A/N: WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

E/N: (sigh) there, there..(pat on back)

A/N: WWWAAAAA! (SOB) WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAA! (sniff)

WWWAAAAHHHHHHHH!

E/N: okay, okay…calm down…it's gonna be okay (sweatdrop)

A/N:

WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

E/N: Oh for the love of-

Argh! stop crying you ninny!

STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!

(Takes author by shoulders and shakes her violently)

A/N: IT'S NOT FFFFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRR! (SOB) Over two THOUSAND HITS! and I only get a COUPLE of reviews!

WHAAAT? WHAT IS THIS?

(sob)

How could they?

E/N: (sigh…somebody save me) yes, yes..oh the terror..how dreadful..i am

positively shaking in my pants..bu..hu..wah..wah..

please, SAVE ME FROM HER CONSTANT WHINING! WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE JUST LEAVE

HER A BLOODY REVIEW?

You don't have to tell her the truth! tell her what she wants to hear!

Ohhh..(evil plan forming)..hhheeyyy! look at what I have..is that?..oh yes I

think it is..IT'S A - !

A/N: CCCOOOKKKIIIEEE! (drools – flaps large arms to reach cookie)

E/N: (slaps hand on author's face while author tries to reach cookie)

(yawns) my my..what a delicious looking cookie..yuuummmmmmm..oh

dear..too bad nobody wants it! BWWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAH!

A/N: GIVE ME THE COOKIE! MUST HAVE COOKIE!

E/N: fine, fine..only if you stop crying!

A/N: OKAY OKAY OKAY! (drools)

E/N: (breaks off small crumb) There you go dearie...(runs away as fast

as possible while eating cookie)

A/N: NNNNNNNNNOOOOO! DAMN YOU ORANGE FISH! DAMN YOU!(shakes fist while falling on knees)

Chapter nine

Hermione had never felt more tired as her head bumped continuously against the window pane. The road was mostly silent, filled with occasional hushed whispers as the last visible piece of the sun fell behind the snowcapped peak of a far away mountain.

There was no more talk or laughter as the Company grew silent, worn and weary from the long day's travel. The path had not been a pleasant one. By mid afternoon, the winds had picked up its speed, blinding the soldiers and nauseating the horses. The sun burned through their skins, burrowing its way greedily into their flesh. Drenched in sweat and dirt, they pushed on, hoping for the early arrival of the well anticipated nightfall.

The sight of the weather beaten soldiers had not been kind on her moral beliefs. Hermione had long ago drawn up the curtains, in a fruitless attempt to block out their envious gazes and save herself from being plagued with guilt. But Mother Nature had not abandoned them completely. The winds had finally died down; their fury setting with sun, and the Company was finally left in peace and quiet.

Hermione sighed. She felt slightly isolated when Susan's endless chatter had ceased and the girl fell into a deep slumber. Hermione glanced over at her sleeping friend, and saw her head lolling at a dangerous angle against the curtained window. Smiling silently, she ripped her gaze off Susan and returned to surveying their path. The road was too quiet, and there were no books or scrolls at her disposal. Her tired gaze fell on the dark man currently writing furiously onto a piece of worn out parchment. His eyes were narrowed and his brows furrowed together as he made random corrections to something he had earlier written.

The Duke still pointedly ignored her presence. He had not directed a single comment towards her, except for the occasional healing potion he had forced her to drink. Even so, the transaction was done through Susan, who took the potion bottle grudgingly from her master, and then placed it into Hermione's hands. She could tell Susan did not appreciate being the messenger, especially since the distances between the correspondences were minimal. 'However, neglect does seem to be more appealing than being at the receiving end of his lashing comments' she added as an afterthought.

Hermione studied him closely, his lips were thinned, showing great displeasure at what ever it was he was reading, and the pen in his hand was clearly receiving punishment for it. His hair was falling loosely around his narrow face, having managed to escape from the ribbon he had used earlier. He would glance up occasionally, his dark pupils skimmed the surroundings, analyzing their position and the scenery before looking back down again.

Every hour, he would receive brief reports, informing him of their current location and of any problems that arose. From the short transmitted messages, Hermione understood that they were quickly approaching a small village of some sorts. It was also clarified what Sir Ollivander and Corporal Vernon had been arguing so intensely about before departure. They both had spent quite some time riding close to the carriage to voice their contradicting opinions to Lord Snape.

Corporal Vernon had insisted that the Company stop for a rest at the small village, and continue on towards the castle the next morning. His supporting points were that the Countess and Lady Ginny, being noble women, would not be able to withstand the long journey.

Yet in the end, it was Sir Ollivander of Stoneridge who won the argument. The elderly man wanted to continue riding, since the palace is only about three hours ride from the small village. He had insisted that the faster they reach the castle the better, and, he had added, the village was too small and too poor to be able to support, feed and house the Company. It would trouble the villagers if they suddenly received forty extra mouths to feed and to find room to pass the night.

The sound of gentle knocking on the Duke's side of the window made Hermione look up and stiffen slightly. She almost sighed out loud with relief when she realized it was Justin of Finchcove, and not Corporal Vernon or his son, whom had both reported twice earlier.

"The village is within sight Milord," said Justin, his eyes briefly darted towards Hermione as he smiled. Hermione returned the smile with a small nod of her head, still finding herself immune to his smooth manner and obvious interest in her.

The Duke, noting the exchange, clenched his jaw and gave the other man a hard look, "We will pass through it with as little disturbance as possible," Severus Snape ordered as he leaned his head out the window slightly as his voice dropped down to a whisper,

"Do not forget you are on duty Finchcove," he hissed, "Any wooing can be done after we've reached the castle," he inclined his head towards Hermione, "You would do well to leave this one alone, she is a commoner, and you are a noble, the chances of you marrying her are zilch. So if it is a quick fuck you are looking for, McGonagall's personal maid should not look that tempting."

The Duke's expression was indifferent as he leaned back, his eyes settling once again down to the roll of parchment he had been reading earlier. Hermione noted that Justin's face had become flustered as he quickly bowed and eased his horse into a gallop with a slight snap of the rein.

Hermione blinked slowly, what could he have told Justin that he obviously did not want her or Susan to hear? Probably something degrading towards servants, she thought, but then again, he had never seen an issue with throwing her status in her face before. Shrugging, Hermione pulled on her side of the curtains gently and stuck her head out for a better view.

The cold air gently caressed her cheeks as Hermione took a long deep breath, one, she realized with relief, that did not fill her lungs with dirt. Her earlier feelings of being caged-in seem to disappear immediately. The slight wind made her eyes water as she quickly brushed the tears that had formed and squinted her eyes.

Sir Ollivander's description had been accurate. The small village looked as if it was going to collapse any second. The plastered and brick walls had cracks big enough for small sheep to enter with ease, and the roofs were clearly made out of hay, extremely unstable during storms.

When they passed by the first house, Hermione could see clearly just to what extent the village was damaged. The windows, if existent at all, were pasted with parchment that had turned an ugly shade of yellow due to the constant weathering. Doors were nonexistent, instead, animal skin or some other sort of cloth dangled from the doorframe and fluttered slightly in the wind. Her carriage slowly crawled by another house, this one looking slightly more disheveled than the former ones. She saw a small shadow against the parchment windows. Glancing through a large hole in the wall right beside the window, she caught a glimpse of a rail-thin disheveled boy, clutching a ragged stuffed toy in a dimly lit room. Although calling the toy ragged was more of an incorrect term, because the poor thing looked horribly mutilated. The boy, gave a sharp gasp at being seen, and scurried under a beaten piece of furniture as Hermione's carriage passed slowly by.

Hermione felt tears forming at the edge of her eyes. How could a place so close to the palace and right under the King's nose be reduced to this? Were they not the King's people as well? She felt anger pulsate through her veins as she gripped the edge of the window tightly, her knuckles turning white in the effort. Her thoughts drifted to the thief hole where she had grown up, poor and hungry. Stealing anything she could to just have enough to feed herself and the others that lived there.

The image of a kind man in his late forties drifted into her mind and Hermione eased her death grip slightly. She was forever in Remus' debt. It was he who had found her and her brother Harry at his door step with a note from their biological parents, explaining that they did not have enough money to feed the two children any longer. Deep down, Hermione didn't know whether to hate her parents for abandoning her, or to understand that they did what they must.

The 'thief hole' was the nickname the townspeople gave to the unknown underground location. The armies owned by Horace of SlughornMountain had been trying to locate it for years. You could say that the Earl Horace hated them with a passion. Hermione did not blame him, since his own home was often the destination for their trained invasions.

Yet no one thought to suspect the nice Orphanage owner Remus Lupin who had done so much for the poor children. Nor did they perceive that the thieves were sometimes children under the age of ten.

Hermione wanted to laugh at their idiocy. The people of SlughornMountain were no better than Death Eaters. They robbed, killed, lied, and cheated as often as they could for personal gain. They would betray their families to save their own skin and turn on the very people that raised them without so much as a blink or a twich of a muscle. Soon, some even began to leave their children at Remus' door step, too lazy and too cheap to raise their own flesh and blood.

Hermione hated to steal, yet she did what she must. On every one of their 'missions', she would tell herself that these people deserved it. And they did. If they were cold enough to abandon their children, then Hermione would take back what was rightfully theirs. They would rob the families of their jewels and treasures, which would pay to supply food to the children that they had carelessly discarded.

Sighing, she looked once again out the window. She had left that life behind when she had encountered the Countess, and vowed the serve the noble lady to the best of her abilities. She would feel guilty sometimes. The whole entire meeting with the Countess had been a staged set up that they had planned for weeks, knowing when the Countess would be in town. Yet she had no choice, she needed some way to help Remus support the orphans, and serving under the Countess would provide a steady pay that she could send back to them.

The sound of the carriage wheels bumping and lurching against the uneven ground seemed to awaken the silent village. One by one, candles were lit from behind each door as a dim glow surrounded them. Several curious villagers peeked out from behind their 'doors' as the Company continued to travel through in silence.

Susan stirred slightly from her sleep as they suddenly came to an abrupt stop. She opened one bleary eye after another and blinked, "Whass happngh?" She released an enormous yawn, and managed to gain control of herself halfway through. She blushed at Hermione's glance, as she stretched out her arms and asked innocently, "Are we there yet?"

Hermione shook her head as she strained her neck as far as it can go to get a better view of the front of the Company. Maybe there was an obstacle ahead that prevented them from moving.

Frowning as she heard voices arguing up ahead, she tried unsuccessfully to push herself to a standing position in order to lean further out the window. It only took two seconds before her numb useless legs gave out from beneath her. Hermione landed with an ungraceful 'thud' back on to the red leather seats.

Hermione could hear someone, a soldier perhaps, running in their direction. Using her arms, she pushed and shifted herself until she was sitting directly in front of Duke Snape, who only spared her a disgusted glance before turning back to his window.

A young man around the age of twenty five bowed before reporting in a whisper, "There are two men on horses blocking the road Milord."

The Duke's gaze turned ugly as he regarded at the cowering man, "Are you so incompetent that you cannot order them to step aside? Or are you going to start stopping the Company for every ant colony that crosses your path? Remove them by force if you must! I will not tolerate this nonsense!"

The man hesitated and then stuttered, "C-Corporal Vernon has ordered them to move in the name of the King, b-but…" Clearly intimidated by the Duke's seething gaze, he rushed the rest of his message with his eyes firmly glued to his feet, "They refuse to move until they have spoken to the Countess."

A growl rumbled from deep within the Duke's throat as his eyes narrowed into tiny slits, "Tell them if they do not step aside immediately, someone will be charged with two cases of murder before the moon even rises tonight."

Fear, apprehension, and many other emotions chased across the young man's face untill he steeled himself, and bowed to the Duke, before jogging back to the head of the Company. More voices were heard and Hermione winced at the unmistakable sound of steel blades being unsheathed. It didn't take long before the carriage began moving again, painfully slow this time.

Hermione, her curiosity getting the better of her, attempted to poke her head out the window to see the two mystery men. Who ever they were, it took courage to try and disturb soldiers with the KingValley crest engraved onto their shields, and the unique green and silver banner flapping limply in the dying wind.

Hermione felt a firm hand grab her shoulders and jerk her roughly back into the carriage before dropping the contact as if it had been burned.

"Do you have a death wish! Or do you clearly not understand the meaning of 'curiosity killed the cat'?"

Hermione snorted, "The cat happens to have nine lives." Completely disregarding the Duke's warning, she stuck her head out even further, if not just to infuriate him further.

Two lone figures in white cloaks with cowels darkening their features, and concealing their eyes, stood by silently on their horses as they regarded the passing Company in silence. One figure was visibly taller than the other, but both were too thin and too frail to pass for men. No crest or banner was visible on them, or on their horses. Hermione could feel their eyes regarding her with interest before a shrilled voice filled the air.

"Hermione!"

Her heart stopped pumping blood for a split second before recognition filled her eyes. The cloaked figures waved at her frantically, almost unseating themselves in the process.

"Stop!" Hermione cried as she grabbed the Duke's arm and shook it violently.

Wrenching himself from her grasp, the Duke sneered, "Are you mad woman? Who are you to give ME orders!"

"NO! You don't understand! We have to stop! It's –"

"Silence!" the Duke hissed, his voice dangerously low, "Or I will be forced to –" Before he could finish his threat, Hannah's voice boomed out from behind them.

"The Countess of Gryffindor requests stop immediately!"

Hermione hardly had enough time to gloat as the Duke rubbed his temples and ordered in a firm but loud voice, "Halt!"

Before even waiting for the carriage to come to a complete stop, he barged out the door in anger. Hermione waved urgently at Susan to come and help her as both girls stepped from the carriage with Hermione leaning on Susan's shoulders.

Not forgetting her duties, Hermione limped to the second carriage as fast as she can, but was filled with a slight disappointment when she realized Lady Ginny along with Hannah had already helped the Countess down to the ground.

The cloaked figures slid down from their horses before running towards the Countess with a slight skip in their strides. With out need of a voiced order, skilled archers strung their arrows and aimed, as sharpened swords pointed menacingly in the direction of the approaching figures.

"I don't think you'd want to do that," a soft voice chuckled as a pale, delicate hand reached up to remove the hood, revealing dark black hair and coal black eyes, "Or else someone is going to have to explain my death to father."

"Drop your weapons," came the firm order from an irritated voice as the Company men fell to their knees before Princess Lavender.

The Duke took long strides and grabbed Lavender's elbow in anger, "What are you doing you foolish girl! You of all people should not be here!" he hiss, his rage evident.

"Aw," the young girl pouted, "You don't seem so happy to see me Uncle Severus,"

"Damn right I'm not!" He towed the Princess roughly behind him, ready to throw her into one of the carriages, "the King must be furious, you inconsiderate little girl!" The Princess only giggled and removed herself from his grip, without a backwards glance, she ran towards the second carriage.

Duke Severus Snape watched in absolute disgust as the six young women hugged each other tightly and squealed – with the exception of Hermione – who did not like squealing as much. Even the Countess was slightly surprised at the public display of childish behavior. It seemed that for a split second, they had all forgotten about their difference in status and their current location.

It took a loud cough from McGonagall before they quickly untangled themselves and separated long enough to talk.

"Lav! Terry! We haven't seen you guys since forever!" Lady Ginny couldn't help but give out another loud squeal as she impulsively leaned in and enveloped the two grinning girls in a tight hug.

"That's enough!" The Duke shouted furiously, "Get back to your carriages immediately! All of you!"

"Awww!" Lavender placed her hands on her hips, "But Uncle Severus! You're no fun!"

"Tell me something I do not know!" he growled back tensely.

Lavender sighed. Squaring her shoulders, she held her head up high and began giving orders, "Everyone back into their carriages. Terry, you will ride with the Countess, and I will ride with Lord Severus. We have important issues to discuss Uncle."

Every gaped at her in awe as she turned without another word and walked towards the first carriage. Lavender had the strange ability to change from a teenage girl into Royalty in a matter of seconds, depending on what the occasion required. Without another word, everyone silently obeyed her orders. The Countess hid a small smile behind her hand when she noticed the glowering scowl that Severus was currently inducing at the oblivious girl. He obviously did not appreciate that his orders were ignored while hers were obeyed without complaint.

Despite his current mood, he was interested in what she had to say and grudgingly followed her into the first carriage. Instead, he took immense pleasure in slamming the door in Hermione's face.

A/n: DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNN! Hehehehe…anyways…see? It didn't take THAT long before I posted again…(sort of…) (shifts eyes nervously)

E/N: SEX!

Great! Now that I have everyones attention… I was just wondering if it was just me (us), or does not allow the use of asterisks in the stories.. or anywhere else for that matter….

Asterisk: the thing you get when you press Shift+8…. you knooowww the starry thing? Well if any of you know if its possible, could you tell us in a review? Is there a special code, or is it just not allowed? Well thanks again for reading.

And that little button down there is just itching for you to press it. (Please I beg you.. the author is having some psychotic hormonal difficulties, and is taking it all out on me…and im all out of cookies ) (tear)

Ummm….yesssss…..annyyywayyyss...here are just some replies to some

lovely reviewers!

Misshay:

You are soooo nice! Eeeeekkk! I love you! I went to your profile, 'because I

just had to see who this nice person was! And anyways, I LOVE INUYASHA!

Well…personally, I like his brother Sesshoumaru

more..dark..handsome..eeeekkk! Now you can see why I like Snape so

much…sigh..dark guys are sooooo dreamy…

(E/N: mee too mee too! yay Sesshomaru! God I sound like his annoying little green friend urgh.)

Slytherinstargazing:

Hehehehhehhehe…I must say your review completely threw me off at first. On

ur first word too..when you wrote "rejoyces"..and you're probably confused

as to why. Let me introduce myself...

Hi! my name is Joyce..LOL..get it?

Joyce...rejoyce..Joyce..rejoyce..(editor glares at author) OKAY OKAY

I'LL SHUT UP.. geeezz..

TragicFantasy:

MUAH MUAH MUAH MUAH (slobbers reviewer with big fat wet kisses)

(E/N: ewwww Joyce! Get off the computer screen!)

LegyLoloo:

ME TOO! I LOVE OLD TIMES STORIES! It was because I didn't see that

many that I decided to write this story!

(E/N: heyyy.. does your name have anything to do with legolas greenleaf? )

Kendercurrent:

..you have a sevvie nose..you..have..a..sevvie..nose..WWAAAHHH!

NEEMMOO! WHY DON'T I HAVE A SEVVIE NOSE! THIS IS SOOO NOT FAIR!

Andy Kim:

ANDY KIM! I AM TRYING TO KEEP MY IDENTITY A SECRET! PLEASE DO NOT

BLUBBER MY NAME OUT IN A REVIEW!

(E/N:...umm..you already told your name to everybody earlier……….dunce)

…Oh…umm…oh..hehe..uhhhhhh…

Sweetsyphn:

Awwwww! Awwwwww! AAWWWWWWWW!

AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

(E/N: OKAY OKAY WE GET THE POINT GEEZZZ!)

Arden Rose:

Yay! I'm on someone's favorite authors list! Oh ya! Oh ya! Uh huhh!

That's right! HEY WAIT A FRIKKEN MINUTE! NEMO! I JUST WENT ON YOUR

PROFILE…PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THE HELL AM I NOT ON YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS LIST! HUH! HUH! HUH?

E/N: …(sweatdrop)…..well... heh about that...

Gomendasaii (sp?) -- thats japanese for

im-reaaaaly-reallly-sorry-i-dont-know-what-i-was-thinking-i-must-have-been-high-on-something!

Xhara:

Thank you sooo much for your review! See people! If you have a

complaint…write it nicely like Xhara! Anyways…I know what you mean about

over long chapters…I don't like writing them either….it' just that a while

ago I got a review from someone saying that my chapters are so short and

it's annoying her….so…..I decided to just make them longer a bit…but I

suppose I could stop that now…personally….i can't stand reading long

chapters either…thank you so much for your review!

Roque Almighty:

Wow…your review sounded so mature…wow…thanks!

(E/N: ya..that's a lot more than you can say for yourself)

SHUT UP NEMO! NOBODY ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION!

(E/N: ... ouch, touchy touchy)

Anyways..sorry..don't have time to reply to everybody's review..write a

flamer and I can guarantee you'll have a reply... one that will probably

result in you crying... -- UNLESS OFCOURSE YOU DON'T EVEN LEAVE ME A REVIEW!

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

E/N: (bangs head on desk repeatedly and sighs)... here we go again…