Hermione Granger was relieved that the war was over. She had had enough fighting to last her for a life time. Hermione finally took a deep breath, the moment that she could hear properly again. She had her hearing damaged during the Final Battle when a wall had taken Fred's life. It had been so tragic, she woke up a minute to late to save the boy. Hermione had always loved the twins and couldn't imagine what George was going to do. She had been so focused on moving the bodies to the Great Hall, bringing closure to so many. Bringing the bodies of their loved ones back so they could go home. When she had stopped moving, it had been on a moving staircase, so even though she was at a standstill, she was still moving. All around here, she could see chaos. It had been a bloody battle and so many had been lost. She had been so happy in this castle, so sad, so empowered, so crumpled, so beautiful and it was never going to be the same again. She had been so happy the moment the battle ended but now, all of that happiness had leached away. She had come to know in her heart that she could never be part of wizarding England. It was too backward and Victorian for someone like her. Someone destined to change things. There had been so many lost in the battle that she couldn't begin to wonder how the population would recover. Hermione found she didn't really care either, because it wasn't gong to be her problem anymore.
Hermione knew that she was going to be needed in a thousand places. They were all going to want a piece of her that she wasn't willing to give them. She had already given enough. They had already taken all that she had to give. Hermione had already put her life on hold. She had given up whatever life she could've lived to save this one. One that didn't even seem to care for her sacrifice. She had went into the Great Hall and had been stunned by the amount of dead and wounded. When she had began to bring in the wounded and dead, she noticed that Tonks and Remus were laying there, next to each other. Hermione felt her heart break. Tonks was the one girl in the entire wizarding world that had ever given her a chance. She valued their friendship as much as the one to Harry and Ron's. Now she was gone. Never to make Hermione smile again with a silly face. Hermione felt her heart break just a little more. George was crying over the body of his twin. His literal other half. He would never ever be the same, Hermione would have suggested he see a muggle mind healer, but she knew that her idea would be shot down. Molly would storm in and be like my son just needs his family. Half of the population of England and Scotland seemed to be in that one room, crying and standing looking at the dead and wounded. Hermione took a deep breath because she knew that even those these people saw all the destruction and devastation, that this would happen again. The walls were too high and to Hermione, the price too expensive. Hermione took a survey of the all of the dead. So many of her friends and so many strangers. The volume of people here spoke of how broken their society really was. People she considered her family lay there, never again to laugh or smile. Hermione had had enough death. She took a deep breath and with every fiber of her being, she spun in a circle and left the haunted castle.
She didn't make it very fair. She landed in Hogsmeade. She hadn't stopped to wonder if Professor McGonagall had put up the anti- apperation barriers, she had just reacted. She was out of there and turned her head toward the castle. Only to see the smoke still burning in places and the total destruction of the one place that she had felt safe since the War began. When she stumbled into the Hogshead, Aberforth shook his head and nodded to the girl. She came over as beckoned and Aberforth led her to a small room behind the bar and mumbled to her, to get some sleep. Hermione couldn't help but feel drawn to the bed, she laid down and immediately went to sleep. The thoughts of day ran through her mind as her brain shut down. She had expected to make it a little farther than Hogsmeade to be told. Hermione fell into a deep sleep for about six hours, when suddenly she was sitting up in the bed and pulling her throat. She had screamed herself horse, good thing Hermione remembered to put up the silencing charms Harry had taught her. As she settled down after downing a calming drought from her bag, she took a deep breath and rose from the bed. In the bar area, Aberforth stood at the bar, looking at her. She looked back with a blank look, not wanting to speak of her dreams or the sounds she had made. Aberforth seemed to have restraint where his brother had none. He didn't ask, he just pretended everything was alright. Hermione took a deep breath and waved her wand about her person. She took a second as she felt the changes taking effect, she looked to the man behind the bar. He nodded his head and said "That will do for now Miss Granger. Eat something before you faint. Then you will go on your way and I will not tell anyone I have seen you."
"Thank you Aberforth. I can never repay your kindness enough. It is beyond anything I can currently express." Hermione left the Hogshead with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked like she could be related to Luna. Hermione couldn't see herself in England, not anywhere. The fans would come. The ones that came seeking the fame. They would want to tell her how great she was. How brave she was. How much they thought she had done for them. All Hermione could see or hear was the sounds of her friends and family dying around her while she fought for her life. The thoughts were screaming so loudly in her head to save them. To protect them and she had failed.
Once Hermione had left the Hogshead, she kept walking until she was close to the outside of town. She reached the stop for the Knight Bus, it hadn't been running since Ernie had been taken, but someone had to deliver all the people to their parties about the war victory. Hermione eyes blinked and the bus practically appeared in front of her. It skidded to a stop and the man at the bus stop inhaled loudly though his mouth. He kept holding his neck, as though it had been hurt. Hermione didn't know this person, but she offered to heal the wound before they got on the bus.
Hermione rose her wand and the man quickly grabbed her wrist and shoved it down. "No, Thank you" he croaked out. Hermione took this as a warning and moved away from the man once they had boarded the bus. Hermione took a moment to look at the man more, when she had a funny thought that it could've been Professor Snape's brother. Hermione's train of thought was lost when the bus started moving, throwing her onto her bed. She took a moment to sit down and began to doze off when she felt a tiny prickle inside her head. She knew someone was looking though her head, but she wasn't making eye contact with anyone. Hermione stayed extra alert as she jolted him out of her brain. It was the man that she had offered to heal, he had held his hand to his nose when it began to bleed from all the force Hermione had used. Hermione got up from her bed and went over to the man and slapped him hard across the face, making his nose bleed even more profusely. Hermione felt him in her head again and gasped in surprise when she heard a voice that she thought she'd never hear again. "Miss Granger, I insist that you deist before your antics get us both thrown off the bus." With that he slipped out of her mind and into unconsciousness.
Hermione for once in her life was at a loss as what to do next. She respected this man and couldn't leave him while he was so vulnerable. She knew that she would have to bring him with her, but how? Instead, she decided it would be more prudent to sit next to him instead. She took a look at the bed and sat down at the end, she accicod her bag and settled in. She had watched his memories with Harry, not that she would ever tell him that. He probably had seen them when he was in her head anyway. She was just lucky that her bag had become the carry all for each of them, inside the beaded bag, she had his memories. The ones that he had given to Harry when he had almost died. When he woke up, she was going to give them back to him. Severus Snape woke up disoriented, he had been in Hogsmeade and now he was in London. He had been waiting for the Knight Bus, but he didn't remember anything after that. He opened his eyes all the way and noticed the girl at the end, trying her hardest not to surprise him with her presence. The girl was still blonde and did not look like her normal self, but he could still see Miss Granger there. He sighed out loud. His escape couldn't have been better. He had taken the potions and swallowed the stone when he was summoned to the Dark Lord. He had let everyone think that he was dead, even Miss Granger. She had left his body in the Shrieking Shack, saying she'd be back for him. He had waited until the battle had been called and then slipped into Hogsmeade as soon as he was able, before the Aurors came. Miss Granger was always making such a mess of the plans he made.
Hermione took a deep breath and put up her shield. She could see when he could no longer get in. He raised his eyes to her face and sneered. She silently handed him the vial that contained his memories. He snatched the vial from her hand and sounding as dangerous as he could with the wound to his neck said "Did you watch these Miss Granger?"
"I am sorry Professor, but I must confess I did. I joined Harry each time he looked at them, so that I could see everything in case he missed something. It was a very critical moment in the battle. I am so sorry that I have intruded but I thought that since they were in my possession and you weren't dead, that you'd like them back. Was I incorrect Sir? I know that I would have given anything to give my parents back their memories before they passed away." Hermione sniffed and took a breath to raise up from his bed when suddenly his hand shot out and grasped her sleeve.
Hermione looked at him with her big doe eyes and he said "Do I even want to know why your parents didn't have their memories when they passed?"
Hermione stood and took a sobering breath. "Sir, before I went on the run with Harry and Ron, I took all their memories of me and sent them away. I gave them a compulsion to pack up their practice and leave. I only knew their names and when I was on the run, I went into a internet cafe and looked them up. I wish I hadn't. hen they arrived in Australia, they were involved in a automobile crash. My father survived barely but my mother didn't. He then took his own life two months after she died. I couldn't even go to either of their funerals. My father would have thought I was a stranger. I am going to offer again to help you heal your wounds before I move back to my place on the bus. I, again, am sorry that I intruded Sir." Hermione looked to his face to see him staring at her in a concentrated way.
Finally he spoke, just as she was moving away. " I am truly sorry for your loss Miss Granger. I am leaving England tonight. I do not want anyone to find me, I will not stand trail. I do not plan on returning. I would greatly appreciate if this visit was not mentioned to anyone ever. I would prefer the world to think I am dead."
Hermione stuttered " But Sir, you are a hero. Surely you want people to know that? To know how brave you are and how very cunning?
"Not everyone will forgive me my sins, Miss Granger. Not as you seemed to. I have done bad things in the name of good. I have no doubt that your friends, especially Potter and the other teachers, will speak of my deeds. Not all of them good. I was Headmaster last year, they tortured children as punishment and I couldn't do anything. People are a bit like sheep, they will not have their minds changes, especially about subject such as myself. I am leaving and making it easy on everyone, including myself."
"Miss Granger, I thought you were going back to your seat." Hermione stomped her foot and said "But Sir" before she could continue she realized that she had been made silent. She looked up at her teacher, smirking at her as she stood there, fuming. Suddenly, she felt his presence in her head again. "We will not be having this conversation here, among others. So sit back down on the bed and we will continue. I would also like you to give me any blood replenishing potions that you have and any anti venom." Miss Granger stuck her entire arm into her beaded bag and came back with various potions. She handed them over and sat down. As she brought her hand back, she heard him in her head. ""I will not go over this again. I am leaving. There is nothing you can say to make me not go. I am going to offer you the chance to come with me, I will decide how long you can stay. It will depend on how crazy you drive me with your insistent chatter. I know I will regret this, but its easier and then you aren't wandering the world by yourself."
Once they had arrived in London, he arranged transport to his house in Spinners End. He made sure that Hermione understood the deal that he had offered her. He had already sold the house, all he needed to do was pick up his things. He had already packed everything, it was waiting, just like his new life. The new family wasn't set to move in until the next month, he had taken the War into account. He had sold them the house for cheap anyway. It wasn't that great of a house and all he wanted to do to it was throw it way and move forward.
He would buy another house, he had the money now and he had the money that was still in trust from his Mother and Grandmother. The Dark Lord had never even known it existed. He walked into the sitting room and looked around, it looked so empty without all his books to fill the shelves. They were all sagging horrible without the books on them anymore. Everything was already in the parcels that he would be using to move everything. He had spent small amounts of time doing this over the last six months. When he wasn't at Hogwarts or the Dark Lord, this is what he had been doing. He had collected the parcels into packs, which contained six parcels. They were charmed to follow each other. Each lot had a special spell on them, that way the potions ingredients were protected as well as the rest of his things. Hermione and Severus spent a good amount of time, putting the packs together throughout the entire house. Once he arrived at his new location, now all he had to do was make sure that he was out of the way when they came down. He told " Miss Granger, that they would sleep when they arrived."
He went over to the shelf and grabbed the portkey that he had made. He took a moment to scrutinize Miss Granger. Why was he offering to bring her along. He shook his head as he noticed that the girl was looking though the house, trying to imagine it like it had been in his memories. The ones with his mother and father in them. Before she could ask any embarrassing questions, he said "Miss Granger, is there anything you would like to retrieve before we leave this country?"