**Disclaimer: I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone.**

Author's Note: Okay, so I felt bad for leaving that last chapter on such a dreary note. I couldn't let you wait a whole day to find another reason to smile about this story. This bit wasn't originally intended as a stand-alone chapter, but I think it works okay, and hopefully it will make you smile.

Chapter Eleven

/\*/\*/\

Severus – 23 October 2001-Tuesday

Severus' heart all but stopped when he heard the scream rip through the house. He'd heard screams like that before and he knew exactly what it meant. Only Cruciatus caused that kind of pain. For a moment, he stood frozen. He didn't want to see it, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it. He didn't want to pretend to enjoy it. Not again.

Then the scream came again, and this time he recognized the voice. His feet were carrying him rapidly through the house before he'd made a decision to move. And then he saw her. Writhing on the floor while Bellatrix laughed like the utter nutcase that she was.

And that's when it hit him. This was a nightmare, but it wasn't his. It was Hermione's. He rushed forward, stooping to wrap his arms around her. She reacted by clinging to him as though her life depended on it.

Severus closed his eyes and willed them away from the nightmare. When he opened his eyes again, they were back in his bed at Hogwarts.

Hermione was still attached to him, trembling violently and choking on her sobs.

Severus rubbed her back lightly, realizing that he was trembling as well. He'd heard about Hermione's capture before the end of the war, but he hadn't imagined that it was anything like that. It made him wish that Bellatrix was still alive so that he could kill her personally – slowly.

He hadn't realized that Draco had been there either. At least the boy had looked distressed about it, he recalled vaguely from the glimpse he'd had of him in her nightmare.

"Shh…" he crooned, stroking Hermione's hair softly. "It was a dream, love. You're safe and she can never hurt you again."

Hermione began to calm down a little, softening her grip on him as she leaned into his chest.

Despite the nightmare he'd just witnessed, Severus was relieved. It had been a month since his last shared dream with Hermione and he'd been beginning to fear that the strange phenomenon had passed.

In their waking hours, she'd been drawing away from him over the last month. Drawing away from everyone, actually. During the week, she'd usually attend lunch and sometimes dinner in the Great Hall, but she hadn't been to breakfast since she'd received that letter and rushed away. He'd rarely seen her in the castle at all on the weekends, making him think that she may have been spending them away from Hogwarts.

It was killing him that he didn't know what was wrong with her and couldn't get her to talk to him. She'd never been guarded in their dreams though, so he was hoping that she'd confide in him now. Then again, why wouldn't she? As far as she knew, she was essentially talking to herself. He did feel a bit guilty about not telling her, but he couldn't risk her closing up on him.

"Hermione?" he said softly when she seemed to have calmed.

"Yes?" she asked quietly without moving.

"Are you okay, love?" he asked.

"I am now," she said with a smile in her voice as she snuggled into him a bit further.

Severus kissed the top of her head lightly. He was pretty sure that he'd never felt quite as good as he did with her in his arms. "You've been distant lately," he noted. "Is it because of your nightmares?"

She nodded a bit. "It's not just when I sleep. It's always there in the back of my mind. I can't get away from it."

"It didn't seem to bother you so much at the start of term."

"It went away for a long time," she whispered so that he could just barely hear her. "But now you're better, and I'm so glad for that, but I have so much free time…" her voice broke and she stopped talking.

"Hermione, is that why you did what you did for me?" he asked, surprised.

"One of the reasons," she said quietly.

Severus tightened his arms around her. He'd known that she'd been hardened by the war and what she'd done after, but he hadn't realized that she'd been so damaged. Of course, he also hadn't known that Bellatrix had tortured her.

"Hermione, I…" he started to tell her the truth about their dreams, but then she sat up enough to look into his eyes and he couldn't do it. Maybe it was foolish, but he couldn't risk losing this, however rare it proved to be.

"What?" she asked, her eyes searching his.

His heart beat faster as he wondered if she could see what he did. If she'd know.

After a moment, she lightly brushed a few stray hairs from his face, trailing her fingers along his cheek. Then she leaned in and kissed his lips very softly.

He shivered slightly at her wonderfully tender touch, then took her face gently in his large hands and gazed into her beautiful eyes. He was filled with the most amazing sense of wonder that she could look at him like that.

"I'm afraid I've fallen in love with you," he heard himself say though he was certain that he hadn't meant to voice that thought.

She flinched like he'd slapped her, jerking back away from him, her face pained.

"Hermione!" he said, startled and hurt by her reaction, but mostly just concerned for her.

She buried her face in her hands and shook her head sharply. "I can't do this," she moaned.

Severus reached for her, but she pulled away again, quickly getting up off the bed and she faded to nothing within two steps.

/\*/\*/\

Severus woke with his head pounding so fiercely that he felt nauseous. He stumbled into his lab and downed a Headache Draught, then leaned heavily over a work table, trying to sort through what had just happened while the pain began to subside.

He was pretty sure that Hermione had raised her defenses when she'd walked away from him, though she probably hadn't realized that she was doing it. The barrier she'd erected had been strong enough to forcibly separate their joined minds. He wondered if she'd be waking up with a headache as well.

He wondered if she'd ever lower her barriers enough for him to reach her that way again.

For a moment, he wondered if he meant what he'd said, but he knew that he had. As absolutely absurd as it was, he'd completely fallen for her. She seemed a perfect complement to him in so many ways. Granted, he didn't doubt that they would find plenty of occasions to argue between her temper and both of their pride, but he didn't think that would be so bad. She had such passion that he even enjoyed arguing with her.

Of course, that was all assuming that she felt anything of the sort for him. Their dreams had shown him that she liked him, but to what extent he couldn't guess. And then there was the age difference to consider. In another ten years it may not matter so much, but she was still so young…

There were plenty of reasons that it was foolish to even consider it, but he knew one thing now for certain. He wanted her. In every way.

Okay, I hope you're smiling. More to come tomorrow, and please don't forget to review!

Edited: 10 September 2013