he whispered strongly. His voice! It was his voice!

She got to her feet shakily and found his shoulders. She let out a strangled sound and she hugged him close to her, raining kisses on his face. "Oh, God, Severus, I've been so afraid! You don't know how happy I am to finally find you in the dark!"

"Likewise," he replied. What she had said touched two matters: the fact that she had found him at that certain moment and the fact that she found him inside the darkness of his heart. He was so moved by her dedication to him that the humiliation that he would have felt in any other situation did not come.

Hermione stopped abruptly, and began to feel for the knots on the rope. "We need to get you out of here; I know who the person is -"

"Hermione, I know who it is, too." She stopped for a moment, to which Severus said, "I put the pieces together. I should have seen it from the start. It wasn't at all that hard to figure out. I don't know why it took me this long to see that -"

There was a sound of bone meeting metal and a stream of curses in two different languages. "Get away from him!" the other's voice growled from the opposite end of the room.

Hermione whipped her head towards the lit side. The light swung to and fro recreating a scene from the many horror and suspense flicks that her friends made her see at the cinema or on the movie channels. She was hoping that what she had deduced was wrong, but the sight that she would not have believed to have seen ever in her lifetime was real. She gave the person a look of sheer sadness and desperation. "Oh, Meg, why did you do all of this?"