It didn't take long to reach the edge of the forest, but Severus allowed only a brief break for them to check on the map and ensure their approach to Hogwarts would be unobserved before they took off again.

"I thought you didn't want to fly more than was necessary, in case you needed your power to circumvent the wards," Hermione reminded him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Getting clear of the forest is necessary," Severus answered brusquely. He stroked her curls with one hand, his voice softening. "There are some forces that even I do not trifle with."

---

"Severus, I really don't think it's a good idea to head straight for the front door," Hermione pointed out in a rather higher pitch than was her norm. "We'd have to go right past the doors to the Great Hall."

"I'm not," Severus assured her, landing on the grass in the shadow of the castle. Stone steps led up to the main doors, but Severus set his back to them. "You should put Potter's cloak back on, and keep an eye on that map of his if you can."

When she was ready, he took her hand, leading her downward.

---

Hermione had never revisited this place, not once since that first night. Candles flared as they approached, dowsing themselves with a plume of smoke after they had passed. They descended to the water where the boats were moored, following the stone-flagged path until they could see the silhouette of the ivy curtain against the moonlight.

"This was our favourite place," Severus whispered. "Especially in the sunlight. It reminded us of where we used to go at home. After OWLs, I never came back. Later..." An archway opened in the wall at the touch of his wand. "It had darker associations."

---

Before Hermione could ask, Severus's meaning became obvious. The hidden passage opened into a small dusty room. A row of hooks housed black, full-length robes on hangers and a silver mask.

Severus ignored them, turning to the bare wall opposite. "Let us hope that Slughorn indulges his gluttony rather than his sloth."

"It seems we're in luck," Hermione answered, searching the Marauder's Map. She turned, smiling, to Severus, expecting the gesture to be returned.

Severus, however, looked pale and grim. Deftly, he opened another hidden door, this one leading to a bedroom. "Let us hope we remain so," he said.

---

"Severus, wait!" Hermione placed a hand where she guessed Severus's arm to be, preventing him from opening the door to the corridor. "You should wear the cloak."

Severus snorted. "I wouldn't lower myself—"

"You would. You have before. And you're well aware that even if I was caught and dragged up in front of the headmistress, all I would need to say is Dumbledore's orders, and she'd pat me on the head and send me on my way, so stop whining and put it on."

"What about the map?"

"We'll see people coming before they see it. Now go."

---

With a hand on Hermione's shoulder, Severus guided them through the castle's almost deserted corridors, avoiding the sort of shortcuts and narrow side passages that Harry had been wont to frequent. Only once did he need to pull Hermione under the cloak with him and press her up against the cold stone wall until Peeves and his first-year pursuer had passed them by.

"The staff room?" Hermione whispered incredulously, when they reached their goal and Severus began testing for wards.

"Quiet, woman."

The map twitched in her hands and checking it closely, Hermione realised that the staff room was occupied.

---

She waved the map in front of Severus, and he took it from her, apparently tucking it straight under the invisibility cloak.

The door eased slowly open, and Hermione felt panic grip her innards like a cold hand. She waited for a cry of alarm, but no sound came, and Severus's disembodied hand beckoned her to follow him through the opening.

She held her breath as she crossed the room, alternately watching for Snape's directions and fixing on the translucent figure of Professor Binns, sleeping in his armchair by the fire.

Snape's wand jabbed toward the hinges of another door.

---

Though the door was obviously stiff, it made no sound as it swung open to reveal a landing with spiral stairs leading both up and down.

Hermione wasn't surprised when, having closed the door behind them, Severus whispered, "We go down." She felt out each step before putting her weight on it, keeping a hand on the outer wall, and she estimated they had circled at least twice before Severus lit his wand to guide them the rest of the way.

"I think we will probably be safe from here. The enrolment lists were never considered to be particularly sensitive."

---

The dungeon cell was an anticlimax. There was no quietly whirring delicate silver machine such as Harry had described seeing in Dumbledore's office, only a writing desk with a crimson quill, a roll of parchment and a bottle of violet ink.

Severus hesitated in the doorway, and Hermione gently squeezed his hand and stepped into the room.

It took only seconds for her to duplicate the roster of names and check the most recent entries against the original. "It worked," she told him as she tucked the copy into her pack. "Let's go, the feast should be almost over."

---

Where seconds before Severus had seemed loath to approach the list, now it seemed to fascinate him.

"Severus, when we get home." Hermione took him by the hand and tugged him toward the staircase, his steps faltering at first, but then gathering speed.

"We can't go back through the forest," Severus told her as they climbed the stairs, "and taking a boat might be noticed. We'll have to use the Shrieking Shack."

Professor Binns dozed on as they slunk through the staff room, and they ducked into Slughorn's quarters as the first Slytherins returned from the feast. They had done it.