A/N: HBP SPOILERS.

Thanks to all my reviewers, and to the people that knew when Hermione's birthday was. I didn't know she was older than Ron. How scandalous! (Lol, of course I would say that!)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

To Prove The Impossible

by Chibi Animagus

It had been a long day. Hermione sat in the dark with her legs crossed, waiting patiently for signs that her friends had fallen asleep. She surveyed the darkened sky with slight trepidation. It hadn't rained on them thus far, but the sky had begun to look forbidding in the afternoon. Tonight, the stars were masked by thick clouds, and the forest was so dark that Hermione was beginning to feel as though the gloom was pressing in on her from all sides. A soft snore came from the lump that was Ron.

"Lumos," she muttered, the light barely permeating the strange, thick shadows. Hermione couldn't see Harry, but she knew that he had been tired, and she hadn't heard a sound from him since they had settled down for the night. Getting up quietly so as not to wake her sleeping friends, Hermione started out tentatively in the direction that Professor Snape must be. As she found herself surrounded in unfamiliar shadow, however, Hermione became nervous. She turned around, but could not see Ron in the gloom. Hermione became suddenly aware of the mist that was rolling about everywhere. Biting her lip, she kept walking, although she was beginning to feel as though she were in some kind of nightmare.

"Professor?" Her voice conveyed much more fear than she had intended, but no answer came from the shadows.

Then she felt it. An icy wind swept through the forest, tearing at her lungs, chilling her to the marrow. Hermione shivered, instantly putting the mist and the cold together, and felt her anger boil inside of her as she realized that Snape had betrayed them, a momentary warmth which was soon sucked dry. She cast her thoughts around frantically for a happy thought, any happy thought. Hermione's wand hand was shaking, although she suspected the cold had something to do with it.

'We're going to destroy Voldemort, we're going to destroy Voldemort, we're going to destroy Voldemort…'

"Expecto--"

A rattling breath behind her. Hermione screamed, and whirled around. Another, to the left. And again on the right. Everywhere she looked, the foul creatures were closing in-- slowly, as if toying with her before sucking the very life from her.

She was writhing, choking, being eaten alive… She gasped as she caught sight of her fur-covered face in the cracked mirror…

Even as she tried the spell again, Hermione knew with a sinking heart that she was horribly outnumbered. Tears of rage and dread slid down her cheek and froze halfway down, spots of ice dotting her face.

She and Luna rushed into Professor Snape's office… Professor Flitwick lay unconscious on the floor…

"Expecto Patronum!"

She was in the Department of Mysteries… The room shifted, spun…

A silvery otter leapt from her wand, but the anger and hurt she was directing at Snape was overpowering. The Patronus collided with a dementor, wavered for a moment, and disappeared.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"… Professor Snape was blasted through the air, and a nasty crack was heard as his head connected with the wall. A trickle of blood oozed down his temple.

Someone was shouting…

Her two front teeth were growing rapidly, already past her chin… The sallow-faced man eyed her coldly and said with a sneer, "I see no difference."

Hermione gasped and shuddered as they closed in on her, falling in a crumpled heap on the icy ground. She covered her face with her arms, willing herself to hold on one moment longer… Her shoulders shook as her mind screamed, berating her for trusting someone so blindly… She was nothing but a foolish child. Hermione realized that she was still holding her wand, and waved it weakly at her attackers.

"Expecto… Expect…"

Hermione heard another yell, but it was muffled as though she were underwater. Her eyes drew closed of their own accord. She felt herself slipping, slipping…

Just before Hermione fell into blackness, she thought, confusedly, that a light was shining through her closed eyelids.

"Miss Granger… Miss Granger… Hermione!"

The bushy-haired girl stirred at last. She opened her eyes groggily, and attempted to sit up, although she hardly succeeded in raising her head off the ground.

"Pr-Professor?" The girl croaked, and through the gloom he could see her blinking confusedly, as if she was unsure where she was.

"…How many times must I tell you, Miss Granger," Snape said, his voice portraying much more weariness and much less sting than he had intended, "I am not a professor anymore."

"Oh… er… of course not…" The girl said, still perplexed, "Wait…" She frowned a moment, her eyes unfocused, until they grew wide with dawning realization. Apparently, her memories had returned to her, and she had found something quite amiss.

"You… you…" The girl stammered angrily, struggling to bring herself to a sitting position and failing once again. She looked down at herself, her wrath momentarily giving way to irritation at whatever was keeping her from sitting up. Hermione froze, seemingly forgetting what she had been about to say. She stared a moment at the black cloak wrapped around her, and the angry frown lines that had marked her face softened.

"How articulate, Miss Granger," Snape said, resuming his usual drawling tone, "Unfortunate that your meaning was lost in the midst of your impressive vocabulary."

When Hermione brought her gaze back up to him, he was startled at the raw, haunted expression he saw in those eyes that were usually so full of life. Snape froze, mouth slightly agape, unable to find it within himself to lash out and insult the hurt and pain that she was allowing him to see. Such emotions he had always kept fiercely to himself. He understood numbly that this was very personal.

"Sir…" Hermione said in an anguished whisper, "Please… why are you doing this?"

Snape swallowed; his mouth had gone dry. "I am confused as to what you are referring to."

"Why…" She began, shaking her head as though in disbelief, "I… The dementors…" Hermione seemed to draw herself up, then, "You betrayed us, don't deny it. I was childish enough to believe the ridiculous story that you fed me earlier, but this time I'll have none of it."

Hermione extracted herself from his cloak, and immediately began shivering violently, but showed no sign of changing her mind. She managed to stand up, although the violent shaking of her knees suggested that she would not remain so for long.

"Miss Granger, don't be absurd, in your present condition you--"

Snape had no need to continue his warning, as Hermione's knees buckled, and she collapsed in a shivering heap beside him. He gave a long-suffering sigh, and rubbed his temples against an oncoming Gryffindor headache before covering the chit with his cloak again. She did not thank him, but drew it around herself protectively, eyeing him with considerable suspicion.

Finally, she spoke, her voice low and quavering, "What do you want from me?"

Snape's expression darkened. "Miss Granger, I thought I had made that obvious. I want to help you, so you in turn may help Mr. Potter defeat the Dark Lord. What is this idiocy about my betraying you?" Hermione was silent. "Certainly you do not believe that I sent those dementors? Miss Granger, they are everywhere. They have been breeding in droves, you will more than likely come across many on your way to Godric's Hollow--" he said this name delicately, "--and I had thought that I had earned your trust." More silence. "Apparently I was mistaken."

Hermione buried her face in her hands, and something in Snape's chest gave an unbidden lurch as he wondered if the girl was crying. Her shoulders did not shake, however, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were dry. She said in a small voice, "I've wanted to trust you, sir. But I can't."

Snape's mouth was set in a grim line. He had hoped it would not come to this, but he needed the insufferable girl's trust for more reasons than he cared to admit now.

"I should have known better, Miss Granger, than to believe you could trust me without solid proof," he said with a cruel, biting edge, "Very well. I shall return to you shortly. Remain where you are." And with that last order, he left the chit staring wide-eyed into space as he disappeared with a 'pop'.

Hermione drew his cloak more tightly around her. She was quite sure now that Severus Snape, the Half-Blood Prince, had in fact, for the first time in all the six years she had known him, called her "Hermione".

A/N: I'll probably get the next chappie up soon. This was a short one.