Author's Note: Enjoy the chapter. I have to say, I don't usually do cliffhangers (shrug) but I'll pair this chapter with another when I update so my reviewers don't kill... lol. I love you all, so I stick to my update quick policy. Once again, thank you to all my reviewers. Ten reviews on chapter 7! Woo! Ladies and Gents, may I present chapter 8...

The darkness swirled around her, the only light coming from the twinkling stars so far above in the indigo heavens. Voices streamed around her. "What would yours be, a homework that only got a nine out of ten?" "You really are the brightest witch of your time." "You'll come home after term, won't you, darling?" "Beaky! He's escaped! He's free!" "He was hoping someone would figure it out..." "Do that one like the pig snout, Tonks." "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

To her horror, one by one the stars in the sky disappeared. "Come back!" She cried. The voices faded to echoes. "Please," she whimpered, "Don't leave me."

"Miss Granger." She opened her eyes slowly. "You're late." The face that awoke her was cross, but his touch was gentle, his hand gently shaking her shoulder. "Come on, get up." She groaned and rolled over, wincing. Fresh bruises marked her body.

"What time is it?" She asked, pulling her hair back with the band on the coffee table.

"It's eight o clock. You've missed breakfast." Though he appeared annoyed, there was worry in his eyes. "You don't have any new symptoms?"

"Some bruises. They're not too serious."

"Do you want me to get Madame Pomphrey?"

"I'm fine, really. It's nothing different than usual." Noticing that her breakfast was waiting for her, she smiled. "Thank you."

"I'll leave you to get changed. Your schedule is in my office."

Hermione folded the futon slowly, and rubbed her eyes. A thought crossed her mind and she grinned. If she had to be invisible, she might as well go naked. Surprised at herself for thinking like Ron might, she slipped on a robe and went to see what awaited her for the day.

---

"Double potions first! You have to be kidding me." Ron griped. Harry adjusted his bag and grimaced.

"The years get better and better." He spat the words out, sarcasm heavy on his tongue.

"Potter! Weasel! Where's Mudblood? Don't tell me you'll have to sleep with someone else to get thenotes now."

Harry and Ron launched at him at the same moment. Thankfully Professor Snape opened the door just in time.

"Inside! Now!" He gestured violently at the front rows. "Seeing as I can't take away points, you'll have a week of detentions, Mr. Malfoy."

"But sir, you certainly can't expect..." Malfoy whined.

"Don't make it two." His voice was dangerously soft.

In the back, Hermione frowned. He couldn't start acting like this. It wasn't normal for him to stick up for her. Malfoy was certainly going to tell his father, and that meant trouble.

---

"I thought today we can start with thestrals."

Ginny sighed, and picked her way around branches on the forest floor. She wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited her.

Hideous skeletal reptile horses with wings stared at her with blank eyes. She recoiled, horrified. "Hagrid!" She shook in place, shaking in fear, as they mingled around her. Their teeth nipped at the spot where sausage had fallen on her robes that morning, and the white eyes looked right through her as if she wasn't there.

Hagrid's mistake dawned on him as the flood of tears she'd held back was released. He wasn't gone. He couldn't be. Ginny panicked, and did the first thing that came to mind. She ran. Only Luna understood.

"Let her go," the girl sadly whispered to the thestrals, stroking their necks. "He isn't really gone after all."

---

Severus slipped into the Room of Requirement, relieved that his classes were over for the day. It had been too long since he'd had the freedom to see her face, to know her voice again.

He stood in front of the Mirror of Erised, her face regarding him quietly.

"Hello Severus. It's been a while." She smiled gently. Today she was fifteen again, her hair tumbling over her shoulders and her eyes glimmering. "I've been waiting."

Whether or not these conversations were figments of his imagination or she was really listening somewhere, he didn't know. That didn't stop him. It was as if seeing her face balanced him a little in those times where it was too painful to live any longer.

"You know I've been busy." He snapped.

She scanned his face sadly. "You haven't changed in the least, have you? I thought the girl would have done something to your demeanor."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean, Severus." She spoke with a woman's voice, wise for a young lady. He shook his head.

"I don't understand, Lily. I'm forty two. There's nothing I can give her."

She frowned. "Look at yourself in the mirror Severus! You don't have a clue, do you?" She began to walk away, fading into the distance.

"Lily, don't leave." He sighed. "Look, it's just..."

"I've never left you, and I never will. It's time you started living Severus. You can't dwell in your memories forever." Her voice was soft, apologetic.

"So this is goodbye." He stated coldly.

"I didn't say that. We'll meet again, I promise."

She was gone.

---

Hermione looked up from behind a stack of books when he came in, much of his usual gusto gone.

"Can I take a shower now?"

"Of course." He sank onto the couch, and she picked up a fresh set of clothes and disappeared through his chambers. He heard the water start to run, and the door close to the bathroom. He waved his wand, muttering an incantation, and tea appeared from the kitchen. Sipping it, he thought back over Lily's words.

Hermione's body ached as the water flowed over it. The steam filled the room as she picked out her shampoo from the assortment of bottles on the shower rack. After soaping and rinsing her hair, she applied conditioner and began to shave.

She was thinking about Snape. He'd been so tense lately, but something was different. She couldn't place it. She stood up to rinse, when her footing went wrong on the hard stone floor. She hit the ground with a smack, his head hitting the ground.

---

Snape looked up from grading the first set of potions. Five o clock, and the other room was silent. Where was she? It had been over an hour. He knocked on the door, and opened it. Panic hit him when the room was empty. Pulsing filled his ears.

"Miss Granger." He stated. To his horror, he heard the shower running.

"Oh for..." His first thought was that she was still in there. That wasn't like her. She was always in and out, never staying longer than she required. Something happened.

"I can't face this!" He kneaded his robes with his hands. "I can't handle this!" He couldn't just burst into the bathroom, without any clue. It wasn't right, even in the state of emergency. There was no time to get Mcgonagol. Then the solution crossed him.

"Legilimens." Nothing. There was nothing there. No. She was there just an hour ago. There was no way.

"Legilimens. Legilimens. Legilimens!" Nothing. He refused to think what came to his mind first.

Taking a deep breath, he burst open the door.