A/N: If you are a big fan of Ron, you won't like this story. It was not my intention to have him come of like a total wanker, seeing as he was my favorite through out the book, but my muse had a totally different plan than I. Consider yourself warns.
Disclaimer: All characters that are from the Harry Potter series, along with locations & other things recognizable to Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1

"No."

"No? What… Bloody hell, why not?"

Hermione looked at him and hoped that pity didn't fill her eyes. "I'm sorry Ron, but I can't marry you. Yes, we kissed but we aren't meant to be more than friends." She looked at Ginny's left hand. "Besides, you don't really want to marry me. You just feel that since Harry and Ginny are, that you should too." With that she walked out of the Burrow, quietly apologizing to Molly and Arthur Weasley as she went through the kitchen door.

"Hermione, wait," Ginny called out, as she got closer she gently grabbed her arm. "Are you sure about your decision?" She was one of only a few who knew why she really said no to marrying Ron. She was in love with another man. But he was dead.

"Yes, I am." She hugged Ginny and whispered. "I'll talk to Bill and Fleur but remember you can't tell anyone, not until I talk to Minerva and make sure that everything is set in place." Hermione gave her one last squeeze before walking outside of the gate to apparate.

A few seconds later she was standing on the hill that over looked the beach and the little cottage that she had been staying in. She walked down the path toward the house but instead of heading inside, she continued down the path toward the water. She thought back to the night that had changed her life.

Voldemort brought his army to Hogwarts in the hopes to kill Harry. It was also the night he would kill her lover.

"Ginny where you able to get what I needed?" She asked in a hurried whispered. She only had a few minutes before Harry and Ron would leave with out her to go to the shrieking shack.

"Yes, here it is." Ginny handed her the time turner. "I was able to grab it out of Professor McGonagall's office. You better hurry; Ron and Harry are leaving. Remember, once you get him to the cottage you need to hurry back." Ginny gave her a hug before running off to join her friends to fight.

God I hope this works. She thought as she quickly tucked the necklace under her shirt so that the boys wouldn't see it. "Let's hurry, the quicker we get there the quicker this ends."

They waited under the old shack floorboards as Voldemort confronted Severus Snape about the Elder wand. She did her best to ignore the hatred and the vile words that were being thrown at Severus. She needed to keep her mind clear to be able to act like nothing was wrong. She was almost positive that Voldemort would hurt Severus, but she couldn't show her concern for him. Not around Harry and Ron.

Soon the three were rushing through the trap door to Severus's side. Hermione tried to keep her tears hidden, knowing that neither boy would understand why she was crying. Not before long Harry was getting the memories that were leaking through Severus's eyes. She couldn't watch as she saw the sorrow in his eyes. She quickly said a spell to slow down the flow of blood and put him in a coma like state, and then followed the boys.

Once the boys were half way down the hidden path, she made an excuse to Ron about having dropped a vial of memories in the shack and headed back, promising to be back in time to help him with the next horcrux. She needed to get there soon or it would be too late.

As she raced through the doorway she had her wand out and at Severus's neck, doing all that she could to stop the bleeding and remove the snakes poison. Once she had it under control enough to apparate, she held onto his arm and thought of Bill and Fleur's beach cottage. Soon she was walking out of the master bedroom, tears running down her cheeks. She didn't want to leave behind the man she loved, but knew that she had to. Fleur would take care of him with the help of her sister, for her. He would be dead to the rest of the wizarding world until select members of the Order thought it was time for him to come out of hiding. With that last thought she turned the time turner to the correct time and then apparated into the shack. She waited until she and Severus disapparated and headed back up the path to catch up to the boys.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Severus came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he saw her shoulders shake as she cried. "What's wrong?" He asked as he turned her around in his arms.

"Nothing," She didn't want to tell him, but knew that he would be even more upset and hurt if he heard about it from someone else. "Ron asked me to marry him today."

"I thought you told him and Potter about us. Why would he do that?" Severus was starting to see red at the thought of Ron trying to take what was his. No man, as far as he was concerned, would ever have his witch. Not unless he was dead, and by god, she made damn sure he didn't die.

"Minerva wouldn't let me tell them. Ginny, Bill, & Fleur are the only ones that were allowed to know. Even the members that work within the Ministry aren't being told." She laid her head against his chest, just above his heart. "Severus, I want to be with you. Publicly. I want my friends and family to know that we love each other." She pulled back a little to look him in the eyes. She had an idea but wasn't sure he would be a hundred percent okay with it. "Let's go inside. I'll get started on dinner. Besides, you shouldn't be outside in the cold."

As he sat at the little table for dinner, Hermione finished up the last few things like putting dinner into bowls to put on the table while keeping an eye on the stove. Severus watched her thoughtfully as she moved and stood at the stove, stirring the sauce with one hand, the other on the counter, allowing her to lean to the left. He enjoyed watching her and he didn't much care if she caught him. "Smells good. Need any help?"

"No, I've got it. You just go back to sitting at the table and watching me like you always do," She chuckled as she turned around and poured the sauce over the wheat noodles and the mushrooms that sat in a large serving bowl sitting on the island. Picking up the bowl and plate of bread she brought them to the table. As she went to grab the bottle of wine, it started to float from the island to the table. "Trying to impress me or show off, Professor?" She said mockingly.

With a slight tug at the corners of his mouth, Severus replied, "Do you object to any of that, Miss Granger?" He had set two wine glasses down on the table when she had started on dinner, so he went ahead and poured the wine. "Come sit down next to me, Hermione. You've been gone too long this time." He held her hand as she sat down next to him on the bench by the window.

Hermione looked at him as she debated on whether or not to ask him about coming out of hiding. It had been about six months since Severus "died" and Harry took down the Dark Lord. She was ready to come out as Severus's girlfriend and possibly future wife, but he didn't seem like he wanted to give up the privacy he had gained. She knew though, that she needed to start getting ready for the new term at Hogwarts. She was to be the new Professor for Ancient Runes. But if she went to work there then it would be even harder for her to see him. Minerva did tell her that Severus could have the Defense Against the Dark Arts position or Potions. Which ever he wanted. If only I could find a way for him to agree to reveal himself to the world, she thought as she looked out the window.

"Must you think so much?" Severus asked as he pulled her to him. They barely touched their food. Severus was starting to grow restless and wanted to come out in the open, especially since he had a big question to ask of her. Even though Mister Weasley seems to think that he had the right to ask my witch, he thought as he watched her.

"A little of this and a little of that," She looked at him and new that she needed to ask him now or she never would. "I'm the new Professor for Ancient Runes. Which means I won't be able to come out here until breaks in the school year." She saw something flicker in his eyes, but she couldn't place what it was.

"That's great" He saw shock in her eyes and quickly clarified, "I mean the job, not that you will be away from me for so long." He turned to her a little more and grabbed her hands in his. "I want you to be happy. So I need you to do something for me. I want you to have Minerva come here tomorrow."

Hermione looked at him, trying not to get her hopes up. "Well, she's coming here tonight. I told her I would take the job on one of two conditions. So she's coming over to find out which condition it's going to be." She saw that he wasn't going to eat anymore, and the butterflies in her stomach made her appetite disappear, so she picked up the plates to take them to the sink. Severus followed suit and started putting the leftovers in containers to put in the icebox.

He waited for her to elaborate on what those conditions were, but none seemed to be coming. "Well, are you going to share these conditions with me, Miss Granger?" He said as he stood by her at the sink as she hand washed the dishes.

She let out a big sigh. "Well, the first condition is, if I take the job you are to be allowed to stay with me in my chambers." She turned to wipe her hands off on the towel by the sink, before telling him the other condition.

"That's not bad, but that means I'll be locked in our bedroom for the entire school year. As much fun as I have being locked in a room with you, Hermione, I think I may lose my mind for not just sheer boredom, but lack of any other contact with people." He followed her into the sitting room. There they sat on the love seat, as he sat down he pulled her feet onto his lap and started massaging them. "What's the other condition?"

His lack of enthusiasm for the first condition gave her hope for the second one. "Mmm, that feels good." The feel of his fingers on her feet was distracting her, especially when he rubbed his thumb a little hard at the arch of her foot. "Hey, why did you stop?"

"What's the other condition, Hermione?"

"Oh yeah." With a little chuckle she said, "I'll tell you when you start massaging my feet again, Severus." She let out a little moan of joy when he started where he left off. "The other option is that you come back to Hogwarts and teach again."

His hands stilled for a second. As he looked up at her, he started up again on her other foot. "And what would I teach?"

She didn't expect that. Hermione thought that he would tell her that, that was not an option, that he would never return to Hogwarts or wish to come out of hiding. That he didn't want the wizarding world to know that he in fact had not died that night at Voldemort's hands.

"That's why Minerva is coming tonight. From my understanding you can either pick Defense Against the Dark Arts or Potions. Slughorn returned to retirement about a month after the end of the war."

Severus let her feet go and got up to grab their wine glasses and the bottle from the table. "When will she be here?" he asked as he returned to the couch. After setting down the glasses and the bottle, he motioned for her to move closer to him.

"She should be here no later then nine tonight." She said as she laid her head on the pillow he had placed on his lap. She started to doze as she felt him running his fingers through her hair. She had missed this. Sitting in the quiet, the ocean the only sound, as he read a book or just got lost in his thoughts. She had been gone for two weeks this time. She and Ginny had been shopping for a wedding dress and a brides-maids dress, as well as finding the right invitations to send out. Ginny tried to help her get away sooner but Molly would have none of it. Insisting that Hermione stay with them. That she shouldn't have to go to an empty house every night. Then there was Harry and Ron. Those two had questioned her nonstop when she had tried to tell Molly that she didn't mind going home. Coming up with one excuse or another about housework that needed to be done. Really, she just wanted to see Severus and hold him while she slept, instead of a pillow.

"Hermione, did you hear me?" Severus asked.

"Hmm? No sorry, I was off in my own thoughts. I feel kind of bad about how I told Ron no, today," She said.

"Why? Did you want to say yes?" Severus tried to keep the hurt and jealousy out of his voice, but wasn't sure he had.

"No." Hermione sat up and looked him in the eyes. "I want you. I'm happy with you. I just feel bad because I called him out for the real reason he had asked me. Severus, I love you. I don't want anyone else." As she went to layback down she froze. Oh my god, I just told him I love him! She thought. They had never said that to each other, even though they had been lovers for a year.

"I love you too." He said as he pulled her into a hug, kissing her passionately. "I do hate to burst your bubble, love, but I said it first. You just didn't hear me because you were lost in your head again." He said with a chuckle. "Now how did you call Mister Weasley out?"

She told him about Harry and Ginny getting married, and how she accused Ron of asking only because Ginny was beating him to the alter. She then told him about her weeks away and how she and Ginny had tried to find ways to get her home sooner. Before long they had lapsed into a comfortable silence again. Severus reading, while Hermione had her head on his lap. Crookshanks soon came out of the bedroom to lay behind Hermione's bent knees on the couch where she was fast asleep.

Severus looked at Crookshanks and mused aloud, "She's rather beautiful when she's sleeping, isn't she? But she is so lovely when awake. She still amazes me to this day at how well she understands me, yet has no idea she does." He watched her sleep and felt bad as he looked at the clock. She's going to have to wake soon; Minerva will be here in fifteen minutes. With that last thought he gently lifted the pillow with her head on it from his lap to stand up. After laying her head on the couch he walked into the kitchen to brew some coffee so that they would have something warm to drink while they talked.

"Looks like I'll be teaching Potions again." He thought out loud as he put away the dishes that Hermione had cleaned.

A/N: No you are not going crazy, this story has been posted before. This is merely an edited re-post. Hopefully I've gotten all the grammatical errors, as well as misspelled or misused words fixed. Please read & review.