I have not abandoned my other story(s) I just have a bit of writers block is all. I'll update as soon as I rid myself of it. R&R!
Last time:
"Goodbye, ex-Death Eater, soon-to-be." I mumbled.
Now:
Hermione stirred in the hospital bed, she was extremely deranged and confused. She recognized where she was, she just couldn't remember why she was here. She coughed and called Poppy. In the next second Poppy appeared in the doorway and smiled.
"Miss Granger, good to see you up." Poppy chimed.
"Poppy...why am I here?" asked a hoarse Hermione. Poppy frowned.
"You don't remember?" Poppy asked a little nervous.
"Well I remember what I did last night, I just...well don't remember how I got here." Hermione whispered rubbing her throat.
"Oh, that's nothing. You were highly delirious when you got here, and asleep. It seemed as if you passed out in Severus' arms." Poppy explained.
"Professor Snape's arms, why was I in them?!" Hermione gasped.
"Well it seemed that Severus found you and when he noticed you had no pulse he carried you all the way here. Heaven forbid those long legs." Poppy laughed. Hermione smiled and then she realized the piece of the puzzle that was missing; how she got out into the snow in the first place.
"My parents are dead..." Hermione shuttered. She remembered everything now...
Flashback:
"Miss Granger, may we have a word?" asked the forever aging headmaster. Hermione nodded and followed him into the hall.
"There's no easy way to say this Miss Granger, so I'll put it bluntly: the other night, there was a raid, two people were killed. Those two people were...your parents," Dumbledore sighed, "I'm sorry."
"No you have to be joking." Hermione shook her head, tears already forming up. Dumbledore shook his head solemnly and gave her a letter. Hermione read it and that's where she began to run.
Hermione shook her head. Poppy placed a comforting hand on her hair and handed her a potion.
"It's for your headache dear." Poppy explained. Hermione nodded and drank the potion.
"How am I supposed to get through this?" Hermione mumbled to herself. Poppy sighed.
"Please don't be sad dear, this is the beginning of the last two weeks of your last year at Hogwarts. You should be sucking up as much info as you can and be celebrating with your close friends." Poppy whispered with enthusiasm. Hermione whimpered.
"What close friends? The only friends I had were Harry and Ron! Now they've taken Ginny and Maria away from me too!" Hermione screamed. Poppy was taken aback by Hermione's sudden outburst but settled her down quickly.
"Oh Hermione, I understand this must be hard for you, losing a loved one is always hard. Especially when they are your parent(s)." Poppy whispered.
"How would you know?" Hermione snapped.
"Mister Potter told me," Poppy shot back. Hermione shuttered. She forgot how Harry had grown up being raised by the most foul creatures humanly possible.
"Poppy, what time is it?" Hermione asked.
"Just before your last class my dear." Poppy explained. Hermione nodded and stood.
"I would like to attend my class if nothing else is needed of me." Hermione stated. Poppy nodded and Hermione left without another word.
Walking down the hallway Hermione began to sing quietly.
"I got a call today, at 3 A.M. It's what you didn't say that told me I could hurt again. So I hung up the phone and I screamed out loud. I felt so alone, should have said the things I'm thinking now." Hermione sang in a hushed tone.
When Hermione stepped into the dreaded potions class Hermione avoided her usual choice of seat in the front and sat in the middle. As so it wouldn't look like she was trying to not be called on, and so it didn't look like she wanted nothing more than to be called on. She was the first there, like usual so finding the perfect seat was easy. No sooner then had she sat then kids started pouring in and filled the seats around her.
Surprisingly Maria and Ginny took the seats on either side of her.
"Mione!" Maria and Ginny chirped. Hermione smiled weakly and closed her eyes halfway. Maria and Ginny didn't even seem to notice and began chatting amongst themselves. Tears began to weld up in her eyes as she remembered times she had shared with them and their parents.
Flashback:
"Welcome home honey! And who are they?" Hermione's mom chimed.
"Yes, please introduce us Hermione." Hermione's dad chuckled.
"Mum, Dad, this is Ginny, Harry, Maria, and Ron. They're friends from Hogwarts." Hermione introduced.
"Your first day on your first year and you've already made a clique of friends!" Hermione's mom gasped. Hermione flushed and the rest of her friends smiled.
"Miss Granger, Miss Granger...Miss Granger!" Snape boomed. Hermione's eyes shot fully open and she looked at him with fear.
"Will you please tell us the answer?" Severus asked. Hermione bit her bottom lip and she cleared her throat.
"Will you please repeat the question Professor Snape?" Hermione asked. Severus scowled.
"This is the kind of thing I will not tolerate in my class, you are seventh years for Merlin's sake!" Severus hissed. Hermione whimpered silently and slouched in her chair.
€
For the next two weeks Hermione was quiet and didn't speak to any one. She would sit by herself during class and pray silently not to be called on. Surprisingly she never was. At lunches she would sit where she normally would except she would refuse to speak to any of her fellow Griffendor.
Now it was their last day at Hogwarts.
"Hermione, are you feeling okay?" Harry asked. Hermione shrugged and continued to push her food around on her plate to make it seem as if she were eating.
"Oi, Hermione, you know it's unhealthy to eat very little." Ron told her. Hermione shot him a glance telling him she wasn't going to answer verbally.
"Mione, what's wrooong?" Maria whined. Hermione ignored her and kept twirling her fork in her pile of mash potatoes.
"Please talk to us Mione, we're worried about you." Ginny begged. Hermione shook her head and pushed her plate forward.
"What's been going on with you lately?" asked one of the newer Griffendors. Hermione shot him an icy glare causing him to shutter.
"My parents are dead," Hermione hissed in a whisper, "that's what's been going on with me." Hermione stood suddenly and walked out of the dining hall. Leaving her four friends and the shocked newcomer with open mouths and wide eyes.
Hermione began to run. She was so confused and distraught she didn't realize where she was going. She tripped and fell, luckily being caught by a shocked Severus.
"Miss Granger!" Severus gasped. Hermione held tight to the chest of his robe while he pulled her off of the floor. She began to cry.
"Not again...come on let's take you to Poppy." Severus sighed. Hermione shook her head and tightened her grip on his robe. She buried her face into his chest.
"Please...don't take me there, I don't want to go." Hermione pleaded.
"Then where do you want to go then?" Severus scoffed.
"I just don't want to be alone..." Hermione whimpered. Severus gaped at the young girl. She was but seventeen.
"Would you like me to call Potter and Weasley to keep you company?" Severus asked, trying not to get what he thought she meant stuck in his mind. Hermione shook her head.
"Who would you like to keep you company then?" Severus asked a bit annoyed.
"...You...please..." Hermione whispered.
"What?!" Severus asked partly hoping he'd heard wrong, partly hoping he'd heard right.
"I said...you," she whispered; lifting her face and looked at him, "Please...only for a little bit..." Severus sighed at her pleading. He couldn't reject her while she was in this state. This was so wrong. He had only loved Lily Potter in his whole life and now a child young enough to be his daughter was seeking comfort from him? Possibly even liking him?!
Now...where to take her? They certainly couldn't stay out here in the hall. He immediately ruled out either of the dorm lounges and Hermione's dorm room.
"Miss Granger..." he whispered.
"Hermione." Hermione whispered.
"Hermione...where would you like me to take you?" Severus asked, "To my classroom, perhaps?"
Hermione shook her head, "That classroom has bad memories." Severus sighed.
"There's only one place left, but I don't think it would be a good idea." Severus added.
"Where?" Hermione asked, a little bit of hope in her voice.
"My private chambers, but like I said, I dislike the idea of what somebody would say if they found you in there." Severus whispered. Hermione shuttered.
"I don't want to be alone or go back to my dorm yet..." Hermione whispered, "Will you please take me there?" Severus' eye twitched but he shrugged. Too late now you idiot, he thought. He attempted to get Hermione to walk for herself but she refused. Eventually he gave up and carried her to his chambers.
After he had placed her on the love seat and sat next to her. He started a fire in the hearth in front of them and placed his head in his hands.
"Miss Granger w-" Severus began, only to be cut off by Hermione.
"Hermione," she said again.
"Hermione, why in the world would you want to associate with me?" Severus asked.
"Because...you're the only one I can trust." Hermione whispered. Severus stared at her in confusion.
"Why in the world would you trust a man like me? I am an ex-Death Eater, you know this right?" Severus asked with a mocking tone. Hermione stook out her arm the distance between them and placed her hand on his.
"Yes...but that's why. You aren't afraid if people know your past, plus it always seemed like you were there if I ever needed you," she whispered with a weak smile. Severus could tell she wasn't really aware of what she was saying, but rather then giving her a potion to give her her mind back he just stared at the pale hand on his.
"Hermione...why do you let people treat you the way they do?" Severus asked before he could think. Hermione met his gaze and tears began to weld up around her eyes.
"Because I've got nothing to lose." Hermione answered letting the tears fall. Severus stared at the tears falling from her cheeks, he was never good with crying and still isn't.
"Hermione..." he whispered trying to beg her to stop. Instead she stared at him with a gaze practically pleading him to let her hug him. He sighed and nodded. She crawled a very short distance and hugged his arm. He stroked her silky hair with his long fingers.
"Professor Snape..." Hermione whimpered.
"Severus." Severus whispered.
"Severus...why is it that you are the only person who understands me?" Hermione asked. Severus laughed silently.
"Hermione...I don't understand anything about you," Severus whispered, "But I do know that you need to find a guy your own age." Severus sighed and gave her a potion to put her into her normal train of thought before she could answer. She drank the potion willingly, but her attitude didn't change. This was shocking for Severus, this was the instant kind.
"Guys my age are only interested in one thing." Hermione whispered. Severus sighed.
"Hermione, you do know that I haven't been in love or had feelings for any woman since Harry's mother, correct?" Severus asked. Hermione nodded.
"So why do you think you will be different then every other woman?" Severus asked with a little bit of hostility.
Hermione released Severus' arm and stood. She began to walk out the door but turned abruptly.
"I don't think I will and I'm sure I won't, but that doesn't mean I can't try." Hermione murmured. She walked out the door and closed the door silently behind her.
€
That night Hermione was restless. She couldn't get Severus' face out of her mind. She would constantly remind herself this couldn't be happening, only causing herself to cry because of the confusion.
"It's like half of me wants him but the other half doesn't want anything to do with him." Hermione whispered to herself. Hermione's senses were very sharp at that moment because she was deep in thought. She felt a spell placed on her and she grabbed her wand. She went to the door and opened it, wand ready. She was surprised to find Severus outside her door.
"Miss Granger," Severus whispered, "I just wanted to say goodbye. And I wanted to tell you that you are always welcome at Hogwarts, and to my chambers at any time."
Hermione tried to speak but couldn't. Severus removed the silencing spell and stared at her questioningly.
"I...uh...thank you," she mumbled, "Professor Snape." Severus stuck out his hand and Hermione took it. Severus kissed her knuckles and smiled.
"Farewell Miss Granger." Severus whispered turning to walk away.
Hermione sighed and climbed into her bed. She fell strait to sleep and was scared as to what she would do in the time to come...