Author's Note: Updated 7 February 2010

Hey. It's been… almost two years since I've touched this story, but I'm ready to finish it and the series now. Not going to massively overhaul the existing chapters. They're not horrible. Just going to keep going. For anyone who hasn't previously read this story, it's part three in a four part HG/SS series. You can read this without reading the others. Its plot-line stands alone. Here's a recap of what's happened so far:

Snape was surprised when a 'transfer' student arrived at Hogwarts, and even more surprised when she was so eager to get to know him. Slowly, a relationship develops, although he has no idea that this is Hermione Granger from the future. By the time he understands who she is and where she's from, he's already taken the Dark Mark, much to the chagrin of his best friend, Bade Hudson. Even though he's angry that she never told him the full truth, he sends a spell at her during a battle at Hogwarts to send her back to her home. And when she's gone, he talks to Dumbledore about becoming a spy.

This story takes place roughly three years after the final battle, with some alterations to the final book. Dumbledore is the only major loss. Ron and Hermione are not together.

Finally, there is mature content in this so be advised of that.

Chapter 1: Needlessly Selfless

Ten minutes. Just ten minutes, and the love of his life would be literally popping up out of nowhere, falling in a crumpled heap because of battle wounds she sustained right before he sent her back. Ten minutes. Ten minutes was a long time to wait, and he was a very impatient man. He had waited for years to be able to see her again, and oh, how the years had made him bitter. As a young and naïve boy, he waited for her every day, not knowing if he would see her again. Now, he wondered if he would callously push her away, sneering at the look of affection that would undoubtedly be present in her coffee eyes. It would be only seconds for her, but it had been years for him- cold, merciless years. He wondered whether he still loved her or if he had forgotten how to love long ago. The answer came to him as the clock ticked again. Ten minutes. In ten minutes, she would be the amazing, brave, powerful woman that had survived the past and conquered the future, ripping out his heart and carrying it with her.

He'd been impassive on the outside for the last few months, watching as she celebrated the defeat of the Dark Lord, having only suffered one truly traumatic loss. He watched her cling to Weasley for everything as she started a normal life- a job at the ministry after studying frantically for the N.E.W.T. examinations and passing as if she had not taken the year off. He watched her as she talked to Minerva who had letters to her from Dumbledore (he immediately had known why). He watched, sulking in corners, waiting for the event that would send her back.

It was the uncertainty that killed him. When Dumbledore was alive, he hadn't trusted him with any specific details, obviously afraid that he would warn the young witch or try to stop her from being thrown back so many years into the past. But Severus was not stupid. He knew that any alteration in the time line would create a loop. He knew that the Ministry (which was in the capable hands of Kingsley Shacklebolt now) had rules and regulations on time travel for a reason. The Department of Mysteries personnel had even helped to create said rules. That said how extremely serious they were.

There was no convincing the exasperating, white-haired wizard of that, though. He kept the details to himself, only giving Severus an approximate time line. Severus had been waiting for two years now, trying to use the time wisely so that he could figure out what he would do once it actually occurred. His immediate reaction was obvious. He would help Poppy tend to her wounds and explain the situation in the least amount of details possible. He would leave out any hints as to his relationship with Miss Granger, hinting at a friendship at most. Then, he would leave the room so that she could have privacy with the other two thirds of the golden trio, Longbottom, the rest of the Weasleys, Lupin, and Hudson.

That had been his immediate plan of action since Dumbledore had informed him that he would see a familiar name on the role-call list almost eight years ago. After that, he didn't know what he would do. Though he had not admitted this to anyone (albeit Hudson whom he had given enough thoughts to "connect the dots," as muggles said), Severus was scared. He was angry and bitter and the epitome of everything everyone thought he was, but he was also scared. Long accustomed to life not being as simple as he hoped it would be, Severus knew that this was difficult even for an intelligent, quick-witted man.

He was not seventeen anymore; he didn't know how to love anymore. He didn't know how to treat people. He didn't know if he wanted to know. He did not know the answers to the questions that woke him up even after the immediate threat of Voldemort was gone.

Severus had foolishly and blindly imagined that once Voldemort was gone, the order of things would be restored. He didn't exactly know what to expect (since he had always lived with the threat of the Dark Lord), but he was not expecting the war to continue on. He had expected things to be easier, simpler even, but there were still disgruntled Death Eaters who had not been captured yet, banding together to find a new Lord. While the Wizarding world was recovering, and the threat was far lesser, it was a threat nonetheless, and he hated that future generations were still being brought into chaos. It shamed him to admit that he hoped he would have a family himself some day.

Now, about a year after the defeat of Tom Riddle, he had been pacing his office when he realized that it had to be soon; it had to be now! Dumbledore had said she would be sent back through a spell or a charm, and he was not sure if foul play was involved. Well, Malfoy and Granger were demonstrating a new tracking spell that they had been working on for the past four months. They were so confident in their work that they were showing it to the Minister himself. Now. Yes, it had to be now.

And then, he got an owl from Minerva. There was an emergency Order meeting, and everyone only had minutes to spare before getting there. He knew the second that he got the owl. Minerva had quickly briefed them all on the situation, leaving out delicate details that she did not, herself, know. She had looked to Severus for input, but he stayed silent next to her, not even bothering to make eye contact to glare at the occupants of the room. He was tempted by Lupin who kept giving him meaningful glances and Hudson who was sharply nudging him. He seemed to be the only one in the room who found the situation funny enough to be smiling fervently.

Snape cursed the day that the Order had inducted him. Now, with only eight minutes left, Kingsley rushed into the room just like Hudson had predicted he would. He was out of breath, his wand drawn as he looked around the room in a panic. His eyes found Minerva's, and he opened his mouth to say something before Minerva cut him off and beckoned him to take a seat. She calmly explained what was going on in the least amount of words possible. Shacklebolt looked far less curious afterwards, Potter and Ronald Weasley absolutely fuming, and Molly Weasley chewing on her lip. Hudson just looked smug with himself, bobbing his head side to side with the ticking of the grandfather clock.

At least someone seemed to be enjoying themselves. He lifted his gaze from the worn table in front of him just long enough to glare at Hudson who had taken the role of twinkling his eyes as if he was Dumbledore himself.

"Severus?" Hudson asked, not bothering to filter out the amusement in his voice or the sheer delight he got out of the situation. The man was easily entertained, and that fact was only made worse by his naturally manipulative nature.

Snape grunted in response, hating how the man he had come to respect had taken the day off to be replaced with the seventeen year old schoolboy he had been thoroughly annoyed with.

"Five minutes," said Bade, his Weasley-like hair almost glowing in anticipation with the rest of his body.

Yes, Severus had acted calm and composed, but he was struggling with himself internally as if he was part of a generic romance novel. Oh woe was him! The drama! The angst! How would he possibly survive? An evil sneer spread itself over his thin lips, his greasy, black hair falling over his eyes as he let his chin drop. His eyes were now focused on the table in front of him again, and he wondered if he there was any fire whiskey in the house that he could quickly summon. Probably not. Bloody Potter was a saint.

"So, she knew at least, right?" Ronald Weasley reiterated for the n-th time since the meeting had started.

Severus felt the overwhelming urge to throttle the boy or at least send a dozen silencers his way. It seemed that he was not alone in his frustration as Potter groaned loudly.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley," Minerva answered in a clipped tone. She was obviously also annoyed.

The room filled with an uneasy silence again, and Severus wondered if he had effectively cast the spell he sent hurdling at her so many years ago. It was one from a thick book of ancient, dark magic that he had received on his seventeenth birthday from his grandmother. The tome was filled with magic of need, half of the things in it banned then, and almost all of them banned now. He had memorized everything in the book once he had pieced together that Hermione was from the future and did not belong in that time period. He had been trying to find a way to send her back before she died. The opportunity presented itself in the battle when she was so willing to sacrifice herself for everyone around her. The spell's purpose was to make the needlessly selfless more selfish and transport them to a place where they would be of actual use- their home, in essence. He had not known the full translation of the spell when he had cast it, but he thanked the Gods who were watching over him for making the spell work.

He chanced a glance at the obnoxiously placed grandfather clock. It was now 8:39P.M., and Minerva said that Hermione would be coming at approximately 8:42P.M. Of course, if that was an approximation and not the exact, calculated time, she would have rounded the number off and not left it at a glaringly exact time. The more that Severus tried not to think about the fact that she would be coming back into his life, the more her face floated in front of this other thoughts. The calming ten minutes he had were now reduced to mocking three minutes.

His heart beat more quickly. He felt panicked. He still had no idea how to react to her. If she wanted to put her arms around him, would he allow her to? Would he return her embrace? What if she tried to kiss him? What if she told him she loved him?

Would she even want him if he wanted her? While Severus was never handsome, he had at least been fit and young before. Now, his sallow skin was paler than ever (though it did look better now that his spying activities were done), and his stomach was no longer taut nor were his arms strong from the constant dueling he did in his younger days. He couldn't remember the last time he left his hole of a home since the school year ended let alone the last time he exercised (unless brooding was being counted now).

The half-blood prince moved his hands from the arm rests of the chair to the table. The simple rustle of robes caused half the room to jump, not expecting a break in the silence yet. They all looked at him for a second, some smiling before dropping their own gazes again. One long finger on his right hand extended and tapped the surface of the table, a bad habit he only possessed in extreme nervousness. He tapped for a few seconds before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't have to look to know that it was Bade's, but he did anyway.

"'What fates impose, that men must need abide; it bodes not to resist both wind and tide,'" whispered Bade, the glimmer still not absent from his eye. This time, however, it was good-natured.

"'Fate is for those too weak to determine their own destiny,'" countered Severus, a sour taste in his mouth.

Bade did not seem phased by Severus' response. In fact, he seemed to have expected it. As Snape's mouth closed, Bade's opened again. "'Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.'"

"'Character is destiny.'"

"And yours is the greatest," Hudson said, using the quote's opening to give his shoulder a squeeze and plaster on a supportive smile. "You've become an articulate, intelligent, quick-witted, cocky bastard, Snape, and I'll be damned before I let you think otherwise. We all know it; she knows it. What happens next is up to you."

Severus cringed inwardly at the compliment whispered by his best mate but said nothing. There was a loud thump as a cloaked figure appeared near the fireplace looking around anxiously for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she collapsed on the ground. He heard a few sharp intakes of breath but no sobs. And then her voice cut clearly through the commotion of moving witches and wizards, and everything stilled.

"Severus."