Summary: Hermione dreams of her soulmate.

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. I love all your theories! Hope this helps answer some.

Chapter 3

Hermione slept… and dreamed. First, she heard a voice far off.

"Hermione, don't leave me."

She turned over and went into a deeper sleep.

"Find me, my soulmate, and bring me back…"

"Please, Hermione, don't leave me…"

"Find me and bring me back…"

The request repeated itself in her mind over and over again.

"Hermione…"

She was in London, and the fog was so thick she could barely make out the lampposts that lined the street. A man rushed away from her. A man in a long black cape who quickly turned the corner. She raced after him. As she rounded the corner, she saw the corner of his cape disappear around another corner. She picked up her pace. As she turned that corner, he was shooting around yet another in the other direction, his cape snapping from his speed.

She began to run. Turning the corner, she found herself in northern London, and the man was stalking ahead of her. He turned in a flash and Apparated. Instinctively, she knew where he was going. She twisted and Apparated away and found herself in Cokeworth. Again, the fog was so thick that she could barely see. She saw a black image in front of her and followed. Again, it turned a corner.

She was getting used to seeing the edge of his robes as the man disappeared around corner after corner. She wondered where he was leading her. He Apparated again. She instinctively followed and found herself on Hogwarts grounds. At least here there was no fog.

Entering the gates, she saw him far off. He was just standing there with his back to her. She hurried along, trying to get to him before he spun away again. When she was just behind him, she stopped. He hadn't moved at all. She wondered if he was real.

"Professor?"

The man turned halfway to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "Hermione," he said before turning around fully.

Hermione sighed. "You're a hard person to catch."

"That just makes finding me all the better."

"Professor, I…"

"Severus."

"Pardon?"

"Call me Severus. You have been calling me that in your head already, haven't you?"

She just looked at him, not really knowing what to say. He smirked at her then. She felt her heartbeat quicken at it. Finally, she cleared her throat.

"How are you here in my dream?" she asked him finally.

"It's the potion. It lets us communicate through the veil while you are asleep," Severus explained.

"Then you're real?"

"As real as a dead man can be," he quipped.

"Severus…" she hesitated as her eyes roamed over him. "The prophecy… about us… is it true?"

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"I mean, Trelawney said it. Can it possibly be true?"

"It seems that when she truly prophesies, she is usually right," Severus countered.

"We're soulmates? Are you sure? Is there any way to be sure?"

Severus smirked. "I had the same questions when I first heard the prophecy. There is a potion to determine whether two people are soulmates or not. It was relatively easy to get one of your hairs during your sixth-year Defense class to test if we were soulmates or not."

"Sixth-year? When did she reveal the prophecy?"

Severus' eyebrows knit together as he thought. "The summer before then. It was after our organizational staff meeting before the year began. I stayed behind in the teacher's lounge after the meeting, not realizing Trelawney had done the same. She came up to me asking how my summer had been and then spouted off the prophecy. It was disconcerting, to say the least."

"So, you knew all that time?" Hermione asked.

He nodded. "Once you came back, I procured a hair to add to the potion with my own." His eyes met hers. "The potion is foolproof, and it confirmed Trelawney's saying that we were soulmates."

Hermione put her hand up to her chest. "I can't believe it," she said as she shook her head.

"Is it that horrible to imagine?" Severus asked, a bit of sadness in his voice. "It's all right," he continued with a sigh. "I understand, really. It's shocking to think that someone like me could be someone you could be close to."

"Severus, It's not that at all! It's just that…"

He arched a brow at her. "Yes?"

"I'm feeling cheated." She folded her arms. "I have a soulmate, but he's dead."

Severus closed the gap between them. "I am dead, that's true. If I were alive, would you even want me as your soulmate?"

She looked at him and took in everything he was, from looks to personality, to actions. Her heart filled with love for the man standing in front of her. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Oh yes, Severus. How could I not?"

Severus stilled. He looked and looked at her. Hermione tried to glean what was going on in his mind, but she couldn't tell for sure. She thought she may have an idea, though. After his life and everything he'd done, he'd probably find it hard to believe that someone would even consider being with him.

Severus finally spoke. "I am not what anyone has ever considered a catch."

Now it was her turn to stare. How could she explain to him what had been going on for the last ten years? She wanted him to see that even though he'd been gone a while, he had been close to her in her thoughts.

"But when I look at you," she answered finally, "I see someone I do consider a catch."

His arms were suddenly around her, and he was pulling her to him. Hermione's arms wrapped around him, and she embraced him, burying her head in his robes. They held the embrace for a long time. When she pulled back, she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I think the bond was drawing me to you all these years. I always respected you when I was your student… except for THAT year." She sighed as she looked into his eyes. "After your death, my mind has been drawn to you over and over. Not only have I had a healthy respect for you, but I've also wished you had survived so we could be friends. I never let my thoughts go farther than that because it was silly to long after a dead man, but these feelings were buried within me all this time. Knowing what I know now, they can finally come to the surface."

Severus held her gaze and smiled shyly at Hermione.

"I hoped it would be something like that. I couldn't imagine how you would ever accept that I could be your soulmate. I am…"

Her finger came up and covered his lips, effectively quieting him. "No, Severus, don't say anything else negative. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for."

"How do you know that I don't give myself enough credit?" Severus asked with curiosity.

Hermione's eyebrows knit together. "I don't know; I just do. It must be the bond. I instinctively know you don't feel worthy of the good that comes to you, including me."

"Hmpf…" Severus looked annoyed.

"You are, you know."

Severus looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"You're worthy of me. We're soulmates, we are both worthy of each other, Severus." She reached up and caressed his cheek.

Severus' voice filled with emotion. "Thank you, my soulmate."

They were silent for a few minutes just looking at one another. Hermione felt drawn to him, and she thought he probably felt the same. But before anything else went on, she had a question.

"What do we do now? How do we fulfill the prophecy?"

"I'm not exactly sure. The potion may help us complete the rest of the prophecy as well, I don't know."

"You feel so real," she whispered.

"I am."

"Our bond…"

"Isn't fully sealed yet," Severus finished.

"We haven't kissed." Hermione looked at his lips. "We should kiss."

"Wait, Hermione," Severus broke in. "If we don't kiss, you won't be bound to a… dead man."

"I don't understand," Hermione said. "We're soulmates, we should kiss and make it official."

Severus pulled back and turned away from her. Hermione reached out and took his arm.

"Severus?"

"I am dead, Hermione. Even with the prophecy, you may never be able to resurrect me. To tie you to me when you can never have me…"

"We're supposed to be together, Severus," Hermione said in frustration.

He turned back to her. "If you don't kiss me, we are still soulmates but have a small bond between us. If you kiss me, we have a greater connection—a more powerful bond—that will never be broken. You can love and marry another, but I will always be in the back of your mind. If we were to consummate the bond, you could never be with anyone else."

"I will bring you back, Severus. I'm not going to just let my newly found soulmate disappear. You are mine, and I want you. I can feel our link, and I want to feel that even stronger."

"I want that too. I have wanted that since I confirmed that we were soulmates. Imagine my embarrassment lusting after a student."

"Silly man," she said as she caressed his hair. "You never acted on it. You were totally admirable."

"Hermione, it's not right to make you suffer."

"How is completing our initial bond suffering?" she asked. "We can wait until you are alive again to fully complete the bond, but I want this, Severus."

His eyes met hers. "Are you sure? Hermione? Are you positive?"

She smiled at him as she played with his hair some more. Severus closed his eyes as if he were afraid to hear what she was going to say.

"Severus, look at me," Hermione said softly.

He opened his eyes reluctantly and gazed into hers.

"I want to kiss you. I want to complete this bond. I want you. Please, Severus."

"If you insist," Severus said with a little grin.

His lips closed in on hers, and she felt a bliss she never knew was possible. Sighing as she deepened the kiss, she opened her mouth for him. Her entire body was filled with passion for Severus as they continued their sultry kiss.

It was different from any kiss she'd ever experienced. It was all-consuming. She felt something building within her core as she continued to worship his mouth. His tongue danced within her, and she could tell he felt the same magic. The bond continued to grow. A light emanated out of both of them, and they were surrounded by it. They continued to consume each other, and Hermione felt she was going to explode. The light around them grew brighter and brighter as they pulled one another closer and closer. It seemed like they were becoming one, and Hermione wanted it. Oh, how she wanted it.

Her hand snaked itself into his hair, and she felt his tangling in hers. The intensity of their kiss grew along with the brightness of the light surrounding them. All at once, the light burst from around them.

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and she found herself alone in her bed. She screamed in frustration as she sat up, her hands fisted at her side.

"Nooo!" she cried. "We were just getting started!"

She quieted, but her breath was still ragged, and she fought to even it out. Had the bond taken hold?

Hermione examined herself mentally. She smiled after a minute. She could feel it! She could feel her bond with Severus. Just as quickly as joy filled her, it disappeared. Severus' voice reverberated in her head.

"Find me, my soulmate, and bring me back."

Tears formed in her eyes as she fully understood.

She was bound to a dead man.