Uncontrollable

Hermione stood before the Shrieking Shack in the Saturday afternoon, sleet drizzling around her and chilling her to the core. Her breath made miniature clouds in the freezing air, her back was cramping from the constant trembling, but her mind was distant as she waited. A loud crack and her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

Harry made sure his steps made noise in the crunchy ice around them as he walked toward Hermione. Her back was to him, and he did not want to upset her by stealing to her side without some sort of warning. She was very adept at defense, and a quicker draw than him. At the thought of this, his right hand slid into his robes and his fingers snaked around the handle of his wand as a precaution.

"Hermione?" he whispered, again careful to not frighten her.

"Harry, I heard you Apparate. If that wasn't loud enough, your footsteps were as subtle as a stampede. Why you would whisper after all that is beyond me." She twirled to face him with a wide grin, letting her expression tell him she was in a teasing mood.

He smiled at her. "Let's go in then, I'm freezing." His voice was loudly exaggerated, causing Hermione to giggle.

They entered the Shrieking Shack together, Harry nervously peering behind his shoulder every few steps, seeking out any unwanted followers. Once inside, Hermione flicked her wand and inaudibly locked the door behind them. She then invested in a few wards of protection around them, each a different variant of the silencing charm to insure there would be no eavesdropping.

Harry pulled up a chair for each of them, and sat expectantly before Hermione. He patiently waited for the wand waving to cease before asking, "Well?"

She scowled. "Nice to see you too! Oh, what's that? Oh yes, I'm fine, thank you so much for asking."

He rolled his eyes and dismissively waved his hand at her. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you're fine, or you wouldn't be here. Now, you said you found the pensieve?"

She sighed. "Yes, I found it. It was in Prof--" she paused and swallowed hard before continuing. "Er, it was in Snape's private rooms, in his wardrobe. I found about six bottles with it, all containing memories."

He had twisted his face when she had started to say "professor," and hadn't relaxed it. "Have you found any clues yet? I mean, any memories of his saying where he'd be? I know it probably wouldn't be that easy, but...have you got anything?"

"Not really, I just experienced one memory, and it..." Her voice trailed off.

"It what?"

"It's of no significant value, really."

"I think I should be the one judging that."

She blinked, surprised at his suddenly stern tone. "No, really, Harry...it's just a memory of when Prof-- I mean, Snape was a first year. Nothing important. He was sorted into Slytherin - and we know that already."

He knew she was holding something back, knew her too well to let her sudden interest in her split ends escape him. "What happened, Hermione? Tell me, it could be really important."

She stared at him for a few moments before dully stating, "He and your dad were in a duel of sorts. They hexed each other, and really that's it."

"He hexed my dad? With what?" Harry exploded, leaping out of his chair.

She put her head in her hands before stating, "Look, it was just a crying hex, and Lupin and Sirius were there. He wasn't hurt." She winced as she realized how uncaring her tone was. She hoped Harry didn't notice.

"That bastard!" Harry snorted.

"Yeah, well, your dad got him back, okay?" she said snappily, before taking a slow, calming breath. "Like I said," she continued in a more controlled tone, "not important."

"What'd my dad hex him with?"

Her face tightened with sudden anger, as she stared directly into Harry's green eyes and spat, "He made Snape wet himself."

Harry didn't even try to conceal his pride as he took his seat, snickering. This time, Hermione was the one to leap out of her seat. "It's. Not. Funny," she growled, putting emphasis on each word.

Harry stopped laughing and gazed at her furious expression in disbelief. "You're...you're feeling sorry for that bastard? Hermione, he killed Dumbledore!"

She winced at the sound of her former Headmaster's name. "I know that, Harry! I didn't forget it! I just fail to see the humor in causing someone to wet themselves in front of their peers! Even Malfoy didn't stoop that low!"

Harry inhaled sharply before he spoke. "You are comparing my father to Malfoy?"

Hermione had half a mind to tell Harry that that was exactly what she was doing, but the feeling was overruled by a deep-rooted tiredness. She didn't want to fight with Harry, not on top of everything else. "I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't mean that and you know it," she sighed, defeated. "Where's Ron, anyway? I thought you were both coming?"

Harry glared at her for a few more moments before allowing his face to soften. "I'm sorry too, Hermione. I know you didn't mean that. It's just...all this stress...I'm sorry. Ron went to the Burrow to convince Ginny to come back to Hogwarts with you. Even without... Dumbledore," his voice cracked slightly. "It's safer here at school than anywhere else in the wizarding world." Hermione only nodded in response.

He swallowed, calming himself, and spoke again. "Anyway, she couldn't find anything at the Ministry with Mr. Weasley. All of Lucius Malfoy's things have been removed; even his Department of Magical Law Enforcement file is missing. The Minister swears he knows nothing about it, but Mr. Weasley doesn't seem to believe him. And the whereabouts of Narcissa Malfoy are unknown. We think she's Snape's Secret Keeper, and we think he still has Draco, but we can't be sure. The Minister has decided to keep Lucius Malfoy under constant surveillance in Azkaban, in case somehow he gets information on his son, wife, or," and this word he emphasized with disgust, "Snape."

"And you're sure he doesn't already have information?" Hermione inquired carefully.

"No, we'll never be sure. We've used Veritaserum, but he could already have built up a tolerance to it, so we'll never know. Ron suggested that Malfoy make an Unbreakable Vow to the Ministry that he will tell everything he knows to us, but Mr. Weasley didn't go for it - no loving father would give up his son and his wife to save his own life. I wanted to object, but then I realized everything he's done so far has been for their safety. I guess...even with the Malfoys, there is a twisted sort of...love."

She nodded. "How about Snape's file? Surely the Ministry has a file on him, as he was once a Death Eater?"

Harry smiled. "Yeah, we thought about that. Ron and I are going to meet up after this and go to the Ministry to find it. After that, we're going to check out his home in Spinner's End. Aurors had already been sent there, so we know he's not there, and there are no wards or anything left, and all the Dark magic has been cleared. But there has got to be some clues there. Um," Harry hesitated suddenly in the midst of his excitement. "Hermione, would you like to come with us? Ron...look, I'm not supposed to ask, because no one wants you to get hurt...but...we really need your help, Hermione. Will you come?"

Her expression of concern broke out into a silly grin. "Of course! When will we go?"

Harry grinned too, relieved that she said yes. "We'll meet you here tomorrow, same time. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, right, so you'll be able to be out tomorrow too?"

Hermione nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. And Harry--"

"Yes?"

"Please be careful. Make sure Ron is too, okay?"

"Sure thing, Hermione. See you tomorrow!" And with his voice still ringing in the shack, he was gone. The distinct crack in the distance let her know he was on his way to the Burrow even before the door to the shack had time to close behind him. She smiled to herself and made her way back to the school, unsure if the tingling in her body was from excitement, apprehension or just the cold. She decided it was all three.