Hermione was laying on her stomach atop a blush green rug in front of a fire when Severus returned. She had not managed to pry herself away from her book the entire time he was gone. He paused in the entry and she could feel him staring down at her as she glanced up from the pages of her book.

The curly haired brunette said nothing to him as she gazed up at him and instead pursed her lips and turned back to the tome. She flipped the page and pretended to read as he stared down at her.

"Honestly, you aren't going to speak to me."

"I have nothing to say." Her response was melodic and calm despite the storm raging inside her and she was proud of herself.

"What are you reading?" He shifted. She knew he wanted to say more but she was not going to make this conversation easy for him. He was the one who would not listen to her even knowing she knew what would happen in the future. He was the one who had called her a stupid little girl, he was the one who had hurt her on numerous occasions.

She loved him, she only wanted for him to be happy and healthy and he all but spat in her face.

"Dumbledore found this book, he said it may hold information pertinent to my situation." Severus paused. Did that mean she was looking for a way to return to her time? His entire body stiffened.

She was going to leave him?

"You can't…You can't leave me." The force in his voice surprised even himself as he stared down at her. Hermione sat up, pulling her legs beneath her and staring up at him with her head cocked.

"Isn't that what you want though Severus?" Her own voice was harsh, almost feral. He could hear the pain in her tone through the rage however and he kept his narrowed eyes on her face. "No? That is not it, is it? You want me to stay and warm your bed, to tell you I love you and make you feel like there is someone here for you while you go and make the biggest mistake of your life." She stood, her shoulders squared.

Her chest heaved with painful breaths as she continued to stare up at him. Her cinnamon eyes cold as ice as she regarded him. She could feel the painful prickle of incipient tears but clenched her fists and carried on.

"I'm not here for you to take advantage of damnit! You! You cannot listen to me, you cannot understand what I am trying to tell you! Well, let me make it perfectly clear for you!" She chewed her lip as she stared up at him, her face was flushed with her irritation. "I am Hermione Granger, in the time I come from you, Severus Snape, are a double agent working for Albus Dumbledore. In the correct span of time you join Voldemort, in your eagerness to find your way into his inner circle you overhear a prophecy and run to tell him. It is about Lily, and James, and their son Harry. You beg for her life because you love her but she protects Harry with her love and she DIES, Severus, she DIES." Hermione sucked a deep breath and stared up at him, backing away a few steps toward the girls' dorms.

"When she dies you pledge your servitude to Dumbledore, you become a Professor of Potions at this school after his first defeat. When I join the school with Harry at nearly twelve years old we begin the battle against his return." Her head was hanging now, her arms limp at her sides. "We fight him until he fully returns our fifth year, in sixth year you are forced to kill Dumbledore and take over the school, your only friend and a man who was like a father to you. You kill him to solidify yourself as valuable to Voldemort. Harry and I nearly die on more than one occasion. I am tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange in Malfoy Manor and given the mark I showed you so long ago."

Severus was staring at her with wide obsidian eyes when she chanced a look back up at him, she took another step back.

"Would you like a list of the casualties of the war you plan to play both sides of?" She was trembling now and her voice shook. She shook her head 'no' and gave him a last longing look. "No, you have enough to think about now. You do not love me Snape, and that is fine, I never expected you would. I still will not watch you ruin your life, and you cannot make me stay and be your bed warmer. I won't be used like that."

Hermione turned and ran her heart pounding in her chest as she rounded into her room and collapsed to the floor. As an afterthought, she accio'd the book Dumbledore had given her and held it clutched to her chest. Her eyes closed to the onslaught of tears that fought their way through clenched lids and down her cheeks.

SSHG

Severus stared at the place where she had stood, his mind attempting to wrap around her words as he remained planted in the empty common room. His heart thudded hard in his chest as onyx eyes traced the path to her dorm. She thought he was using her as a bed warmer?

Had he truly not managed to express to her how much she meant to him? He thought back over the entire course of their knowing one another. He had never once asked her to be his exclusively, he had never returned her sentiment of love. Did he love her?

The way his heart ached he was almost certain he did. Did he still love Lily?

She was but an afterthought to him now that Hermione dominated his thoughts. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles ached as he continued to trace her path. Would he really kill innocents? Would he truly put Lily in the line of fire like that? Was he so desperate for the power?

Yes, yes he was. The dark arts had stolen away his relationship with Lily, and now the Dark Lord would steal away his relationship with Hermione if he carried on. She would leave him, return to her time and move on with her life.
Would she be with another man?

His stomach clenched and his heart cried out in his chest. No! She was his, his witch! She could not take another lover. She could not be with another.

He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. Walking to a chair near the fire he settled into it and stretched his long legs out in front of him. She had to leave the girls' dorms eventually and when she did he would intercept her. He would make this right.

If he must he would turn his back on the Dark Lord. He would talk to Lucius about this girl from the future and attempt to convince Hermione to tell the blonde what she knew.