All characters and settings belong to J K Rowling (except for a few of my own additions)

Chapter Three

Hermione walked through the corridor for what seemed like hours. She passed hundreds of doors as she walked. Some of the doors were opened just a little bit while the others were all locked.

After taking a quick glance into every room that was opened, she realized why they weren't locked. There was no reason for them to be locked. All that lay behind their doors were linen closets, bathrooms, and more guest rooms.

As she continued attempting to open every closed door, curiosity finally got the better of her.

'To hell with privacy,' she thought.

Since Hermione had turned seventeen that year she had finally become of age in the wizarding world, and could now use magic outside of school.

Drawing her wand out from her robe pocket, she pointed her wand at the door and whispered the unlocking spell, so as not to be heard by Snape or any of his house elves.

Pocketing her wand she reached out and turned the doorknob. To her surprise the door was still locked. The spell hadn't worked! She pulled her wand out and repeated the spell several times, before thrusting he robe back in her pocket and kicking the door in frustration.

Finally giving up completely at ever finding anything at all interesting, since the house didn't seem to want to cooperate with her, Hermione turned around and started to walk back to her room. Unfortunately she had no idea how to get back there. She'd been looking around the house for something interesting so intently that she had not been paying any attention what so ever to the way she had come from.

Taking a couple more turns in the hopeless effort to try and find her way back, she found everyting looking less and less familiar.

All of a sudden, Snap's words rushed back into her head.

"This is a big manor and I will not come in search of you if you find yourself lost."

The fear getting the better of Hermione, she began running down the corridors twisting and turning in every direction.

Panic had hit Hermione now and it hit her hard. She didn't want to die in these halls with no one around. She didn't want Snape to walk down the hall and stumble across her body. She didn't want him to find her like she had found her parents. Tears streaked down her face as she continued running. She feared she would starve or die of thirst. She couldn't stop thinking of all the horrible ways she could die in these corridors.

Hermione turned right down what felt like the hundredth corridor. That was when she heard it. It was the sound of a soft whisper. She stopped running so she could make out what it was saying.

"Hate, blood, vengeance," came the voice, "fear, power, strength. Come to me Hermione, follow my voice."

Hermione advanced forward slowly. Her eyes were looking straight ahead, unblinkingly, at the door at the end of the corridor. She had no control of her body, and found herself in a trance walking towards the door following the voice.

And then, as if she had imagined the whole thing, the voice stopped and she was snapped out of her trance. She now was just feet from the door. She reached her shaking hand towards the handle, but jumped backwards as the door flew open on its own. Taking a few wary steps towards the room, Hermione stopped in the doorway unsure whether or not to actually go in.

Curiosity once again winning over her fear, Hermione cautiously stepped into the room. All of a sudden the room started spinning around her. Hermione watched as the room faded around her. As the spinning stopped she found herself in a beautifully decorated room. She was in what appeared to be the biggest living room she had ever seen. Focusing her eyes more from the spinning, Hermione gazed at all the furniture and decorations in the room. There were velvet chairs, silk curtains, vases, and paintings all over. What caught her eye the most, however, was not the glass coffee tables or expensive rug. It was the hand crafted quilt that lay across the back of the couch. It looked so out of place in the expensive room.

Hermione was suddenly shaken from her thoughts as a little boy, who looked to be about seven or eight, came running into the room laughing followed by a man whom she assumed was his father. Both of them looked oddly familiar to Hermione, but she just couldn't place them.

Hermione suddenly realizing how awkward she must look, a total stranger standing in the middle of their living room.

"Hi my name is Hermione Granger and I'm so sor-" but she abruptly stopped speaking as the boy ran right through her.

Shocked, Hermione just stood there starring at the boy and the man, who had just caught what appeared to be his son, with her mouth gaping open.

"Severus give me my wand!" said the man trying to sound in authority, but failing miserably as he kept laughing.

"You gotta get it from me first!" laughed Severus.

Hermione then understood what had happened. She was looking at her professor as a boy with his father. She had been pulled into a memory. Whose memory it was, was still a mystery to her.

Just then a woman came into the room carrying a small baby. Hermione recognized the woman as Snape's mother.

"Severus love, give your father his wand back this minute so he won't be late for work."

The baby began to stir as Mrs. Snape talked and then began to cry. Mrs. Snape started rocking her gently.

"Shh, go back to sleep, Serena, darling."

Her voice seemed to have a calming effect on Serena since she seemed to fall back to sleep.

'I never knew Snape had a little sister,' said Hermione to herself.

"Now Severus, your father's wand please," said Mrs. Snape quietly stretching her hand out.

"Yes Mum," replied Severus placing the wand in his mother's hand.

"Thank you love."

"Well then I shall be going. I'll see you both when I get home," said Mr. Snape as he kissed Severus on the head and his wife on the cheek.

As he walked out the door, Hermione felt the room start to spin again. The room started disappearing around her again, and when it stopped, she found herself not at the manor, but in an alley.

She had now realized that these must have been Snape's memories since the last memory had ended with him watching his father leave. Hermione couldn't understand how someone who was so loved by his family turn so mean and cold.

Hermione was once again shaken from her thoughts as Snape ad his father turned into the alley. Snape looked older to her now. He must have been going into his second or third year of Hogwarts. Her guess was confirmed when Snape began to speak.

"Don't forget to sign my permission slip for Hogsmede when we get home. It's my first year that I get to go and I don't want to forget my form when I leave for school next week."

"Relax son, I signed it this morning before we left. Your mother set it out for you on your desk by your wand. Now, where is that portkey we had? What was it again? A brown or black shoe?"

Before Severus could answer a man stepped out from behind a dumpster. He appeared homeless and was completely drunk.

"Good evening sir, we're just passing through so don't mind us," said Mr. Snape, but before they got within ten feet of passing the man he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Mr. Snape.

"Hand over you cash now!"

"Severus get behind me," commanded Mr. Snape quietly.

"But father,"

"Now Severus!" he commanded more forcibly.

Suddenly the memory began to run in slow motion. Hermione was the only thing in the memory unaffected by the change in speed around them.

She saw the man pull the trigger and open his eyes wide in shock. Hermione ran to push Mr. Snape out of the way but as she stepped in front of him to do so, the memory sped back up and she passed right through Mr. Snape and fell onto the ground, just as a second bullet went right past her ear. She heard the gun drop to the ground and heard the mans footsteps as he ran from the alley.

Opening her eyes she was shocked by what she saw. Underneath her was the thirteen-year-old Snape. He was staring directly at her. Some how she had managed to knock him out of the way of the second bullet instead of knocking his father out of the path of the first bullet.

Realization suddenly dawned on her face. She had been able to save Severus from being hit, but not his father.

Jumping up off of Severus, she ran to Mr. Snape.

Severus, now able to get up since Hermione was off him, ran to his father's side.

"Severus, your okay," came Mr. Snape's voice barely above a whisper, in relief.

"Something pushed me down on the ground and saved me dad, but they couldn't save you," sobbed a distraught Severus.

It was then that Hermione realized that he had been looking through her not at her.

'But how could I save him then, if he still can't see me. And why couldn't I save his father?' she thought.

She didn't have much time to assess this thought fully, for Severus had begun to speak again.

"Dad it's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. TELL ME YOUR GOING TO BE OKAY! SAY IT DAMMIT!" shouted Severus hysterically through tears.

Hermione knew there was nothing he could do for his father. He knew it too. Before she knew what she was doing, she went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

He whipped his head around and stared right through her.

"I know you're there! I can smell your perfume! Please go get some help! Please!" screamed Severus, pain in his voice.

Letting go of his shoulder, Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes as she saw Severus turn back to his father. She knew there was nothing she could do for him. No on could see her for Christ's sake. She felt so helpless as she watched Mr. Snape dying in his son's arms. She felt like her own parents had just been murdered all over again.

She heard Mr. Snape tell his son the last words he would ever speak. She felt as if this was a private moment that she shouldn't be watching, but it wasn't as if she had any place to go.

"Trust in yourself, Severus, and you'll be powerful. Trust in your heart and you'll be indestructible." Whispered Mr. Snape through rattled breaths. "I love you Severus," were spoken through his last breath as his body went limp in his son's arms.

"NOOO!" screamed Severus as lightning streaked across the darkened sky.

As rain began pouring down on Hermione's face, she felt so much sorrow for the boy in front of her.

The alley started to spin, but before it completely vanished, Severus looked up from his father and she saw all the warmness and love fade from his eyes. She now understood why all that was left in his eyes was hatred.

As the alley completely disappeared, Hermione found herself standing just inside the entrance hall at Hogwarts. She was soaking wet and thanked God that no one would actually be able to see her right now.

She stood there and waited for the memory to come, and hoping that she would be able to go back to the manor after this.

"Umm excuse me but who are you?"

Hermione spun around and saw a seventeen-year-old Snape. Turning around to see who he was talking to, she slipped on the puddle of water that had been collecting at her feet from her dress robes. She braced herself for the fall, but it never came. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her body and then pull her back up onto her feet.

"So who are you?"

"Wait you can see me?"

hey guys I hope u enjoyed the latest chapter I couldn't decide how to end it exactly so I ended with a cliffy! Please keep your reviews coming, I really do appreciate them

stephanie