Insomnia happened, enjoy.

There, the Snape scene was altered, sorry I was sleep addled when I wrote it and it took a few days for me to get around my work schedule to fix it.

For crying out loud people.

London was burning, again.

They'd been struck by another nuke last night, a five megaton Minuteman sent by some warlord from whatever the fuck was left from the colonies, and Haley silently cursed the stupid sons of bitches who had gained control of the said weapon.

"Did they even give a reason?" She asked Dennis who ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair before shaking his head slowly.

"None My Lady, I think it was just another splinter group who found an old outpost and decided 'fuck it' and fired at the closest foreign nation. Again."

"I am getting really tired of this bullshi-" Her growing tirade stopped as the underground fortress shook and she glanced at her technomancer in question. Dennis Creavey just dropped his head on the smart screen in front of him and swore for about thirty seconds in German before speaking directly to her.

"The Russians just hit London with another nuke..."

Haley gritted her teeth before turning away from her trusted adviser all while trying to keep her temper under restraint, "I hate everything about everything right now. I just want to make that clear."

"Ditto," he groused out before finally lifting his head from the screen and getting back to work, after all the job needed done and most of his apprentices were...*sigh,* killed in action.

Haley left the technomancer behind and soon entered her office that was thankfully several hundred meters below the surface, and pulled her desk drawer open soon planting a bottle of liquor before her and apparently decided to have a staring contest with it.

Then her eldest daughter entered the room ruining said contest.

Jasmine stared down at the half empty bottle a moment, pulling a cinnamon strand of hair behind her ear as her emerald green gaze met Haley's and then she sat herself in the visitors chair letting out a sigh of defeat.

"They're doing it again mum..."

Haley just nodded, poured a glass of whiskey, and pushed it towards her daughter before drinking directly from the bottle itself.

"Yeah..."

Jasmine stared at her mother for a few moments before letting out an exasperated snort, "We're fucked, aren't we?"

Haley lifted her head and then grinned at her daughter while playfully stating, "Language young lady."

Jasmine scoffed as she picked up her glass and finished it off in one gulp and quickly sliding it back towards Haley, "Oh fuck off mum it isn't like mom is around to chide me right now. So refill my glass and tell me exactly how screwed we are and what we plan to do about it."

Haley smiled and did just that, more proud of her daughter than she thought possible as she just simply nodded along at the ongoing explanation. Then the room exploded as a deep penetration bomb detonated in the center of the DMLE sending her daughters now decapitated body towards her in a spray of blood and viscera.

She was screaming, enraged, and pained beyond words, Haley knew that much at least as she was desperately grabbing for the wand that was not holstered to her wrist for some reason when a firm and caring voice burnt through the haze of her nightmare.

"Haley, HALEY! Wake up! Whatever you're going through it isn't real, it is only a dream!"

If only that were the truth, if only her daughters were still...

Haley blinked and her mind seemed to clear a bit.

She snapped up and stared at the concerned gaze of Severus Snape, and realized she was truly safe under his roof, he had after all practically demanded she stay the night so he was sure she wouldn't disappear like a fae in the mists of morning.

The thought of someone caring about her that wasn't her bookworm or children made her break out crying then.

How...embarrassing...

Severus though didn't hesitate when he wrapped his arms around her in a hug and her only response was to dig her fingers into his back tighter then was necessary as she sobbed out unintelligible cries into his shoulder.

She sat there for a time, crying to herself while the man she had despised during her early Hogwarts career tried to calm her down before truly getting to know her and she could not help marveling at the audacity of this situation.

Though... Severus gave very excellent hugs so she wasn't going to complain, maybe mum had been on to something there before they both fucked it all up.

Eventually she stopped freaking out and muttered, "I dreamed about one of my daughters... And emotionally, rather than intellectually realized they very well may never exist now... No matter what I do."

Severus may be callous, but in the matters of parents who actually cared about their children...

"I'm so sorry..."

Haley began crying again, but it was a quiet gentle thing this time and she held her new mentor as close as she possibly could until she fell back to sleep in his arms.

"You look tired," Hermione said to her best friend. Well...her only friend.

She only needed the one regardless, quality over quantity after all.

Haley gave her a wan smile while shrugging lightly, "Nightmares Mia, dreamed I had a big loving family, and they were all torn from me and I was left alone without anyone to care about. Thankfully my uncle was there to calm me down."

Hermione gasped, grasped Haley's hands and wove her fingers through her own, "Are you ok?"

Haley stared at her a moment then nodded while sniffing slightly trying to ignore the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, "Yeah...I think I'll be alright as long as you are around."

Hermione gave her best friend a brilliant smile as she nodded cheerfully, "Of course! I will always be there for you!"

Haley looked like she was about to fall apart as she nodded and glanced away, "I know, it's who you are my precocious little bookworm."

Hermione paused at that, tilted her head to the side, and smiled, "I'm your bookworm?"

Haley smiled slightly as she averted her gaze, "Sorry, just the way I see you..."

"I like it," Hermione stated cheerfully, then she stood up and glanced around the library, "I need to swap books out for our next assignment, I'll be right back."

As she walked away Haley's gaze followed the young witch before she allowed herself to smile, "It'll be worth it... I just have to be patient... I... hope... I hope I don't ruin your life again..."

If you couldn't guess it, Haley is not in a good place mentally when she isn't actively manipulating people. To be blunt, Hermione is her Kryptonite and that is going to be a problem later on.