Chapter 1 – Phoenix Tears

The sight before her and Harry when they entered the Shrieking Shack had her double over and she retched – there was blood pouring from several puncture wounds on Snape's neck, he was slumped against a wall in the decrepit dwelling, his ever-greasy hair matted against the sticky drying blood which had splattered against his face. How had this man, this stoic, formidable, enviably intelligent man, fallen so far; how had he come to this?

Months on the run had left her with literally nothing to actually leave her stomach, and so the dry heaves slowly abated and her complexion faded from the crimson of forced retching to the sickly off-green of suppressed nausea. Unsure she could face the scene before her again, she struggled to turn back to it but knowing she had to keep Harry safe as long as possible, she returned to it anyway lifting her head.

"Take it, take it" came a gurgling rasp from Snape and many wisps of a silver-blue substance trickled from the dying Death Eater's eyes; Hermione knew, she just knew, without any speculation, consideration or suspicion that this was his side of the story; the memories, the reasoning behind everything he'd done. She knew that in this moment, his last moment, Snape wanted to make amends.

Harry was staring at the greasy haired, dying wizard he had hated for seven years and Hermione recognised the expression on her best friends face; he had no idea what to do.

She didn't even have to think about what to do. This is why she was a part of Harry's life, this was why she was the rational, logical, calm-under-pressure third of the Golden Trio; the fates made her the one who made things possible, the one who paved the way for destinies, the one who knew what to do. She made her decision easily; conjuring a flask from thin air, she thrust it between the two wizards. Harry took it quickly but still seemed unsure of himself as he slowly collected the cascading memories.

"Go Harry! Go to the pensieve. We're running out of time. I'll deal with Snape." She said in a tentative demand when Harry was still hesitating. Hermione had no desire to send him back to the front lines of a magical battle but he had to go; they both knew it, and she had to tend to the dour Potions Master dying in front of her eyes.

Harry scrambled to his feet, and threw his arms around Hermione; "be safe" he muttered, before adding, barely above a whisper, "I love you 'Mione. You're my best friend and my sister and I love you. I can kill him because of you. Be careful!" The next thing she knew her best friend (and brother) had threw the invisibility cloak back over himself and bolted back into the tunnel they had entered through.

Hermione regained her bearings quickly, though tears prickled at her eyes from Harry's declaration; I can't think about Harry right now, she didn't have time; he'll do what he has to do, as would she – which right now, was concentrating on Snape and his imminent death. She turned to face her ex-professor…

"Immobulus," she said, with more anxiety than she had ever felt in her life. Snape was suddenly rendered still; his body didn't freeze, his muscles didn't seize as they would have, had she cast petrificus totalus, he merely stopped being able to move. It didn't have quite the effect she was after. The hope was it would stop the blood flow, stop Nagini's venom from spreading. Bugger! Her mind backtracked half a step to the spell she contrasted her last one with and again, she knew what she had to do; she pointed her wand at the dying Death Eater once more and…

"Petrificus Totalus" she cried, throwing every ounce of her magic that she could muster into her wand. The spell erupted forcefully from the pointed end of vine wood and headed directly for Snape's wound.

She watched with wide eyes as her magic hit its target and this time, the Professor did seize up, every inch of him was rigidly still, frozen in front of her; no blood flowed from the fang marks that peppered his neck and she had to hope she had caught the venom in time. A little pride touched her heart; she had been able to cast the spell since first year; she remembered casting it on Neville, but to use it to save a life felt very satisfyingly Gryffindor and she had to fight the urge to smile at her achievement. She pushed the thought aside, 'you haven't saved him yet', she told herself.

Unsure of how long the spell would last - she trusted her magic but she was sleep deprived from months on the run and a little magically depleted from her participation in the battle that still raged a mile or so away at the castle – she cast a stasis charm over the 'petrificus' to hold it in place and removed her purple beaded bag from her shoulder to rummage inside. It only took about fifteen seconds until she remembered she was a witch; no wonder this man calls you a dunderhead, and…

"Accio phoenix tears" a slim potion bottle soared from the bag and into her free hand; it contained an opalescent substance, pearly and shimmering. "Accio cotton wool" she added and grabbed her container of cotton balls.

Hermione uncorked the phial and poured the glistening liquid onto a cotton ball with only slightly trembling hands, before dabbing at Snape's punctured neck. The effect was almost immediate; it would have been instantaneous if not for her spells holding the gaping skin apart. As it was, the magical healing of phoenix tears had to work against her magic to do its job. Realising this, Hermione whispered "finite incantatum" to cancel her spells.

They both knew his health was restored but he remained silent. Hermione was grateful. She didn't know how to explain herself, wasn't sure she even could explain herself. As far as anyone else knew at this point, Snape had killed Dumbledore in cold blood and re-committed himself fully to the Death Eater forces; only Hermione knew the story that had led to those events and she wasn't ready to share how she knew it. She turned to face him, knowing he was probably moments from regaining his formidable countenance; she had to get back to Harry first.

"I have to get back, Harry needs me," she announced, reminding a bewildered Snape of a younger McGonagall. Her wand returned to pointing into her bag and she wordlessly summoned three more items before handing them to him.

"What is this?" he asked slowly, cautiously.

Lack of trust, she thought. Understandable. Although I did just save his life. She knew she had to tell him something about what she'd just done; it wouldn't make sense to him otherwise. She took a deep breath.

"Blood replenishing potion; it's my own recipe, focuses on speeding up the naturally occurring division of blood cells – the effects last about an hour. The bottle is just water; it'll help the potion work and you need to rehydrate – I actually collected it from a lake in the South of England; it's said to be the home of the Lady of the Lake; Merlin's magic is believed to still be present there, and the water has been proven to have healing properties. As for the plastic container, there is a ham salad sandwich and some fruit. You need to get your strength back Professor and I really don't have time to stay and play nurse maid. Not that you'd let me."

Snape nodded in what she assumed was acquiescence, or at least acceptance. She knew he wanted more information and decided she'd give him a little more before returning to battle:

"I know you have questions, Professor and I'll answer them all after that bastard is dead. And don't panic, you won't be off to Azkaban for Dumbledore's death either. If I get my way, you'll be honoured with a First Class, Order of Merlin. Please, stay here for now; I know you probably don't want to but it's safer for you if you stay dead, at least to him. I'll come and find you when this is all over."

She headed for the door but turned back from the threshold and pointed her wand at a broken rocking chair; it morphed into a single bed with soft, sumptuous pillows and a thick duvet.

"Your wand is on the rug. Disillusion yourself and get some rest. I think it's about time you had a moment to relax. I'll ward the shack. No one will come looking."

She took a deep breath, drawing her courage to say her next words. "In case I don't see you again; I know you're likely to vanish. I want… I want to say… thank you, for all you've done. Thank you for risking your life, thank you for doing so every day, thank you for protecting Harry even though you had so many reasons not to want to. There are so many things I want to thank you for, that I need to thank you for and hope that we will meet again and you give me the chance. I find myself wanting to hug you, Professor. Should I think better of it, sir?"

Snape stared at the young witch before him, trying to mask his shock. She was barely eighteen years old, forced to mature beyond her years, forced to fight in a war that should not have been hers to fight, compelled by her compassion and courage to save his blackened soul and she was thanking him. The least he could do was submit to her wish for a hug; she'd saved his life; reputation be damned; he was almost a dead man five minutes ago, what did he need a reputation for now.

"Very well, Miss Granger. But make it quick, the battle is not yet won; you have work to do." he said in his usual drawl, he still couldn't allow her too much satisfaction in her achievements; he'd never hear the end of it.

Hermione was not nearly as successful as Snape at hiding her shock at his agreement. She moved toward him slowly and he stood as she approached. Oh Merlin, I'm going to hug Professor Snape. Her stomach curled into knots that grew increasingly tighter as she reached him… Come on Hermione, it's only a hug and he said it's ok. You're a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake, you can do this. If you can survive a Bellatrix LeStrange torture session, you can hug the man whose life you just saved. She was very good at internal pep-talks and thankfully, this one worked.

She threw her arms around his waist - she'd have gone for the neck but worried herself that it might still be a bit delicate – and squeezed, burying into his chest. "Thank you, Professor, thank you for everything. It's time to let go of the past now, you are a good man. Everything you have done has been with good reason and so I want you to know, I want you to always know, that you are forgiven. I may not be able to convince everyone to feel the same way but, by Merlin, I'm going to try."

Hermione poured her whole heart into that hug; she filled it with reverence, respect, and apologies; she made it an embrace of acceptance and gratitude and forgiveness; feeling for the first time since she uncovered the secrets he kept hidden so deeply, that he was more than the labels she had always put on him – Professor, Death Eater, Order Member, cruel, greasy haired git – he was a man; a man like no other, a man who walked an impossible path and shouldered a burden so great, it was a miracle he hadn't crumbled beneath the weight of it. She held onto him for as long as she could, fearing that if she let go, he would flee and didn't know if she could bear that. In that still and silent moment, she let the rest of the world, the war, her friends, every other thing that plagued her mind; she let it all go and held onto the man in her arms. The man she loved.

Snape really didn't know what to do with her declaration, her forgiveness or the barrage of feelings rolling off of this little witch, there was an emotional tsunami hitting him as she held onto him and she was squeezing his middle so tight his ribs ached. He realised, though his magic might not be quite back up to scratch yet, he had beyond mastered Legillemency; it had surpassed mastery in the last decade, had become more of a sixth sense; and what it sensed from Hermione Granger was… love. He felt a tear leave one eye and raised a hand to wipe it away, placing the other, tentatively, on her shoulder and leaning down to kiss her hair. "I appreciate that, Miss Granger."

She released him then and took three steps back to look him over. "How do you feel, Professor? Did the phoenix tears heal you completely? Are you ok?"

"I will survive. Thanks to you. Now, run a long and be the wisdom behind our dunderheaded saviour," his lips quirked up as if to make his infamous sneering smirk but it didn't quite reach the full effect.

She smiled; a full, brilliant smile that seemed to warm his whole body. "Yes, sir."

With that she left the Shrieking Shack and headed back to Hogwarts.

A/N:

I have definite plans for certain aspects of this little tale, the main one being that our heroes end up working together; what I cannot seem to decide on is where? So, I am going to do as Rita Skeeter would do and ask you… my rabid readers

Hermione gets Snape his job back at Hogwarts and she also joins the staff

Unable to find work due to his past and the wizarding world unwilling to forgive, Snape starts his own potions store in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade; offers Hermione a weekend job when she returns to Hogwarts for her NEWTS .

Please make your suggestions in the reviews/comments section below or on my new facebook group for fans of this story: groups/681753442260963/.