A Time to Love

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just using the wonderful world of JK Rowling to create my own little fantasy.

A/N: This story is not compliant with the books… Also, this is my first fanfic ever. Reviews would be helpful and appreciative, but please no flames.

Chapter 3

Severus watched as the scene unfolded before him. Granger started having a panic attack just by the sight of him. He knew as soon as he saw her eyes start to roll into the back of her head that she was about to pass out. Using his cat like reflexes, he was able to catch her before she fell onto the hard, stone, floor.

Minerva quietly transfigured one of the plush, red chairs into a small couch, only large enough for Hermione to lie upon. Severus gently laid her down, with a look of concern in his eyes that both, Albus and Minerva notice. They gave each other a small smile, and a knowing nod.

Severus was enraptured by how angelic the young girl... no, he corrected himself, how the young woman looked. As he was laying her down, he thought to himself "since when did the frizzy haired, buck tooth, know-it-all turn into this beautiful creature?" Hermione had matured quite a bit over the past year or so. Her hair had finally smoothed out into long, silky, tendrils, and her teeth were pearly white as well as evenly proportioned. Also, she had filled out in other areas as well. She now had curves, her body had formed a nice hourglass figure and Severus noticed that her bust line had also enlarged to a nice full C or even D cup. However, he didn't have much longer to ponder this thought, when the wonderful boy-who-lived and his trusty sidekick started making a ruckus.

Harry and Ron watched on as if everything were in slow motion. They stood in one spot with their mouths gaping open, until reality caught back up with them. Their faces turned fire-engine red, and contorted with rage as the realization that their best friend was currently in the arms the backstabber Snape.

"Let go of her you filthy piece of shit" yelled Ron. With that, both he and Harry tried lunging after Snape. They had no wands, but from years of quidditch practice both boys were pretty muscular and knew how to fight in hand-to-hand combat. However, they found themselves rooted to their spots, unable go after Snape or even move at all. Dumbledore had known this would be the young wizard's reactions and had cast an immobulus on the boys, rendering them motionless.

"Boy's please calm down. I know your upset and have every right to be, but it's time you found out the truth of what happened. Now when I release the spell, I want you to calmly take a seat and listen to what I have to say. And please no interruptions until I'm completely finished," said Dumbledore.

The boys finally calmed down, and took their seats, each wondering how in the world their old headmaster was still alive.

Dumbledore then began his tale, "Now, I know you presumed me to be deceased; however, that is not case. That day in the astronomy tower you saw Professor Snape cast the killing curse; avada kedavra, on me correct?" Harry and Ron both nodded yes. "Well the truth is boys, we knew about the attack planned for Hogwarts ahead of time; and thus, devised a plan of action. After a thorough amount of research and some very ancient, powerful spells, we created a dummy to impersonate me. It was the dummy you saw get hit with the spell on the tower, and not I. In doing this, we were able to solidify Severus's allegiance to Voldemort, and also give Tom a little false hope that he was one step closer in winning this war. To seal the deal, Professor Snape fled to Voldemort's lair with the rest of the death eaters to lay low for a little while until he could safely return to Hogwarts without being captured."

Harry and Ron had dumbfounded expressions on their faces. They were in awe that such an intricate plan had been created and executed so thorough. They had spent months mourning for their headmaster, only to find out now that he was really truly alive.

"Now I know you must be about to overflow with questions, so you may do so now" said Dumbledore.

After a few minutes in idle silence, Harry was the first to regain the use of his voice. "Sir, why wait till now to tell us all of this? Why couldn't you have told us earlier?" Harry's voice began to quaver. "We mourned for you for months, and now you show up along with the man who supposedly murdered you! How did you expect us to handle this?"

Dumbledore's normal, twinkling, blue eyes dulled a little at the pain in Harry's voice. He then said, "Harry, I'm sorry we couldn't inform you earlier, but even within the castle walls Voldemort has eyes and ears. We had to make it look as real as possible, if you would have known the truth; you wouldn't have acted in a true mournful way. Only a select, few members of the Order of the Phoenix knew of what really happened. Those people; not including myself, were: Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Lucius Malfoy."

At hearing the name Lucius Malfoy, Ron seemed to snap out of whatever zombie like trance and shout, "Bloody hell! Why in the name of Merlin's balls did Malfoy Sr. know about it? He's the poster boy for death eaters, are you nutters? He cannot be trusted!"

Finally after sitting in silence, McGonagall finally spoke up with a look of exasperation on her face. "Mr. Weasley, after all that you have heard here tonight, are you really that shocked to hear Lucius's name brought into this? For your information, Mr. Malfoy is also a spy for the order and is a very trusted member! Without his help, many innocent people would have lost their lives."

Ron looked down at the floor as if he were a small child being reprimanded by a parent. He then took a deep, calming, breath and replied, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. This has just been a whirlwind of a meeting and I guess I lost my head a little. But professor, you've just got to understand our point of view of the situation. For our entire lives we grew up thinking of Malfoy as a complete, arrogant, git. It's going to take a little while to let bygones be bygones."

It was in that moment that all the occupants in the room realized just how much Ron had matured. If faced with this type of information over a year ago, Ron would have just blown up and refused to face facts, instead of being as level headed as he was now. In that instant, the three adults in the room acknowledged the fact that these kids have had to grow up much faster than any other children should have.

Harry then once again decided to speak up, "Professor Dumbledore, you still never answered my earlier question, why did you decide to tell us all of this information now?"

"Thank you for reminding me Harry," replied Dumbledore. "We've decided to tell you now because you will be residing here in the castle along with Severus and I over the summer. We also have it on good authority that the Lord Voldemort plans on attacking sometime within the next year, and we want you all to be in tip top fighting shape, since it'll be you three most likely targeted during the battle." Dumbledore's eyes then lit up once again, twinkling madly as he said, "We'll discuss further details more thoroughly in just a bit, but I do believe we should wake Miss. Granger and fill her in on everything first. Severus, if you wouldn't mind doing the honors?"

"Of course not headmaster," replied Severus. And with that Snape removed a small, dark green, cylinder vial of smelling salts from the inside pocket of his robes and uncorked it. As soon as the salts inside mixed with the oxygen in the air it emitted a strong aroma. He held it in front of Hermione's face and gently wafted it in front of her nose.

Slowly, Hermione started to awaken. Her eyes started to flutter open as she smelled a strong, vaguely familiar, smell. She then started to rise from her supine position on the couch. Finally, she was able to start taking in her surroundings. Spotting Harry and Ron, she smiled and said, "Guys, you will never believe the craziest dream I just had. I dreamed we were in a meeting with Professor McGonagall, and then Professor Dumbledore and Snape flooed in and…" She stopped mid sentence when she finally realized just where she was and who the other occupants in the room were.

Severus realized that she looked a little woozy, as if she were going to pass out once again, and took action before it could. "Miss. Granger!" Snape shouted. "Before you decide to once again pass out, we have some things to discuss first. So please, would the know-it-all, Gryffindor Princess please remain conscious long enough to have this little chit chat. Then you may resume your state of unconsciousness for as long as you wish."

Severus hated that he had to resort to his old snarky self to get her to listen, but hey, it worked now didn't it?

Hermione looked taken aback, she couldn't determine if she was angry or happy. Angry for being talked to in such a way or happy that it was Professor Snape's usual, bastard self, being the one doing the talking. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "What in Circe's name is going on here?"

Dumbledore relayed the information to her that he had told the boys earlier.

Hermione just sat in shock and asked, "So what are the plans for the summer?"

Thanks for the reviews you guys! They encouraged me to write another chapter (which I tried to make a little longer). Also, I know there hasn't been a lot of SS/HG yet, but I will be getting to it soon. Please be patient with me. Also, let me know how you like the story as it goes along.