Lessons In Love

Chapter 53: Carry the Soul-part 2

What was she thinking? She had absolutely no idea where to go and was lost in the deserted, dark hallways. Harry said Snape was in the dungeons... below the Department of Mysteries... Hermione ran to the stairs, seeing that the elevators were not running at that time of night. Each step she took was a loud echo that bounced off the cold, stone walls around her. She could hear the thunder billowing through the halls as voices came treading through the dark. Hermione bit her lip and froze, listening to it coming nearer. She hid behind one of the pillars and watched as two guards made their way down the corridor. They had heard her and she knew that if she got caught, she would threaten Snape's chances even more. But she had to see him; she couldn't let him be alone. Hermione had promised she would always be there for the man and she intended to keep her part of the bargain. She sucked in and tried to straighten her body like a board, hoping to not be noticed as the footsteps grew closer and the voices became clearer. It would have really helped if she could have had Harry's invisibility cloak with her at the time.

"I told you there was no one here, you thick-head." A deep voice mumbled in annoyance and Hermione shut her eyes tightly, just hoping that they would pass by.

A younger voice whined with a Scottish brogue, "I heard something, I swear it."

"Yeah just the loony voices in your own mind. I knew they should've never hired you," the first voice groaned and Hermione could hear the clicking of their shoes start to fade. At that rate, she wouldn't be reaching Snape until morning if she had to stop at every little noise.

She poked her head around the pillar, carefully, and looked for any signs of other activity. Taking off her shoes so that her footsteps would not be heard, she slowly crept out of her hiding place and made a run for the stairs that led down to the Department of Mysteries. Hopefully she would be able to get to the dungeons from there and find Snape. Hermione pulled out her wand and cradled her shoes to her chest as she tip toed down the steps, the only sound she could hear was the pads of her feet hitting the stone floor. Hermione reprimanded herself for her rash judgment to come alone and without a cover. She was more than positive that there would be guards blocking all the cells and she had yet to figure out how she would get past them. Was she not Hermione Granger? The smartest witch of her age? Didn't she always have a plan?

Sneaking down the black corridor, Hermione held her breath, hoping to not make any noise as she ventured further down the sloping stone. She had not been down to that level since her fifth year in the Hall of Prophecy. Another boom was heard from the thunder above and Hermione was shocked that she could still hear it from her level beneath the muggle world. It must have been quite the storm above for she was more than ten levels below ground and it did nothing but to aid in her fear and inhibit her perceptions to hear any soft noises around her. What cell was Snape even in? She cursed her extreme foolhardiness in not thinking anything through. It was amazing how little one could comprehend when the heart was involved, at least in her case. Snape always seemed to be perfectly logical through everything, always was able to see rationality through his feelings and emotions.

Hermione let her fingers run across the walls, lightly, trying to feel her way through as the hallway became darker and darker. If she used her wand to light the way, she would easily be spotted and found out. She felt a large niche in the wall and ran into a door, making a loud thud. She reprimanded herself before slowly finding the main corridor once more and continuing her measured journey. Hermione felt as if she was completely blind and decided that if she ever wanted to find Snape, she would need to see at least something,

"Lumos!" she whispered and started to look around her before seeing the head of a demon just inches from her face.

Hermione went to scream but was unable to as she felt a hand clap over her mouth and pulled her roughly away from the evil spirit. Her wand was pulled out of her hand and the light went out before she was able to see who the second monster, demon or creature that had her captive was. Hermione felt herself being slammed against the wall with her captive pressed up against her, pinning her arms above her head so she could not fight him. She could now feel that it was a human who had her in the rough hold. A low other-worldly growl sounded from behind her and although she couldn't see, she shut her eyes tightly in reflex to the situation. The demon Hermione had seen could be heard coming nearer and she whimpered before feeling her hands becoming free from the death grip they were in and her captor had quickly retreated as she heard more evil rumbles. Although she had been freed, she still kept herself against the wall in hopes that the monster would just go away and she could escape.