When Remus woke up , he for once thought he was in his room in Lunarville. It was still early and he was not a morning person. He wanted to sleep more and snuggled closer to whatever was beside him. She felt warm against him. Her hair tickled him as he nuzzled her neck and felt her humming in content on his touch. She curled back against him as he rested his arm on the smooth skin of her stomach.

It felt wonderful being there with her. He didn't know what he had done to be so lucky to have such an amazing witch curled up against him. For all his life, he had felt unfortunate, the first and last time , he thought himself to be fortunate was when he found out his friends had turned themselves into animagi for him. And now he felt lucky again for having this witch with him. He had thought if she was not revolted by his lycanthropy, she would surely not like to see the scars that crisscrossed all over his body. In the past when he had had one nighters with witches, he would glamour his scars but yesterday he had forgotten to glamour himself. He had felt his confidence wash away when he saw her scaring at his scars. And had tried to hide them. But she suddenly grabbed his hand with one hand and placed another one on his chest over the longest scar, the next moment she had uttered those words that made his chest swell tenfold.

"You are beautiful Remus. They are beautiful." She had whispered tracing a long scar that ran from his left shoulder to his navel. It was a faint line just lighter than his skin. "These tell your story. These are all your sufferings and your pain, these are you, Remus. Don't hide them. There is nothing about them to hide. If someone doesn't like them, they are pathetic and doesn't deserve a good man like you." And then she had kissed him. Remus was happy. He was the happiest man. And he knew he was in love with this witch.

"Morning." Hermione said as he continued to trace pattern on her skin.

He shook his head from where his face was buried in the crook of her neck.

"Not yet." With that he pulled her closer, if that was even possible, and both drifted off once again in the realm of sleep , both too exhausted from the activities of last night.

The next time Hermione woke up, she was still wrapped in his arms. She slowly removed herself from his embrace and with a kiss on his forehead and left for the bathroom.

When she stepped into the living room, James and Sirius had thrown themselves on the counch and were snoring loudly. Lily was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Morning , Lils." She said as she poured herself a cup of tea.

"Soooooooooo. What happened yesterday!"

Hermione blushed crimson.

"What part of yesterday."

"After I fell asleep." She asked , raising an eyebrow at her.

"Oh!" Hermione felt stupid. How would anyone know, apart from Severus. "Well, They came back very late. James and Sirius were very drunk and passed out on the couch. And a guest came here."

"Guest? Who?" Lily asked.

"I will tell you later. First I need to take some potion for the guest. Why don't you give some Sober up potion to those two." She said.

"Where is Remus?" Lily asked looking around for him.

"In my room." She saw the surprised look on her face and left her before she was bombarded with questions.

The door to Severus room was closed from inside when Hermione came with breakfast and potions.

"Sev." She knocked. "Its me Hermione."

The door opened after a few minutes. In front of her stood the same man with a white shirt and trousers. She had never seen Severus Snape look so… casual. He had always been in black robes, forever in mourning. She stared at him, open mouthed.

"Don't stare at me. Your wolf might pounce again." He said and stepped aside for her.

"Oh please." She said. "I am sorry from him though."

"When were you going to tell me that they are staying here?" He asked sitting on recliner in the room. He looked completely at ease.

"What?" he asked when she continued.

"You look so much in ease here. I thought you might have left." She admitted.

"I have no where to go. I knew I was safe here after you fixed me up and then stepped between me and Lupin."

Severus Snape had spent a large part of the night thinking. He wasn't a man to jump into any decision. It was true that he wanted more than anything to just leave the place where those four were staying. But then , where would he go? If he left the safety of this cottage, the only other option for him was to go back to the Dark Lord. For past few years, he had been praying for just one opportunity to leave his side and survive, and now that he was presented with one, was he ready to throw it all up because of the Marauders. No, he wouldn't let them spoil this for him. Besides, Hermione had promised him that she would help him and ask for nothing in return. So he had stayed. He had transfigured the curtains into comfortable clothes and slept in the fresh made bed. For the first time in a while, he found himself sleeping in peace.

"I thought about it. Figured I wish to know your story first."

"What do you want to know?"

"How do you know me?"

"You were my professor for six years before I dropped out in seventh year. You saved my life when I was suffering from torture. I owe my sanity to you." She said.

Severus stared at her as if she was crazy. He was thinking it was all a prank when she said again,

"Use Legillimency." She placed the breakfast tray in the table and sat down in front of him.

Severus saw years of memory pass infront of him. In the memory Hermione Granger was just a first year and he saw her setting the robes of a teacher on fire. The most surprising thing was that the teacher looked a lot like him. In the second memory , they were all in a ruin of a building. He saw Lupin and Black, though both aged and something amiss about them, he saw himself jumping infront of three kids which had a younger James, a red head and Hermione to save them from a werewolf, the memory changed and he was in a meeting in a grim looking house. There was Dumbledore, Minerva, Moody, Lupin, Black , and Arthur and Molly Weasley. The next memory didn't have him but a newspaper in which he was declared the new headmaster of Hogwarts, as memory changed, he saw Hermione Granger, bedridden , covered in bandages and shaking as an owl perched on the window of her room with several potions. He saw her read a letter and say softly , "Professor Snape." Next was the worst as he saw himself in front of Voldemort as he mumbled something about a wand and ordered his snake to eat him. He lost his life looking at the young James whose eyes looked like Lily.

"What was that?" He said as Hermione pushed him out of her head. He sat there panting.

"Those were my memories of all my years in Hogwarts, knowing you." She said. Severus would have doubted if he didn't know that memory that are made are foggy and not clear like hers. "You see, Severus, I am from future, twenty years to be exact. You were my potion professor for six years. You tried to save mine and Harry's life all the time but we always thought you were wrong because you bullied us and were harsh to us Gryffindors." She smiled fondly at her memory. "You found out Voldemort wanted to kill Lily for a prophecy." His face paled. "And after he killed her, you turned spy for Dumbledore to protect her son Harry. He and all of us, doubted your loyalty till the day you died. You died trying to fulfill your one promise to Lily that you won't let her die in vain. That you will protect her son no matter what." She finished.

Hermione watched him carefully as he let all the information sink in. His usually guarded face was now flooded with emotions. She saw pain and guilt, followed by longing and loneliness. There came many other emotions before he finally spoke,

"You want me to turn spy again?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"I told you I want nothing from you. I won't ask you ever to get back to that hell. No , I want to save you from that future."

"But why? As you said I was a bully to you."

"I know and it was wrong , Sev. You weren't a perfect man. You had lost too much. You were alone for twenty years. There was Dumbledore who asked favor from you without any regards to your life or feelings. You were an ex death eater with just the words of Dumbledore to back you. I don't say these justify what you did, but these were enough to turn you bitter. A part of me believed most of what you did was an act as a spy to make believe that you hated everyone who was not Death Eater related. We can't tell for sure. You are not that Severus Snape. I won't let you be that again."

After a very long silence, he said. "I need time to think."

"Ofcourse." She smiled at him. "Take your potions on time."

As she was near the door, she turned, "and Sev?"

"Hmm?"

"Its time to move on. Your first love need not to be the last one. You can love two people without betraying the first. So please , don't dwell on the past too much. Once a wise man had said, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live" Remember that. " With that she left.

Lily stood outside the door. She had come to call Hermione who was taking long and couldn't help but eavesdrop when she saw Snape inside with her. It was always a regret for her that she took so long to forgive him. Sometimes when she would hear the boys talking about him or whenever she saw a glimpse of him, she would think what if she had forgiven him. Could she save him from that terrible fate? Afterall she was the only person in his life that had kept him on track. But she was an egotistical teenager back then and by the time she realised the results of her action, it had been too late. When Hermione had said that in the end Severus would have turned good, she could not stop the heat that had warmed her heart. Now, she could have Snape right there with her.

She saw Hermione leave and left herself. She would come back later to talk to him. Right now he needed time.

A/N : Sorry everyone for this late update Today. I was just disturbed with my college procedures. The college isn't giving any details about anything. I am really irritated. I received a mail an hour ago that I need to mail my Application Id but to whom and where, no details. The worst thing is the admission desk is not replying any of my mails. Since today was the deadline ( yes, I received the mail today and today is the deadline) , I was doing that before making this update.

daichisjuicythighs

thanks a lotttt... You are such a sweet person. I was worried that you have been kidnapped by aliens when I didn't find anything from you yesterday. But it seems you are all right after all. I am not a pro - writer any way. Thank u for saying it though. I have a long way to go. But with you and everyone who is so appreciative , I can do it. Thanks.

H

I agree.. Getting into an argument with a possessive wolf is not smart. Perhaps he had always been scared of Lupin after the full moon prank of Sirius.

Guest

Thanks a lot. Keep reading. I hope you like the upcoming chapters as well

Hendjsi

I agree that without problems a story isn't realistic. But you will have to wait for the problems to come for Hermione. The story isn't over yet. Infact it is just halfway there. The horcruxes hunt haven't begun and that is just the half of story. The Remione part of story still has some drama in its pockets. So I request you to wait for it. Till now It had been easy for her because she knew things about future that could easily help her in it. However, when her actions have affected the timeline too much and incidents start changing, it is then that she will start facing problems. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope you continue to read the story and like its its next chapters. Thanks a lot for the suggestion.

slnerene

Thanks a lot. I am grateful that you are reading this and delighted that you seemed to like it. Keep reading.