Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I'm not making money off of this. J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. own the rights and I'm just making castles in their sandbox.

Author's Note: Hello my lovelies! Thank you to all the new readers and those of you following the story. I feel encouraged every time one of you favorites or follows. Updates have been pretty frequent and will continue to be until the end of April at least, since I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo. I don't have a beta, still, and as such, have no one to bounce ideas off of, and it will help me a lot if you guys tell me what you think. So as always, thank you for reading and please review!

Chapter 5

He was aware that he had been laying here for some time, but Severus wasn't exactly sure about how long that was. He had perceived people being nearby. Indistinct voices seemed to whisper around him. They seemed familiar but he wasn't able to place them.

One of the voices had been there much more than any other and he'd been able to catch snatches of what it said. It was feminine. At times, it seemed to be reading passages from a book. Not very long ago it had been there.

"I try to conjure, to raise my own spirits, from wherever they are. I need to remember what they look like. I try to hold them still behind my eyes, their faces, like pictures in an album. But they won't stay still for me, they move, there's a smile and it's gone, their features curl and bend as if the paper's burning, blackness eats them. A glimpse, a pale shimmer on the air; a glow, aurora, dance of electrons, then a face again, faces. But they fade, though I stretch out my arms towards them, they slip away from me, ghosts at daybreak. Back to wherever they are. Stay with me, I want to say. But they won't.
It's my fault. I am forgetting too much."

Oddly enough, Severus knew exactly how that felt. He had felt it before he had gone to the spirit realm. While he lay dying in the Shrieking Shack, he had tried to conjure up Lily's face and she had been fuzzy, slipping away from him. He tried now to conjure up a face that went with the voice reading to him from an unknown book.

All that he came up with was a niggling feeling of annoyance, though he wasn't annoyed at the speaker at the moment. He felt as if he had become insane with moments of sanity, that the voice brought to him like water to a parched throat. The words tugged at a place in his chest that had been nearly forgotten. He found himself longing for the times when he could make out that singular voice, for all that Severus seemed to know in between the times when he could make out what it was saying was darkness.

He felt that he may be in a coma, whether it was from his injury or from a potion he'd been given. As a potions master, Severus had a bit more than the average wizard's understanding of magical medicine. He remembered someone coming to him before he'd gone and spoke with Albus and Lily, but he couldn't recall who, or what they had given him.

In the darkness where he floated now, Severus concentrated. He concentrated hard. Who had been there? It was the voice, he felt. But who was it?

Severus had the same niggling feeling of annoyance and then slowly a vision began to materialize in the darkness. It was less than a ghost of an image. He strained forward, trying to get a better look. It was a woman. He had the impression of bushy hair, otherwise nondescript.

Willing the woman to turn around, he floated helplessly in the place that was nothing but his unconscious mind. Then she did. Her brown, bushy hair floated around her thin, pale face. The eyes sparkled with intelligence, also brown, and the mouth was curved into a smile. She wore muggle clothes: jeans, sneakers, and a pale blue jumper. It was Hermione Granger.

Why would Hermione Granger be visiting him in the hospital, he wondered. Not that he wasn't thankful she'd come to his rescue, now that he knew he would have another chance at a better life, but there didn't seem to be a reason for her continued visits. Severus was determined, however, not to look a gift horse in the mouth. He'd spent far too much time being suspicious of everyone's motives in his other life, and he was tired of it.

Aside from that, Hermione Granger, persistent little witch that she was, may be able to help break him out of this dismal hell.

Resolved to make his presence known the next time she visited, Severus settled back to plan. Granger's image shimmered away, and he was left once again in the impenetrable darkness.

After dinner Hermione had gone back to the Gryffindor girls' dorm and fairly fell into her bed. She woke early the next morning intending to scour the library for some of the books mentioned in the Magical Comas article. Ginny had walked in to remind her they were leaving for the memorial services for those that had died during the Battle. Including George, Hermione thought guiltily. Including Remus, and Tonks. How could I have forgotten?

Her friend had slipped back out as quietly as she had entered the room and Hermione was left alone to dress in silence. She put on her nicest and most somber robes. There was nothing to be done for her hair, really, so she twisted it up behind her head in a bun, attempting to slick down the small stray hairs that had willfully escaped everywhere.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Neville met up with her in the common room. The Weasleys were both exceptionally pale, today. Hermione walked up to Ron and squeezed his hand, which he returned gingerly. They exited the portrait hole together and made their way down to the front hall to meet up with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, George, Charlie, Bill and Fleur. The remaining members of the Weasley family had been staying in rooms prepared in the castle for those who had been in the battle. Many members of the Order of the Phoenix were still there, helping rebuild, recovering from injuries, and helping the Aurors track down some Death Eaters who were believed to be hiding out in the Forbidden Forest. The Auror department even had a base camp set up near the forest.

The rest of the day was a blur. Molly Weasley had broken down into a wailing fit of tears while Arthur and Charlie, who sat on either side of her tried to comfort her while their faces were also notably damp. There didn't seem to be anyone with dry eyes, actually. George had sat stony faced through the entire thing with silent tears coursing down his cheeks.

When the time came for Remus and Tonks' joint service, Hermione could hear little Teddy Lupin in the arms of his grandmother crying. He was far too young to understand what was happening, but even an infant could feel the palpable tension and sadness about the ceremonies. Andromeda Tonks rocked and shushed the babe while she herself was crying.

Afterward, there was a reception for friends and family of the deceased. The house elves had put forth their best effort at comfort food, but the Great Hall remained fairly silent until it was time for the families to take their loved ones to their final rest. Hermione had gone with the Weasleys, while Harry, as Teddy Lupin's godfather, had gone with the Tonks'. He had apologized profusely, but Molly was having none of it.

"It's your duty to go with Remus, Harry," she told him with a watery smile. "We all know you loved George, but you have a responsibility to that child. Today is hard in all kinds of ways." She had begun sniffling again and hurriedly walked away with Arthur going after her.

The Weasleys had a small family plot near Ottery St. Catchpole in St. Mary's cemetery. When Fabian and Gideon Prewett had been killed during the First Wizarding War, Molly had their remains taken to St. Mary's as well. She had requested that Fred's body lay next to theirs'.

Everyone had tea at the Burrow. Molly Weasley had seemed somewhat better as she bustled around the small kitchen with Fleur and the other two girls helping to lay out the tea things. They had taken the refreshments with a bit more chatter than earlier.

After they had helped clean the kitchen, Bill and Fleur had apparated back to Shell Cottage. Hermione had apparated back to Hogsmeade alone, to allow the family some time alone in their grief. She decided to spend a little time in the small town before she walked back to the castle.

Hogsmeade was busy. Aurors were everywhere here, as well, and the townsfolk were still setting things to right in some places. Shops and houses here had taken less damage than Hogwarts had, but they had by no means been left unmarked. The sign for the Hog's Head was laying on its side against the wall of the pub. The front window for Zonko's had been replaced but the paint around it was chipped and scorched and glass littered the street where it had been broken.

She decided to stop off in Tomes and Scrolls for a bit. The book shop had taken surprisingly little damage, Hermione was pleased to see. The shopkeeper greeted her as she went in.

A short balding wizard with brownish hair walked up to her, arms full of books. "Good afternoon, Miss. Can I help you find anything?"

"Can you point me in the direction of anything on memory charms and reversal?" she asked him.

He pointed her toward the back of the store. "I'm afraid the books are in a bit of a mess, but they're normally on the back row near the middle. They should be near Mnemone Radford's work if they're in the right place."

"Thanks so much."

Hermione made her way through the books. She skimmed over the titles, looking for anything that might have to do with memory loss retrieval, or memory charms in general. She'd like to be able to go find her parents soon, but memory charms were tricky to break. She remembered how Bertha Jorkins had never truly recovered from Peter Pettigrew breaking the memory charm placed on her.

Mostly the shelf seemed to be stocked with books she had already. All of the Standard Book of Spells works were present, of course. She finally found what she was looking for on the bottom shelf. Fill in the Blanks by Ruthbert Gerkwin, Modyfying the Memory by Mnemone Radford and The Ars Notoria translated by William Turner all looked promising and she took them to the counter.

The shopkeeper hurried behind the counter. "Found what you need, miss?"

"Yes Mr.- "

"Quentin."

"Thanks, Mr. Quentin. I think I'll have these three."

He rang them up on the till and started to bag them for her. "That'll be five galleons and fifteen sickles. Is that all for you?"

"You wouldn't happen to carry self-inking quills and maybe a field journal, would you?"

"We do, just a moment." The short man went and retrieved a small plainly bound book from the other side of the counter and pushed a container of quills and ink toward her. He added their price to the total while she picked out a quill and inkpot. She paid him and gathered up her purchases.

"Thanks for visiting Tomes and Scrolls, and come back to see us soon?" he called from behind a stack of scrolls as she left.

Hermione hurried on her way. The village clock told her it would soon be time for visiting hours in the hospital wing and she had already missed her first visit with Professor Snape today. She took the packages up to Gryffindor tower and dumped them unceremoniously on her bed, grabbed The Handmaid's Tale and then dashed back out of the room to the hospital wing.

The voice was back. Miss Granger's voice. Her soft voice floated to him in the dark, reading a passage from another book, or maybe the same book. Severus concentrated on her voice and willed himself to make contact with her.

Contrary to popular belief, one did not have to make eye contact with someone to enter their mind. Not if you were a skilled Legilimens practitioner. Which I am, thought Severus. He forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Eye contact just made things exponentially easier.

Severus Snape had some measure of pride that he was able to use legilimens wandlessly and without uttering a sound. In his weakened state, however, he seemed to be having no luck whatsoever. After straining for what felt like half an hour to break through his ersatz prison and make his awareness known to Miss Granger, he tired. If there were some way he could have made eye contact, he might have gotten through to her. In this state, I might as well put on a grass skirt and dance the hula for all she'd notice, he thought sourly.

Instead of being embittered, Severus resolved to enjoy the rest of her visit as much as he could. She had continued to read to him undisturbed, and he began to find himself a bit entranced with her voice. Miss Granger read softly, as if afraid of being overheard. She probably is, since she seems to be trying to change her voice for each character.

After a while longer, she abruptly stopped. He thought she'd gone when she began talking again. "Well, I'll be off then. Madam Pomfrey will be out to rouse me away soon, anyway." Severus realized she was speaking directly to him, instead of reading. That she was leaving. Part of him felt wistful, and wished she would stay longer. He shoved it away, and down deep. Severus was reluctant to admit he was starting to feel as if Miss Granger were the only thing standing between him and the precipice of madness.

"I'd stay longer if I could, but you know the rules." He started. She had nearly answered his own damned thoughts! "Don't worry, I'll be back later on. I'm just going to the library to see if I can find anything about waking you up."

Legilimency! Legilimens! Severus called out to her. He concentrated with all his might. Look up Legilimency!

Hermione had gathered up her bag and was walking out the door. Severus didn't see any of this, only heard what might have been retreating footsteps. Since her back was turned, she didn't see the static blue spark that ran over the pale hands resting on the coverlet.

A/N: The quoted passage at the beginning of the chapter is from The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I chose to have Hermione read it to Severus just because it's one of my favorite books and I'm super excited for the series premiere this month on Hulu.

I made up St. Mary's. I can't find anything about where the Prewetts are from and some people think that Fred and George were name in favor of Molly's brothers Fabian and Gideon. I thought it would be appropriate to bury Fred next to them.

Mr. Quentin is a character I made up just because a shop can't mind itself, can it? William Turner and Ruthbert Gerkwin as well.

Mnemone Radford is one of J. K. Rowling's creations. She was the witch who first developed memory charms, and was the first Ministry of Magic Obliviator. Her name probably came from the Greek goddess of memory, Mnemosyne.

I also invented the books, except for The Ars Notoria. I think that it's a part of the Lesser Key of Solomon, which I admit I don't know much about. The text apparently deals with attaining a great memory, though. It's available on esotericaarchives dot com in the Latin and English translation if you want to look at it.

I hope you enjoyed reading, please review!