A/N: You're very lucky to have this chapter you know. Thank you: Natsuyori, Jessica, Sabrina, Artemis MoonClaw and witchintraining for your lovely reviews of the last chapter. This would have been up yesterday but there was something weird going so... Enjoy.

Shooting Stars

"Professor? Professor? Are you OK?" a sea of curious faces crowded around Snape, led by Draco Malfoy. Snape took a couple of sharp breaths and then noticed he was soaking wet. His black robes were seeping and for once his pale face was flushed, Goyle was standing beside him with a dripping cauldron.

"Goyle! What have you just thrown on me?" Snape bubbled with rage, if it had been the Energy Renewing Potion the class had been making (Snape was fed up of making his own, he now delighted in watching his students slave away at an excruciatingly hard potion for his benefit) it would be fine, but this was Gregory Goyle; could he have made the right potion for once in his life? Snape was not a religious man; he had decided long ago that magic and faith could not co-exist but now he prayed out of instinct as he knew the terrible results if it had been the wrong potion.

Goyle shrugged and gestured to the board where the instructions were written then joined the class as they gazed in horror at the huge buboes erupting all over their professor's skin, he groaned in pain and looked towards the door. Hermione stood there; she had heard the shouts from the corridor and now stood in the doorway, framed by the only light coming into the dungeons, giving her the aura of an angel. Snape sighed and amidst the agony he was experiencing all over his body he smiled and was at peace in his heart. The rest of the students had still only been looking at their teacher.

"Oh my God Harry, can you believe it? He's actually smiling? That is perverted." Ron pulled a face at his deteriorating teacher.

"Come on, we need to get him to the Hospital Wing..." Harry looked around him.

"Locomotor Professor," a voice muttered from the doorway, every single pair of eyes turned towards her as she silently escorted the unconscious Snape along the corridor followed by the awed class.

It was quite a sight for any one who happened to see them that afternoon – Hermione Granger leading with her wand directing the movements of the unconscious professor, followed by an entire class of sixth-year Potions, and not a word was uttered between them as they marched to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey gasped at this extraordinary affair.

"Just Professor Snape and Miss Granger please," she called as they all tried to get through the door, she shut it and led Hermione to a bed. At least a dozen faces peered in the through the windows in the door. Together they lay Snape down and Madame Pomfrey began her interrogation. "What has happened then?"

"I wasn't there when it actually happened but from what I can tell someone threw a dud Energy Renewing Potion at him," Hermione looked at her feet, "Is he going to be OK?"

"We'll see, that was a particularly nasty potion after all, but I'll do my best. You can go now Miss Granger, thank you for your help."

Hermione cast one look back the now unrecognisable Snape, opened the door and walked straight past her inquisitive classmates. Harry and Ron grabbed her, "So? What's going to happen to him?"

"Oh, apparently it was a nasty potion when done wrong, she'll do her best..."

Thankfully Madame Pomfrey was an outstanding Healer and within a week Snape was able to walk around the ward - in between being force-fed disgusting medicines. He had sent Hermione an owl one morning, asking her to meet him at the entrance hall that night. He was surprised when he snuck out of the ward to find her there exactly on time.

"Are you OK?" she whispered, he took her hand in his, her first reflex to pull away but she just clasped more tightly instead. They walked out into the clear night in silence, Hermione gazed up to the stars above her head and reminded herself of what a minuscule thing she was in this amazing universe. Then she suddenly said, "Do you ever worry about Harry?"

Snape looked at her, surprised for a second, "Potter? Of course I do, I know better than anyone – possibly even Dumbledore – the horrors that could await him."

"But he just seems to deal with it so well, to take it all in his stride."

"Yes, but that's on the outside, isn't it?"

"I know, I get so worried about him though, I mean if I'm laying awake at night dreading what might happen to him, imagine what he's doing..." Hermione sighed and sniffed quietly.

Snape turned to her, "I can't promise you everything will be OK you know, because it won't, but don't make it worse for yourself, in the end it's his problem; there's only so much you can do to help him."

They walked in silence around the grounds, gazing up at the beautiful sky, shivering in the chill of the October air, but not once did their eyes meet again. They got to the door of the Hospital Wing, "You better go, Madame Pomfrey will want you back soon."

"I've still got another 10 minutes – I used the time-turner you see, she would never have let me out."

"What? But, Severus if she didn't want you to go out it will be for a good reasoon, think of what you might be doing to your health. It's all my fault, if you get ill again..."

Snape smiled at her "You're too kind Hermione, but I'm fine, honestly, it's only been for an hour. What harm could come to me in so short a time?" Hermione sighed again and they stood looking at each for what seemed like forever, until Snape broke their locked eye contact. "Goodnight Hermione." He leant forward a little and she could feel his hot breath on her face. How she wanted to just grab him and never let go, but they had agreed, it had to stop.

"Goodnight Severus," she backed away and watched him through the door, and she turned around to walk back, not noticing he was still in the doorway, watching her shaking with sobs and a tear trickled down his face.

That's it, they both thought, there's never going to be a next time, I've blown all my chances. And they both turned their heads to watch the same blazing star shoot across the same luminous moon.

A/N: witchintraining knows the influence of this chapter, I decided it is better to lay in on someone else than to bear it oneself. I'm sorry it's so short but I was writing this at 6 this morning, so if it's a bit weird I'm sorry, but I'm really not a morning person.