Told you there was more coming.  Enjoy, review, whatever pleases you.

--Aimes.

She tried to be annoyed with him, but she couldn't muster the energy.  Instead, she was merely tired, drained of emotion.  Sad day when you can't round up enough energy to get annoyed with Snape.

"There are some plates in the cupboard.  Help yourself."

He didn't move.

She looked over at him and he was watching her.  "Well?"

He remained silent and then moved across the kitchen to her.  He put an arm up rather awkwardly then pulled her into a hesitant embrace.

She stiffened, then slumped against him and began to sob.

The names ran through her mind, each touching a new and ever more painful chord: Colin and Dennis Creevy, Parvati Patil, Susan Bones, Michael Corner, Bill Weasley, Sibyl Trelawney, Sirius Black, Fred Weasley, Blaise Zabini.  Seamus Finnigan. Lavender Brown.

The kettle whistled.  Snape reached behind him and turned off the stove before the water evaporated.

He had long felt a kinship with Hermione, though he was loathe to admit it.

She reminded him so much of another girl…

So long ago…

Flashback

Severus Snape ran through the forest, seeking only to escape his parents.  It wouldn't be long before physical violence broke out, and he didn't want to be anywhere near them when that happened.

He froze, hearing something in the woods.  Crying?  But who would be in this dreary, rural part of the country?  He moved silently towards the sound.  At the small creek running through the woods, he heard the source of the noise.

A girl sobbed brokenly by the creek.  He moved closer to her and she was up in a flash, prepared to run. 

"Who are you?"

The girl was no more than seven, and deeply suspicious.

"Severus Snape.  Who are you?"  The fourteen-year-old was similarly suspicious.

"Rain." 

"Rain who?"

"I don't know.  Rain."

"Why are you crying?"

The girl looked tremulous at the question, but took a deep breath and answered.  "I am alone."

"Everyone is alone."  But she was only a child.  And children, he decided, did not deserve to be alone.

"Come with me, I'll help you find your parents or something.  At the very least, Dai should be able to cook you something."

She seemed unsure, but when he knelt down and reached out his hand, she took it.   They walked hand-in-hand back to the manor, where Severus told the groundskeeper of the girl's plight.  Dai took instantly to her, and when Rain revealed that she was an orphan, Dai asked her to stay.  She and Severus became inseparable, and for the first time, the dour boy began to smile.  Before long, she had him laughing and smiling frequently…but only around her.

End Flashback

It did not do to dwell on dreams.  Contrary to popular belief, Snape was a wise man—had become a wise man—and lived his life according to his acquired wisdom.

It did not do to dwell on dreams, and that's all Rain was now.  A dream.

He had told Callah that once: one of the myriad reasons he had joined the Death Eaters was in hopes of finding Rain, who had disappeared shortly after he went to Hogwarts, never to be seen again.  His quest had been futile, though he suspected his father had much to do with the incident.  During her time in captivity, Hermione had shown fire and spark he had never associated with anyone but the lost little girl he'd found in the woods.  He'd denied it vehemently when Lupin had suggested it, but he knew it to be true.  Snape would never admit it to anyone save her, but over time Hermione became a sister or daughter figure to him.  She was one of his own and he went to any lengths to protect her.

He felt Hermione pull away and wipe her teary eyes.  Snape remained silent, but did not move away.

It did not do to dwell on dreams, but Hermione Granger was real and Severus Snape knew it.