I'm back!

To all those that have reviewed: You guys are awesome and deserve hugs and kisses and really nice Christmas presents this year.

I have brought a most depressing chapter, but do not fear, the next chapter will be happier.

Disclaimer: Me no own

Happy reading!

Don't you know I feel the darkness closing in?

I tried to be more than me

And I gave 'til it all went away

And we've only surrendered

To the worst part of these winters that we've made

But I would not sleep in this bed of lies

So toss me out and turn in

And there'll be no rest for these tired eyes

I'm marking it down to learning

Hermione stared at the flowers, card, and cup for a few minutes before actually walking over to the display.

She had already recognized the hand writing because she had read so many essays written in the same hand while correcting the mistakes the night before the paper was due: it was Ron's hand writing.

She hesitated but decided to pick up the card and read it anyways:

Hermione,

I'm sorry. I should have never said those mean things to you, but I'm under a lot of stress with grades (and the war) and you brought up a university and then I freaked because I don't think I can get into a university and then you would be getting ahead of me while I worked at some meaningless job. So, it was my fault, so don't blame yourself.

Love, Ron

Of course it was from Ron, they were red roses after all.

She set down the card and was about to pick up the flowers when a knock sounded at her door. She walked over to the door and opened it to reveal the man himself, Ron. He stood not so confident, with shoulders hunched, his shirt a little bit too baggy, and he shuffled his feet back and forth.

"Hey."

Hermione glanced at the ground. "Why don't you come in."

She stepped back and Ron walked three steps into the room, saw the flowers, then back to face Hermione and the same time the door shut. Silence pervaded the room as they both avoided making eye contact with the other. Hermione realized that the paint was fading on the far wall.

"Did you read the card?"

"Yeah."

Then Ron became to speak.

"I'm so sorry Hermione." He walked forward and pulled Hermione to his chest. "I can't believe that I said those things to you and that I…that I hit you." Ron drew in a breath. "I just…I was worried. Worried that I'd never be good enough and so I tried to bring you down and I'm stressing 'cause mom had been on my back about grades and now the whole war thing. I should have never attacked you like that."

Hermione stayed silent.

The only thing she could hear in her head was the word 'common' on repeat.

"Please, please know that I'm sorry," Ron realized that Hermione wasn't going to say anything back. So he pushed her back away from him so he could see the expression on her face; it was blank. He leaned down a little to be at her height and pleaded.

"Please forgive me Hermione."

Hermione finally looked at him right in the eyes.

"Please," Ron looked as if he was on the edge of tears. "I love you."

Hermione's heart stopped. Love? Love me? Her brain went on overdrive. He has never said that to me before. Where the hell did it even come from? She looked at him as if trying to decipher if it was a joke or he only meant it in a loving brother way or an I-love-you-man way.

Do I love him?

He looked sincere and Hermione felt like running.

Hermione acted on the first thing that came to her mind which was to nod answering the question he had posed before but ignoring his statement. This seemed to be enough to appease him because his eyes lit up as soon as she nodded. He smiled wide.

"Great!" He hugged her again and then made to leave the room. "I'll talk to you then during breakfast tomorrow because its late already. We can meet up tomorrow and the first Hogsmeade trip will function as our next date." Ron took one step out of the door. "I love you Hermione." Then he left.

Hermione collapsed onto her knees in tears.

She hated red roses.

Earlier that day…

"Harry?"

Harry was in the hallway headed to the Great Hall to get some lunch when a voice called his name. He turned around and saw Professor Lupin, Remus, waving him down as he lightly jogged up to him. Remus stopped a few steps in front of Harry and smiled.

"How are you today Harry?"

Harry smiled politely. "I'm doing fine Pro—Remus. I just got down with my last class and was going to get some food before I bugged Hermione into helping me with my potions essay."

Remus shifted to his left foot. "Well I just wondered, since I have an hour break in between classes, if you wanted to see Snuffles or not because we won't be able to go this weekend like I planned; it's the first Hogsmeade trip."

"Yeah, we can go now," Harry didn't want to blow off Remus for a second time and he did really want to see Sirius.

Severus' arm began to burn.

He dropped the vial he was holding and it crashed to the ground in a quick death. The light blur liquid splattered on the ground and then instantly evaporated. Severus let out a string of curse words as he stepped over the broken glass and made his up the stairs out of his private lab to his actual rooms. He walked to his bedroom, which was located in the back of the room, and grabbed the cloak and the mask he had placed in the back of his wardrobe.

He walked briskly down the hallways of Hogwarts, reached the outside of the wards, cursed on more time, and disapperated into the night.

Harry and Lupin flooed into St. Mungos.

Remus landed lightly on his feet and took a step away from the fireplace right as Harry ungracefully fell out onto his face. Remus stifled a laugh and the nurse that was in the room chuckled. Harry picked himself off the ground and glared at Remus who was refusing to look at him.

"I am guessing you're here to see our special guest?" The women, who wore the outfit of a head nurse, asked the two men standing in front of her. They both nodded and she opened the door behind her and began leading them to one of the private rooms on the top floor in the very back of the hospital. Her name was Nurse Bell and she a good friend of Dumbledore which meant she allowed visitors to Sirius' room without the Ministry knowing since he was still a wanted criminal.

She reached the last door in the hall. The door had a large red sticker on it which indicated to the working staff that a known criminal inhabited the room. Nurse Bell opened the door and stepped to the side as the two men entered the room.

Harry looked down at Sirius who lay prone on the bed. He looked smaller the last time Harry had seen him. The Nurses try to keep his muscles active through spells, but the muscles still atrophy away after a certain period of time. Harry noted that his hair was cleaner though since the nurses washed it every day which was not what Sirius did while he was in prison.

Nurse Bell spoke up when she realized the men were only going to stand at stare. "His brain and magical patterns have increased to normal levels which means he should wake up any day now."

Remus spoke while still looking down at his friend. "So what is stopping him from waking up now?"

"That's a good question," Nurse Bell stepped into the room and shut the door. "It varies with the patient. Sometimes they wake up when the shouldn't, sometimes the wake up as soon as the levels in their body stabilize, and sometimes they don't wake up at even if all medical signs say they should."

Harry turned his head and looked at her. "So, you're saying that he could never wake up?"

"Yes though we don't know why," Nurse Bell paused. "There is this theory used by muggle doctors in which they attribute the healing rate of a patient based on the will of the patient; whether the patient wants to wake up or not."

Harry and Remus said nothing but they both grabbed one of Sirius' hands.

"Welcome my followersssss," the Dark Lord smiled wickedly at the group of twenty or so Death Eaters that stood in a half circle around him. They all stood without their masks by order of the Dark Lord which he had been ordering more often for some reason. Severus guessed it was because the Dark Lord had trouble picking out his followers if all their faces were covered.

"Brookssss won't you step forward," He pointed to a spot that was empty in front of him. The man named Brooks slowly stepped from the half circle and walked up to the Dark Lord. Severus could tell he was nervous by the way his legs slightly shook with each step.

"Yes Milord?" He bowed his head respectively toward the ground and kept it there.

There was no longer a smile on the Dark Lord's face. "Your tasssk I gave at the lasssst meeting, how is that going?"

Brooks shifted. "It is taking longer than I planned to retrieve the funds, Milord."

"So you lied to me then at the lassst meeting when you said you could get the fundsss," The Dark Lord leaned forward. "easssily."

"Milo—"

"Crucio."

The screams that followed were inhuman.

"Take him away Wormtail," Brooks' broken body was dragged towards where the dungeons were located and Severus watched him go. The Dark Lord leaned back into his chair and Nagini slithered faithfully onto his lap.

"Ssseverussss," The Dark Lord turned his head to the left side of the circle, close to his chair. Severus had expected this. "What is the newssss in Hogwartsss?"

"The old fool suspects that you will start your war soon and he is telling all those that will listen which is few and far between," some of the Death Eaters chuckled. The Dark Lord motioned him to continue. "The fool has one of Potter's friends working a potion with the aid of myself that would lessen the affects of dark magic."

The Dark Lord smirked. "With the aid of yourssself?"

"Yes, which is why the friend is having such a hard time with the potion," Severus smirked back at him. The Dark Lord laughed. "The potion might even end up having the opposite affects."

"You may step back now Severus," Severus bowed politely and then stepped back into the circle. His heart rate slowed down once he realized the half-truths were bought yet again by the Dark Lord. He thought the meeting would soon come to a close.

"I have the mossst excellent of newssss," the Dark Lord let Nagini slither away. "Tonight I have planned a raid for my mossst dedicated of followersss."

Severus sucked in a breath.

"Malfoy, Bellatrix, McNair, Parkinson, and Sseverusss."

Cheers resounded with the followers called.

Hermione still sat on the ground in her room.

Her tears had long since stopped, but the shame she felt was still just as strong. She tried to tell herself she was strong and brave, but when it came to actually acting on it, she faltered. She wanted, deeply, to tell Ron to bugger off and never touch her again, but she couldn't. She felt the need to give him another chance, because she had always had a friend in Ron. It was always her, Ron, and Harry.

Then he brought up love.

She knew she didn't love him. She couldn't even fool herself into believing that she did. She cared for him and would protect him, but she would never love him; not like he would want. Even before he had hit her, she had never had anything more than friendly feelings towards him. She felt compelled to try because she did not want to be the one that broke up the Golden Trio. She did not want to be the one the destroyed everything.

But above all, she wanted to love him.

She so desperately wanted to love him because she should. She should love him because he is her best friend. Every one expects her to date him, marry him, and have kids with him. She wanted it to be easy. She wanted to fall in love with the good man. She wanted to be content and in love with him, but she couldn't.

She had to try though and that's why she cried because she was too weak to give up the hope that something good could come out of their relationship and yet at the same time she hoped, she also knew that this was only going to end in pain.

She lifted her head up from her knees and caught a glimpse of the flowers that sat on the table above her.

The house they were going to raid was quaint.

It was a nondescript house. It stood peacefully in the middle of a dozen houses that looked exactly liked the one they were walking towards. It had light blue paint around the outside with white shutters and nicely trimmed grass. The house next to it could be mistaken for it expect for the light brown paint that coated it.

By the end of the night, the house would stand drastically out from the rest of the block.

Bellatrix began by breaking down the door. The once white door flew into the blackness of the house and crashed against a wall. The shuffling of feet could be heard as the family began to wake up. Severus walked in behind Bellatrix and sent his own curse which caused the glass to shatter impressively and Bellatrix began to dance manically under the shards that filled the air. Malfoy headed up the stair with McNair to bring down the family that was just now realizing what was happening.

There were screams as a husband, a wife, and a small boy was brought forcefully down the stairs. They were tossed onto the ground and then surrounded by the four Death Eaters that were there.

"Please, take whatever you want, just don't hurt us," He begged while trying to place himself in front of his wife and child. Bellatrix chuckled.

She sent a cutting hex and the man which signaled the start of the torture.

Hermione stayed downstairs that night.

She sat on the couch with a cup of coffee in hand with her feet curled up underneath her. She stared at the fireplace without moving. She had no intention of sleeping that night. She couldn't even bare to look at herself in the mirror let alone allowing herself the comfort of sleep. No, she deserved to be miserable and tried the next morning.

The roses no longer were on the island in the kitchen.

They now were forcefully shoved, in pieces, into the one trashcan in the room along with the card.

The coffee cup lay shattered on the floor, as if someone had thrown it against the cupboards.

Severus walked slowly back to Hogwarts. His black clothes now stained with blood; the blood of a muggle family whose only crime was being unlucky. The quaint house was currently burning and now stood drastically out of the other houses on the block. Families gathered outside as they watched the flames consume the house. The sirens could be heard in the distance.

The muggle families wondered about the odd formation of clouds in the sky that looked almost like a snake.

Severus did not stay to see this though.

He reached his rooms and immediately sat down on his couch. He lit the fireplace with a wave of his hand and conjured up a cup of coffee.

He would not sleep that night not would he change his clothes; the clothes reminded him of what he did. He did not deserve a shower to wash away the crime he committed that night.

He deserved to watch the death of that family replay in his mind.

He did not deserve the comfort of sleep.

He deserved to be miserable.

Hope you enjoyed.

Next Chapter: A lot of Snape and Hermione and I'm not sure about the rest yet :-)

The lyrics used in the intro were by a band called Matchbox Twenty and the song was Bed of Lies

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