I'm baaaaaaack

"So when's the wedding?" Lily asked later that night after Hermione had told her everything that had happened.

Hermione rolled her eyes and threw a pillow in Lily direction.

"It's not funny. I don't understand how this keeps happening!"

Lily hesitated before asking, "Are you sure you're not beginning to fancy him? I wouldn't blame you if you did."

"Of course not!" Hermione exclaimed, "He's vile! He's my teacher! If only I could tell you some of the things he will do, you wouldn't be asking that question."

"But I'm not talking about your professor," Lily continued, "I'm talking about the boy you've been spending time with twice a week. The boy you can't seem to stop snogging. The one you spend most of your days talking about."

"Complaining more like," Hermione corrected.

Lily rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter. You think about him more than you'd like to admit."

"Only because you're the only person I can talk to now and you always want to talk about snogging. Do you and James ever do anything else?"

"Don't turn this around on me," Lily scolded. "why is it so hard for you to admit that you might like Snape?"

"You have met him before, right?" Hermione answered sarcastically, "He has no redeeming qualities. He doesn't seem to like me very much either."

"He's cute in his own 'I look like I've been shoved in a cupboard my entire life' way. And lets be honest, the two of you do have a lot in common."

"A lot in common!" Hermione tried not to yell, "How have we got a lot in common? He looks like he never bathes, he's rude, he has no friends, he.."

Hermione was cut off as Lily grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eye, "He's smart and sarcastic and loves reading and learning. He's challenging and difficult and everything you enjoy. So what if he's greasy? Have you seen the size of your hair? You're a match made in bookworm heaven! How about you forget what you think you know about him and take two seconds and really look at him?"

She did wish at times she could take the boy for who he was instead of judging him for who he would be, but that was impossible. Despite his eventual turn he would willingly make the choice to follow a psychopath who wanted her dead, and he would make that choice soon. She couldn't ignore that.

Lily must have noticed her face, "I'm not saying you need to marry him Hermione, you don't even have to date him properly, but why cant you let yourself enjoy whats in front of you?"

"If you only knew what he would become Lily," Hermione sighed, "you wouldn't be encouraging this."

"But he's not there yet," Lily snapped sounding frustrated, "And maybe being around you would do him some good and keep him from the 'oh so terrible' future for him you keep alluding to."

"I wish it worked that way," Hermione started to smile, "No promises, but I'll give it a thought."

Their conversation drifted to other things while they got ready for sleep that night. Since Hermione was no longer privy to the goings on of James and the rest Lily was oh too happy to fill her in on every little detail. Hermione found herself drifting off to sleep as Lily described how Peter had managed to get caught on their latest escapade and doomed the rest to a weeks worth of detention, and her last thought before she drifted off was how perfect his lips felt against hers.

…...

January 16h 1977

It was still unreasonably cold outside but Hermione was desperate to be out of the castle. She had gotten her self too involved in this time, she thought to herself as she tucked her gloved hands under her arms and made her way over to the lake. It had all happened so quickly, and Lily had been so nice, and she had just been so curious about all of them that she hadn't thought straight. She wasn't even this sociable in her own time! So why on earth was she acting so unlike herself now?

Her cheeks were red and she was out of breath from the cold as she neared the lake. She took her wand out of her pocket and removed enough snow from a patch of grass to allow her to lay down the blanket she had brought. A quick spell conjured up a small hovering flame as she sat down, just enough to keep her warm. There were a few people she could see walking in the distance but luckily they weren't close enough to hear. For now, Hermione wanted silence and to be alone with her thoughts and her books.

Since she had no idea when, or if really, she would be going back to her own time she had to be always prepared for her exams. She had discussed with Dumbledore what to do about her NEWT exams and it had been decided it would be best if she took them before she left. After all, she had no idea what had sent her back and therefore had no idea what sort of danger she might be in and she would not allow that get in her way of finishing her school.

It was a little after mid day, she was surrounded by her books and parchment, too engrossed in her studying to bother to eat the bread and cheese she had brought for herself or to notice the shadow that crept over the top of her blanket. It wasn't until his face was a mere 6 inches away from hers that she noticed that too familiar hooked nose. She was so startled at his presence and his proximity that her entire body jumped at the sight and her hand went immediately to her wand.

"You could try hexing me, but I wouldn't suggest it."

"What in Merlins name are you doing here Snape?" Hermione tried to snap, but unable to catch her breath it lacked its usual bite. His scare had left her feeling as though her heart would beat out of her chest.

"Looks as though we had the same idea," he said as he gestured to the pack he was carrying which looked heavy and was probably as full of books as hers had been, "although you seem to have beat me to my favorite spot."

Hermione gestured to the giant lake in front of her, "The lake is big enough, I am sure you could find a place to yourself far, far away from me."

"I'm sure I could," Snape nodded, "But then I wouldn't be able to tell you that your hands and lips are starting to turn blue. Looks like your flame has been dying out."

Hermione frowned as she looked at the flame she had conjured. It did look quite pathetic now, but she hardly felt cold! She glared at Snape as she searched for the mirror Lily had given her in her bag. She did have to admit her fingers had lost a little bit of their normal color and as she glanced at herself in the mirror her lips had lost a bit of their usual pink. She had been out there for quite a while and she did have a tendency to focus on her books too hard.

She grumbled under her breath as she grabbed her gloves.

"I don't think Madame Pomfrey would have appreciated dealing with your frostbite," Snape said sarcastically as he pulled out his wand, "this might keep you a little warmer."

He muttered a spell Hermione didn't recognize and she jumped as a ball of green flame, hardly lager than her fist, erupted from the end of his wand. It landed in the center of her blanket hanging just above her head so it was close enough to feel the soothing heat on her face but not close enough to burn or pose a risk.

"I could have done that myself you know," Hermione half smiled, "but thank you."

Snape nodded in response and Hermione wasn't sure what to do next. She had come out here to be alone but she realized that she wasn't exactly anxious to have Snape walk away. Not that she wanted him to stay, of course, but she didn't want him to go either. He also seemed unsure about what course of action to take next as he stood awkwardly in front of her. He wasn't looking at her, he seemed to have found a point on the blanket she had laid out immensely interesting, so she took the opportunity to really look at him as Lily had suggested.

She had to give Lily a little credit, she and Snape were at least a little bit alike otherwise they would not have stumbled upon one another out here. He also had been kind enough to start her a new fire and point out how cold she was even if he was sarcastic the whole time. He was wearing a hat but she could still see the ends of his lanky strands coming out of the bottom, but now that they were out of his face she could see past his crooked nose and take a good look at him for the first time. His abnormally pale skin seemed to be at home in this crisp cold air and Hermione wasn't sure if it was the overcast sky that allowed him to lose the yellow tint he usually carried or that the frost had gotten to his cheeks already but she realized the cold suited him. His eyes were a bit brighter, still black but at least gleaming slightly. And even the clothes he was wearing suited him more. Instead of the typical black house robes he had covered himself with a very think, what looked to be grey wool coat. It added a bit of weight to his normally lanky frame and even though she wouldn't typically classify grey as a bold color, it was nice to see him in anything but his usual black.

She didn't realize how long she had been staring or that she had started smiling as she looked him over, but as she reached his face again she noticed that his eyes had moved from the fixed point at her blanket and were now staring back at her. She expected a sarcastic comment, something about keeping her eyes to herself, but none came. He simply stood there silently staring back at her, looking more curious than accusing.

Before she realized what she had done, she asked if he would like to sit down and join her. As he nodded and moved to sit closer to her it occurred to her that she felt glad that he wanted to stay and how disappointed she would have been had he said no.