Disclaimers and Author's Notes: The chapter titles are from songs, and neither the songs nor any part of JK Rowling's world belongs to me. This story is just for fun. Thanks to my awesome beta, Dawn!

I also feel the need to say that while it isn't nearly as depressing as "Sweeney Todd," it's not an animated Disney story either. This is primarily a tale of hurt, comfort, friendship, and the complexities of life when we are faced with choices.

I have posted this story on Ashwinder as well.

Someday We'll Know

Chapter 1 "Lips of an Angel"

"Yes, I dreamt of you too…the lips of an angel" -- Hinder

Neither Harry nor Professor Snape noticed her peer into the Shrieking Shack as Harry entered it. One glance at the pool of blood Professor Snape lay in told her all she needed to know.

"Bloody hell," she whispered as she climbed into the room. Ron was beginning to be a bad influence on her. She opened her bag of tricks and started rummaging until she found a small violet vial. Enlarging it to normal size, she walked over to the dying man.

As she dripped three drops onto the snakebite, he spoke to Harry, "Look… at… me."

Harry was still too stunned to notice her presence as he quickly pooled the memories into a goblet and turned to leave. Hermione leaned in closer to examine the wound. As she had expected, it was completely closed now. With a quick cleansing spell, she collected Professor Snape's blood into a vial. He needed a Blood-Replenishing Potion, but she did not have much of a supply. What if Ron or Harry needed it? She looked at the bottle in her hand. She spoke a purifying charm to clean the blood and added five drops of the Blood-Replenishing Potion to it. She pulled out her knife and poked a small hole in the vein where Muggles gave blood. Pouring the blood back into his system, she knew there was little else she could do.

The battle would begin soon and she had to be there. She was out of time, but a small worry nagged her. She had never doubted that Professor Snape was truly a member of the Order, a triple agent perhaps. Still, from what Ginny and Neville had said about the school year when Professor Snape was Headmaster… no sense in taking a chance. Lupin had already told her she put down her defenses too easily. That conversation seemed forever ago.

She stepped back from the barely breathing body and performed Numerus Tutela. It was one of the spells she had studied over the summer. It would keep whatever was enclosed protected until the one who cast the spell lifted it. No one else could break through the bubble, and if someone was enclosed inside, they could not escape. Hermione shook her bushy mane; she doubted that the professor would wake anytime soon. Looking at her handiwork, she thought the effect was almost surreal: her former Potions Master clad in black and enclosed in a glowing white tube of light. She wished she could stay. But there was no time left; she ran through the tunnel to catch up with the boys.

The continuing shouts and the cheering were almost too much for the trio that had been through so much together. They were basking in the glow of victory hours after Voldemort's defeat. Ron refused to release Hermione's hand, not that she would have protested. She was continually planting kisses on his cheek when she thought no one was looking. She nuzzled her head on his shoulder. It felt like home.

But then she remembered: the losses. Dear God! Hermione couldn't imagine what life would be like for poor Teddy. Despite being the godfather, Harry was too young to take care of him. Would Teddy be raised by Mrs. Tonks? It would be so much better than the Dursleys, but… And George! What would life be like without his twin? At least they had opened the joke shop and fought in the war together. Still, Fred had been so young. And then Colin… He had been so foolish to stay, so brave…

And then Hermione remembered Professor Snape. She had left him in the Shrieking Shack. From what Harry had said to Voldemort during the battle, it was clear that Professor Snape had never betrayed the Order. She leaned over and gave Ron another kiss before saying that she needed to leave. He protested, but she smiled and left.

It took some time to levitate Professor Snape to the hospital wing from Hogsmeade. She used the tunnel because she was wary of going through Hogmeade with a "Death Eater" and hated Headmaster. After everything that had happened, she wasn't sure how she still had the energy to use magic. All she knew was that she had to do this.

Once she entered Hogwarts, she had to find a place to put him. Most of the tables were housing the dead and so many of the beds were already occupied by the injured. Eventually, she found a spare bed in one of the temporary wards erected in the corridors. Carefully, she lowered his body onto the mattress. She severed the Numerus Tutela charm. Hermione took his left wrist in her hand and checked for a pulse. It took a moment before she could detect a feeble beating. Suddenly, she felt a little odd as if she were suddenly shimmering. But that was silly. It had been a long day, the longest of her life. She was about to release him when she felt him grasp her hand.

"I… always… loved… you," he whispered.

For a second, Hermione's heart stopped. Surely, that could not be right. Professor Snape had never given her a second glance. And then she remembered what he had seen before losing consciousness were Harry's eyes, Lily's eyes.

Swallowing hard, she smiled, "Yes."

He tried to open his eyes but the effort was too much for him. He simply smiled. Then, Hermione felt something else strange happening to her. She was speaking, but the voice did not sound like her. She was not entirely sure what she was saying.

"Severus, why did you join them? You were my best friend; I could have loved you, but then, I told you I didn't trust them…"

"I wanted to impress you." He could not speak above a whisper and every word cost him immense effort.

"You hated me like 'Tunia did. I felt so alone."

Tunia? Hermione thought, confused.

"I was bitter. Lily, I tried… I tried to save you."

"You saved my son. That is all that matters to me. You redeemed yourself, Severus. All I ask is that you allow yourself some peace."

Well, that seems like sound advice.

"Lily…" he pleaded.

Later, Hermione would never know what prompted her to lean towards her former professor. And had she been in control of her body, she very much doubted that such an indiscretion would ever have happened. Still, she would always recall with remarkable clarity how she gently leaned forward until her lips were centimeters from his. The contact was subtle at first, like a warm summer breeze. Then, the kiss deepened. It was full of hope and promise. As she pulled away, she looked down at the tresses of hair that had fallen over her shoulder. That wasn't her hair; it was smooth and flat. She closed her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, she felt the shimmering feeling stopped. Hermione dared to reopen her eyes. The hair lying on her shoulder was now the unruly frizz that she knew so well. But then, what… Lily? Was such a thing possible?

Before she could ponder the mystery further, Ron and Harry appeared. She felt a surge of relief. If they had come any sooner… She and Ron had just found each other. No, that was something she would not have been able to explain. But then, if she hadn't looked like herself… Utterly confused, she pushed the incident out of her mind. Maybe later… But in her heart, Hermione knew that this was one mystery she had no desire to solve.

"Hermione? Is that Snape?" Ron did a double take. "You saved Snape? Back at the Shrieking Shack? What the hell?"

"Wait. Where's the bite from Nagini?" Harry asked simultaneously. "He'd lost too much blood…"

"Honestly," Hermione scoffed. "Did you really think that after all my preparations I was going to forget about healing spells? Ron, when your dad… was attacked, I got nervous. Remember how no one at St. Mungo's could heal it quickly? I knew we'd have to face that snake again. And what if the same thing happened? What if one of us was bitten?

"We wouldn't be able to get to St. Mungo's. Voldemort would have made certain we were... So I did some research after the holidays. I came up with a potion that I thought might help… it was purely theoretical, of course. And there were some rare ingredients. Really rare. I wasn't even sure that Professor Snape would have them. So I decided to ask him. Maybe I could buy them from him. I wanted a second opinion on the potion, anyway."

"You went to Snape?" Harry was incredulous. "But, he—"

"Had only started giving you Occulmency lessons. I figured… I had no reason to suppose that he would be... well, he had to be around Nagini. It would be useful to everyone in the Order. He actually seemed… impressed almost by my research. Well, impressed is probably a bit strong, but he gave me the ingredients freely—even after I offered to pay him. Then, he let me set up the experiment in his private lab. I came by about once a week to work on it."

"And you didn't tell us?" Ron spoke with the air of a hurt dog.

"Right. I knew how thrilled you'd be about my working with Professor Snape. I'm sure you would have loved that. Anyway," Hermione waved away further interruptions, "the potion wasn't ready until a few weeks before OWLs; I never did have a chance to test it out. I wasn't about to volunteer to get bitten by Nagini just to see if the potion closed up the wound. But I thought that if the situation arose, we'd at least have a chance… and then tonight… He'd helped me prepare it. How could I not try and use it to save him?"

"Not to mention if it didn't work, it's not like we'd have lost anything," Ron smirked.

"I hadn't thought of that. That's what I love about you, Ron, your sensitive and caring nature," Hermione chuckled.

"Well, you saved the bastard. Now he'll have to be nice to you." Harry patted Hermione's arm. "You are brilliant."

"No, Harry." Hermione shook her head. "I don't want him to know it was me. Promise me neither of you will tell anyone?"

With looks of astonishment, the boys reluctantly nodded their heads. Then, Ron ventured, "Why not?"

"Professor Snape doesn't like to be in anyone's debt. And think of the times he's saved us. We really owed it to him. Not the other way around."

"So what now?" Harry looked very uncomfortable and clearly wished to change the subject.

"I'm going to 'rescue' my parents from Australia," Hermione smiled.

"Not tonight," Harry said firmly. "Give it a night to let the news reach the rest of the wizarding world. The last thing we need is you captured by some Death Eaters in Australia who don't know they lost."

"Besides, you need some sleep," Ron said protectively.

"Alright, alright. But first thing in the morning, I'm Apparating." Hermione slung one arm around each boy, and they turned to leave the ward. She paused to erect protection wards around Professor Snape's bed. Fat lot of good all her work would have done if someone murdered him in his sleep. Now only those wanting to help him would be able to touch him.

"Hermione, you think of everything." Ron shook his head in amazement.

"Well, I try." She couldn't hide her pleasure from the compliment. They sauntered off to find the rest of the Weasleys.