WARNING: A scene in this story could look like self harm in the eyes of someone who finds it triggering. If this does trigger you, skip Severus' section of the story. I promise, you won't be lost if you do

August 20th, 1978

—H—

Severus,

I have found myself back at Hogwarts, even arrived by train, but being ahead of everyone else has made the journey quite strange. Professor Dellard, now Elinor to me, has been as eager for me to begin as I am. It feels strange to be in the castle to learn, yet not be required to dress the part of the student. It nearly feels like I have been at Hogwarts for the majority of my life, but that is because it often seems as though life only began when I arrived here in this era.

And now I 've grown maudlin, which was not my intention at all.

Missing you has become easier since our friends and I have gone our separate ways. It feels more natural now for you to be where you are, and I still here, for now we are embarking on the journey to apprenticeship together. Though I do wish I could have maintained a friendship with Remus, but he seems to hold little interest in such a possibility. Sirius, I 'm afraid, is the only one I still have contact with, as it seems even Lily has disappeared.

I wish I had more to say, but really, I merely wanted to pen you a letter to tell you that I love you. I love you, and I miss you, always.

Yours,

H

Hermione clutched the simple letter in her hand as she headed through the silent school toward the owlery. Occasionally, as she would walk through a beam of light, she would look down at her left hand and inspect the emerald and diamond ring as its facets shone. She loved her ring, everything about it. She'd penned a letter to both Prince women to extend her thank you for allowing Severus to give it to her, and both wrote back how they looked forward to seeing it on her hand in person. She loved that it was more Severus' house colors than her own, because she was not at all ashamed to be the Gryffindor marrying the Slytherin. It made her smile as her heart warmed with every look at it, so much so that for the short time she was with the McGonagalls, Delia teased her mercilessly over her examination of it.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said from behind her, and Hermione stopped, slowly raising occluding more than her norm as she turned to face the headmaster. He smiled at her. "I was wondering if I might have a word with you?"

"Of course," Hermione replied. "Could I meet you in your office? I only wish to post this letter, and I will be there shortly.

"Of course," He replied as Hermione felt him prodding her mind. She slipped an image of Sirius out, just a flash, and then felt the headmaster retreat. "We'll say fifteen minutes?"

She nodded in acceptance, and then continued on her way.

Severus had told her the night of their engagement party of his interaction with Dumbledore.

"He's dead set against it," He had said, lying next to her in their borrowed bed at the manor, nothing but a blanket clothing him. "He is utterly determined I should remain alone. Unattached."

She hadn't said anything, merely smirked so wide it threatened to turn into a proper smile.

It made Severus smirk back. "You know something."

"I always know something." She had retorted.

"Yes, but something that means this is …."

"I know enough to know for sure that Dumbledore will not get his way."

She had, of course, been thinking of Severus' daughter. The daughter who bore a slight resemblance to her, enough that some even remarked on it. The daughter she was now confident was her own. And she remembered from her former life, which did seem like another lifetime ago, that there was a hint that Dumbledore wasn't so convinced that Severus….

No, she had to keep that line of thought tucked away. Thinking of the lovely, dark haired girl yet to be was fine, but if the Headmaster thought there was a chance that that girl could be someone else's, he would only increase his meddling.

Hermione arrived at the owlery, posted her letter with a beautiful little barn owl, and then made her way to the Headmaster's office.

The gargoyle moved aside for given password of "bridge mix", and then she moved with the stairs up to the door where she knocked. He bid her enter, and she stepped in.

It had been too long since she stood within the office. Even the official acceptance of her apprenticeship had been done in Professor Dellard's office exclusively. The last time Hermione had been inside the room had been the night that Severus was nearly attacked by Remus.

"Hello, Hermione. May I call you that?" Dumbledore asked as she came in, taking the seat, he gestured toward across his desk.

"You're my boss, now, headmaster. Hermione is fine."

"And you may call me Albus, when away from the students. Anyway, Hermione, I know you're going to be quite busy with your apprenticeship, but I was hoping that, perhaps, you would be willing to join the Order of the Phoenix, now that you're of age."

"I suppose you actually mean, now that I've graduated."

"Yes," He smiled genially. "That is much more along the line of what I meant. Now, with your knowledge of the future-"

"One that cannot be changed."

"-I think that you could be vital in helping us deter any losses that may happen from a Death Eater attack."

Hermione blinked. "I beg your pardon, sir, but I'm afraid that my knowledge is not that extensive. I know big events, and therefore they cannot be changed. If anyone has knowledge on their activities, it's Severus."

"Yes," The Headmaster agreed, "You are correct in that, Hermione. More than just your knowledge of the future, however, is the fact that… oh, I see."

"Do you?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Yes." He said, and Hermione noticed the sly shift in that stupid twinkle. "You see, you could have worked with us, gone on scouting missions, fought against the Death Eaters when necessary. But so long as you're with Severus, you cannot be with us. You would either tip the Death Eaters off to one of the reasons Severus is there, and he could never be trusted. And if someone from the order who doesn't know you…."

"Well, while I think someone from the order who doesn't know me wouldn't know Severus, making that point quite moot, you do bring up an excellent point, Headmaster. I shall have to consider what can possibly be done so that I may help the cause." Hermione cut in rising from her seat lest her emotions get the better of her. Rage simmered beneath the surface, behind the increasingly weakening Occlumency shields. So that was his current plan? Withhold her chance to do something for the cause unless she ended her connection with Severus. Nothing would be worth that, and so another way would have to be found.

September 16th, 1978

—S—

"You gave letter with Amortentia last year, no?" Nikola asked Severus as he gently misted the parchment with a small amount of the love potion. His letter was already written, and he hadn't planned on adding the potion to the parchment, but he liked the idea of making it a tradition while they spent her birthdays apart.

"I plan on giving her more than this." Severus said, reaching into his frock coat pocket and withdrawing the advanced Arithmancy text he'd purchased.

"A book," Igor sneered from his corner of the work space.

"Yes," Severus said over his shoulder. "My future wife is an avid reader, and a scholar. Yvonne does … what, exactly?"

Nikola smirked, then nodded at the book. "You don't do frivolous with her."

"No. She is not the sort of witch who would want trinkets. She is practical."

"She is good choice." Nikola added with confidence before hissing and swearing in Russian, clasping his left arm. He looked up, confused as neither Severus nor Igor felt the pull of a call. "I must go." He said simply, summoning his cloak and mask before putting his wand to his dark mark."

"Why do we not get summoned as well?" Igor asked, and Severus was wondering the same thing. It seemed strange that their master would be called to the Dark Lord on his own.

Severus returned to his task of preparing Hermione's gift, all the while trying to think of a way to alert Dumbledore as to what was going on. He couldn't very well cast his patronus and send it on its merry way, even attempting something like that would leave most if not all the other Death Eaters to be maggot meal. It would be suspicious to run off to the nearest floo, even with the excuse of speaking with Hermione. There really wasn't anyway about it, it would have to wait.

Severus assembled his gift, brought it to the only owl the three of them had access too, and sent it off to his witch.

We then sat down and resumed work on the counter curse for Sectumsempra. He was close, but there was something about all the incantations he thought to try that didn't feel right. His past creations had been fairly simple, the runes were easy, the incantation perfect. Yet the Latin kept troubling him. He gave it a bit longer, and then set it aside.

He thought of Hermione's last letter from just a week ago. She had told him about Dumbledore's keeping her out of the order so long as she remained with him, using the excuse of her being seen by one side or the other. Well that was a simple solve, wasn't it? They could use Polyjuice and a few random muggle hairs. Well, maybe not that simple, he supposed. Not to mention that but about only having an hour to use it. But it was just a matter of disguise, and he was sure Dumbledore actually knew that. Well, they would just need some sort of charm. There were tones of them, he knew, that witches and wizards used to conceal flaws, to change hair color. And then one could transfigure parts of their self, but it was always a bit risky. All they needed was for Hermione to hide in plain sight.

Hide in plain sight. Latere Aparto.

Severus rose, heading for the washroom down the hall. He closed it, adding a locking charm and a muffilato to prevent Igor from snooping, something the odd man tended to do from time to time. Severus then looked at the mirror, pointed his wand at himself, and gave it a couple times while saying, "Latere Aparto."

With his intent being second nature, he felt the new spell recognize the command and what was to happen, embedding itself in the fabric of spell work.

And then his hair lightened, curling just a bit. His eyes changed, too, to a deep hazel, and his nose didn't seem so hooked. And his face was fuller. All in all, Severus found looking at his reflection with the sensation of having seen himself before, but not quite remembering where or how. He smiled, because at least this came easy. He was beginning to lose faith in his spell creating abilities when he reached the year mark of trying to work the counter curse.

"Finite." He said, and a wave of panic hit him when he continued to look the same.

Taking a deep breath, he thought things through. He asked to hide in plain sight, so why should a simple finite work? He started to think on what taking off this seemingly permanent glamour off would be like in front of someone else.

"Seipsum revelare." He said, and nearly sobbed when he felt the magic drain away, revealing himself to the mirror as he should look.

Satisfied at having accomplished something, Severus left the washroom, and returned to the work room all within an appropriate time frame.

The way his mind had worked with the incantations, something simple, made Severus take another look at what he wanted the counter curse to Sectumsempra to do. Heal wounds, of course, as there was no potion he tried that saved the rats their horrible fate. The wounds would heal. Would? Present tense would be are… wounds are being healed. Vulnera Sanantur. He glanced about, seeing Igor preoccupied, rolled up his left sleeve. He pointed his wand to just above the Dark Mark, hovering over the skull. "Sectumsempra," he whispered, angling his wand just so, so that the cut would not be too deep. He barely waited for his blood to leak from his self-inflicted wound before he said the counter curse.

He felt it working but sensed saying it once wasn't enough. He repeated it, seeing it work a bit more, but still not enough. Anyone with any drastic damage would die. So, he said it again and again, the constant chant working best. In fact, he found his voice was nearly singing the incantation, softly though it was. And the wound closed entirely without a scar, as if he had never cast in the first place.

He would have to tell the order, asap.

Thoughts of the order reminded him that Nikola still hadn't returned. A glance at Igor revealed to Severus the man's concern that their master hadn't returned yet. So, it wasn't just him then.

Just before Severus could ask, a loud crack of apparition drew their attention to the sitting room. When he hadn't heard anything more, Severus moved to investigate.

He found his master on his knees, panting, sweat on his brow beading down his face and temples. And his left arm, gripped tight in his right hand, was bleeding.

Nikola looked up and met Severus' eyes. He knew then that Igor had not followed, for Nikola did not look away.

"It seems our esteemed lord decided we first are too old to stand for old ways." He said raggedly, removing his right hand to reveal the bloody sleeve of his white oxford. Severus knelt beside him, noting with a sickening twist in his gut that the blood stain on the sleeve was a near perfect outline of the Dark Mark. He helped Nikola push up his sleeve, revealing flesh that looked as though it had been cut with a jagged knife, only removing the mark itself.

"May I try a spell I have been working on, Master?" Severus asked quietly, putting as much respect into the request as he could, emphasizing the title in an attempt to relay to the man before him how he was the only one he served in which Severus genuinely wished to apply the title.

"Da," Nikola replied, wincing in pain, gripping his arm just above the removed mark.

Severus hovered his wand over the area and began to chant his spell. He was mildly surprised it worked and watched with fascination and euphoria as the wound healed itself. And as it did, Nikola's breathing evened out, his grip on his arm becoming slack. Tension left his body, and as the last of the ugly wound turned to a scar, he let out a sigh of relief.

Severus accioed a scar treatment and handed it to the man before him.

Nikola took it, lifting the jar in thanks before unscrewing it with shaky hands.

As he applied the ointment to his arm, he said, "Two died. Could not live without Dark Mark. Think one is mad. All first Death Eaters, all friends of Tom Riddle, cast out. Not strong enough. Too old. Less willing. Was supposed to be about purity. About preserving magical blood. Purity, not so good over time. Need new blood. Preserving, that's good. Tom Riddle, he doesn't see like that no more. Not so sure man is even still wizard."

"I could turn you in to him for speaking like that," Severus said, meeting his Master's eye.

Nikola smirked. "You don't want what he wants. You do not want mark. You want Hermonee, quite life. Apothecary."

"See right through me, don't you?" Severus said sarcastically, masking how much hearing the honest to Merlin truth terrified him.

Nikola shrugged. "See myself in you."

That, at least, had offered some relief.

"Where is wretched one? Did not even come to see if I'd been tortured. Or dead." Nikola asked, and Severus let a gust of air that nearly been a snort escape him.

"He is attempting to perfect his alterations to the growth potion, I believe."

Nikola began to rant in Russian, and Severus knew enough of the language to barely keep the smirk off his face at the colorful choices Nikola made in insulting his other apprentice.

September 22nd, 1978

—H—

She'd been thinking about the spell's creator when Hermione used Latere Aparto for the first time. The results had stopped her heart a moment, she was sure.

There in her bedroom mirror was Aurora Snape. The memory of what she had looked like had faded since her arrival four years before, having not known the girl for long. But when she cast the spell, thinking of her future husband, Hermione had inadvertently placed some of his features upon herself, and the result was what was likely a slightly older version of the girl she was now certain was her daughter.

"Bloody hell," she murmured to herself, shocked to find her voice sounded off in her head. She immediately cast the counter curse, then forced herself to clear her mind.

Before she could cast the spell again, there was a knock on her chambers bed.

"Enter," She called, rising from her vanity table and heading toward the door just as it started opening.

She paused at the sight of black hair coming through her door, her heart dropping when she saw the face it came with, and the roguish grin that came with it. "Sirius." She said warmly, quickening her step a bit and pulling her friend into a tight embrace. "I've missed you."

"Have you?" He asked, rocking her around in a semi-circle.

"Of course, hasn't been the same without you, you know." She said as she pulled back. "Though I will confess, you are not the dark-haired man I was hoping was walking through my door."

"Would that have been me?" The drawling voice had Hermione practically shoving Sirius away to see if Severus was really darkening her doorway, and she ignored her friend's chuckles as she threw herself into her fiancé's arms.

The strength of Severus' embrace was precisely what she craved, what Sirius' arms had nearly calmed but not quite enough.

It had, after all, been one of the toughest birthday since she left the nineties. No friends, only Minerva for anything close to family, and Dumbledore constantly niggling at her occlumency walls had made her nineteenth birthday feel more like any other day. There was, at least, a drink in Minerva's chambers, which led to a good chat and laugh, and the package from Severus that she greatly appreciated. But she'd missed the others. Or, namely, her favorite men.

Hermione kissed Severus as passionately as would be acceptable in company of Sirius.

"You're going to make me jealous that I haven't had a decent snog in far too long." Sirius said, causing Hermione to pull back.

"You can't have him, his mine." She said simply.

"Oddly enough, I'm not attracted to blokes with black hair." Sirius replied. Severus must have made a face, because Sirius gave him a devilish grin and added, "most blokes with black hair."

"You mean you aren't attempting to sway Potter to your side?" Severus asked, turning to face their friend while keeping Hermione close.

Sirius looked mildly disgusted. "Prongs most certainly isn't my type. And even if he were mildly attractive to me, he's nearly back together with Miss Petal."

Severus groaned and rolled his eyes but said nothing.

After a beat of silence, Hermione said, "Much as I adore having you both here, I would very much like to know why."

"Dumbledore," they said in unison, and Severus waved to Sirius to go first.

"He wants me to take up the post of Defense against the Dark Arts."

"Honestly?" Hermione asked, and the dubiousness must have been too plain in her voice, for Severus barked a laugh.

Sirius looked a mix of hurt and humored. "I may not have been top of the class like some, but I did get an O in my DADA NEWT, thank you. And it's mostly as an assistant."

"Because Professor Sagan looks ready to fall over?"

"Or sleep." Sirius agreed.

"So why is it that Dumbledore allowed him to fill the post?" Severus asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Sirius replied. "I think they were friends at one point, or acquaintances."

"Or lovers." Severus mused. "In fact, perhaps he is one now."

"They're easily a hundred or more." Sirius grimaced.

"Yes," Severus replied, "only about three quarters through their life, if all goes well."

"And why were you here?" Sirius asked, clearly not wanting to think of the Headmaster and the professor he was meant to be shadowing.

"A report." Severus replied. "Things happened, as of late, and where Nikola is feeling under the weather, he allowed Igor and myself the weekend free."

"So, you're here…?" Hermione asked with a hopeful lilt.

"Until I must return, seeing as the weekend has only just begun."

"Shall we head down to the Three Broomsticks, then?" Sirius suggested.

"Sirius, you're going to be working, here, at the castle, yes?" Hermione asked, and Sirius nodded. "Well, why don't you go investigate your rooms for, say an hour? Really explore every corner. It is just after dinner time, as well, so you could probably practice taking points by patrolling the halls for the next generation of mischief makers."

Sirius looked between the two of them, barely keeping the smirk off his face as he attempted a serious nod. "Yes, I must go investigate my room quite thoroughly. Severus, care to join me?"

"Not even if the Dark Lord summoned me there." He replied.

Sirius shook his head and left.

And no sooner was the door closed did Hermione find herself wrapped in Severus' arms, and he in hers.

"Missed you," He gasped as he kissed down her neck.

"Missed you, so much." She breathed back, clutching his hair. "Your spell was fantastic."

"I also," he said, kissing his way to her ear, working the buttons on her robes as he went. "Made the counter. For. Sectumsempra." He nipped her ear, and then said against the shell of it, "it also heals other curse wounds."

"It does?" Hermione asked, pulling back to meet his eye while unbuttoning the many buttons on his frock coat.

"Yes. Nikola had the mark torn from his flesh. He was deemed too old to be part of the new age."

This had Hermione pause, studying her future husband's face. "Is he alright?"

"He's Russian. He takes vodka for the pain, and thinks he's dodged a regime similar to what Rasputin had attempted before he was killed."

"Oh, well." Hermione ran her fingers along this half open buttons. "How did you… I mean, what did…?"

"He thinks I was merely lured into the Death Eaters by Lucius, lulled in by the call of power and placement, and became quickly disillusioned. I popped into his head when he was quite into his cups, he doesn't suspect my duplicity, so much as he believes that, if given the chance, I would have the brand ripped from my skin as well. I would, of course, but merely because I didn't want it there in the first place."

"As long as you're safe." Hermione said in a voice barely above a whisper, running her hands up and down his chest.

"You know that I will be, for at least a while." Severus said. "I do look a bit older than I do now in those memories of yours."

She smirked. "Yes, but that doesn't mean you were safe." She said quietly, pleased that her lack of knowledge in this didn't affect her any.

"I suppose." He conceded. "But to be frank, I don't particularly wish to discuss much at the moment. I have a feeling the newly minted Professor Black will give us precisely an hour, and then he will be barking at your door."

Hermione hummed in agreement. "So, what is it that you would like to do?" She asked with a smirk.

Severus' casting of a contraception charm was her answer.

Hi! Thanks everyone who's reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing this story. Son of Whitebeard, rlsa, lia a karas, viola1701e, Smootsmokey, HGranger89, TheShipperOfTheCrystallBallroom, Kolbz, AdeliaMaggot, Chelsea always, MissMegan24, RiseAgainstBulletForMyValentine, and UniqueSnowyOwl, thanks to all of you for leaving word.

Wanna get excited? The next chapter will start dark and end very nicely for one of the two Snape couples...