A/N: Hello, I loved all your reviews! They were so helpful, though some of them slightly conflicting. But I have tried to take your advice, I hope my writing has improved a bit, but then you're the judges of that. So I will actually write something to you all now!

PinkAphid: I am talking to you now so there's not much point in saying anything.

Rána an Shanaan: I keep meaning to say, thank you so much for reviewing me. But I agree with you, maybe too much soap opera, I think I ought to lift the tone up a bit, or else you're right, I'll end up with a HUGE climax.

Innogen: yes maybe Ron did overreact, a little…

Mugglemomof3: this soon enough?

SerenityEmrys: yes I think I am a bit mean to him

Natsuyori: hah hah

YouMadeMeThrowUpALittle:P OK…

Pi-nk23star: thank you for the helpful help…

DemonOfDoom: hmm mm

You can tell I'm bored of this now can't you?

Hdhsfan: yep

Voz: cheers

Ripples of Memory

Hermione felt tired; her bones and muscles ached, and the back of her throat was parched. Her stomach tightened, pleading for food. Colours merged before her closed eyes, a vision of eternity. And then she blinked.

Her eyes strained painfully, but gradually her sight became clearer. She was in a small plain room, in a bed, she blinked again. Elaborate machines simmered in corners, humming quietly. At the end of her bed was a small glass box, she couldn't see what was inside it while she was lying down, and it hurt too much to move her neck. There was a man looking into it, he was robed in black and had his head in his hands. He glanced at her.

She quickly shut her eyes again. She didn't know where she was or what had happened to her, she had no idea who the strange man was, she just wanted her mum. She hazarded to open her eyes again, and the man was sitting in a chair at the other end of the room, dozing.

Looking at him more closely she felt sure she knew him from somewhere, but she couldn't think where. Maybe he lived in her town or something, all the same, why was he here, with her?

ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZ

Severus glanced into the crib, if you could call it that, for what must have been the thousandth time that hour. Still nothing; no movement, not a flutter of an eyelid. But beneath the glass and the Charm Tubes that breathed life into the tiny body, he saw something pure, something so beautiful that nothing could take it away from him.

Who was he kidding? He didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl; no-one had spoken to him or three days, and he wasn't planning on talking. It was just no-one had actually told him the sex of his child. He didn't dare lift the lid even to touch it; caged, in a different world.

He looked up at Hermione, lying in an endless slumber, he thought he saw her eyelids flicker for a moment, but he must have been imagining it. He shook himself, three days without food was enough to give anyone hallucinations. He heaved himself over to the chair at the other side of the room, and found himself falling into an irresistible sleep.

ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZ

Hermione stared at the man in this room with her, slowly she bent her neck and back a little and was able to see the glass box more clearly. It looked like a crib, and there was something in it, something very small, it was a baby.

Her heart raced, a whole section of memories tried desperately to force themselves to the front of her mind, but she couldn't grasp them. She knew what connected the three of them, but it was beyond her reach. Tears began to fall softly down her face. A part of her memory was lost somewhere in her head, she knew it was there, she just didn't know where.

She whimpered a little, and the man jumped up out of his sleep. He ran over to her and bent down beside her bed. "Hermione! You're awake!" his eyes sparkled with relief and he clasped his hands around her cheeks. Shocked, she tried to pull away. "Hermione? Are you OK?"

"Get off me," she moaned, "where am I? What am I doing here? Who are you?"

He took a step back, his face aghast. "Hermione, you're in hospital, you've just had a baby, our baby."

She laughed painfully, "oh very funny, did Harry and Ron put you up to this? Look please, I need to go back now." She heaved herself up, wincing from the pain that still resided in her body.

"Hermione, it's me Severus, please Hermione, you know me." She stared blankly into his desperate eyes, giggling a little.

"Really, who are you? And do you think you might want to wash your hair sometime? It is awfully greasy." She blushed,

"Hermione! It's me! Severus Snape! I'm your Potions teacher! That is our baby at the end of your bed, you have to remember! And if you're trying to play some kind of sick joke, it's not funny." He grabbed her hand; she pulled him off her and slapped him forcefully across the cheek.

"Get off me, you weirdo. Look I don't know what's going on here; I just want to go home, now. This really isn't funny."

He looked at her, stunned, his hand touching his smarting cheek. "But you can't have forgotten me…"

"I think," She sighed, "I do remember, but I can't reach the memories. Like someone has locked them up, and hidden the key. When I first saw you here, I knew you from somewhere, but I don't know where. You say you are one of my teachers? But I can't remember any Professor Snapes. Come to think of it though, I can't remember who my Potions teacher is, maybe you are right. But I still don't understand what you meant about the baby."

"Our baby. I love you Hermione, and I hope you love me –"

"Hang on a second, you mean, I had sex with you? In October or something? What? But why?" she looked at him repulsed.

"It was Christmas Eve, and you said you loved me."

"Christmas Eve? But that was only seven months ago! I'm really confused now." Her tone, which had been disconcertedly humorous before, was becoming wary.

"Yes, that's why you're in hospital, you're very weak, and so is our child." She slowly got up and walked stiffly to the crib.

Tears streamed down Severus's face as he saw no change in hers. She looked around at him. "You mean it don't you? This is all true; it isn't a dream, or a joke. I just can't remember anything about you." He held out his arms, and after a moment's hesitation, she gladly accepted. She couldn't understand what she felt for this man, but he obviously loved her.

And the child, looking at it again, nothing clicked. Her mother had always said that as soon as a mother looked at her child for the first time, she forgot all that worried her and she would be struck by such an immense love for her child that nothing would ever get in its way. But she felt nothing. If this child really had spent the last seven months inside her, then it was doing a pretty good job of not telling anyone.

Unknown to them, a figure watched them through the almost-closed blinds, listening to everything that had been said. Footsteps were heard at the end of the corridor, and the figure flicked her hair out of her sparkling onyx eyes, and vanished.

A/N: Cliffhanger! But Rána, was that slightly less like a soap opera? I quite like this chapter actually, it works well. Promise you won't have to wait so long for the next one though.