AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't own Harry Potter or anything from that universe. Please thank J.K. Rowling for the magic.

What on earth was she lying on? Merlin have mercy, whatever it was needed some serious padding. The sharp angles that felt suspiciously like body parts were digging into her the tender flesh of her back and she winced. It was moving and poking her, repeatedly, in the same spots. If whatever the hell it was didn't stop, she would have some nasty bruises later.

At that thought, Hermione's mind came racing back to attention.

She was alive.

She was alive.

The crystal ball, the strange artifact that had shown her the deepest, most desperate desires of her heart, hadn't killed her after all.

Her eyes snapped open and she recognized her surroundings immediately.

What the hell…?

"Will you get the fuck off of me!" Someone growled from beneath her.

Ah, so she was lying on a person.

Hermione rolled off of the bony body straight onto the dusty rugs of the Hogwarts library. She chanced a glance at her palms to find that they were whole and unmarred, not a burn mark in sight. She then noticed that her Ministry robes were gone, replaced by the simple black ones she wore to and from work instead. In her left pocket, she could feel the heavy weight of the crystal ball resting against her thigh.

Well, at least she still had it with her.

"Where the bloody fuck did you come from?"

Hermione's pulse raced. She would know that voice anywhere, even if it did sound slightly…

She lifted her gaze to see a very young, very alive Severus Snape glaring down his aquiline nose at her. Her eyes widened and all rational, logical thought went straight out the window.

"Severus!" Hermione gasped as she threw her arms around his bony shoulders. "Holy shit, you're… you're alive! You're here!"

His body froze under her touch and his voice was like ice as he hissed, "Unhand me this instant."

Cursing herself for her overzealous reaction, Hermione let her arms fall away and she moved back so she could look at him properly, "Sorry, I just… I can't believe it's really you."

His elegant black eyebrow lifted just like she remembered, "You know me."

It wasn't a question but she found herself nodding anyway, "Of course I do."

He eyed her, up and down, with thinly-veiled contempt, "I've never met you before."

Again, not a question, "…It would seem not."

Those bottomless obsidian eyes narrowed, "Potter and Black put you up to this?"

She frowned in confusion for a moment before it finally dawned on her. The young Severus dressed in Slytherin robes, the Hogwarts library, the mention of James and Sirius…

Holy fucking Merlin, she'd gone back in time.

Or perhaps, the crystal ball had just caused her to go insane.

...Though she highly doubted it. That only left one possibility.

Hermione slumped back against the bookshelf behind her, running her hands over her face, "Severus… I know how this is going to sound but…" She looked up at him. "What year is it?"

He hesitated for a moment before he crossed his lanky arms over his chest, "1975."

She let her head fall back against the books, "I was afraid you were going to say something like that."

It was quiet for a long time before he said anything, "Whatever you're trying to pull, it won't work. So you can just run back to Potter and Bla—"

Hermione's head snapped up as she growled, "I forgot just how ridiculously paranoid you were."

"If you know me like you say, then surely you know my paranoia is justified."

She sighed, he was right of course, "Right. Sorry."

There was another moment of silence as they watched each other. He was eying her with suspicion, like she was a dangerous creature who would spring at any moment, but she just wanted to commit every angle of his face, of his body to memory. Time travel was even less predictable than magic was at the best of times, so she had no idea how much time she had with him. If this was the only time she would ever see him, alive, again, she wanted to remember it for the rest of her life. If this was the only time… she wanted to tell him exactly what she thought. That way, if she was somehow sent back home, perhaps he would remember the things she said; maybe he would remember it was her when they eventually met again and maybe…

"You look so different," she said eventually, eliciting a look of surprise from him. "In your memories… well, it's obvious that you never really saw yourself clearly."

Severus' brow furrowed, "You've seen my memories?"

Hermione's face flushed with embarrassment at just how many times she'd seen his memories, "Once or twice."

It was silent again.

"You're much more handsome than you remembered."

He snorted, rolling his eyes, "Now I know Potter and Black have something to do with this."

She ignored his comment, her eyes trained on his face as she spoke softly, "I've missed you so much."

Severus halted, his eyes catching hers with a look of disbelief on his face, "What?"

Tears threatened her and she rubbed her face quickly to dispel them. She took a few calming breaths before she felt steady enough again, "It has been a ridiculously long nine years without you barking at me."

He looked deep in concentration for a moment before he looked back up at her, "Let's say that, hypothetically, I believe that you're from… another time." The words sounded strangled even as he forced them out. "Does that mean…? Were we…?"

Hermione gave a rueful laugh, "No. Not even close."

"But you wanted to be."

Always so perceptive. She just sighed.

Severus shifted uncomfortably on the floor, "Why didn't I…? I mean, er, you're pretty enough and I…"

Hermione chuckled a little, "I'm not used to you being quite so eloquent."

He flushed and scowled.

"You were much older than me," she admitted quietly, taking mercy on him. "And I never got the chance to tell you that I…" She cleared her throat. "It never came up. There were always more… pressing matters at hand."

Severus tucked a lock of long, silky hair behind his ear, "Ah… I see," there was a tint of pink to his cheeks. "Then don't… don't you think I should know your name?"

"Hermione," she supplied. "Hermione Granger."

As quickly as he'd tucked his hair back, he shook it out again to hide his face a little, "So assuming I do, hypothetically, believe your admittedly ridiculous assertions… did you come back for me, Hermione Granger?"

Hermione shook her head and reached into her pocket, dragging out the glass sphere for him to see, "It was an accident. I touched this by mistake."

"The… the Wishing Stone?" He recoiled from the item instantly, his eyes wide. "Where the fuck did you get that?"

She was puzzled by his reaction, "It isn't mine. I work in the Department of Mysteries. I'm an Unspeakable."

If possible, his eyes widened further, "And you just touched it?! Are you mad?! Did you have a death wish?!"

She frowned, "I didn't know what it was. I just… I saw something inside of it and I…"

"Of course you saw something inside of it!" He shouted. "It's the fucking Wishing Stone! It showed you exactly what you wanted to see so you would grab it!"

Severus shoved the offending item back into her pocket only seconds before a much younger looking Madam Pince came around the stacks to give them a harsh shush.

As soon as she was gone, Severus rounded on her, his voice low, "You have to take that to the Headmaster. You have to tell him what happened so he can get you to the Ministry."

"But I don't understa—"

"I've only ever read about it," he said urgently, "and there wasn't much to read other than the story we all already know, but there was enough that I know you need to get rid of it and get home as soon as you can. Before it ensnares you further."

"I've never heard a story about a Wishing Stone before; I don't know anything about it. My parents were muggles."

He ran a hand through his hair, "From what I remember, it all started with a Fae. You know, like a fairy?" When Hermione nodded, he continued. "It's said she had fallen in love with a wizard who had never so much as lain eyes on her, so she sold her soul to the Dark in exchange for one wish. She wasn't evil or malicious and she never intended to bind the wizard to her against his will, she only wanted the wish to provide her the opportunity to gain his love… but the wish was granted to her by the Dark and it wanted her to corrupt her soul so it could be claimed. So the wish twisted her heart's desire and bound their souls."

She felt dizzy, "But…"

Severus held up a hand to stop her, "The book said that the wizard didn't want her; he was already in love with someone else. But since their souls were bound by the wish, he no longer had a choice and was forced to be with the Fae against his will for eternity. Unable to stand the thought, he killed himself."

Her eyes widened.

"It's said that the Fae let her grief consume her until her heart was nothing more than a hardened, shiny glass stone that she ripped out of her chest. And when the Dark came to claim her soul, she refused to go and instead trapped her own soul within the stone," Severus hesitated. "The story says the stone wanted to be found, to be used by someone so she could finally atone for what happened to the man she loved. But… but she only had enough light left in her heart to grant half of a wish."

"Half a wish?" She repeated, turning the words over in her mind. She tried to remember what she'd been thinking, been wishing for when she held the crystal ball to her chest.

I would have made him happy…

I would have done anything for him to be happy…

The entire wish would be great, but honestly either half seemed just fine with her.

The globe warmed in her pocket, seemingly to try and get her attention, and she pulled it out again. The second inscription, the rhyme, appeared once more and she ran the pad of her finger over it thoughtfully. "What if I do what it says? What then?"

Her meaning seemed to register to him then, "What did you wish for?" He grabbed her wrist a little too tightly. "It clearly has to do with me. What the fuck did you wish for?"

Something seeped from the glass into her skin, washing over like a blanket of comfort. Perhaps it was the Fae's soul, reaching out to let her know she was prepared to help. Half a wish? That would be marvelous. Severus would be happy, which is the only thing she ever really wanted for the past nine years anyway. She knew how horrible his life was, she had seen it firsthand through his memories. She knew the horrors he would be forced to endure with nothing anchoring him, nothing making it all worth it. She knew just how bitter and jaded how would become right until the moment he was murdered by Nagini.

But he could be happy. She could give that to him. She didn't know what that would mean for her, but she could give him the one thing he always wanted, needed, deserved.

All it would take was a kiss.

Hermione looked up into his dark, panic-stricken eyes and she knew he knew. She could see it on his face. He knew she'd made a decision.

"Hermione, don't…!"

Her fingers gripped the Wishing Stone tighter and she pressed her lips gently against his.

The world around them fell away until, once again, there was nothing.