I do not own these characters or Potterverse. They are J.K. Rowling's and she was kind enough to share them with the world. The words, this story and its mistakes are all mine.
Canon compliant until almost the end of Book 7.
Dear Harry,
I could not leave him to die. If word gets out that he is still alive, he will be a target – both to any
Death Eaters who escaped as well as others who do not believe that he was on our side.
Please let everyone think that he has died. Once he is strong enough to protect himself, I will contact you.
Please do not try to find us.
Love,
Hermione
Harry looked up from the scroll with tears in his eyes. After the final battle and the defeat of Voldemort, it had taken a while to realize that Hermione was missing. After three frantic days of searching, Harry found the note in the Shrieking Shack where Snape had died; or rather where Harry thought Snape had died. All that remained was a large blood stain and the scroll.
ooooo
As soon as she saw Voldemort fall, she had apperated to the hospital wing to grab the strongest healing potions she could find and then to the Shrieking Shack to find an unconscious Professor Snape. He was barely clinging to life and she prayed that she had arrived in time. She poured Blood-Replenishing-Tonic and All-Snake-Anti-Venom down his throat. She cast every healing charm that she could remember. She was unaware of the tears streaming down her cheek and did not notice when they dripped into the gaping hole that the snake had torn in his throat. But, as she finished whispering the Calmette Charm (to heal snakebites); she noticed that wound was starting to close and his pulse seemed stronger. Terrified at being found by a surviving Death Eater, she quickly scribbled a note and used a secrecy charm to make it visible only to Harry Potter. She wrapped her arms around her Potions professor and disapperated.
In her panic, she had apperated to the same woods where Snape had given Harry the Sword of Gryffindor. The Snatchers had taken the tent that she had used over the last year so she needed to find shelter. Closing her eyes, she hugged Snape closer and concentrated on her destination. When she opened her eyes, she knew they were in the Blackmuir Woods where her dad had taken her once. He had wanted to teach her to hunt but she was too soft-hearted to shoot the deer. Hermione nearly cried with relief as she saw an abandoned Muggle hunting shack through the trees.
Hermione used a levitation charm to move the still unconscious Snape into the one room cabin. As she had so often during the last year, Hermione walked around their camp setting protective wards and anti-muggle distraction charms. Stumbling with exhaustion, Hermione moved around the cabin, starting a fire and transforming an old canteen into a claw-footed bathtub filled with a steamy bubble bath. She looked at Snape, still in his Death Eater robes and covered in blood. With a shiver of revulsion she flicked her wand and sent his clothing into the fire. Gently she levitated him into the bathtub and began to wipe away the blood, tears and scent of death from his body. As she buried her fingers in his hair, her mind drifted over her memories of him. He had been a difficult teacher, constantly criticizing her, pushing her to master potions that she now knew were way beyond the standard curriculum, yet always ensuring that she succeeded. Even when she hated him with the vehemence of an enraged child, she had been drawn to his beautiful, extraordinary mind. Each year, she had surpassed more and more of her professors, even planning the lessons for Hagrid during his tempestuous tenure as the Care of Magical Creatures professor. One of her proudest moments was when she had solved his logic puzzle in her first year. Besides allowing Harry to get to Quirrell in time to stop Voldemort from getting the Sorcerer's Stone, it had drawn a rare compliment from Professor Snape.
Hermione tucked the down comforter around Snape. He looked like he had slipped into a more natural sleep after his bath. Pulling a pair of soft flannel pajamas and a couple of towels from her nearly bottomless purse, Hermione took a quick glance at Snape before quickly getting into the tub for her own quick cleansing.
The fire crackled in the grate sending a soft glow into the room. Hermione was sitting on the low couch with her fingers gently combing through the hair of the older wizard sprawled out on the couch with his head on her lap. Exhaustion and relief shown on her face as she eased his head onto a pillow and crawled under the covers, curling her body around his and falling into a dreamless sleep.
A/N:
Per Canon, Hermione is 18 years, 8 months old at the Battle of Hogwarts (in Muggle years). Due to her extensive use of the timeturner in her 3rd year, she is actually 20 years, 1 month old in Wizard years. Snape is 38.
The Calmette Charm is named after a muggle scientist, Léon Charles Albert Calmette who invented the first Muggle anti-venom.