Summary: Hermione deals with Ron's return.

Chapter 8

Hermione stormed into the dream lab. She grumbled as she picked up the stirrer and furiously stirred her cauldron.

"Be careful or you'll upend that whole thing," Snape admonished.

Hermione withdrew the stirrer and put it down. She bent over, her hands slamming onto the table on either side of the cauldron. She huffed as she looked down into the brew.

"What is it?" Snape asked.

Hermione grit her teeth before she looked at Snape in anger. She stood up and faced him, her fists clenched beside her, and her voice full of venom when she replied.

"He thinks he can just waltz back and everything will be just fine!" She started waving her hand around emphatically. "He expects everything to be forgiven when he's been gone for weeks!"

Snape's eyebrows knit together.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ronald! He ran off right after Halloween, and he comes back tonight and thinks because he saved Harry from drowning that it's just fine that he's been gone all this time. He abandoned us, and he has no clue how hard it's been without him."

Snape walked up to her. "You have every reason to be angry. What did he say about being gone?"

She shrugged. "He ran into Snatchers right when he left us so he wasn't able to return. He couldn't find us after that. Dumbledore gave him a Deluminator, and he said it led him to find us." Her eyebrows knit together as she looked at him. "Have you ever heard of anything like that?"

Snape thought. "If it's the same Deluminator I'm thinking of, Albus originally keyed it to Potter back when his parents were killed. It was to ensure that nothing happened to him."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully before her face filled with ire again. She frowned.

"That's beside the point anyway. He just expects everything to be the same. Well, it's not the same. We've been through hell since he left. He can't just come waltzing back and expect us to forgive him like that!"

"And what does Potter feel about his return?" Snape asked.

"Ugh, he's happy!" her arms rose in frustration before she let them fall by her side again. "I mean… I'm happy too to an extent, but… everything is different, you know?"

"I do."

Hermione looked down. "I don't know how to forgive him, Severus."

"Hermione… it's okay to be angry at him you know."

"I feel like I'm betraying our friendship, but when he left I was furious with him. I don't know how to push that anger away and be friends again."

"Its possible things won't be the same again, but knowing what I do of you, things will go back to somewhat normal."

Hermione looked at him with narrowed eyes. "What is it you think you know about me?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "I have seen you defend your friends. You are a champion for them. To be honest with you, Hermione, Weasley doesn't deserve you. He's a self-absorbed prat."

Hermione chuckled. "Well, I'm not going to say I've never categorized him as such."

"Weren't you two… you know… "

Snape's question made his cheeks tinge pink.

Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it again. "It's sort of odd discussing this with my professor," she said absently.

"If you don't… "

She put her hand up. "You and I have become… dare I say, friends?"

Snape nodded slightly. Hermione couldn't help the grin that came over her face. She became serious once again as she thought about her relationship with Ron.

"Ron and I never had that kind of relationship, Professor."

"You just said we're friends, and you called me Severus before. How about we just go with first names from now on, hmm?"

Hermione smiled again and nodded.

"Severus," she repeated with a small smile. "I wanted a relationship with him before, but he always did something that would hurt me. When we went on the run, I decided that I would distance myself from him. Pretty funny, right? I'm living in a tent with him, yet I wanted to not be so close!"

She shook her head at the oddity of it all.

"Then when he left… Let me start before that… Before he deserted us, he was paying more attention to me. I could tell he wanted to start something, but he didn't seem truly serious about it. I had vacillated back and forth about my decision to not be involved like that with him. When he ran, it convinced me that I had made the right decision to forget about anything romantic with him. Maybe that's part of my issue. I don't want to be involved with him in that way. I… " She looked down. "I think I've had my fill of him as a potential partner. He's selfish." She paused again. "And jealous."

Severus stepped closer. "You realize you don't need someone like that in your life as a romantic partner, right?"

She looked at him and huffed. "Yes. Maybe I should thank Ron. It took him deserting us for me to finally get that knowledge fully in my head. That was the nail in the coffin."

Severus nodded. "That being said, you have always been his friend. As I said before, you have every right to be angry, but he probably didn't mean to upset you. Sometimes things that we do in anger can be our greatest regrets."

She tilted her head and regarded him thoughtfully. "That's true."

Severus looked uncomfortable. "You know my history with Potter's mother," he finally said.

He was quiet for a little bit. Hermione patiently waited for him to speak. She knew he was an incredibly private man, and him sharing his feelings about Harry's mum was something she felt honored to hear.

"I would have given anything for her to look beyond my folly and be my friend again," he whispered.

Hermione didn't think, she just acted. She rushed to him and hugged him tightly. She felt him stiffen but ignored his discomfort. She squeezed him tighter instead. Slowly, she felt his arms surround her as well. She held him there for at least a minute before pulling back, her arms still around him.

"Thank you, Severus."

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"It would be highly hypocritical of me to say she was a bad friend for not forgiving you, but then not forgive Ron."

"I wasn't saying that," Severus contested.

"I know, but it's true. I've been so angry at him; I've felt like I never wanted to talk to him again, much like Harry's mum must have felt with you."

Severus pulled back, and Hermione dropped her arms from around him.

"Did Weasley do something unforgivable?" he asked.

"No… no, he definitely did not. It was just thoughtless at the time." She studied him. "And like I said before, what you did wasn't unforgivable either."

Half of his mouth curved up in a smirk. "It's hard believing that after so many years."

"But you know it's true, yeah?" Hermione asked hopefully.

He nodded. "I do."

"Good," she said with a smile. "I should go. Thank you again, Severus."

"You're welcome… Hermione."

Hermione opened her eyes as she returned to her camp bed. She felt so much better from talking to Professor Snape… Severus. She smiled in the dark. She was pleased he wanted them to refer to each other by their first names. She blushed furiously as she thought about the hug she had given him.

He must have wanted to hex me! I'm surprised he didn't.

She smiled as she turned in her bed, pulled up the covers, and closed her eyes. Despite all the turmoil that was around them, Hermione quickly fell into a peaceful sleep.

oooOOOooo

Severus awoke feeling rested. Despite the harrowing mission he'd done the night before, he felt peaceful. He'd Disillusioned himself and cast his Patronus, watching Potter follow it. He'd been about to rush to the pond to rescue him when he'd spied Weasley come up and jump in. Making sure both boys had made it safely back to land with the sword, he'd carefully backed away to a safe distance and returned to Hogwarts.

He marveled how his psyche had picked up the story and continued it in his dream. It was truly amazing how the mind worked.

He frowned for a minute as he remembered Miss Granger… Hermione… hugging him. He hadn't been upset at the time, and he wondered what his subconscious was trying to tell him. Probably that he'd been without company for way too long. He craved human contact.

He had to admit he'd felt… nice… when Hermione had hugged him. He'd felt accepted, and… even wanted. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that way.

He sighed. At least his subconscious had someone.

ooo

A/N: Thanks so much for your support. I know some are thinking that Severus should know what's going on and that someone has infiltrated his dreams, but they're just dreams to him. He knows his Occlumency is strong, and the dreams are pretty innocuous. These dreams are vivid, and he remembers a lot, but I think part of it may be too that he needs this. Deep down, he needs someone to know who he is and what he's doing, so his subconscious helps him to make logical answers as to why his dreams are what they are.