The next morning, Hermione woke gently. At first, the young witch allowed her eyes to flutter open slowly, still considering succumbing to sleep again. After a few moments, Hermione opened her eyes and sleepily took in the dark and silent atmosphere around her. The elements reminded her of quiet Sunday mornings, when her and Ron had nowhere to be and the usually busy streets were nearly abandoned. The couple would always sleep in late, then they would enjoy brunch and tea before spending the rest of the day doing whatever they pleased. It was the one day they could give into their impulses; maybe have a movie marathon, try cooking something new, go shopping – whatever caught their interest. Hermione smiled at the thought.
Then, like a slap to the face, the events of the prior day came flooding back into Hermione's mind and she suddenly bolted upward, abandoning the warmth of the covers. Hermione quickly slid from the bed – gasping slightly at how cold the stone floor beneath her bare feet was – and made for the door, which she pulled open immediately. She found herself looking out into the sitting room of Snape's private quarters at Hogwarts, seemingly solidifying the reality that she was still stuck in the past. A swift glance at the clock hanging in the sitting room informed her it was nearly eleven o'clock, much to Hermione's dismay; she was never one to sleep in so late.
Hermione approached the closed door that she knew led to Snape's bedroom and knocked carefully, but there was no answer. Knowing Snape would not still be sleeping at eleven o'clock on a Wednesday, Hermione assumed he had already departed. However, just to be sure of her assumption, Hermione also called out for the wizard as she spared a glance around his Hogwarts home, but this only further proved her theory when she found no trace of Snape. Hermione recalled that there was usually only a single Defence Against the Dark Arts class taught on Wednesdays, which was for third year students and was during fourth period. Glancing back at the clock, Hermione noted that within the next hour, second period would come to an end and that lunch would begin in the Great Hall. Unsure of where Snape was currently (despite his free schedule) or when he would return, Hermione returned to her room to fetch a few of the items Snape had requested a house-elf to pick up for her the night before.
Hermione showered and dressed slowly, taking her time on even the most mundane of tasks. When she was finished, the young witch was dressed in a dark grey sweater and matching skirt (each with red and gold accents representative of Gryffindor House) complete with black dress shoes, black pantyhose, and Gryffindor House robes. She had also settled for tying her messy brown hair back in a ponytail. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she surveyed herself once more in the bathroom mirror. She now looked like she had in her Sixth Year, which had been the whole point behind the ensemble. If in the instance that "future" Hermione happened to be seen by someone other than Snape, they would hopefully mistake her for "past" Hermione. Though Hermione planned on avoiding that situation at all costs, she couldn't help but be careful in the details. Regardless, the school uniform made her feel like a child, a feeling she wasn't quite fond of. A growling in her stomach distracted her from this thought, however.
It was now just a little past noon, and Hermione was starving, but she hesitated to summon for a house-elf. Snape had been the one to summon the house-elves the night before, and Hermione wondered how it would look to the house-elves if they responded to her requesting food from Snape's private quarters. With the idea of simply strolling into the Great Hall for a meal obviously being out of the question, Hermione wasn't sure of what to do. She needed someone who could provide her with the innerworkings of Hogwarts when Snape was absent, someone she could trust who wouldn't reveal her presence in the past.
"Dobby," Hermione gasped softly, the thought completely blindsiding her as she suddenly remembered that Dobby had become a kitchen worker at Hogwarts in the winter of her Fourth Year.
Without further delay, Hermione summoned for a very specific little house-elf to join her in Snape's private quarters. It was only a few moments later that a loud pop sounded in the sitting room and Hermione found a familiar creature no more than three-feet tall with large green eyes standing before her.
"Miss Granger!" the house-elf exclaimed in a high-pitched voice as he bowed deeply.
"Dobby!" Hermione grinned, feeling tears unexpectantly sting her eyes at the sight of the house-elf.
Before his death, Hermione had rarely interacted with Dobby, but that fact did not deter the wave of emotions she now found herself fighting. Dobby had been a loyal friend to Harry and had therefore been a loyal friend to each of Harry's friends. Hermione recalled how she had attempted to free the Hogwarts house-elves in her Fifth Year by hiding pieces of clothing she had knitted around Gryffindor Tower. Unfortunately, this plan only resulted in the house-elves refusing to clean Gryffindor Tower, thus leaving Dobby as the only willing participant who happily took and wore each of Hermione's knitted clothes as he cleaned. In addition to being a loyal friend, Dobby had also been an incredibly brave house-elf, occasionally putting himself in danger for the safety of others. This act eventually cost Dobby his life after he saved Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Malfoy Manor many years ago. It sent chills down Hermione's spine to think what might have happened – what Bellatrix might have done – if Dobby had not been there. Now, Hermione had to concentrate to hide her emotions as she looked at Dobby, who was oblivious to the fact that the young witch felt she owed him a great debt.
"Dobby, I need you to do something for me."
"Anything, miss! Dobby will do anything!"
Hermione carefully explained to the house-elf that no one could know she was in Snape's private quarters, leaving out any details of why. She then explained how there were things that she may need during her stay that only Dobby could get for her, but Dobby had to do it secretly. Finally, Hermione asked the house-elf to bring her something to eat for lunch in return for more knitted clothes in the near future.
"Yes, miss!" the house-elf exclaimed with a nod once Hermione had finished. "Dobby will keep miss's secret and bring her lunch!"
With another loud pop, the house-elf vanished, off to help Hermione before she could properly thank him. Once Dobby had disappeared, Hermione let her emotions finally wash over her, taking a few moments to sob silently into her hands before eventually regaining her composure. She knew that seeing Dobby regularly would take an emotional toll on her, and she knew it was a risk to let someone else in on her secret (even if Dobby didn't have all of the information), but she also knew that Dobby – being a house-elf – would keep her secret and help her in any way possible. It was worth the leap she was taking.
It was less than twenty minutes later when Dobby returned with a spread of food for Hermione, including sandwiches, roast chicken, boiled potatoes, vegetables, and pumpkin juice. It was too much food, Hermione knew, but she told herself that she could save things. With the amount of food Dobby had brought her, she was sure she wouldn't starve over the next few days.
"Thank you, Dobby," Hermione said with an amused smile as she surveyed the food now placed before her on the dining table in the kitchen.
"You is welcome, miss! Dobby is proud to help!"
"That will be all for now, Dobby. I'll let you know if I need anything else."
After the house-elf's second departure, Hermione enjoyed a ham sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice. She then packaged the rest of the food and placed it in Snape's refrigerator, which had previously been empty.
Hermione spent the remainder of the afternoon browsing Snape's many bookshelves, occasionally pulling books and reading a few pages from them. For dinner, Hermione heated a serving of roast chicken and vegetables, sitting down for another meal with still no sign of her former professor. Following dinner, Hermione sat down at the desk in her room and wrote out a work agenda for when she returned to the Ministry, unsure of when she would be able to return and how much she may have missed by then, but insistent on being organized nonetheless.
"They'll have sacked me by then, for all I know," Hermione grumbled as she looked over the list once she had finished.
Throughout her various activities, Hermione found herself easily fatigued despite none of the activities being strenuous. There were moments where she even felt light-headed and had to rest. These events, coupled with the fact that Hermione had slept in, concerned her. She pondered if her exhaustion was due to the time travel, but she decided to write it off as a side effect from the stress of the situation for the time-being.
It was nearly nine o'clock when Hermione began to grow increasingly worried at Snape's absence. She understood that Snape had his own schedule, and that that schedule was none of her concern, but it still worried her that she hadn't seen him all day. The witch sat in the sitting room rapidly tapping her right foot against the stone floor or repeatedly pacing back and forth past the coffee table, all while pondering if she should do something – and if so, what? At half-past-nine, an incredibly agitated Hermione made up her mind, grabbed her wand, and ventured out into the vast corridor that sat on the other side of the entrance of Snape's private quarters. Once outside of the door, Hermione took a shaky breath, immediately questioning her decision to leave the only place that was safe for her. It was past curfew and she looked like any other Hogwarts student who was apparently snooping around the castle, and she had no idea where Snape would even be at this hour; her impulsivity was quickly mounting to a poor choice.
"Lumos," she whispered, the tip of her wand illuminating immediately.
Trying to clear her mind, Hermione walked quickly down the corridor, taking a left, then a right, then another left until she reached the door that led to Snape's office. The door was closed, but to Hermione's immense relief, she could see light streaming from the small crack between the floor and the bottom of the door. She momentarily held her breath and carefully placed her ear against the door. When she heard nothing after a few still moments, Hermione pulled back, raised her left fist, and knocked. A bit of shuffling could be heard from the other side of the door, then the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Hermione took a small step backward just as the door swung open with a loud creak and the doorway filled with the shape of a man who was dressed in flowing black robes.
"Miss Granger, do you have any idea what time it–"
Snape faltered as his eyes focused on Hermione's face, his stern gaze softening for a moment.
"Your counterpart was dressed nearly identically today. It's very convincing," he continued, a small smirk pulling at his mouth. "Your face gives you away."
Hermione wasn't quite sure how to answer. The changes in his voice and in his manner caught her off guard; she hadn't expected him to be even remotely pleasant to her after the way dinner had ended the night before. Then again, the way he had commented on her face seemed to have had a hidden meaning to it.
"May I come in?" Hermione finally asked.
Snape stepped aside, allowing Hermione to pass over the threshold before closing the door behind her. Hermione noted that there was a new stack of papers perched on the corner of Snape's desk from when she had been in his office the day before. From the look of the quill and the fresh jar of ink sitting nearby, she assumed she had interrupted him grading students' essays.
"I'm sorry for interrupting," Hermione said. "I was just… worried."
"My whereabouts really are not a concern of yours, Miss Granger," Snape answered resolutely as he returned to his desk.
"And I don't want them to be a concern of mine," Hermione said as she took a seat across from him. "It's just that you've been gone all day and it's late."
"I have classes to teach, Miss Granger. My life does not revolve around you."
"Your class does not take all day," Hermione combatted, earning an eyebrow raise from the wizard. "Are you telling me you were here in your office all day?"
"I returned to my sleeping quarters after breakfast but found that you were still asleep. I assumed you could take care of yourself; perhaps I was mistaken."
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Professor. I'm currently Head of the Department for–"
"–the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Snape interrupted. "Yes, you have mentioned that. Tell me, Miss Granger, is the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures known for sleeping well into the morning?"
"I don't usually do that!" Hermione snapped back quickly.
"And the HolyHead Harpies sweatshirt?" Snape sneered. "Is that proper Ministry attire in the future?"
"I was only wearing that to support Ginny!" Hermione shot back before quickly clapping her hands over her mouth as she realized what she had said.
"Ah, so Miss Weasley's obsession for quidditch proves to not be in vain after all, hm?" Snape reasoned, much to Hermione's horror.
"I–you weren't supposed to–you made me–"
"I didn't make you do anything, Miss Granger. You insist that you must keep the future a secret, yet you regularly provide me with information from the future."
"I have done no such thing!" Hermione blanched. "That was an accident!"
"Let's see," Snape raised his hands to make a show of the counting he was doing on his fingers. "According to you: in your time, the year is 2002; you're twenty-three-years-old; you work for the Ministry of Magic as Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; you're married to Weasley – and have been for just over two years; and you were sent back in time by an improperly destroyed Time-Turner."
"I had to tell you those things so you would believe me!" Hermione snapped back as she listened to him repeat the information she had given him upon her arrival in the past.
"You didn't have to tell me anything, and by doing so, you gave me more information than what you voluntarily told me," Snape said shortly. "In addition to the aforementioned material, you told me that you left Hogwarts at the end of the Spring Term in 1999 and immediately began working for the Ministry. However, you should have finished your Seventh Year in 1998. Knowing that the Hermione Granger would never willingly leave Hogwarts at the end of her Sixth Year, I think it's safe to assume that you were forced to leave and that you then returned to complete your Seventh Year in the fall of 1998. Also knowing that the Hermione Granger would only leave Hogwarts to help her friends, I think it's also safe to assume that Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley departed with you, though I highly doubt they returned to complete their Seventh Year like you did."
"Now, knowing what the Dark Lord has set in motion this year and my own role in it," Snape continued, a fierce glint in his eyes. "I'm certain that you three left to finish what was started. You returning to complete your Seventh Year just a year later tells me that you three succeeded. Am I incorrect in this reasoning, Miss Granger?"