Author's Note: Here I am again; writing one of these notes... this chapter is very confusing and a little graphic. I'm warning you, this is my though surge from all the pent up thoughts I haven't updated. Let me know if this is too fast. I have a rule of never changing what I've already posted, because those were my original thoughts, but this is a stretch. I know it's crazy but... hey. JK Rowling came up with Harry Potter out of the top of her head, so can my plot. Enjoy.

Snape, half asleep, shot out of his skin when firm pounding came from the office door. It echoed through the icy rooms, sending a chill down his spine. He gently lifted Hermione off his shoulder, and stood up.

"Damn! He has this place warded." Ginny rubbed her tingling hand.

"Come on Snape! We know she's in there!" It was Harry, his voice urgent and angry "You can't hide from us forever."

"What the ... oh shit." He opened the door to three angry Gryffindor faces that he would have paid big money to never see in his presence again.

"I believe a week's detentions are in order for being out of bounds at 3 am." His voice was dangerously ready to explode. "What is the meaning of this?"

"This." Harry thrust it in his face, keeping a tight hold on it nevertheless. Oh my God, Snape thought. Potter's friggin map. I should have known. His answer for how to deal with this problem came next.

"Ron! Harry! Ginny!" Hermione ran over wearily, stopping halfway, wheezing. Her condition was obvious by her stature. They stared in shock at a skeletal version of the girl they knew.

Snape stepped aside as they embraced her. "Herm...what happened to you? " He gripped her a little too tight, and she winced in pain. Snape restrained himself at the sight of mixed pain and delight at the sight of them.

"Can you give us a minute, please, Professor?" He stepped back, burned. She'd never shunned him away like this. I told you, The little voice echoed in his head, you fooled yourself all along. She has never, and will never love you. It was a façade, a shortcoming because her friends were gone. You were her filler. Just like Lily. He knew from the better part of him that this wasn't true, but his emotions blinded him beside the cool mask he carried. Calmly he nodded and retreated to his rooms, but she didn't miss the clue when he shut the door harder than usual.

She stepped into the classroom with them.

"It's a long story, but you'll have to understand this is for the best." Tears fell from her cheeks. There was only one way to do this without permanent damage: her defense against the dark art lessons had taught her such. Whoever is out there listening, she thought, please forgive me.

"Nothing can be for the best if you're living with Snape." Harry retorted.

"You don't understand."

"What is there to understand?" Ron asked. He didn't get it either. Hermione wasn't herself. Where had the warm hugs, the arguments, the bossiness gone? She was so pale, as pale as her personality had become. She had drifted too far for him to relate. Ron was lost.

Harry regarded Hermione. She was so guarded. He wasn't sure what had caused this change in her. Snape was a harsh person, and maybe that was coming through in her demeanor. He missed the girl who had befriended him with her bright ideas for the last six years. Hermione never acted like this. If she was hiding something, she was aloof. Right now, she seemed distant, far away. She was almost apologetic, but in a quiet way.

She stepped up, and hugged each of them. She smiled at Ginny. "I'll miss you." To Ron, she looked bitter sweetly. "Even if it didn't work out, I still love you. I can't imagine life without you."

She came to Harry, the other two watching her speechlessly. Here was the product of Lily's love, James' torment, the forbidden memories Snape held so quietly, waiting for time to claim him so he could finally let go. He was her hope, her past, her friend, her life.

"You have your mother's eyes." She said thoughtfully. "And that is a beautiful thing. I'm so sorry about this, and I will miss you all. I've always loved you." She raised her wand, wavering.

"Hermione, what the hell...?"

"Obliviate Hermione Granger." The charm was complex and took incredible control to do, but Occlumency had taught her that. Slowly, the threads began to unravel, and the memories began to degrade.

She walked into the rooms silently, and sank onto the couch, her head in her hands. "What have I done?"

Harry looked at the rest of them. "Why are we down here, anyway? Let's go back to the common room."

Snape came out, having heard the door close.

"Well, what's done is done." Her words stopped his steps halfway past her.

"Miss Granger, you foolish girl, do you realize the trouble that will come from this? I believe I have misjudged you."

"You have nothing to worry about."

"Three students are walking around with your current location! What am I supposed to be calm about?"

"To those certain three students, Hermione Granger never existed."

"What do you mean?" His voice was sharp.

"The Oblivious Personify charm." She stated softly. "Now I don't have to worry for them anymore, because it's alright."

"No. Miss Granger, do you realize the complications of this?" He shot her a bitter look. "What will Mrs. Weasley think? Have you thought this through?"

"Take a look at Lockhart. This stuff can be reversed, sir, and it's all in the eye of the beholder. I didn't really want them to forget me, so don't I have some control in the degree of my charms? That's the beauty of magic. Take a look at me. I'm living proof that magic is controllable." She was afraid to believe herself. She was gone. Her closest friends no longer knew her existence. What was life coming to?

He stared at her.

"I have to see Dumbledore."

----

He was gone. She looked around her for a distraction, something to keep her mind off the pounding of thoughts catching up to her.

The map was her answer. She picked it up curiously. Most of it was clear, bunches of students in their dormitories. One caught her eye. It paced the Astronomy Tower. Neville.

There was no way she could make it in time. Hermione ran, knowing almost all her strength was gone. She pounded the steps out, concentrating only on the current thought that crossed her mind. No. Neville wouldn't do this. He's sensible. He's probably out for a midnight walk. That's it. It isn't what my mind thinks. I don't think straight at 3 am. It's all a dream. I will wake up, and it will be a bad dream, and I will be back in his arms, sixteen years old at last.

She gasped, and threw herself up the last steps. The sky was losing the darkness, the stars fading one by one. You're dreaming. Soon this will be over, and his voice will come back to you, telling you you're late. You're late for your sixteenth birthday.

She was too late. "Nooo! Neville!" She screamed, to no use.

He knew he was crazy. Is this what people think before they die? Her voice rang through his ears.

"It's too late." He didn't remember hitting the ground.

She staggered across the entrance hall, and out to the lake edge. The sight that met her eyes made her sick. He was weak as a rag, his bones crushed from impact. She was amazed he was in one piece, though the blood flowed freely now, seeping into the soil leaving a stain. His ribs stuck out, his head cracked. His mouse brown hair was matted, thick with the oozing red. She sobbed, and wrapped her arms around him hopelessly.

"No. Come back, Neville. Come back! This isn't real. NEVILLE!" Her screams faded in the empty grounds. Overhead, shades of pink and orange began to rise slowly, illuminating the horror that met her eyes. He hadn't lived to see the dawn.

----

"Miss Granger." She was awakened in the same position, several hours later. It was a dream. That was Snape, waking her up as he often did in the mornings when she had slept late because of troubling dreams. How horribly she was wrong.

Dumbledore stood next to a ministry official, who wrapped a long figure in a black bag. The voice that woke her was cold, cruel. A flicker of fear jolted through her. It was Lucius Malfoy, a sick smile played across his face.

"I believe I have the honor of arresting you." Her hands were bound.

"There is no proof that Hermione did this. I believe she was merely unfortunate to be the first to discover Mr. Longbottom." Dumbledore was pale. In all of his years, he'd never faced this before.

"So how do you explain her state of absence for two months, then the fact that you say she was not the one who committed this? His blood is on her clothes."

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape charged in, cloak billowing. A shot of hope surged through her.

"It appears Hermione Granger, who seemed to be missing, has killed a fellow student." Lucius sneered.

"No, she was with me. She couldn't have done this. I don't understand." Realizing his words, he froze. Lucius found this thrilling.

"So, the truth comes out. A murderer, a liar. The dementors will be pleased tonight."

"You don't have the authority for this!" Dumbledore boomed. "It isn't possible!"

Lucius held up a parchment. "It appears there has been more than one death this morning."

"No." Snape retorted. "No fucking way. You're wrong. This is wrong. This is all part of your plot."

"Is it? The minister's death had nothing to do with me."

"Really. Is that why you're minister now?" He shot back.

"I would be careful who you talk to. I have the power to sentence your death without trial, and it has been arranged. Your treason will be punished." The shadowy figures appeared through the gate. Hermione found she couldn't breathe.

His hand clasped hers, and they stood there, awaiting evil. She fought her bonds, he his. This couldn't be the end.

"Any last ideas?" She cried bitterly. The dementors were nearer. She watched the lake turn to ice.

"Legilimens."

"What?" He was crazy.

"On the count of three."

"I don't get you... I have no wand! What are you trying to prove here?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes!"

"Then believe. One two three."

Memories soared past her. Harry, Ron, and her at the Quidditch Cup. The department of mysteries. Oh god, they were so close now.

A voice cut into her thoughts. It was him. She watched as he scooped her out of the shower, minutes from death.

Hold on. He was there, beside her, holding her, in her thoughts. This time, she held on. She grasped him with all her might in her thoughts.

They can't take this from me. They can have me, but this is mine. She blocked the darkness with all her might, holding back the forces that battled her. She grasped his hand, his neck, her dreams. Her memories, her present, her future. She wouldn't let him go.

She felt herself slipping. Don't leave me! She cried sadly.

I've always been here. It's time you start living. The words echoed in his now empty head. He'd never know if she heard that. They were gone.