-1Here you are sweeties! Thanks for reviews, keep at it and I promise to write more. ;-) Loves.
Kindest Regards
ER
Hermione closed her eyes and leant back in her seat as the train pulled out of Hogsmeade station. She was speeding away from the castle that had been her home for so long, and she knew she was leaving her heart behind. She let the memories fill her head. The first time she'd arrived, a new arrival, excited at becoming a witch. The time Harry and Ron had saved her from the troll and they'd become friends. The Yule ball she'd gone to with Victor Krum, the shock at Cedric Diggory's death, the battle with Voldemort and the time she'd spent with Severus Snape. She smiled in spite of herself. She'd never told Harry and Ron about her relationship with Snape, she wasn't sure Ron would have been able to handle it. She still felt sorry for turning him down when he'd asked her out, but it couldn't be helped, she didn't love him like that. That was how she loved Snape. She pushed thoughts of him out of her head, it would do no good to dwell on thoughts of him now she'd left him. She focused instead on looking forward to seeing Harry, it had been several months since they'd last seen each other. He'd promised to take her out for lunch to catch up when she got to London. She had her initiation to the ministry in a week and he was going to brief her on who to avoid, who to impress and who to be honest with. He'd worked at the ministry for five years and being who he was had helped him gain respect but he knew how hard it was to be accepted. Some members were not as reputable as others and lamented the loss of the money many death eaters and former death eaters had poured into the ministry before Voldemort's return to power and subsequent defeat had come about. Hermione's involvement in Voldemort's final battle was well known and she knew that some ministry members were less than enthusiastic about her application to join the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Department having been accepted. She allowed her thoughts to wander. She thought of Quidditch matches, Ron's fascination at the everyday appliances in her house the summer he and Harry had spent with her, Ginny and Harry's wedding, teaching their children how to perform the spell for conjuring sweets out of thin air. Ron's acceptance into the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team after their keeper had retired. Dumbledore's portrait congratulating her on filling the post of the Muggle Studies professor, Snape's smile that night… Hermione snapped her eyes open and silently scolded herself for slipping up again. She had to forget those few short years at Hogwarts as a teacher. She was leaving to start again, and that was what she was going to do if it killed her. Which, she thought with sadness, it just might.
Snape sat down heavily in his armchair by the fire. He had watched her leave, seen her look back before she disappeared from sight to go down to Hogsmeade. That was what had been hard, seeing her look back. In those brief couple of seconds he had willed her to change her mind and stay, but she'd turned away and continued away from Hogwarts and out of his life. He just didn't know what to do. His mind kept replaying every moment they'd spent together. Even memories of her time as his student kept invading his mind. He had always been interested in her. She was incredibly talented and wise beyond her years. It had been a shock when he'd noticed she'd transformed from a talented young girl into a brilliant and accomplished woman. He couldn't pin point the exact point he'd fallen for he, but he had, hook line and sinker. He had never thought she'd return his feelings but she had, however briefly, and now she had gone. It was unlikely their paths would cross again. There was no reason for her to revisit the school, the ministry kept out of Hogwarts affairs and even if they didn't, the misuse of muggle artefacts wasn't a practise carried out within school grounds. Snape amused himself by the thought of what would happen if he decided to mess with a teacup or something just to see her again. His amusement was short lived. To think he would never see Hermione again, never see her smile, never hear her voice, never touch her again, feel her hair between his fingers, her lips beneath his own. Snape turned to the fire, and wept.