Disclaimer: I own none of this. The original fanfic was posted under the pen name Emilee Genna Svahy however my email for that account no longer is active and I can no longer update the fanfic. Thus I am reposting and will be updating with some regularity as the story is mostly written thanks to NaNoWriMo
The Sands of Time
Chapter 7
Early Presents
Hermione sat at her desk with her notebook open and ideas dancing about as to how precisely her Time Turner was capable of all it was doing. She hypothesized that an apparation charm was connected to her Time Turner allowing her to travel not just time but space as well in order to switch her location. Something in her careful arithmancy was off, very off but what? As she sat pondering this she began to feel that strange pull just behind her navel and as quickly as she could she reached out to grab her bag before she could be whisked off to some unforeseen time and place.
The room fell away from her and she found herself being pulled every which way until she landed solidly upon the ground. The air was cold and the smell that only exists just before it is going to snow filled the air, making Hermione smile at the memories it evoked. Slowly she began to take in her surroundings and she soon realized that she was in Hogsmeade just before Christmas. A boy in a cloak with a Gryffindor scarf and tousled black hair ran past her bumping her arm as he ran towards The Three Broomsticks.
"Sorry 'bout that!" he called over his shoulder as he ran into the establishment.
Astonished, Hermione realized that the young man that just ran past her bore a striking resemblance to Harry and then it dawned upon her that the boy in question must have been Harry's father James. He was so young and carefree. This boy had no idea what awaited him in his adult years. His few short adult years.
As Hermione continued to think on this she felt the air get cooler around her as people left the streets to head for the warmth of the tavern. She was only brought out of her thoughts when she felt a light tapping on her shoulder and she turned to see a young long haired pale boy with a nose he was still very clearly growing into.
"Severus! You startled me… you should be more careful than to sneak up on people who are in thought," Hermione scolded halfheartedly.
"Sorry, Mel… it's December 15th 1976 at…" he looked down at his watch for a moment, "5:37 in the evening and your entry said it was snowing… but it is not," Severus added the last bit under his breath as a small wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips threatening to bring forth an ever so rare genuine glimpse at his softer side.
Hermione smiled before saying, "It does smell like it will snow. I'm certain it will. Come, let's go inside and get us something warm on this frigid day, shall we? My treat."
Without waiting for him Hermione made her way into The Three Broomsticks and found a booth far enough away from the major hoards of Hogwarts students escaping the cold on their weekend excursion. She slid into the booth and Severus slid in across from her. For a while they sat in silence, neither were willing to break it as they both found a good bit of comfort in being able to sit in thought without being disturbed by the often idle chatter that was involved in polite conversation.
"Well, Severus, it's your sixth year then I take it?"
Severus just nodded his response.
"I do hope that yours is not nearly as intense as I remember mine being. It was absolutely a turning point for me. Which reminds me someone has a birthday coming up not to mention Christmas will soon be upon you," Hermione did not dare to take her eyes off of Severus not even for a second knowing that if she broke the eye contact it would be an uphill battle to get it back from the stubborn sixteen year old across from her.
Severus just nodded his response to her seemingly unwilling to communicate verbally.
Hermione began to rummage through her bag until her hand grazed a pile of books. She slowly reached out as blind as ever and grabbed for what she hoped to be the correct book upon the shelf. What she produced, whether by luck of the draw or rote memorization of the way her books were kept organized in her bag, happened to be exactly the book she had been looking for. The beautifully leather bound red and black copy of The Picture of Dorian Grey instantly, and admittedly obviously, caught the eye of its recipient. Hermione reached across the table and handed the old Penny Dreadful to its new owner.
Severus, on his part, took his time. He held this beautiful novel in the palm of his hands. It was as if he was testing the weight in one hand and then the other before he opened it and began to examine the many pristine pages that it held. It had the smell so many new books have, the smell of fresh ink covered paper and leather. Hermione smiled and wondered where he got such an odd idiosyncrasy from.
"Do you like it? I thought you might enjoy reading something a bit more macabre than the usual novels one would pick for a person your age, and I do apologize that I must give you this present so early as I don't know whether or not I will see you before your seventeenth birthday."
Not looking up at her, Severus responded to her, "It's a lovely thoughtful gift, Mel. Thank you."
Hermione studied the sullen boy for a while. He seemed more turned in on himself than usual and that was truly saying something. Whatever happiness he could pretend to have from time to time seemed to be completely gone from him. His sixth year… what ever happened in his sixth year she could not for the life of her recall at that moment and yet she knew that if she prodded him it would not likely end well.
Their mulled ciders arrived and they quietly began to drink them. This was the least conversational that Hermione could recall Severus Snape ever being whether it was during the last few times she saw him or over the many years of sitting in his Potions class listening intently to his lecture and diligently working to make the perfect specimen of whatever potion they were making that day. This young Severus Snape, who was admittedly at what could very well be one of if not the most awkward stage of life was like a brick wall one could not anticipate extracting any information from whatsoever.
Becoming rather fed up with the silence Hermione cleared her throat, "Severus, I do not know how long I will have here with you today. As such I do wish to emphasize the very real need for me to be able to help you in whatever capacity I can while I am here. Silence will get us nowhere and I can no longer sit here as time slips by like sand in an hourglass while I wait for you to open up to me."
It was the harshest she had ever been with another person. Ever. The dark haired boy looked up at her. He was clearly taken aback by what she had just said and she could not blame him. Her words did after all bite as they flew from her lips. Hermione gave him a slightly apologetic look, hoping that her apparent perturbed state over what she said would increase his sympathy towards her.
He sighed and then finally opened his thin mouth to speak, "I hate being here. I hate being at Hogwarts now. I have no one here like I used to. The only person I can count on to truly have my back is you but that is only on the days in which you happen to grace me with your presence. I used to have Lily… she won't speak to me any more. She says that the more that I am around the Malfoy boy and the Blacks the more I become one of the self obsessed Slytherins who hate all others because all others for whatever reason have chosen not to be a member of the greatest group of nonconformists that Hogwarts has seen in years."
"Wait all of this is over Lily Evans?" Hermione was shocked. she was positively shocked that it would take so long for him to say something… anything. "I know, Severus, that Lily means a lot to you. Perhaps more than you will ever let yourself admit out loud, openly."
He looked back at her. His face spoke the sadness in what he had just admitted to her but she knew that nothing could ever be said to anyone else. Severus looked into his cider as Hermione slowly sipped hers. Silence fell on them once more and they sat comfortably knowing that the person across from them was the only one who could be trusted with many of their secrets.
"Have you considered apologizing to Lily for whatever it is that she believes you may have done? Perhaps she will be willing to forgive and forget. I understand her to be a rather forgiving and agreeable young woman. Severus, life is too short, far too short for us to continue to hold onto the grudges that we keep. You should try to talk to her. You should make an effort to repair this friendship. Best friends are difficult to come by and once you loose one gods know it is difficult to get them back," Hermione told him hoping that her words would somehow make a difference. She knew that the relationship between Severus and Lily suffered at some point in his sixth year she just was unaware that it happened so early in the term.
Severus shrugged. "I don't really need Lily in my life. If she doesn't want to be my friend then please tell me why should I make all the effort to be her friend? Why should I be the only one who admits to any wrongs? Why does her damnable Gryffindor pride have to win out? How is any of that just, Mel?"
Hermione sank into her booth a little and bit her lower lip. "I see your point, Sev. But you must think on how you may live to regret throwing away a friendship that you have had since your childhood. Life is bitterly short, my friend. Bitterly short."
"We're sixteen, Mel. We have an eternity ahead of us."
The tugging began to build again in Hermione's stomach and she felt herself begin to slip away back to the present as she thought, 'If only that were true...' to herself.
