Hermione Granger lay awake listening to the heavy breathing and light snores of her partner, exhausted by their passionate love-making earlier that evening. Unable to sleep as she contemplated the life of the man next to her, Hermione quietly snuck out of bed and scurried to her wardrobe. She stuck her small arm deep into a drawer and pulled out a package. Buried in the back of her deepest drawer, gingerly wrapped in her father's old Cambridge t-shirt was a small golden hourglass attached to a thin golden chain.
With her mysterious package in hand, the witch quickly dressed in a pair of muggle jeans and a soft wool jumper before pulling on some ballet flats and slipping through the heavy wooden door into the sitting room. She offered a silent prayer that her wizard would not wake. She carefully placed the chain around her neck and traced the ancient runes around the edge of the circle encasing the hourglass. She had not used the time turner in almost six years and felt tonight the perfect time to make use of it once more. As she fiddled with the dial, she caught sight of the beautiful bouquet of long stem roses gifted to her that morning for Valentine's Day. She smiled softly to herself, plucked one out of the vase and whispered: "Twenty-four turns should do the trick."
Hermione took in her surroundings and realized being impulsive in the middle of the night had perhaps not been the best idea. She needed to get out of the sitting room before she was caught, and she had to find him, wherever he may be. At least she was pretty confident her wizard was still in the building. She quickly rushed through two more sets of doors before stopping abruptly. Leaning over a steamy cauldron, lanky black hair tied back at the nape of his neck, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and green Slytherin tie loosened around his collar, was a sixteen-year-old Severus Snape.
'Well, that was fortunate.' She smiled ruefully.
Placing one hand on her hip, rose dangling in her other hand Hermione let out a small cough to grab the young wizard's attention. "Why are you in the potions classroom brewing in the middle of the night?"
The young man looked up startled at the intrusion before his face morphed into a sneer. "What difference does it make to you? Who even are you? You look too old to be a student here." Looking at the door, she had just exited he shuddered in horror looking as if he might vomit in his cauldron "oh Merlin, please tell me you were not just spending Valentines Day with Slughorn?"
Hermione looked horrified at the implication. "I most certainly did not!"
He arched an eyebrow in response, "then why are you coming out of Slughorn's chambers?"
Hermione cleared her throat and nervously played with the hem of her jumper. "Well, if you must know, they're, ummm actually my chambers in about oh twenty-four years time."
At that revelation both the boy's eyebrows shot up and disappeared into his hairline.
Hermione took his stunned silence as an opportunity to change the subject quickly. "What are you brewing?"
"Amortentia. Seemed appropriate given the day and it's not on the NEWTs syllabus. I plan on applying for an apprenticeship next year and have already brewed all of the NEWT level potions."
Hermione leaned over the cauldron, and her nose was suddenly assaulted by the smells of old parchment, peppermint toothpaste, sandalwood, herbs and fire whiskey. She smiled knowingly.
"What do you smell, Miss…"
"Granger. Hermione Granger."
Hermione quickly told him before asking, "what do you smell Severus?"
The wizard looked startled that she knew his name. However, she had admitted to being a time traveller. Had their paths crossed in his future, her past?
Shaking his head, he said in a low voice, "old books, bezoars, lily of the valley and strawberry shampoo."
Hermione turned her back to him quickly trying to keep the tears welling in her eyes from spilling forth. Why had she come here? Of course, he would not smell her scents of vanilla, lavender, and amber. He was sixteen and in love with Lily Evans. She was still three years away from even being born!
Suddenly she felt his hand on her shoulder, and he mumbled, "Hermione are you alright? I'm sorry if I somehow upset you. I… well I don't understand."
She turned to face him and gave him a watery smile. She cupped his cheek with his palm and laid a chaste kiss on his lips. "I am fine Severus. Just tired is all. I came here to give you this." She held up the black rose that had travelled with her throwing space and time. "I must be returning now." As she made to take her leave his strong hand gripped her wrist.
"Why? Will I ever see you again?"
"Oh, I dare say our paths will cross again. You make a formidable Potions Master Severus Snape."
He smirked at her. "And you said these are your chambers in your time. Are you the Potions Mistress at Hogwarts in your time? Have we met before? Likely a conference or something."
"Or something…." she trailed off avoiding his questions.
She made to take her leave once more when she thought of the man standing in the same space as her. She knew what he was to become in the next two years, not just a formidable Potions Master. She pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace, whispering in his ear, "When the time comes Severus, when you must choose between the light or the dark, I know you will make the right choice. The honourable choice. Let your love guide your heart."
She softly kissed his cheek and stood back. Pulling the time turner from underneath her jumper, she released the catch on the dial. As it spun forward, she was gone, leaving a dumbfounded Severus Snape gaping at the spot she's just stood, a black rose clenched in his right hand and his left hand lightly touching his cheek where her lips had just lingered.
Hermione flew through time and was hurtled to the ground of the Potions classroom. Her eyes unable to adjust to the darkness that surrounded. She reached for her wand to cast a quick Lumos and heard a voice coming from the Teacher's desk. "safe travels Apprentice Granger?" He cast a quick charm illuminating the room. Severus Snape sat at their shared office, looking powerful with his arms crossed and eyebrow raised, mirroring his younger self.
Hermione gulped and approached him hesitantly. "No actually. I have no idea what I was thinking. It was a mistake."
Severus visibly flinched at her reaction. "Why would you say that?"
"You were obviously in love with Lily. Your amortentia... it was foolish to think I could provide you with any comfort. I knew how utterly alone you felt in your final years at Hogwarts and I wanted to be with you. I just love you so much, and the thought of you being so isolated hurt." The tears she'd been holding it began to fall silently down her cheeks.
He stood up from his desk and went to her, wrapping one long arm around her entire body and lifting her chin to look him in the eyes with his other hand.
"Hermione, you changed everything that night. After you left, I went to bottle my potion, and the scent had changed. Old parchment, bezoars, roses, amber and vanilla. No one had ever shown me that kind of affection before. When the Dark Lord told me his intent to kill the Potters, I immediately went to Dumbledore to save Lily, but when he told me to look after Harry instead, your words came to my mind. I was at a crossroads, and I did the honourable thing. I wanted to be the man a young curly-haired witch from the future believed I could be. You were my reason, not Lily. No matter what Potter told the world."
She sucked in a breath at his passionate words. "Why did you never tell me?"
"Well from the ages of eleven to eighteen you despised me, and I am no pedophile. I knew you the moment the sorting hat fell on the bushy nest you called hair." He smirked.
She swotted him "and after? I have been your apprentice for eight months and girlfriend for six."
"And influence your decision? Never. I had no wish to alter our timeline." He pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss on her mouth and buried his nose in her curls. "Now come with me to the study. I wish to show you something."
He pulled her into their study and pulled a well-worn and cherished copy of Master Potioneering. He passed it to her and told her open to page 214. Pressed between the pages of the recipe for Amortentia was a black rose, perfectly preserved for 24 years between the aged parchment.
She looked up at her love, eyes swimming with tears and whispered, "After all this time?"
"Always."