Chapter Seven: …The Truth, or at Least One Version of It

Hermione was running towards the front gates of the school. She passed the dead and the dying, knowing there was nothing she could do for them. There was only one person right now who needed her help, and she was determined to make it to his side, come hell or high water.

'Hell has already arrived,' she thought as she ran. She dodged hexes and jinxes, throwing a few of her own to get through the throng of Death Eaters that stood between her and Harry. She was determined to help her friend. In front of her she Ron fall. She could not grieve for her friend now, she would have to grieve later… if there was a later.

She finally spotted a man in a robe locked in fierce battle with a young boy… She shouted, "HARRY!" as she was running towards them. The hooded figure, Voldemort, looked up at her briefly, then resumed his battle with Harry.

From behind Voldemort, another hooded figure stepped out into Hermione's field of vision. The figure dropped its hood, and the face of Lucius Malfoy was revealed. Malfoy raised his wand towards Hermione, and blew her wand out of her hand. He then yelled, "CRUCIO!"

Hermione found herself instantly in the greatest agony she had ever had the misfortune to experience. Through her pain, she saw the face of Harry Potter morph into that of Severus Snape. It was Snape that was fighting Voldemort, not Harry, and he had just fallen in defeat…

Hermione woke up screaming.

Severus was jolted awake by the sound of screaming coming from Hermione's bedroom. Without thinking, he threw back the blankets and raced for the door. He threw the door open to her room to find her clutching her calf in agony. He sighed, it was nothing more than a leg cramp.

He went over to her bed, and began gently massaging her calf. He began at her Achilles' tendon and worked his way slowly up her calf, making sure to hit all of the knots he found.

Hermione was slowly awaking from her dream. She was still shaking, but she felt infinitely better now that the pain was gone. She became aware of two very nice hands working their way up her leg, banishing the pain from whence it came. She moaned appreciatively.

She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth. She was mortified that she had emitted that sound, especially when she realized who belonged to those hands. Severus at least had the kindness to pretend he didn't hear the noise.

"Uh, thank you for this, Severus," she stammered, unsure of exactly what to say. He continued with his work, making sure the muscles were completely relaxed before he stopped. Hermione had a knack for knowing when opportunity was knocking, and right now, it was banging down the door.

"Severus, can I talk to you about something?"

He nodded slowly, unsure of what Hermione planned on saying.

"I know you saw some things early this evening that don't make sense. I… am not from here. I'm from twenty or so years in the future. I don't even know what I'm doing here… all I remember is working in the library and hearing some idiot say a charm wrong; I turned around to correct them, and I found myself in the library… twenty years into the past. Thankfully, the Headmaster noticed, and came and got me.

I could really be screwing things up by telling you this, Severus, but I really need someone to talk to, to trust. I know about what Remus Lupin did to you, I swear, if you trust me, I won't do that. I swear it to you!"

At this point, Severus held up his hand for her to stop rambling. He looked at her in the eyes and sensed nothing but truth coming from her. For him, this was as good as ransacking her mind to find the exact memory of what happened.

"I will have to think about it, Hermione. You are asking a lot of me – and I am not sure it is something I want to give to another person. I do not think myself so hollow inside as to never be able to trust another person again. You have placed an extraordinary faith in me, and I will take that into consideration. We will talk about it in the morning. Goodnight."

Hermione watched him leave, and hoped for the best.

Severus closed the door to his room slowly. He had found a way to set up noise wards, which would tell him when someone was approaching his door. He wanted solitude; he had a lot to think about this evening.

He had promised himself he would open up to the mysterious Gryffindor if she told him the truth, which she had, but he still found himself hesitant to put his faith in her. It was a big step for a man that had, in essence, been a loner for the last two years. What he had told her about not being too hollow inside to trust again was true, but a hard concept to grasp nonetheless.

Severus went over the pros and cons until the wee hours of the morning. In the end, he decided that he would make himself available to her, knowing that if she hurt him it would be the end of any goodness left in him.

Hermione beat Severus to the Great Hall the next morning. She had not slept particularly well after he had left and left to begin her day as soon as it was feasible. She greedily drank the tea placed in front of her, and tried to wake up.

She lifted her eyes as she heard the unmistakable sound of the doors of the Great Hall opening. Severus, she was relieved to note, looked worse than she did. She kept her eyes on him as he walked up the aisle. He said nothing as he sat down and poured himself a cup of tea.

She was determined not to be the first one who spoke. She kept purposefully silent, a feat for which Severus was infinitely grateful. He wasn't quite prepared to deal with her yet this morning. He needed at least two cups of tea before he laid himself out to her. Twenty minutes of tense silence passed before Severus spoke.

"Hermione, I have decided that I will place my trust in you. Please understand it will be hard on me, as I am not accustomed to allowing other people to know what I'm thinking or feeling. I want to… take this slowly, if you don't mind," he finished.

"Of course, Severus, I don't want to make you uncomfortable at all. Just know that you can have complete faith in me. I will do everything in my power to prove that to do," Hermione replied.

The two finished breakfast in silence, and left to walk around the lake for a long conversation.

"That's horrible about your parents! I can't believe they never caught the people responsible for it," exclaimed Hermione. She was outraged about the crime committed against Severus' family.

"At least I have some closure. You may never see your parents again," he countered.

"Yeah, but I know they're alive. Your parents are just gone. That's not something I can easily wrap my mind around," Hermione answered.

The two had been talking for hours every day since that day in the Great Hall. They had grown extremely close in the short amount of time they had spent together. Severus learned about her goals and dreams while she learned about his past, the present, and what he thought his future would bring. School began tomorrow, so the two were enjoying what would be the last truly private conversation they would have for quite some time.

When it was time for them to go to bed, they hugged each other goodnight, both wondering what tomorrow would bring.