A/N: Alright, guys. I know it's been forever, and I'm sorry, but HOLY CRAP the past couple of weeks have been INSANE (good insane, not bad insane). College is... something else. Things have been new and busy and crazy and half the time I don't know what's going on or where I'm going, but it's also been really fun and exciting. As always, I'm unbelievably grateful for all of your patience and support, and I'm so happy that I get to go on this journey with you all. Thank you all so very much; I know I say it all the time, but you really are the best readers on the entire Internet!

This one's pretty much a bunch of Sevmione fluff; there isn't a ton of plot here. More on why at the bottom. Enjoy :)

After meeting with Harry, Hermione had decided she needed to walk for a bit and clear her head before returning to her rooms. She knew it could be dangerous, but her thoughts were all tangled up and she needed to think. Harry clearly knew he'd done wrong, and she was glad he'd apologized. It did mean something to her, but it just wasn't enough. Not now, at least. It would take a while before she would be able to trust him even a fraction of how much she had in the past.

As she was walking past the library, Hermione doubled over as an intense pain ripped through her. It was stronger than almost anything else she'd ever felt, and with it came a rush of fear. Had she been cursed? Had she been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Blaise following her?

Turning slowly, she braced herself, hand on her wand, only to find that she was alone in the corridor. Leaning against a wall, she tried to think of what could possibly be happening to her. It felt as if her heart were being torn from her chest, and… oh.

Severus.

Remembering what he'd told her about the bond as best she could through the pain, she began turning until she felt the strongest waves of pain. From there, she ran, following blindly while knowing exactly where she was going.

When she got to Severus and saw what condition he was in, something in her snapped.

Hermione felt magic surging around her and, vaguely realizing she was the source, turned her fury to Blaise, the only one around who could have possibly caused her soul mate so much harm. Giving herself over to the magics of both the bond and her heritage, Hermione lost awareness of what she was doing. All she knew was that her Severus had been hurt and Blaise Zabini would pay for it.

When she came to, she was crumpled up on the ground, and she felt as if she would never be able to move again. Her entire body was throbbing, leaving her panting and gasping for breath. Slowly raising her head and taking in her surroundings, Hermione's focus zeroed in on her soul mate, who was quickly losing consciousness as he trembled with the after-effects of the Cruciatus. As fast as she was able, she rushed over to him, doing her best not to fall over on the way.

Reaching the man she was already coming to see as hers, Hermione's fingers went to Severus' hair almost immediately.

"It's okay, Severus, you're alright. I'm here, I promise. Don't leave me, please, I'm here. You'll be okay, you're okay, but I need you to stay with me. I need you. I love you."

She kept murmuring to him as she tried to see what exactly had been done to him, growing more and more concerned as he drifted to sleep. She didn't have much experience in treating Cruciatus victims, and she was trying to remember what she was supposed to do. Hermione, while usually calm and collected in situations like this, was doing her best not to panic.

If only I'd gotten here faster, he might not have been hurt so badly. I should have done more for him. He's done so much for me and now I've failed him- I am failing my Severus, a man who has been hurt his entire life and now I'm hurting him and he's going to die. I'm so sorry Severus, I'm so, so sorry.

Hermione was nearly hysterical. She was drained- magically as well as emotionally- and barely able to hold herself up, but that was all pushed to the back of her mind. All of her attention was focused on Severus. He grunted and winced as a tremor tore through him, and Hermione's head was suddenly clear. Pulling out her wand, she began to cast a patronus for the headmistress, but when she turned, she saw the elder witch was already there.

"Professor McGonagall! Please, help me! It's Severus…"

"I've already sent for Madame Pomfrey. What has happened?"

Hermione spoke, looking back down at her soul mate and not shifting her gaze away from his pale face. She told the headmistress all she knew and acknowledged that she wasn't quite sure what, exactly, she'd done to Blaise.

While she was speaking, the matron arrived and knelt next to Severus, holding his head steady and massaging potions down his throat. As she rose, she pointed her wand at Severus and lifted him from the ground. Hermione rose shakily, ready to follow after them, but she swayed and would have fallen if the headmistress hadn't caught her.

"He'll be alright, my dear girl; Poppy will make sure of it," the elder witch said soothingly in her Scottish brogue as she wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist and, pointing her wand, moving Blaise along behind them.

Hermione only nodded, not paying much attention to where they were going, sitting in the chair she was shown to in the infirmary almost automatically.

"It hurts," she whispered, not even fully aware that she was speaking aloud.

"What was that?" asked the headmistress.

Looking up, Hermione took in her surroundings for the first time since she'd been in the hospital wing. She could see the silhouette of the matron still working over Severus through the curtain in front of her, and she was able to make out Blaise's shape a few beds down. Professor McGonagall was seated next to her, waiting for Hermione to answer her.

Repeating herself, Hermione sank further into her chair. While she'd been entirely focused on Severus, she had pushed her own condition to the back of her mind. Now that her soul mate was being taken care of and she didn't have anything to distract her, she could feel it all. She was sore all over, and it was even more intense now than it had been earlier. Hermione also noticed that she was trembling some, almost as if she'd been hit with a mild Cruciatus. She was fairly certain that Blaise hadn't cursed her, so she reasoned that the small tremors were caused by the bond.

"Oh, dear girl," the headmistress fussed, moving to help Hermione over to a bed so she could rest.

"No, thank you. I want to stay with Severus," she finished with a yawn. She heard the elder witch sigh, but she was allowed to stay in her chair.

"Professor?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"How is Blaise? What did I do?"

"I believe Poppy has put him under a stasis charm; Severus was the more immediate concern. I actually need to take my leave; the Ministry needs to learn of what has occurred this evening. Take care of yourself, dear; you've had quite the day."

Hermione gave the headmistress a small smile. "I'll do my best."

She watched as Professor McGonagall left the hospital wing before turning her gaze back to the curtain, refusing to let herself fall asleep until she was positive Severus would be okay. Hermione wished she could have shared her power with him as he had with her, but she didn't know how to do it, nor was a drain of power his problem. When she thought about it, she realized that there wasn't very much about the bond that she did know. She decided that she would have to do more research on the subject, but only after this whole mess with Blaise was cleared up. Hermione also had yet to learn why Pansy had needed to talk to Severus earlier that evening. For the girl to have gone to the Head of Slytherin's private rooms, Hermione knew it had to have been very important.

Time passed as Hermione thought- although she wasn't sure how much- and by the time Madam Pomfrey pulled the curtain back and Hermione was allowed to move her chair to her soul mate's bedside, she had no trouble taking his pale hand in both of hers and falling asleep.

He was only awake enough to know that every cell in his body felt as if it were on fire; his entire body was burning and stinging and shaking. Even in his unconscious state Severus could feel the tremors lingering from the Cruciatus. Everything was dark; he wasn't yet able to open his eyes. Instead, he only saw visions of a bright red light followed by Zabini, who quickly morphed into Bellatrix Lestrange, then the Dark Lord. He saw Hermione, bruised and battered. He saw the slur "mudblood" carved into her arm. He watched Albus fall from the Astronomy Tower. He remembered having to stand by and allow the Carrows to harm- no, torture children when all he wanted, needed, was to protect them. He could hear their screams and cries for help. He could hear Albus begging Severus to take his life. He could hear Hermione sobbing with grief and pain and anger. He heard the Dark Lord's raspy voice commanding that thrice-damned snake to kill Severus. He recalled Bellatix's insane cackle which, to this day, made him fight his instinct to cringe.

Lastly, though, he felt a spot of kind, gentle warmth right around where he guessed his hand to be. He could feel a slight pressure- squeezing, maybe? There was something brushing his wrist- it felt like hair. Hermione, then.

But even more importantly than what he felt was what he heard.

For repeated over and over were seven words:

I love you, Severus. Please be okay.

And with those words, Severus knew that he would pull through this- not just for him, but for her. He would do anything for his Hermione. That beautiful, intelligent, stunning witch who could overcome anything; had a heart better than any he'd ever known; could puzzle through any problem thrown at her; had eyes that shone with her brilliance; was someone he was lucky to call his soul mate; was the first witch he'd ever loved, and was the only witch he wanted to spend his life with. He knew there was no going back, not from her. As long as she wanted him, he was hers.

When he finally opened his eyes, it had nearly been two days. It had been a long time since his body had been under such conditions, and it took longer for him to recover, much to his dismay. Poppy was being especially difficult; she would hardly let him move on his own.

"Damn it, woman, I am perfectly capable of sitting up in bed without assistance. I don't need your constant hovering," he snapped. The matron only rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"Now, now, Severus. Your nerves have been put under major stress and I will not have you overextending yourself so soon. You either let me assist you or you lie back down this instant!"

He groaned in annoyance and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Why did the matron have to be so stubborn?

Opening his eyes again, he met Hermione's gaze. There were dark circles around her eyes and her face was pale. She hadn't been taking care of herself- that wouldn't do.

"Madam Pomfrey," he drawled.

She looked at him curiously.

"If I were to accept another's help, would you leave me alone?"

The old witch scoffed and shook her head, but she answered his question. "Of course, Severus, if only there were somebody offering their help."

Hermione's lips turned up a bit at the corners. "Madam Pomfrey, you know I would be more than willing to help Severus. In any case, you probably need to attend to Blaise, don't you?"

Poppy sighed. "The two of you… Any children you have… this school is doomed," she mumbled under her breath as she moved away.

Severus bit back a smile, and it appeared as if Hermione was struggling to do the same.

Once he was sure the matron was out of hearing distance, Severus shifted in his bed. "Hermione? Could you come here?"

She moved to his side almost instantly, her exhaustion clearly not affecting her so long as she thought she was needed.

"What is it? What can I do?"

"It seems to me that you, for all your brilliance, have been incredibly foolish as of late. I think we should rectify that, don't you?"

Hermione yawned. "What have I done now?"

Severus pointedly raised an eyebrow at her, not lowering it until she looked away sheepishly.

"Fine, so I put myself last because I needed to know you would be alright. I wouldn't call that 'foolish.'"

"Of course you wouldn't," he mumbled.

"Okay, so what do you suggest, then?"

He shifted over a bit more. "Come here."

"I'm already over- Hey!"

She had been taking too long for Severus' liking, so he'd stretched, grabbed her hand, and tugged as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard- he was still a bit sore. Now a half-heartedly glaring Hermione was sitting on the bed next to him, trying to touch him as little as possible.

"You could have just said that this was what you wanted, you know."

"Oh, I'm aware, but I found this way to be much more preferable."

Hermione looked at him for a long moment before dissolving into a fit of giggles, her laughter echoing around the infirmary. Severus couldn't hold back a smile; Hermione never failed to get past his stoic exterior. By the time she was finished, there was color in her face and her eyes were shining again, although the dark circles remained.

Still holding Hermione's hand, Severus pulled gently, silently telling her what, exactly, he wanted. Clearly understanding, she laid down next to him on top of the blankets, still trying to distance herself from him. She was on her side facing him and he was on his back. His pillows were propped up enough for him to look at her without turning his entire body over, and they just looked at each other. Without speaking, they were conveying everything they had felt in the past few days. Severus could read the worry and relief in his soul mate's face, knowing he was likely wearing a similar expression. He also knew that Hermione could read him well enough to understand.

He watched as she raised her free hand- the one that wasn't holding up her head- to his hair, letting it hover over him; she was obviously worried about causing him further harm.

"I'm not going to break, you know. I'm fine," he murmured.

She rolled her eyes, but began brushing gently through his hair nonetheless.

It didn't last long, though. Severus pulled away, reaching out to cup Hermione's cheek.

"Enough. I didn't pull you over here so you could keep fussing over me like Poppy. I need you to help me by taking care of yourself. Just like you needed to know that I was okay, I need to see that you will be as well. Understood?"

"Yes, Severus," she sighed.

"Good. Now come here."

Carefully, Hermione moved so that her head was on Severus' chest and she was curled up next to him, wiggling even closer when he wrapped an arm around her protectively.

"Sleep now, Hermione. I'll be okay. We'll be okay," he said softly.

She mumbled incoherently and moved closer still, all while remaining gentle enough to avoid causing him pain.

Her warmth and softness was soothing, even through the blankets, and he felt better just having her there beside him. He wondered if it were an effect of the bond or if he just loved her that much. Something told him that it was a combination of the two.

He didn't know how long it had been when Poppy returned, her eyes softening as she took in the scene before her. Severus raised a brow, daring her to say anything about it.

She didn't.

"Did you want to know the condition of Mister Zabini?"

Severus gestured for her to continue. He was admittedly curious.

"He has yet to regain consciousness, but it looks like he'll survive. Do you recall the condition Mister Weasley was in when she was done with him?"

He nodded. How could he forget?

"Well, Mister Zabini is in a similar condition, but he's also worse off."

"How so?"

"His magic has been depleted, which we saw in March, but something is different. When I cast the diagnostics, I saw that there have been internal changes. Everything is much more fragile than it should be, and his body isn't responding well to magical treatments; they seem to be making him worse. Also, I had a very hard time even finding his magical core. It was almost as if it's fading away completely. I'm not sure if his magic will come back or not."

Severus thought it over. "Unlike with Weasley, Zabini's attack on me would have affected Hermione through our soul bond. It's possible that the extra power made her much more powerful than she was on her own."

Poppy didn't know about Hermione's heritage, and it wasn't Severus' place to tell her. Right now, the fewer who knew, the better.

The matron nodded her agreement before moving off to continue monitoring Zabini. Severus put his head back. As much as he wanted to sleep, his head was full of questions.

What's out there? What's coming? When is it coming? How can we stop it? How can I keep Hermione safe?

How do we prepare when we don't know what we're preparing for?

A/N II: I hope you liked it, and I swear I'll do my best to update as soon as I possibly can!

Basically, what happened while I was writing this chapter was this: My philosophy professor is kind of all over the place and doesn't really plan things, so homework assignments randomly show up in my email. I got one for an extra credit assignment this past Monday night, and it was really confusing and made absolutely no sense whatsoever, so I ended up having my first panic attack in two months. After that, I needed fluff, so this happened.

So, for those who are interested, a bit on the past couple of weeks:Moving in was really hectic and crazy, and I can be a bit OCD so it took me a while to get through everything, but overall it went really well. My roommate and I are very similar and get along well, and we've been hanging out with a girl who lives two doors down and isn't having as easy of a time with her roommate.
My classes haven't been too bad yet; most of them are actually really boring, but they seem easy enough so far (my anatomy class is literally the same thing I took last year). My first exam is in two days, then I have two more next week and another the week after that. Hopefully, I'll do okay :)
My family came down for the long weekend, which was nice- especially since I don't think I'll see them again until Thanksgiving.
Anyway, I'll see you all as soon as I can get chapter 25 finished up! Thank you all so much for putting up with me!