Shit yeah, guys! MAD quick update! And just by the way…Holy crap! I'd like to thank you all so much for the reviews. I'm so glad people are still enjoying this story! Also, a special shout-out to Samara, my fellow Aussie! Your reviews were so very encouraging and they made me smile so big. Thanks, man! This chapter is dedicated to Jennifer, but only if you like it. If you think it's shit, please disregard the dedication. ^-^ Anyway, here we go! Chapter 28!

Slowly, and extremely grudgingly, Hermione stirred into consciousness. The bed was warm and soft, the sheets wrapped securely around her form, her head resting on the plush down pillow. With a contented sigh, she lay still, listening to the comforting silence of the Room of Requirement, not a whisper disturbing the stillness.

For a moment she couldn't figure out what was wrong with that. Straining her ears and holding her own breath, she listened for the steady breathing that had lulled her to sleep.

Nothing.

With a start, her eyes shot open and she sat up. Looking around, she saw that the other side of the bed was empty. "Ron!" she cried in alarm. Kicking the sheets from around her ankles, she stood and surveyed the Room, searching for a sign of him. Finding nothing, panic began to take over.

"Ron!" she called again, the tears welling up in her eyes making themselves audible in her voice. Nervously wringing her hands, she began to pace. What should I do? she thought desperately. Had she dreamt the whole thing? Had she only imagined that Ron had been with her? The Room that had seemed so warm and safe and inviting the night before now seemed barren, cold and foreboding.

She had almost convinced her still half-asleep mind that she had, in fact, made it the whole way to Hogwarts by herself, when the door swung open. Her heart leaping in her chest, she spun around. But instead of Ron's smiling face, she saw the pale, sallow glare of one Severus Snape.

Her heart now resting somewhere around her ankles, she tried to draw breath but the absolute terror that had taken over her prevented this. They were supposed to be safe here!

She watched with horrified eyes as Snape swept into the Room, swiftly closing the door behind him with a resounding and horribly final thud.

"Miss Granger." he greeted quietly, his expression and tone revealing nothing of his intentions. Ensuring to maintain eye contact, Hermione began sweeping the Room in her mind for any kind of escape route or defence. Stupidly, she'd been too caught up in trying to find a clue as to Ron's disappearance that she'd left her wand by the bed. While it was only less than two metres away, it may has well have been back at the Burrow, for all the good it was to her now.

During her musings, Snape had stepped further into the Room, now only a mere few feet separating them. With a gasp, Hermione stumbled back, trying to regain the distance. Crying out as she tripped over one of her discarded shoes, she twisted in the air trying to brace herself for the impact with the floor, forgetting entirely about her ribs.

As she landed, one arm found its way under her, her elbow jabbing painfully at her bruised side. Paralysed with pain and fear, she simply laid there, eyes squeezed shut in defeat, waiting for the green flash that would signify the end of her life.

It didn't come.

Instead, she felt a hand at her back, another wrapped gently around the arm that wasn't pinned beneath her. Slowly, she was pulled into a sitting position. Snape crouched before her, something akin to concern on his usually deadpan face. "Careful, Miss Granger. Mr. Weasley tells me you're quite badly injured." he chided softly, casting his gaze to her ribs before returning it to her face. Confused, Hermione could only stare back.

"Y-You've seen Ron?" she asked breathlessly, still struggling to draw air into her lungs after their painful introduction to her elbow. "Is he okay? Where is he! Why did he leave without telling me!" she blurted out, her mouth hardly able to keep up with her brain's questions.

Holding up a hand to silence her, which succeeded instantly, Snape straightened and held out his hand to pull her up. Glancing from his outstretched hand to his expectant face and back to his hand, Hermione didn't move.

Rolling his eyes in impatience, Snape reached down and grasped her wrist, yanking her, rather more gently than she expected, to her feet. Her heart was beating at a ridiculous rate, the threat of imminent death at the forefront of her mind. Glancing at her wrist, where his long, thin fingers could no doubt feel her rapid pulse, a small smile tweaked the corner of his lips.

"Relax, Miss Granger. I'm not going to hurt you." he murmured, returning his dark eyes to her frightened and, now disbelieving, face. Releasing her wrist, he turned, headed to the darkened fireplace, pulled his wand from his robes and in an instant, a glorious fire was crackling merrily in the hearth, bathing the room in warmth and flickering light.

Turning to look over his shoulder, he saw that Hermione hadn't moved, still staring at him with a mixture of caution, curiosity and disbelief. "You are cold, are you not?" he asked quickly, raising an eyebrow. He watched as she glanced quickly at her arms which were, indeed, covered in goosebumps, before returning her gaze quickly to him, as though afraid he might attack if she looked away. Sighing inwardly, Severus returned his eyes to the flames licking at the bricks of the fireplace.

"Where is your wand, Miss Granger?" he questioned, his eyes not returning to her. Taking a moment to shake herself from the shock that kept her rooted to the spot, Hermione glanced back at the bedside table, where her wand sat, teasing her with its distance.

Looking back at Snape to see if she had time to make a dash for it, she barely suppressed a frightened and somewhat guilty squeak when she saw that his gaze was, again, on her. It shifted momentarily to where her wand lay before he turned back to the fire. "Go and get your wand." he commanded, gently.

Still slightly shocked that she was still breathing, Hermione made her way as quickly to the bed as she could, almost crying with relief when her fingers wrapped around the thin strip of wood. Glancing around once more for an escape route, she slowly crept forward, edging towards the door as quietly as she could, trying to avoid notice.

No dice.

"You're not leaving yet." Squeezing her eyes shut in defeat, Hermione hung her head and fought down the overwhelming urge to cry. Just my luck, she thought hopelessly, I finally tell Ron how I feel, find out how he feels, and now Snape is going to kill me. Turning around sadly, her eyes on the floor, Hermione stood, waiting for Snape to finish her off.

"Come over here, please." came his soft, oily voice. A traitorous tear trickled down her cheek as she obliged, walking over the fire, and coming to a stop a foot or two from his side. The warmth from the fire wrapped around her, as if trying to comfort her in these, her last moments.

Severus watched her watch the fire in silence for a few minutes. Her lower lip was trembling, her eyes getting glassier and glassier. She was, however, battling to keep the tears from falling. One had escaped though, for all her efforts, and it rested on her cheek, glinting in the firelight.

However vehemently he tried to tell himself he was mistaken, the sight broke his heart. Sighing heavily to rid himself of this thought, he reached out for her shoulder, not halting when she flinched. Grasping her gently, he pulled her closer to the fire and, conjuring a stool, he pushed her down into it. As she watched him with wide, wary eyes, he took a moment to fully assess her appearance. Her cheeks were pale under the lashings of bruises and cuts, dark shadows under her eyes. Timmer had done a number on her, that much was certain.

Severus thought back to when he and the other Death Eaters had found their badly beaten ally in the deserted shop. He'd lain there in a puddle of his own blood as he gurgled his account of the events that lead to his current state. Severus had listened, with a secret sense of revulsion, relief and a slight hint of pride, as he heard about Weasley's 'sacrifice' and Granger's admirable struggle to protect herself from Timmer's attack.

When Voldemort had raised his wand, spitting about how Timmer had disappointed him for the last time and how ashamed he should be that he couldn't even finish off a Mudblood, Severus had stomped down the objection he felt rising in his throat at the term and the envy he felt that the Dark Lord should be the one to end Timmer's pitiful existence.

After learning that the two teenagers had escaped into Honeyduke's and, from there, seemingly vanished, Severus had made an excuse to return to the castle and had set about trying to locate them. He knew that the cellar led to the castle and had figured that they'd found solace in the Room of Requirement. It had been pure chance that he'd spotted Weasley trying to sneak down to the kitchens.

After a furious wand fight that, needless to say, Severus had won, he finally managed to convince the younger wizard to wait for him in his dungeon while he fetched Hermione. It took a lot of reassuring on his part that he, in fact, meant them no harm and that he should be alone when he did this. He had a few matters to discuss with her that he did not wish anyone else to bear witness to.

Drawing himself back to the present and her questioning gaze, Severus knelt before her, studying her wounds critically. "I will need to see your ribs, Miss Granger." he ordered, fixing her with an unwavering stare. Hermione flushed furiously at this. It had been different with Ron. Awkward because of the unspoken feelings between the two. This was just downright uncomfortable. Mortifying. Snape was a teacher! A grown man! She cast around for an excuse to avoid this but, coming up short and seeing his steadfast resolve, she caved and with as deep a breath as she could draw, lifted her shirt.

Weasley had bound her ribs but, in her sleep, the bandages had come loose, allowing him to glimpse the bruised flesh beneath. Severus felt a need to comfort her at least a bit. Be that as it may, he could have chosen his words more carefully. "He's dead, you know." he murmured as he drew his wand to heal Hermione's ribs. Hearing her gasp and glancing into her horrified eyes, he quickly gestured to her injuries. "Timmer. The Dark Lord killed him."

Hermione felt her heart slowly resume its previous pace and sat still as Snape mumbled incantations under his breath, drawing his wand slowly over her ribs and face. She found herself watching his movements with something akin to admiration. The movements were so graceful, his incantations so soft and melodic, he seemed almost to be singing.

To her surprise, she felt better almost instantly. Finally, Snape put his wand away and stood. "Excuse me, Professor," Hermione began timidly, for Snape had turned back to the fire and was watching the flames, seemingly lost in thought.

"The school term has not begun yet, Miss Granger. I am not, at this moment, your teacher." he interrupted smoothly, not looking up. Dropping her gaze to her toes, she cleared her throat quietly and began again. "Um, sir," when he did not object to this, she continued. "Where's Ron? Can I see him?"

Snape merely shook his head slightly. "All in good time, Miss Granger. I have a matter of some importance to discuss with you." However, he showed no intention of beginning said discussion. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Snape watching the fire, Hermione watching him.

"I'm sorry. Sir?" Severus closed his eyes wearily, sensing that she had another question and hoping it was one he would be able to answer without revealing too much.

"I was just curious…why did you help us at the Burrow? And why are you helping us now?" He noted that she had tried to keep her voice as steady and accusation-free as she could. He cursed his luck silently. This was not an easy question to answer. He had been rethinking his decision to have this little talk with her, but now, it seemed, it was too late. Her ever-inquisitive nature had made sure of that.

Taking a deep breath, Severus conjured another chair and, pulling it forward so that it faced Hermione dead-on, he sat, his hands folded in his lap. He studied her intently for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain. He could think of no way of making it easier for her to comprehend, but figured, as the smartest student he had ever taught, there was every possibility of her understanding, regardless of how confusing it might seem.

"I tell you this, Miss Granger, with the condition that you do not repeat a word to anyone. Is this clear?" She nodded her confused head, he sighed again and prepared himself.

"Do you know where my…dislike for Mr. Potter stems from?" Trying to keep the bitterness from his tone, he waited for Hermione's response. Awkwardly, she averted her eyes, before shaking her head no.

"When I was young, before I started at Hogwarts, my best friend in the whole world was a Muggleborn. The only person I could turn to when my home life became too much." he began quietly, staring at the fire again.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Hermione tried to see what this had to do with her, why he was telling her everything. She didn't like Snape in any mood, but she would take furious and mean over this new Snape that she was seeing now, any day. It was so much easier to just think of him as a spiteful, cruel man. But of course he had feelings, he had a past, there had been circumstances that had made him how he was.

And as she sat there, preparing to listen to whatever it was he wanted to tell her, she had no idea just how much she would pity, respect and feel for him at the end.

Ok, not what you were expecting, I know. Me neither, ey? I was so shocked when Snape appeared instead of Ron but I figured I'd run with it. Because, while J.K. did show that Snape was, in fact, a good person with a tragic past, I wanted to kind of elaborate on that. Anyway, hopefully, ya'll don't mind that Ron hasn't come back yet, but he's fine. Trust me! And Jennifer, I hope you liked this chapter. ^-^ Please R&R! Much love! XOXO