D/C: I do not own even the tiniest bit of anything Harry Potter. I write for fun : )
A/N1: I LOVE reviews! If you like it, and want me to go on, please review. It's the sort of encouragement that gets me motivated.
A/N2: Mostly canon, except that all the Weasleys, a few others, and Severus live. I do not apologize, the twins must live on! Oh, and there was never romance between Ron and Hermione, not that he doesn't deserve a little romance.
A/N3: I am actually working on another story as well as this one, so it may be slow updates for a while. But I suddenly got super motivated and had to start it!
Chapter 1: The Death of Severus Snape
She saw him fall to the ground, blood pouring out the wound in his neck. Nagini was already back to her master, and Hermione watched as they walked away. As soon as they were gone, she followed behind Harry as he approached the fallen wizard.
Suddenly, gasping for breath, he uttered those words that somehow cut into Hermione's heart.
"Look at me…" The words were uttered to Harry, but Hermione listened. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to save this man's life.
As Harry bottled the memories offered to him and made to leave the near dead man on the floor, Hermione rolled up her sleeves and set to work. She accio'd every potion she had in her bag, and readied her wand.
"Hermione, we have to go!"
Continuing her work, knowing time was precious, she answered, "I have to stay, Harry. I have to save him."
"He killed Dumbledore!"
Tearing her eyes away from her former potions master, she looked up at her best friend, "I know what he did, Harry! Please understand, I cannot let him die. Something inside me is telling me without a doubt that he is good, and I could never live with myself if I do nothing. Go on without me, I have to do this."
She could tell Harry wanted to scream, but she also knew that he knew better than to try to change her mind. He didn't wait, but stormed off, uttering instructions to Ron. Silently, Hermione cast a shielding charm on each of them, hoping that it would do something to help them. Then she turned back to Snape.
"Professor, please listen to me. Listen to my voice. I'm going to help you. Just stay with me. Oh, gods, please come out of this."
There was no response.
S~S~S~S~S~SS~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~~~S~S~S~S~S~~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~SS~S~S~~S~S~S~~S~S~S~S~
At the end of the final battle, which Hermione had missed due to her work with Snape, Harry came running back into the shrieking shack.
"Hermione! Thank the gods you're still here, how is he?"
"Harry, you're alright! What's happened? Is he dead? Is it over?"
"Yes Hermione. It's over. He's gone forever. We won!"
Hermione cried. Tears of relief poured down her cheeks, and she happily wept into her friend's arms when he offered them to her.
"How is he?"
"I don't know yet. I've tried several spells, and almost all of the potions I have. I think he'll need more blood. I've used the blood replenishing potion, but his blood is tainted with the poison, it's killing him. All I've managed to do is slow it down."
"Let's get him to the hospital wing. Several healers are there, I'm sure they can help. But first, I want to show you something Hermione, something you can never show anyone else. Do you know legilimency?"
"A little, I can't say I'm all that strong."
"Well, don't worry, I'll guide you to where you need to be."
Hermione did as she was told, and watched as Harry showed her the memories Snape had given him.
"Hermione, I owe this man everything. And I owe you everything for being the stubborn know-it-all that you are. I mean, who else but you knew? Even if it was last minute and just a gut feeling that you had to act on."
Hermione levitated Snape, and Harry walked slowly behind, making sure Snape didn't bump or touch anything.
As they hurried down the dark tunnel leading back to Hogwarts, Hermione thought to ask, "Am I really a know-it-all?"
"A little bit," Harry answered honestly, but smiled and added, "But it makes you the Hermione we love, and who has gotten us out of so much trouble, in the classroom as well as life."
As they came through the passageway and entered the castle, Hermione paused.
"Wait, what are they going to say when they see him?"
"Well, first off, I kind of made it clear he was Dumbledore's man through and through. And second, I'm pretty sure healers aren't going to turn him away."
"Right. Okay." Hermione resumed their hurried pace, and soon they were walking through a crowd of people in the long corridor that was currently the extended hospital wing. As much commotion as there was, few people noticed who the patient was that Hermione was guiding towards Madame Pomfrey. As soon as the older woman saw him, she practically cried. Not that her eyes weren't red from holding back tears already, as many of the children she had looked after over the years were either badly injured or killed.
"Is he?" She rushed to take his vitals, and held her breath until they were done, "he's very near death, but it looks like the poison's stopped. He'll need blood though, constant medicine, and lots of care. I can't possibly give him my full attention, not with all the others that need me. I'll need to send him to St. Mungo's. Oh… that won't be good…"
"Can I help?" Hermione asked, "Just tell me what to do, I'll take care of him."
"Oh, yes! That would be better than St. Mungo's, they're probably full right now as well. All right, we'll do the transfusion here, I'll get you all the potions you'll need for at least a day or two, and then we'll take him to his quarters and you can stay with him there."
Hermione nodded, and Harry immediately offered his blood.
"Harry, don't. He'll kill you if he finds out." Hermione said, knowing full well he knew it.
"I don't care! I owe it to him!"
"Calm down boy, you're not his blood type anyway. Can you please track down Neville Longbottom for me? He is the right type."
Harry looked almost disappointed as he ran off, and Hermione was dragged by Pomfrey into the Mediwitch's office.
"It's the only place I have left," she said, motioning for Hermione to put him on the desk.
Immediately she magically inserted a tube in his throat, and poured a potion down it immediately.
"That will help purify his blood. You'll need to give it to him three times a day for the next two days. He ought to be clear after that."
Hermione stood dumbly while Poppy rushed around her, grabbing this and that.
"Can I help you?"
Yes, you can go collect six of each of these potions, "she said, handing Hermione a list that appeared out of nowhere, "It's enough for two days care, then come back for more."
"Won't they empty the school?"
They'll remove as many people as are well enough to be moved, and bring the children back to their parents if they're alive, and that should be it. Those who wish to remain here to help fix the school or take care of other patients are welcome. The house elves will be quite busy with all the tasks that have been assigned them, and we can use all the help we can get."
"I'll do whatever I can."
"You just focus on him," the elder witch said, nodding at the unconscious man, "trust me, he's all the work you can handle. And that's before he wakes up, if ever…"
As the mediwitch trailed off, Hermione could see tears in her eyes.
"I always knew he was good. I admit, I doubted him when he killed Dumbledore, but with all the times I tended his injuries after events with Voldemort, I couldn't believe that he would truly want to serve that man. But, I'm just glad he's here now, and with a fighting chance," she wiped her eyes quickly, resuming her matter-of-fact demeanor and sent Hermione away for her potions.
When Hermione got back, Harry and Neville were sitting by the table, Pomfrey setting up to do the transfusion. Neville was visibly shaking.
"Honestly, Mr. Longbottom, he's not going to bite you. And I promise I won't tell him who the donor was."
"You swear it?"
"Yes," the mediwitch said impatiently as she waved her wand and connected the tubes, allowing the transfusion.
Harry stood looking at the limp body of the man he had considered an enemy not six hours ago. He looked at the man with so much admiration and hope that Hermione almost couldn't stand it."
"Harry-" she started, but stopped when she realized she didn't know what to say.
"Harry, please, go see if you can get Hagrid. He's by the front doors of the castle."
The boy solemnly nodded and turned to leave.
"Take good care of him for me, Hermione."
"I will, Harry."
Less than an hour later Hermione, Poppy, and Severus were on their way to his quarters. Severus lay unconscious on a levitated cot, and Hermione followed behind. When the elder witch stopped in the middle of the dungeon tunnels, Hermione almost hit the stopped cot.
"Um, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm waiting for his wards to identify me."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Severus has ended up in my care often enough. He always hated the idea of walking out of the hospital wing in the morning, so I offered to bring him to his rooms. He adjusted his wards to allow me entrance only when he was incapacitated. First though, he made me make an unbreakable vow that I would never snoop through his things." The witch laughed at the memory, "ah, he is such a git."
A section of the wall of the dungeon corridor suddenly disappeared.
Poppy nodded for Hermione to go first, saying, "just in case it locks up after Severus and I make it through."
"Right." Hermione couldn't help but feel a little anxious at the idea of being in Snape's quarters, but reminded herself that she had to take care of him. And that he was unconscious, so he couldn't kill her for it.
After laying him down, Poppy started to undress him.
"You may want to turn around for this dear, at least until I get his pajama pants on him. He'll be the most comfortable that way." After dressing and tucking him into bed, she made sure Hermione would have everything she'd need to take care of him. She showed her how to take his vitals and to call her if there were any negative changes.
"All right, dear, you're on your own. Thank you so much for this, I have my hands so full already with my other patients. Now, if you leave, I think you'll have to have me let you back in. There's not a second bedroom, but you can transfigure the couch into a fairly comfortable bed. And you can summon a house elf for anything you need, so you'll only have to leave if absolutely necessary."
"All right, thank you."
"Thank you, my dear."
The witch hurried off then, leaving Hermione alone with her patient.
~S~~S~S~S~S~S~S~~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S
It had been almost two weeks since Hermione had been taking care of Severus. She hadn't left once, but had summoned the house elves to get her clothing and bring her food and news of the castle. The repairs were coming along well, but it would be another few weeks before it was all done. Most of Hermione's friends had survived, except for Remus and Tonks, who had left their child, Teddy, to Harry. In the midst of all the madness, Harry had proposed to Ginny, and they planned to be married as soon as the castle was completely repaired. Ron spent most of his time in the room of requirement with his sister, which was being used as a nursery for all the orphaned children until they could be placed in homes. While Harry was working to repair the castle, Teddy spent most of his time with them.
Hermione sighed, she wanted to be a bigger part of all that was going on, but at the rate Severus was healing, she'd be here a long time after everything was done. Not that she didn't want to help him, but she felt mostly useless just tending his healing every few hours and wandering his library the rest of the time. She had already completely familiarized herself with his quarters, making sure to stay out of any drawers or cupboards, except in the kitchen of course.
She leaned to check his neck. The poison had slowed his healing, and his neck wounds had only closed up a few days prior. There were thick scars, but they were slowly getting smaller as Hermione applied a healing salve she had found in his bathroom. She applied it to his chest as well, lowering the blanket to his waist and gently rubbing the salve over his many scars, both old and new. They decreased, but none of them had fully disappeared. She checked his vitals and as usual, saw improvement but only just slightly. She smiled, at least he was going to come out of this. Madame Pomfrey had said that she expected a full recovery, albeit a slow one.
"Harry is going to be so very happy when you've recovered, you know. He sends me messages to see how you are. Not me, you," She grinned, "It's okay though, I know how he feels. I can't wait for you to wake up either. You're a free man, you know, Harry says he talked to the ministry right after they started the deatheater trials and your name was on the list. Your name was removed before he left that office. And Kingsley Shacklebolt is now minister. I'll bet he'll be a great one. He's already employed workers to burn all the blood status paperwork in the system. And he put all the people in charge of that program to work researching witches and wizards of all status to see how their magic differs. Right now, he's going through all paperwork from the last twenty years, and plans to remove anything that implies that muggle-born or half-blood is lesser than pure-blood."
Hermione stopped her monologue there, for even in his state, Severus was sure to be annoyed at her incessant chatter.
Three weeks more passed, and Severus' vitals were almost normal, but he still hadn't woken up. Poppy had told the younger witch not to panic, that likely his body just craved the rest. That poison had been very hard on him. She had to give him healing potions less often, and spent much more time in his library, reading alphabetically through his collection, sometimes reading aloud to him. She was already on L, and rather enjoyed his collection, which ranged from muggle classics to magical texts. Finally, the castle was repaired, and most of the orphans had been found homes. An elf popped in and announced to Hermione that the wedding was the next day, and that Ginny had already prepared her bridesmaid's dress. Hermione nodded, Poppy would likely be able to let her in after the wedding.
Sleep fled Hermione that night. It seemed every time she would doze off, she would dream about leaving Snape alone and something terrible happening to him. She would wake up, terrified and sweating, and had to immediately check Snape. Which wasn't hard, because she had transfigured a chair he'd had in the corner of his room into a bed, so that she would be nearby if he suddenly needed her. After ensuring he was alright, she would sit at his bedside in a chair she had pulled from the kitchen until she was relaxed enough to lie down again.
When morning came, Hermione left, feeling more than a little nervous. She gave him his potions, rubbed salve on his scars, and gently squeezed his hand before leaving.
"I'll be back soon."
Ginny was waiting, bright smile on her face, and a comb in her hand.
"Funny, Gin."
"Oh, don't pout, just come here."
Hermione did as she was told, and allowed Ginny to fix her hair and makeup. When Ginny finally pulled out the dress Hermione was to wear, she forgot to breathe.
"Wow, Ginny that's beautiful!"
"Well, Harry asked for Gryffindor colors, so here they are. And this dress was made for your form. You'll be almost as pretty as me."
The ceremony seemed to go by all too quickly. Hermione watched happily as her best friends got married, knowing that it was the right thing for them. Harry never looked better. They took pictures, and the couple proudly presented their infant godson. The celebration went on for hours, and just when Hermione was thinking that she ought to get back to check on Severus, a woman on the other side of the great hall screamed. Turning to see what the commotion was about, Hermione's heart stopped. Could it be?
Then she saw Harry approach the figure. His voice was soft, but the name he spoke was heard by everyone in the room, "Albus Dumbledore?"