One Month Prior

For a few blissful weeks, Hermione and Severus maintained a rather passionate secret affair. They both decided it would be best to keep it from the staff, and most especially the students, at least for the time being. Hermione was fine with that, she found herself in the middle of the rumor mill enough while she was a student at Hogwarts, and didn't exactly fancy returning to it whilst a professor. So for the end of May and the beginning of June, Hermione and Severus would continue to meet late at night in the Potions Classroom, and if they had time, perhaps they would get some conversation in.

Then out of nowhere, everything changed.

Hermione and Severus were sat in the Thestral clearing during a period together one afternoon. She could already tell that something was off, because he had hardly touched or looked at her the entire time they had been there.

"Something wrong, Severus?" she asked after he heavily sighed.

At first he shook his head and continued to stroke the back of a baby Thestral which laid next to him. He petted the creature idly with a far off look in his eyes. Hermione felt a pit in the center of her stomach. She knew that look. The same argument they've had multiple times was about to happen again. She was sure of it.

Not wanting to bring it up if he was not going to, Hermione shrugged and adjusted her weight to her left side, as she felt her right arm begin to fall asleep.

"If you say so," she said.

Hermione stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back on her elbows. She looked up through the small opening in the canopy of trees above them. There was some blue visible in the sky that day and the temperature was rather pleasant. A direct contrast to the mood she felt Severus had let himself slip into. The silence between them in that moment was one of the loudest she had ever endured.

There had been a handful of moments when Severus expressed his doubts regarding the pair of them. It was always the same excuses, "I'm too old," "I'm a broken man," "I was a Death Eater, Hermione," "You're young and beautiful, you shouldn't be tied down with someone like me." Of course everything he said was complete rubbish, as she had told him more times than she could count. But he was exceptionally hard on himself, and not to mention entirely too stubborn. It was extremely tiresome.

"Hermione?" Severus' voice broke through the silence.

"Beautiful day out, isn't it?" Hermione commented airily, pretending not to notice that we-need-to-talk tone he was using.

"Hermione…" This time his voice was a bit sharper.

"About time we see a bit of sunshine, don't you think? It's been raining something dreadful for days now," she continued.

There was no part of her that wished to have the same conversation for the dozenth time. Her mind was made up, and when Hermione had her mind set to something, not even Merlin himself could budge her.

Severus swore under his breath. "Hermione!" he shouted.

He was extremely angry now, but still, she wasn't letting up.

"Severus, we've had the same discussion more times that I could count. You're not too old, nor are you too broken, and no, I do not care what anyone thinks of the two of us being together. You're being completely ridiculous about the whole thing and-"

"Enough!" he cut her off.

Hermione's cheeks went pink.

His breathing had become heavy and a dark shadow crossed over his eyes. Hermione found herself scoot back a few inches away from him, without intending to.

"Enough…" he repeated, while pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He looked exhausted, as well as angry.

When she reached her hand slowly towards him, Severus took a step away from her and turned his back.

"Severus?" she said, almost in a pleading voice. Her heart felt as if it dropped into her stomach.

She watched his shoulders slump as he lifted his arm to wipe his brow. If he was going to attempt to leave her again, he was going to have one hell of a fight.

"Hermione, this really needs to stop," he said so quietly, she almost didn't hear it.

Rolling her eyes, she stood up from her spot on the ground and walked towards him.

"You're being completely absurd about this, you know that, right?" she snapped. "Who is honestly going to care if we're together? We're both consenting adults, so it should not be anyone's business but ours."

She waited fifteen heartbeats before he responded.

"It's not just that."

Here we go again, she thought while she crossed her arms over her chest. If Severus thought Hermione would let him go just like that, he had another thing coming.

Severus reached down and began to roll up his left sleeve. Hermione, knowing exactly what he was doing, rolled her eyes.

"I've already seen that." She pointed towards the Dark Mark which was so in contrast with his alabaster skin. "I know what it is. But it's not who you are anymore. You've changed. People can change."

Although, and she would have never admitted it to him, the sight of The Mark did nauseate her.

Severus grasped at his hair with both hands. He began to pace. "Hermione, you only truly know of what I've done during the Second War."

Hermione's gaze followed him as he trekked back and forth; he had a look in his eyes that made him appear as if he were a man lit on fire. Suddenly he stopped right in front of her and forced his arm in front of her face.

"Look at it, Hermione," he ordered, his nose scrunched up in disgust.

Taking Hermione completely off guard, he reached down and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to stare directly at the horrid tattoo. When she glanced up to meet his eyeline, she was slightly jolted. His entire expression was mad and there was something in his eyes that very much reminded her of the man she disliked so strongly when she was younger.

"This doesn't wash off, unfortunately," he sneered. "You would wish to have a relationship with me when this is a part of who I am?"

"Was a part," Hermione quietly corrected him.

"You do understand what this branding means, correct? You're an intelligent young woman. I have lied, stolen, killed and tortured - and the victims were mostly all people of your birth right!" She had never heard him raise his voice the way he had in that moment.

She'd have been lying if she'd said she was not just a little frightened of him then.

It was true. Severus had a dark and difficult past. That Mark represented everything she had lost - including a part of herself - years ago. Looking at it caused flashbacks of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin, Lavender and countless others lying dead in the Great Hall. Months of solitude and fear while hunting Horcruxes. Poor little Dobby with a knife protruding from his chest, dying on the beach. But that monster he tried to portray himself as wasn't who he was at that time. By the time all of the most horrible things to have ever happened to her occurred, Severus Snape was working for the The Order. He was working for good.

He dedicated his life to protecting Harry and helping to take down Voldemort. As a spy, he could have been found out and killed at any moment. Why could he not see all the good he had done?

Severus watched Hermione, at this point his face was void of any emotion. She looked him right in the eye and took a deep breath.

"I understand. I know you did some horrible, reprehensible and despicable things in your past-" he opened his mouth to speak; Hermione shook her head and held her hand up to stop him. "But another thing I know is you dedicated more of your life fighting againstVoldemort than with him. I know the risk you took every time you were in his presence. You may have done some awful things, but you more than made up for them. You may not always be the most pleasant person to be around," she chuckled softly as he raised an eyebrow at that comment. "but you are a decent man. You are truly good and that's all that matters to me."

She then lifted up the left sleeve of her shirt to reveal to him the scar which said, Mudblood. He took in a sharp breath when he saw it. His eyes narrowed.

"Who - When - How did you get that?" he demanded as he took ahold of her arm.

"Courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange," she said with a curl to her own lip.

Severus snorted angrily; fire lit his eyes.

"We both have scars we wish would disappear," she said quietly as she ran her finger over the slur forever carved in her skin. "But we should not be ashamed of them. We should wear them proudly. They show where we've come from, who we are, what we've lost, and what we've become. Never be ashamed of who you are, Severus," she said passionately.

Hermione bore her eyes into his, desperately trying to get him to see that it didn't matter to her. But she could tell she was not winning this battle. Severus closed his eyes then shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he told her in a gravely voice.

Hermione felt a lump in her throat. "Severus, please be reasonable." Tears had begun falling from her eyes. He was telling her goodbye, she knew it.

When he turned his back to her, she saw his shoulders rise and fall with a shuddering breath.

"You deserve better. You can do better."

"Sever-"

"This has to stop, Hermione. I - I can't continue on pretending that this is right any longer," he told her, still with his back turned. She was furious that he did not even have the courage to at least look at her while he ripped her heart from her body.

"You're being absurd, you know that, right?" she hissed.

"We're through. I'm sorry, but this is over."

And with the finality of the moment hovering in the air, Severus walked away, leaving behind the damaged pieces of a woman who had been broken too many times.