DISCLAIMER: Do you think I'm stupid enough to claim this and get into trouble? Yeah… dream on!

A/N: In response to "Dungeon Challenge" by Seren. I can get used to this! Enjoy!

Stuck

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry was trying to fight a dementor in a room at the dungeons. His silver stag tried to chase the dementor away, but it didn't seem to work, and Harry's mind was way too occupied to think of something else.

"For heaven's sake! EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he roared, but still, the dementor kept going back a few feet as the stag tried to hold it away, but it advanced on Harry once more.

"Potter!" It was Snape, "what the…" his words were cut at the sight of the dementor.

"I can't make it go away!" Harry's breath was becoming shallow as he dropped to the floor with a loud THUD.

Snape rose his wand and stepped forward, only to see the dementor shift its shape.

"A boggart?!" Snape hissed.

The boggart turned into a full-grown werewolf by the name of Moony. Snape recognized the eyes at once and his heart started to beat faster.

"Professor!" Hermione called as she entered the room, "that's… that's…" she pointed at the werewolf, her eyes wide opened in shock.

"It's a boggart," Luna said in her calm voice.

"Riddikulus!" Snape yelled and the werewolf was wearing Santa's outfit.

Hermione laughed at how silly the werewolf looked and he noticed her somehow. He started advancing on her and it turned into Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Granger, you have failed your Transfiguration exam and I am so disappointed with you," Professor McGonagall said.

"Yeah, right! Riddikulus!" Hermione said and the boggart-McGonagall turned into a fluffy lamb with a wizard hat on it's head.

Snape walked in front of the boggart and it turned into the werewolf again, he pointed his wand at it and yelled, "Riddikulus!" and then Hermione took a turn. Luna joined them and finally, the boggart started to crack into different shapes and with a loud pop it disappeared.

"That was funny," Luna said with dreamy eyes.

"Harry!" Hermione saw Harry lying unconscious on the floor and knelt beside him. "Harry, can you hear me?" she patted his cheek and he opened an eye.

"What happened?" he asked, "w-where's that dementor?"

"There was no dementor here Mr. Potter. It was only a boggart," Snape said in his dangerous voice.

"A boggart?" Harry looked at Hermione and she nodded.

The door of the room suddenly closed and they heard a click. Someone has locked it. Snape walked to the door and turned the doorknob, but it didn't move.

"Alohomora!" he said, but the door didn't open.

"What the…"

"Watch your mouth, Potter," Snape said in a dangerous voice. He tried some other unlocking charms but none of them seemed to work.

Draco Malfoy smiled victoriously after locking the door to the room. Little he knew about Snape being in the same room as Potter and the Mudblood. He only saw her and that Ravenclaw nutter enter the room and he followed them. Without listening to what was happening inside, he waved his wand and the door closed. He muttered a few complex spells that his father taught him and the door was locked. No student would be able to open that door unless they knew the countercurse. And since there was no teacher inside (as Draco thought) it would be impossible for the others to figure out how to open that door. He walked through the dark and cold corridors of the dungeons and headed to the Slytherin common room.

"What should we do now?" Hermione asked in a panicked voice.

"We wait," Harry said, looking grim. He didn't like the idea of being stuck in a small room with his least favorite teacher. This was going to be a long day.

Luna was sitting comfortably on a chair in one of the corners of the room, while Hermione was pacing like a maniac.

Harry sank in one of the corners and stared at the floor blankly. Snape was still trying to open the door. Why didn't this room have a window?? He cursed under his nose as he tried one more spell, which failed again and he got so angry that he threw his wand at the wall and it snapped in two.

"Shit!" Hermione said a little bit louder than she intended. She blushed furiously as she noticed the look on Snape and Harry. They were staring at her, being it the first time they hear her curse loudly.

"Hermione, calm down," Harry said and got up from his corner, "we'll get out of here soon."

"I know, but… did you see what he did?" she asked pointing a finger at Snape, who kept staring with a blank expression on his face. "He broke his wand! Our only hope out of here! None of us know any spell to open the door, and he can't use our wands! They'll backfire!"

"Have you finished your lecture, Miss Granger?" Snape asked in a cold, dangerous voice.

Hermione looked at the floor and sat on a free chair. There were only two chairs and a table in that room.

"What is this room used for, anyway?" Luna asked, as if the door was wide opened and she was about to go to her dormitory in about five minutes.

"It used to be a classroom for the Slytherin Advanced Potions class," Snape said.

"Only Slytherin? How come?" Hermione asked.

"Private lessons," Snape replied gently, "the desks and blackboard were moved to another classroom and then the Headmaster heard about a wizarding school in Africa that needs furnishing but didn't have enough money to buy new desks. Therefore, he sent everything he could to help those schools. There are several empty class rooms, but this one is so special."

"Why?" Harry asked.

Snape sighed, "it's none of your business, Potter!"

"If you say so," Harry muttered, but thankfully Snape didn't hear him.

"How long are we going to stay here?" Luna asked.

Harry looked at his watch; it was four in the afternoon. He sighed and looked at Luna.

"I think we're going to be stuck here until someone decides to come this way."

"Harry," Luna whispered and walked to his side, "you're scaring me. I don't want to be stuck in here."

Harry pulled her into a hug and whispered back, "don't worry. I promise we'll be out of here."

Hermione looked at them and sighed. She wished Ron was with her at this moment to comfort her. But the thick red head was rambling somewhere in the castle and thinking only about food. He wouldn't notice that his best friends aren't anywhere to be seen.

It was Snape's turn to sit in a corner of the room. He secretly eyed Harry and Luna and made sure they didn't notice him staring. He wanted to yell at them for making themselves comfortable in the presence of a teacher, but he thought against it. He could see the fear in the girl's eyes. Was she the same girl who was fighting full-trained Death Eaters not so long ago? Was she the same girl?

As he sat in that corner debating with himself about how to get out of this room, Harry and Luna sat on the floor, and Hermione joined them. They were whispering silently and Snape knew they were planning something.

He got up and started touching the walls. The three students stared at him, thinking he was already losing his mind.

"What's he doing?" whispered Luna.

"I don't know," Hermione replied, she bit her bottom lip trying to figure out what Snape was up to.

"I think he's losing it," Harry said pointing a finger at his head.

"Don't be so daft!" Hermione said, "he's thinking of something. I just can't figure out what he's up to."

"Don't just sit there and ramble like old hags!" Snape hissed at them, still touching every inch of the walls, "get up and start searching!"

"Sir," Harry got up slowly, "what are we searching for?"

"A secret passage, you dunderhead!"

"Oh," Hermione said, "right, let's do it."

They got up and started touching and feeling every inch of the walls in the room, but they couldn't find anything that would lead to a secret passage.

"I don't think there's a hidden door in here," Luna said.

"There is, and it leads straight to my office," Snape said still searching.

"Nothing on this side," Harry said.

"Nothing here, either," Hermione said and stepped to a side.

Luna finished her side of the wall and sighed. They knew she hadn't found anything either.

Finally, Snape stepped back and hung his head low. He let out a deep sigh and turned to face them.

"Even if we found it, we can't use it. It'd only respond to my wand and it's broken," he said and crossed his arms.

Hermione let out a low whimper and sat down in a corner. Luna joined her and Harry followed her. They sat next to each other, Luna holding Harry's hand tightly. She was shivering and Harry could feel it. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

"You'll feel warmer," he said, "don't worry. I'll keep you warm."

"I know," Luna smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Snape sat on the floor not so far from them and crossed his arms on his chest. He was thinking and didn't hear their whispers.

"Isn't there anyway we could send a note to anyone?" Harry asked.

"Even if there was, I don't know how to do that." Hermione was starting to shiver slightly, but she managed to hide it.

"Can we conjure a fire to warm up a bit?" Luna asked, looking at Snape.

Snape turned his head and looked at Luna.

"No," he replied dryly.

"Hermione, what about that blue flame?" Harry asked.

"She would burn the whole room," Snape replied before Hermione could open her mouth.

"It needs to be kept in a bottle or something," Hermione said, "otherwise, it would burn the whole place."

Harry's heart sank. His girlfriend was freezing and he couldn't do anything about it. Even a warming charm wasn't working now.

Three hours passed in silence. Luna and Harry were sleeping in each other's arms and Hermione was cuddled in a corner, shivering like mad. Snape, however, didn't seem to mind the cold. He got up and took off his cloak and walked over to Hermione.

"Here, put this on," he told her and she looked at him.

"Thank you, Sir, but you need it more than I do," she said.

"Don't be silly, girl. I see you're shaking like it's snowing in here. Put this on," he ordered.

Hermione took the cloak and wrapped it around her. She felt warmer now, and whispered "thank you" which Snape decided to ignore. He sat back in his spot.

Hermione could smell his scent on his cloak. He smelled like a mixture of cinnamon and spices. It must be the scent of potions he deals with every day, she thought.

She looked at him, and saw that he drew his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, and his head was resting on his knees. He was shivering slightly, and Hermione felt guilty of having his cloak around her, leaving him to freeze in the room.

She got up and walked to his side. She sat down and pulled the cloak around them both. Snape rose his head and looked at her.

"What do you think you're doing, Miss Granger?" he whispered in a dangerous manner.

"Trying to share the warmness of your cloak. You were shivering, too."

Hermione thought she saw a tiny smile appear on her teacher's face, although she wasn't sure of it.

"Thank you," he whispered and put his head back on his knees.

Hermione sighed and turned her head to look at Harry and Luna, who were sleeping peacefully.

Hours went by and the room was getting darker. The light fairies seemed to be getting tired and their lights were fading, giving the impression that night was approaching. There were only three light fairies left, which were sitting on a candelabra right above the door.

Hermione was full awake and feeling cold. Harry and Luna were asleep, and it seemed that Snape was also fast asleep. She sighed and wanted desperately to be warmed up. She was sitting a bit far from Snape, making sure their bodies wouldn't touch, which made matters worse for her. The cloak wasn't offering much warmness now.

She pulled herself close to her teacher and cuddled close to him, her body touching his. She closed her eyes and smiled, as she felt warmer now. She rested her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the warmth his body offered along with the cloak wrapped around them.

Snape felt her cuddle next to him and he turned his head to the side slowly and felt her put her head on his shoulder. She was still shaking. He put his arm around her shoulder, which made her jump.

"I don't bite," he said, "you'll feel warmer this way."

She didn't reply and allowed him to pull her closer to him. It seemed like the room was much warmer now that she was in his arms. It was good to see that Snape wasn't acting like his usual self.

Harry opened his eyes and looked around. He was shocked to see his best friend sitting so close to their most hated teacher, and that wasn't all of it. His arm was resting around her shoulder, her head was resting on his shoulder, and they were sharing a cloak wrapped around them!

He shook Luna slightly and she woke up, she looked at him with questioning eyes and he nodded at Hermione and Snape's direction. Luna turned to look at them and her eyes widened in horror.

"Bloody pixies!" she yelled, and clapped her hands to her mouth instantly. She didn't want it to sound that loud.

"Five points from Ravenclaw and you better watch your mouth next time, Miss Lovegood," Snape said. He was looking at her.

Hermione opened her eyes and lifted her head from Snape's shoulder, but didn't move away from him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Er…" Harry said, "nothing."

Luna was blushing. She has caused her house to lose five points, only because she was shocked to see Hermione cuddled in Snape's arms.

"I feel cold," Hermione said and felt Snape's arm pull her closer to him.

Harry looked at Hermione and understood that she was explaining why she was sitting there, wrapped in a cloak with Snape. He nodded at her and she smiled. Harry pulled Luna closer to him and whispered in her ear:

"Don't worry, there's nothing fishy going on."

"I realized that," she whispered back. She had understood Hermione's reasoning.

"Professor," Harry said, "isn't there anyway we could send a message to anyone?"

"I'm afraid not," Snape's voice wasn't cold anymore.

"Professor Dumbledore should know we're missing by now," Hermione said.

"I don't think so," Snape said, "I am supposed to be brewing Wolfsbane for Lupin."

"Damn!" Hermione whispered. Unfortunately, Snape raised an eyebrow. He had heard her.

"Again, Miss Granger?" he asked, "five points from Gryffindor."

"Sorry," she replied.

Harry didn't seem to be interested in losing points at this moment, he was thinking about Dumbledore.

"He never notices things," Harry said.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Dumbledore."

"Professor Dumbledore," Snape said.

"Yeah, him," Harry said, ignoring Snape's death glare. "He never notices when he should act. He's always late in acting."

"He's hundred and fifty years old! What d'you suspect?" Luna asked.

"He's supposed to be the greatest wizard alive, but he doesn't seem to be one. If he notices something's wrong, he lets it go thinking that it will be corrected in time. And he never shares his thoughts!" Harry said.

"He never lets go," Snape said, "if he knows that something's wrong, he summons the staff and discusses the matter with us. If it's something concerning the Dark Lord and his followers, he summons the Order members and discuss that issue in a meeting."

"He knew I was losing my head to Voldemort, but he didn't do anything about it. Instead, he made me practice Occlumency with you."

"That was a decision of the Order," Snape said calmly. Hermione was resting her head on his shoulder again, and he tightened his arm around her.

"He told me it was a mistake," Harry said, "he said he should've done it himself."

"He made the suggestion for you to learn Occlumency and the Order accepted it, and then he suggested me to teach you. I had no other choice than to accept."

"What about us?" Luna asked, "Ron will notice you two aren't there."

"He will think you and Harry are somewhere in the castle snogging," Hermione said, ignoring the surprised look on Snape's face. "As for me, he'd think I'm at the library and he won't bother by going there to search for me. He would head straight to bed."

"What if he actually goes to the library?" Harry said, "he might realize you're missing."

"He'd think she's in her dormitory," Luna said, "and boys can't enter the girls' dormitories…"

"So, he'll think I'm sleeping and he'll go to bed." Hermione completed what Luna was about to say.

"That's Weasley for you," Snape said, and to his surprise, his students laughed.

"Trust Ron to suspect his best friends are missing," Harry said, "that's why I like him."

"We can still hope Malfoy would open his mouth. He can't help showing himself," Hermione said.

"Too true," Snape said.

"You realized that, too?" Luna asked, "wow!"

"I'm not blind, Miss Lovegood. I know Draco Malfoy since the day he was born. Never seen more arrogant child. Selfish, stubborn and a coward."

"Blimey! Our teacher is gaining his sense back!" Harry said, and made Snape rise an eyebrow.

"Are you all right, Potter?"

"Perfectly fine, Sir," Harry smiled.

The room fell silent again. They looked at each other until Luna decided to break the silence.

"Professor, will you tell us a joke?" she asked.

"Are you feeling all right, Miss Lovegood?"

"Yes, Sir. I just wanted to make our stay here interesting," she said, "so, will you tell us a joke? Please?"

Snape shook his head and laughed, "you three are impossible!"

Luna looked at him with her dreamy eyes, waiting for her request to be fulfilled. Harry looked at her as though she was insane. Asking a teacher to tell a joke? What was she thinking of?

It seemed like Hermione was waiting for Snape to tell a joke, too. When he finished laughing, which didn't take him so long, he took a deep breath.

"No," he said.

"Excuse me?" Luna asked. She wasn't sure if she heard him correctly.

"I said, no."

"Why?"

"Don't question me, girl."

"Why?"

"It's none of your business."

"Why?"

"Stop questioning me!"

"Why?"

"All right! You win!"

Luna smiled at her success. Snape adjusted the cloak around him and Hermione and started to think of a joke to tell them.

"A muggle boy runs to his father happily and shouts: "Daddy! I've just tricked the taxi driver!" the father looks at his son and asks, "how did you do that, son?" the boy puffs his chest and says: "I opened the door of the car, asked him if he could take me to Liverpool, paid him money, but didn't ride! Instead, I ran away!"" Snape seemed to be lecturing, rather than telling a joke. He looked at the faces of the three sitting there with him. They looked deep in thought, while Hermione chuckled suddenly.

"Stupid kid," she said.

Harry started to laugh.

"What's wrong with you?" Luna asked him.

"I imagined Dudley doing that!" he said and continued to laugh.

Luna and Hermione smiled. Snape looked confused.

"Who's Dudley?" he asked.

"Harry's cousin," Hermione said, "a muggle."

"I see," Snape replied and a smile appeared on his face.

-- A few hours later --

"I'm hungry," Luna said suddenly.

"Which reminds me," Harry said, "I'm hungry, too."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "honestly, you two, can't you just conjure some food?"

Luna and Harry both shook their heads. Hermione looked disappointed and turned to look at Snape.

"Don't look at me like that," he said, "I don't have a wand and I can't conjure food even if I wanted to."

"You can't conjure food?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"I've never tried to learn Conjuring Spells," Snape replied, "I'm always busy with my potions."

"I don't know any food conjuring spells either," Hermione said in a whisper, hoping Harry wouldn't hear her, but it was too late.

"You don't know any food conjuring spells?" he asked, "YOU, Hermione Granger, the best student Hogwarts has ever had in years, can't conjure food?"

"We're not learning any Conjuring Spells until March!" Hermione snapped at Harry.

"You would read about any spell even if we're not supposed to know them!" Harry said, with anger rising in his voice.

"Stop arguing you two," Snape said, "you won't die if you don't eat at this moment."

Harry shut his mouth and glared at Hermione.

"And stop glaring at her like she was the reason we're trapped here. You perfectly know it wasn't."

Harry turned his gaze to stare at the door.

"Miss Granger, give me your wand, please," Snape said.

"What if it backfired, Sir?" Hermione asked, obvious concern in her eyes.

"As soon as I hold it, I'll know if it would backfire or not."

Hermione nodded and took her wand out of the pocket of her school robes.

As soon as Snape held the wand, it started to vibrate. He gave it back to her.

"It will," he said simply.

Hermione was putting her wand back in her pocket, but Snape interrupted.

"Maybe we could open a hole through the wall," he said.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"Point at the door and say 'Foramen'"

Hermione pointed her wand at the door and said: "Foramen!"

Golden sparks erupted from her wand and hit the door, but nothing happened.

"I don't think it would work," Harry said.

"Diffindo!" Hermione said, but the door remained still.

"Is this room protected against every kind of spells?" Luna asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Snape replied, "I've put charms on each room in the dungeons to prevent dark magic."

"But this wasn't dark magic!" Hermione said, "we're just trying to get out!"

"Only my wand and Dumbledore's can perform successful magic around here."

"So students wouldn't be able to hex each other," Hermione said as a matter-of-fact.

"Precisely," Snape said, "ever since I stepped a foot back to Hogwarts as a teacher, I started protecting the area where I was going to stay."

"Because you thought Voldemort might send someone after you," Harry said.

Snape nodded, "when I came here, I was afraid of everything and everyone surrounding me. I thought the Dark Lord would know I betrayed him and turned my back on him and he would send some one for revenge. I was mistaken. He never knew I was a spy, not even now. Only the members of the Order know about me being a spy for Dumbledore."

"What is it like?" Hermione asked.

"Being a spy? It's a hard thing to do. I must keep my mind shut from the Dark Lord as much as I can. He's the best known Legilimens, and he knows when he's being lied to."

"I meant, being a Death Eater," Hermione said.

"Well, have you ever been around a crowd who always try to show they're best in everything they do and they'd do anything to please their leader and make the others feel out of place? When your master isn't happy with your work, you get punished. He insults you in front of the others and instead of blushing you feel pain. His favorite punishment is using the Unforgivable Curses. Each meeting is like a contest where every one tries to look as he has done his share of the tasks successfully. One mistake and you're cursed."

"That must be awful," Hermione said.

"It's worse than awful," Snape said in a low voice. Hermione could feel his body shaking as he held to her tightly. She didn't try to move. Somehow, she felt sorry for Snape. He must've been cursed once or twice, and maybe she just made him remember.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him.

"It's not your fault," he replied, "I did a lethal mistake by joining him in the first place. At the age of seventeen I didn't think of anything but vengeance. There were four people whom I wanted to hurt desperately, that I never thought about the consequences of my actions."

"The Marauders," Harry said in a low voice.

"Yes," Snape said, "I've had enough of them following me all the time and hexing me just for the sake of it. I wasn't as fast as they were in casting spells and I always ended up…"

"No need to tell me," Harry said and looked into his teacher's eyes.

He remembered the day he had intruded Snape's memories during one of his Occlumency lessons, which turned out to be the last, and he saw his father curse Snape only because Sirius said he was bored.

"The first person I went to was Lucius Malfoy," Snape continued, "I told him I wanted to do something to the Gryffindors and he offered me to join his master. He told me about him and said that he is collecting talented pureblooded wizards in order to clear the wizarding world from muggle-borns and half-bloods."

"Even if he's a half-blood himself," Harry said.

"That's something we never understood about him," Snape said, "Death Eaters don't know he's a half-blood because he shows the same amount of hatred at muggle-borns and half-blood, and he is doing a good job in hiding his true blood type. I know about it because Dumbledore told me so. The Dark Lord's hatred to half-bloods comes from his hatred toward his own father, who was a muggle. He had dumped his wife at the same moment he knew she was a witch. The Dark Lord never forgave his father for that and his mother had died right after he was born."

"He was brought up with hatred in his mind and heart," Luna said.

"His mission seemed reasonable to me, and I joined him immediately. At the beginning we were just frightening non-purebloods, but after a year or so, he started commanding us to kill."

"You…"

"No, Miss Granger. I haven't killed anyone," Snape said, "I kept a close look at the scenes the others were making and I stayed away all the time.

"I kept reminding myself that I was here only because I wanted to make the Marauders pay for what they did to me, but it all went wrong when the Dark Lord started marking his followers. He wanted to be in contact with every Death Eater at the same time, so the mark was the best choice."

"But you never got the chance on cursing any of the Marauders," Hermione said.

"After we graduated, everyone went on his way. Black stayed at the Potters' while Lupin and Pettigrew went to their houses. We met only once during a meeting of the Order, when I was introduced to them."

"What happened after that?" Luna asked.

Snape looked at Harry, who looked grim.

"My parents died," Harry said and Snape nodded.

At that moment, they heard the doorknob click and it opened. Everyone looked at it and we more than happy to see Dumbledore entering the room.

Snape took the cloak off him and wrapped it around Hermione as he got up.

"Headmaster," Snape bowed slightly, "thank you for finding us."

"No need to thank me Severus," Dumbledore said with a smile.

Harry, Luna and Hermione stood up and walked to Snape's side.

"Sir, how did you find us?" Harry asked.

"Mr. Malfoy tipped your friend off while trying to make him get worried. Lucky for you, Mr. Weasley came straight to my office and told me you were missing." Dumbledore looked at Snape, "I didn't expect to see you here Severus. How come you didn't use your wand to get out?"

"It's broken," Snape said and told the headmaster how he ended up in the room.

Dumbledore nodded and looked at the four with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You better go and see Madam Pomfrey. It must've been cold in here."

"Not exactly," Hermione said and blushed at once.

Dumbledore gave her a knowing smile. He saw her cuddling next to Snape at the moment he entered the room.

"Well, we better be off. I'll lock this room, so no one would get stuck here anymore."

Dumbledore left the room and the others followed him. He cast a spell and the door shut and disappeared from view.

"I want you all to go to the Hospital Wing at once. You need some warming, and I'll ask the house-elves to bring you some food. I'd recommend you to stay at the infirmary for the night."

"If you think it's a necessity, professor," Snape said.

"Yes, Severus. I do think so. You've been here for hours and your bodies need all the rest they could get," Dumbledore said with a smile, "see you in the morning."

He left them in the cold corridor and headed back to his office.

"Let's go," Snape said and they all went to the Hospital Wing as they were told.

THE FIN!

A/N: How did that go? See that little shiny button over there? Click on it and send me a review!!