The New Old Hermione
a post-war fanfic by Cerys Dewar
Chapter Nine
Hermione threw herself into her work to distract her from her problems, and found that she was truly enjoying her apprenticeship, as well as her new teaching position. She admired her students, and the rest of the faculty were not surprised to notice that the students felt the same way towards their pretty young teacher. At first, there had been concerned letters from parents, and frightened, reluctant students who'd heard stories about Professor Granger's strange powers, but Hermione hadn't changed at all, and won them all over with her skill and patience.
She was, in fact, the perfect antidote to Severus, who had definitely allowed himself to begin to show how much he enjoyed teaching, but didn't feel ready to let go of his infamous persona as Professor Snape, and still gloried in terrorizing the students of Gryffindor just to annoy Hermione and Minerva. He had found this the most enjoyable first semester of teaching, and the students who were willing to work and learn found him to be an exacting but excellent professor and thrived under his tutelage.
In the second week of teaching, Professor Bumble, who taught Ancient Runes, had the misfortune of drinking one too many bottles of Firewhiskey to cope with his stress, and found himself in the hospital wing drying up under Poppy Pomfrey's watchful eyes, and Hermione had offered to use a Time Turner and teach his class. Severus had wanted very badly to refuse, afraid that Hermione would overwork herself into the hospital wing to escape her continuing stresses, but there was no one else willing to teach the classes, so he had no choice but to allow her.
Hermione had already aged five years in her third year at Hogwarts, and now with all the turning she was doing, Severus was noticing subtle changes in her. Her figure had filled out a little more (Severus conceded that it could be the regular meals and not being on the run that contributed to this) and her voice had deepened and calmed down slightly. He was grieved to notice that her eyes looked more tired every day. Finally, when Professor Bumble was showing signs of recovery after his fourth week in the hospital wing, Hermione's hair had suddenly turned white at dinner time, and she had collapsed, causing a panic among the Great Hall. The students looked frightened and the staff looked deeply concerned, as a panicked Headmaster Snape scooped Hermione up into his arms and swept her away hurriedly to the Hospital Wing.
While Poppy treated Hermione, Severus inspected the Time Turner, and was angered to realize that it had been tampered with. He scowled darkly and tried to find out who had touched the Turner, and sensed Ron Weasley's presence around it. He followed his senses deeper, and saw a much younger Ron discover the Time Turner among Hermione's bookbag contents and grab it, intent to find out what it did, and in doing so accidently damage the small hourglass in the center. It was a stupid, mindless mistake that Severus could not discipline anyone for, but it could have killed Hermione, who Poppy said had aged about 43 more years, placing her at about 65 years of age.
It took Poppy all of her time day and night, with Severus' help when he wasn't teaching or handling Hogwarts business, for about two weeks to heal Hermione and restore her to the youngest age they safely could: 25. Severus visited her every afternoon and cared for her during the nights, and while she convalesced, she was visited often by staff, students, and friends, but Ron never visited, and Harry only visited the day she was released.
He entered the hospital wing hesitantly and asked Hermione to take a walk with him on the school's grounds. Hermione agreed warily, and Severus once again followed behind, unnoticed, except that Draco had insisted on doing the same, and Snape had been forced to allow Draco to join him so that Hermione wouldn't discover either of them. Severus grumbled and resolved in his mind to teach Draco about stealth at length in the days to come.
Harry led Hermione to the edge of the Black Lake, and they sat on a rock, not speaking, until Harry reached for Hermione's hand, gently stroking it and looking at her with concern in his eyes.
"Hermione, I have been a tremendous git, and don't tell Malfoy, but what he said that one night really made me think. I told Ron that I was coming here today and that he should come with me, and he didn't, but I'm not going to lose you just because he's being a prat. Will you please forgive me, and let me help you in whatever way I can?"
Hermione, ever the forgiving kind, immediately threw herself into Harry's arms, and they both cried together for a moment before calming eachother down, and then Hermione told Harry about her condition, and teaching, and apprenticeship, and her friendship with Draco, and Harry told her about Ginny, and his Auror work, and Teddy Lupin's frequent antics. They sat and talked for hours, and finally, Severus motioned to Draco, and they snuck away quietly to give the two friends privacy.
That night, Hermione seemed happier, and Severus watched her go to her room with a deep feeling of relief. He didn't feel that Weasley was a suitable kind of companion for Hermione, and didn't think she really needed him as a friend, but he was relieved that she had Harry's friendship again, and that Harry had finally lived up to his expectations. One problem solved, Severus was able to sleep more soundly that night after planning how he would deal with the others in time.