Hermione and Severus walked away from the battle site together, an air of awkwardness between them. They maintained their distance, walking a good three feet apart, avoiding conversation as well as one another's eyes. Hermione still felt weak, but concentrated on not showing it- if she stumbled, Severus might catch her, and then she would be in his arms again. That closeness in itself was embarrassing enough, but even worse was the thought that as soon as he touched her she would burst into tears again.

Severus hadn't minded her crying so much. Certainly he had not been so openly affected, but he was older, more mature, more experienced in situations such as these. He had not blamed her at all, but when she had pulled away from him at last, obviously just realizing whose arms she had collapsed in, her face had been red from blushing as well as tears. She had stammered an apology before they set off to find the mediteam, both hoping to help the injured- assuming there were any others alive. He had not objected to her pulling away or apology.

So much for aiding the injured. The tent that the mediwitch ushered them into held only two other people, neither of which needed care. They stood huddled together, a man and a woman, facing away from the entrance, but turned as they heard footsteps behind them.

"Remus! Tonks!" Hermione rushed to hug her friends, unbelievably relieved to see them alive. "Are you okay? Did you see what happened?" As her questions rushed out, her eyes shone with tears once more. "Is there anyone else… anyone else alive?"

Severus watched the reunion uneasily. He too wanted the answers to all those questions, though it soon became clear that the wolf and his little shape shifter knew nothing more than he or Hermione did. Their attention moved to him momentarily, just a bare glance before they went back to comforting the distraught young woman, whose shaking shoulders betrayed her sobs as she clung to Tonks. Remus rubbed her back soothingly, but seemed at a loss as to how to calm her.

Shaking his head, Severus stepped out of the tent for a few moments. When he returned he was bearing a small vial of pale pink liquid.

"Here." He handed it to Remus who recognized the potion instantly. He looked at Severus in surprise. Was this courtesy? From the Death Eater spy, who may or may not have been on the right side? It was altogether irregular.

After she had taken the Calming Draught, Hermione felt much better. She was able to stop sobbing, at least. She glanced thankfully at Remus, who merely shook his head. "Snape brought it."

Hermione sank into one of the chairs scattered about the tent. She looked for Severus, but he was all the way on the other side of the tent now, by the door. She would have to thank him later.

More people were led in by the mediwitch as the hours past. She had returned permanently, manning a spot directly outside as another administered Calming Draught to every one who entered and found them a spot to sit as they regathered their thoughts and energy. Though her mind was a bit hazy- an aftereffect of the potion common to shock victims- Hermione noticed that people seemed to be entering in pairs. First were Professors Sinistra and Flitwick, then Parvati and Seamus, then Bill and Fleur Weasley, followed by many others. She supposed that people had stayed close to their loved ones during the scuffle of dodging curses and firing them back, trying to protect each other.

Like many others, after she felt a bit better Hermione wanted to Apparate home, but the mediwitch firmly refused to allow it, casting an Anti-Apparition charm on the tent and guarding the door against anyone who wanted to exit. They must all be approved as being completely healthy first, she said. Then she transfigured all the chairs into cots in one fell swoop and commanded that they all lie down.

Accepting this, Hermione slipped off to sleep in a cot- wishing more than anything in the world she wasn't the only person who seemed to be without someone they loved beside them.

On the other side of the tent, Severus was sitting on his own transfigured cot, as everyone else drifted off due to the potion. He had flatly refused it, saying that he was fine- he may not have been, but he detested the feeling of being fuzzyheaded more than anything. He would have liked a walk out in the fresh air to clear his head, but the glare of the mediwitch at the door told him that would not be possible.

He settled instead for leaning back and closing his eyes. Tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow…

Tomorrow, as it turned out, did not start much better than the day before had been. They hadn't been examined the night before because of the late hour- it had been nearly sunset when the battle ended and well after before all the stragglers made it back. Everyone was subjected to a full physical exam as soon as they woke up, shoved full of potions and magically censored for internal damage, magical and physical.

It was nearly one in the afternoon before Hermione stepped out into the sunshine. She meant to Apparate home immediately- see her parents and hug Crookshanks as soon as she could. But she couldn't help pausing for a moment to revel in the warmth of real sun on her face. It had been over a year since the strange mist of breeding dementors had settled over England, and today was the first in a long time that it felt nice out.

Severus spied her walking- well, strolling, really- into the trees nearby and followed, not sure what he was intending to do. It wasn't certain yet that walking around this area alone was safe yet, he told himself. There could be damaging magical residue- unlikely, but possible after such a strong explosion and a long battle during which everyone was practically exuding magic- or there could still be Death Eaters about- altogether more likely.

Hermione stopped as she reached the edge of the field where the deadly battle had raged. Teams had been working all night to remove the bodies, but there were… well, parts laying in the bloody grass. The whole place smelled of death- blood and sweat and vomit as well as acrid burning flesh. That curse had been particularly popular with the other side. She wanted to vomit herself.

"Coming here to put the memories to rest so soon, Miss Granger? Or simply not paying attention to where your feet were leading you?" The silky voice from behind made her jump, though it did not hold it's usual malicious tone.

She did not want to respond. The answer to both his questions was yes. She did want to cleanse herself of the pain and guilt the memories of yesterday held. She had killed people. Right here on this field, people had died because of her, and no rationalization was yet capable of convincing her otherwise. But she had not come here with that in mind. She had just come here, drawn to the place for reasons she could not quite understand.

"Perhaps you will allow me to escort you back? It really is not safe here yet." Severus intruded on her thoughts with the question, for which she was grateful.

She turned to him, expressing her thanks in a tired smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "That would be very kind of you."

As they walked back through the forest, Hermione reviewed the night before in her mind. She had found that was the best way to process things for her, going over every detail until she had memorized them. She didn't think about the battle… that was useless. What she had done there was done, and she never wanted to think of it again. That evening though… collapsing in the arms of the man beside her… their tense walk together… crying on Tonks' shoulder… then…

"I wanted to say thank you." She stated it calmly, nearly in a monotone. She couldn't bring her voice to do more at the moment.

Severus raised his eyes to hers in surprise. "Whatever for?"

Hermione blushed. "For… for yesterday. Comforting me… and thinking of going for a Calming Draught."

Severus smirked. "Ah yes. You're welcome." He paused, then continued, "Lupin looked quite as if he hadn't expected me to be that thoughtful…as if I didn't know when it would take a potion to help someone."

Hermione laughed shakily, realizing his implication and stating it, "Now, now, why would a Potion's Master know when a potion would be of use?"

Her sarcasm caught Severus off guard. When he didn't reply, she added, "I'm sure he wasn't surprised that you would think of a potion. It was probably more that you would be thoughtful enough to actually seek out help for someone else."

"Am I so callous, then? Do I never help anyone?" Severus' tone was light, but the bitterness behind his words was obvious.

Hermione didn't know how to respond. "You… you are a person, Professor. All people have some amount of kindness within them. I think that perhaps it has simply been a long time since you have been in a position to act on kind impulses."

She had pinpointed him exactly. How odd, that someone other than himself would actually seem to understand his situation. She was far too idealistic. All the others were too jaded to think that Severus Snape could truly make a kind gesture because he felt it should be done. He found that for the first time in a while, he did not mind idealism.

They reached the small encampment without speaking furthur, neither certain of how to continue the conversation. Somehow, though, Hermione didn't feel so tense as she had when walking with him yesterday.

Yesterday. She still felt teary-eyed, despite the second dose of Calming Draught a mediwitch had given her when she woke up. It was hard to grasp that she would never see Harry or Ron again. Quickly she pushed thoughts of the two from her mind, determined to avoid the subject, even within herself, for as long as possible.

Attempting to rid herself of thoughts tainted with yesterday's memories, Hermione glanced to her left. Her eyes met Severus' and she smiled at him again. He seemed to need smiling at. Or perhaps she needed something to smile at- seeing as she could think of nothing to smile about.

They parted at the sight of Tonks and Remus, Hermione rushing towards them and Severus watching for a moment before he Apparated to Spinner's End. Hermione was wrapped up in making certain that her friends were okay, and didn't notice his absence until he had already gone.

"So… I guess we can all head back home now." Hermione pointed out. None of them had been home in ages- the days before the battle had been spent at Grimmauld Place, preparing for the challenge Voldemort had set for Harry.

"Yes. It will be nice to sleep in ou- my own bed again." Tonks said, exchanging a look with her fiancé. Hermione pretended to ignore the near slip.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "It's one o'clock in the afternoon, Nymphadora. Are you going to bed a bit early tonight? Or should I say- today?"

Tonks slapped him lightly on the arm. "Don't call me that!"

Remus looked properly ashamed. "Sorry…"

Hermione wanted to grin indulgently, but couldn't quite manage it. "Well… I'll see you later."

All three Apparated away after a few more hugs. Hermione arrived at her own small apartment feeling decidedly more lonely than before, knowing that Remus and Tonks were together, taking comfort from each other in their bed. She had intended to visit her parents, but they wouldn't understand. They hadn't even known what was going on, had barely known anything about Harry or Voldemort or Ron or battles. How could she go there and explain it all now? And she couldn't go there without talking about it. Suddenly her parents didn't seem quite as safe as they had when she was a child. They hadn't been able to protect her, even if they had known she was in danger, and they would hate knowing that.

So she was left all alone in her quiet apartment. It needed dusting, and the whole place smelt of the coffee mug she had left sitting in the sink when she was called five days before. Normally she would have cast a quick spell or two to clean the place up, but all of the sudden she was exhausted in spite of the rest she had had the night before. It had been ages since she had slept soundly. Threats of worldwide destruction tended to upset her sleeping patterns. She fell into bed without another thought to the cleanliness of the place- or anything else.