Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
VIII - Saving her
"It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection"
-Voltaire
Hermione slowly rubbed her eyes, trying to get used to the dim light that came to her from afar. She leaned on a tree that was on her right, and began to move toward the light that seemed to call her. It was hard to guess where she was exactly, but she was sure to be in a forest. The thick cloud of branches and leaves that she had discovered a second earlier when she looked up to the sky was a proof enough. She had walked for several minutes before seeing the light that seemed to approach more and more. Since then, she kept it as a benchmark in order to not get lost.
Suddenly, she heard a sound of footsteps, and the young woman suddenly stopped, taking refuge behind a tree. The noise disappeared as quickly as she had heard it, and Hermione continued her walking. It wasn't long. A few minutes later, she found herself in front of a clearing, a wand at her feet: someone had casted a Lumos spell. She gently took it between her fingers, looking for any clue as to who the master of the wand was, and she ended up pointing it to the ground to illuminate the forest around her.
Suddenly a groan came from her right, and Hermione turned quickly, her hand slightly trembling. Nevertheless, she had the courage to move slowly towards the source of noise, which was louder and louder, and finally saw the contours of a human form lying on the ground, in agony. Without even thinking, she dropped the wand and ran to meet him, kneeling a few inches from his face. She turned him on his back, and was finally able to see his face. Severus Snape.
Hermione stifled a cry of surprise and horror, trying to stop the blood that was flowing too quickly at his neck, pressing on, not knowing what else to do. Severus's eyes were open, and his eyes met hers for a second before he sank into unconsciousness.
"No, no, no…" Hermione whispered while positioning the head of her Master on her knees, trying to stem the flow of blood as best as she could with the cloak of the latter.
Hermione tried in vain to remember an effective spell against this type of injury, but all was mixed up in her mind, and she was unable to mobilize her knowledge for the first time in her life. A tear trickled down her cheek, a sign of helplessness, while she was squeezing even more strongly on the gaping wound that was on his neck. How such a thing could happen? She had spent the day with him to finalize the details for his forthcoming article, and she had left him a few hours earlier. She then had returned to her parents and had dinner with them before returning to her room to write to Ron and Harry. And then... Hermione frowned, while continuing to exert a pressure on Severus' jugular, no longer remembering what she did after that.
As she was still thinking about that, a human form made its way between the trees, and the young woman wondered if it was a good idea to stay in an open area as she was. However, she didn't have time to ask a lot of questions to herself. When she finally remembered what she had done after writing her letters, a woman with long red hair sat besides her, gently stroking the hair of the man who had his head still resting on her knees, without looking at her. Her movements were gentle, almost full of love, and Hermione suddenly remembered. Only a fraction of a second was necessary to Hermione to understand who this person was, with this peaceful expression on her face: Lily Potter.
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"No!"
Hermione snapped on her bed, pushing without even noticing the sheet that was across her breast a second earlier. For long seconds, she tried to catch her breath, without success. Her door then swung open, revealing her mother who went to her bed.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" she asked, shaking her hands in hers, worried.
"It's okay mom," she managed to whisper, providing a reassuring smile.
"A bad nightmare?"
"Sort of..."
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Ten miles away, Severus Snape woke up, sweaty. He had finally succeeded after several nights to instill the vision of the day he almost lost his life in her mind. Unfortunately, the conscious part of her brain had taken the baton at the crucial moment of her dream, and he wondered if she had time to see the face of the person who came to his rescue at the most critical moment.
How would she react when she would have to return to his home in two days? He would like her to ask him a lot of questions so she could understand and reach to the same conclusion as him.
This idea struck him a few weeks after his return from the dead, this was already a little over a year ago. He had understood that a debt had formed the day he was offered a second chance, and that he had to honor this debt. Severus was the first surprised when Lily's face had appeared above him when he had opened his eyes as he had felt a frozen hand lay on his face. He had thought he was dead, but it was not yet the case. She had whispered a few words he could not remember, keeping her angelic smile all the time, and he had failed to take his eyes off her face. Severus had detailed her beautiful face, noting that she had not taken a wrinkle unlike him, and that she was still beautiful. The green of her eyes was even more piercing than he remembered, and he had the greatest difficulty watching her go away after several minutes at his side. He put his hand to his neck and found that he wasn't bleeding anymore.
Months and months after that fateful day in the Forbidden Forest, he tried to understand what happened that day when Lily Potter, the love of his life, had saved him from the dead. No existing magic had been able to answer this question, and yet he had read hundreds of books, if not thousands. Then, he learned during a discussion he had with Harry Potter during his rehabilitation trial that he had used the Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows just before going to face the Dark Lord, now fallen. Severus Snape knew that this stone unfortunately wasn't able to bring loved ones from the dead, although it was his first goal. But this discovery was enough to understand the presence of Lily Potter in this forest that same day, or at least her ghost who had managed to save him. How did she save him, it was still a mystery. But she did, and Severus was thinking of only one thing since that day: bringing Lily Potter back.
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Two days later
Hermione knocked on the door at the stroke of eight. She had, of course, a key, but the weekend was spent in a haze that she had the greatest difficulty to get out. The dream she had had on Friday night had disturbed her more than she thought, and she couldn't get it out of her mind. The presence of Lily Potter was the mystery she could not solve, and this even happened to obscure the dream itself. She became accustomed of them, and was trying to understand their hidden meaning now.
As she passed an impatient hand through her hair, the door suddenly opened. Severus gave her a disdainful look that he had the secret before fading to let her enter.
"Master," she whispered to his attention as she passed the doorstep.
Severus didn't give her a "good morning", but closed the door behind her and headed to his laboratory, counting on her to follow him. But Hermione didn't move an inch and took a deep breath before speaking.
"Master, I have to speak to you."
Severus froze and turned slowly toward her. The discussion that he was apprehending but also waiting for a long time was about to take place.
