A/N: Another chapter up! Whew! Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me so far. And a big thank you to the admins who have been pointing out my silly errors to me all this time. Silly error: Hermione was born with brown eyes in canon, but my Hermione has sapphire-coloured eyes, and she changed it to brown eyes after becoming Mel. Sometime soon (when I'm more awake), I'll fix that problem. So, in the future, Mel will have sapphire eyes.

This is a pretty slow chapter compared to the previous two. But I thought I needed to wrap some things up first before embarking on another roller coaster ride.

Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Missing Hermione

Professor Snape woke up the next morning to find Hermione missing from her usual spot on his bed. He had not seen her since she ran out of his room after his verbal lashings. Presumably, she had returned after he had fallen asleep, and awoke in the morning before he did. Feeling that her avoidance of him was not really unexpected given his display of temper last night, he let the matter rest and went about his daily business.

Severus was about to head towards the Great Hall for breakfast when the wand in the pocket of his robes vibrated slightly, catching his attention. Retracing his steps, Severus entered another corridor leading away from the Great Hall and headed towards Dumbledore's office. No doubt Albus had received some new information about the activities of the Death Eaters that he wished to discuss with his Potions master. Arriving in front of the stone gargoyle, he clipped out the name of the latest invention from Honeydukes. Severus despised Albus' choice of passwords; he cringed every time he had to access the Headmaster's office. A formidable wizard such as himself should never have to say words such as "Toothflossing Stringmints" and "Pepper Imps" on a regular basis. He hated with a passion the time Dumbledore had chosen 'Droobles Best Blowing Gum' as his new password. The Headmaster's gargoyle had informed him that his pronunciation of 'Droobles' was unacceptable, and had spent a good fifteen minutes patiently teaching Severus how to draw out the "oo's" in the word properly.

He entered the office and hid his surprise at seeing two of his least favourite students sitting in squashy, mismatched chintz armchairs across the headmaster's desk. Their heads had turned in unison as he entered, but Severus saw that Weasley's head snapped back almost immediately to look at Dumbledore. Potter had stared at him for a little while longer before he deliberately turned to look at the snoozing portrait of Fortescue on the wall behind Dumbledore's desk. Severus snorted, amused. So, the boy hated him. What else is new?

Severus drew up a velvety black armchair and sat himself down, folding his arms across his chest. He briefly noted that Albus was uncharacteristically grave; the Headmaster's mouth was hard underneath his beard, and he had quenched the dancing lights in his eyes. Severus was not to be cowed, he raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore to indicate his readiness for whatever came out of this meeting.

"Severus, Misters Potter and Weasley are concerned about Hermione. It seems that the young lady had not turn up for breakfast at her normal time today. She is also currently nowhere to be found." Dumbledore peered at him over his half-moon glasses. He clasped his hands together and waited for Severus to speak. Severus drew his lips together in a tight smile. So, this is his game, he thought. Severus recognised this particular form of interrogation very well, it was designed by Dumbledore to subtly coax him of everything the Headmaster wanted to know. Years ago, he had fallen for this very trick, and had humiliated himself by providing the devious old man with the details of his vulnerability. Well, he had grown a lot wiser since then, and Severus was confident he could meet the Headmaster step for step in the delicate art of verbal fencing.

"I was not aware that I had to answer for her actions," Severus replied calmly and saw, out of the corner of his eye, that Potter had turned his head slightly to glance at him sideways.

"Misters Potter and Weasley last saw her when she left the Gryffindor common room to return to your chambers. I presume she arrived safely?"

Severus dipped his head in the affirmative, "and left soon after."

"Harry said that she was acting strangely yesterday," said Dumbledore.

"And so she did."

"You know why."

"I only wished I did."

Dumbledore gave his Potions master a hard look. "Very well, Hermione was acting strangely yesterday and you have no idea why. She is currently causing us concern and you have no idea where she is." Dumbledore held censure in his tone. "What happened?"

Severus remained silent. There was no way he could avoid Albus' direct questions, not when the old man was hinting accusations at him. With his eyes fixed on the Headmaster, he nodded towards his wife's little friends.

Dumbledore caught his meaning and dismissed his students. "Harry, Mister Weasley. I would like a private interview with Professor Snape. I will address your concerns later."

Harry rose from his armchair and Ron followed his lead. He glared openly at Severus and turned to Dumbledore. "I expect to be informed, sir."

"And so you shall be, Harry."

Harry left the circular room swiftly, followed closely by his best friend.

"Wait up, Harry. I haven't had breakfast yet, I can't keep up."

Harry gritted his teeth to prevent himself from lashing out. "Hermione's gone and all you can think about is breakfast?"

"Not true, mate. I'm worried about her too. Lighten up, will you? We'll go and see Dumbledore again later and see what he says."

"Since when were you the voice of reason, Ron?"

"Since I know Hermione would personally destroy my Chudley Cannons bedspread if she knew I encouraged you, in any way, to do something stupid."

"Dumbledore knows something and he's not telling me."

"He's not telling you, yet. You know Dumbledore will tell you anything. Anyway, I doubt he knows anything right now, he's got Snape locked up in there for information, remember?"

"You don't understand, Ron," said Harry as he ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation, "He already knows. I can tell. Whatever it is Snape's going to tell him, he already knows. Trust me."

Ron replied softly, "I do, Harry. I really do."

Severus heard the door clicked and felt Albus' intense scrutiny magnified ten-fold.

"Explain."

Seeing the dangerous mood that Dumbledore was in right now, Severus' sense of self-preservation kicked in, and he obediently relayed the events after Hermione had returned to his chambers. "I told her she was not worthy of my love, I told her I love someone else."

Dumbledore's face was thunderous, "Did you never wonder what your wife wanted to talk to you about?"

Severus frowned, "No. But, now that you've mentioned it, I'm curious. Humour me, Albus, you know something about the girl you want to tell me."

"I do, Severus," replied Dumbledore in a steely voice. "I believed that Hermione has travelled through time after the…disagreement you two had last night. My guess is that Hermione ran into one of the Hogwarts stairways that send people through time. Time-Turners usually allow the bearer to travel several hours back in time, but she had no such aid. The method of her travel was unreliable, your wife could be hundreds of years back in the past, or she might even have gone to the future. She might return this afternoon, tomorrow, fifty years from now, or never."

Severus took in the information without a word.

"If she ever returns to us, Severus, I trust you will know the right thing to do."

Severus stood up and Dumbledore waved him a permission to leave.

The Headmaster sighed heavily the minute he regained his privacy. "Well?" he said to the room at large.

Immediately, babble broke out as the eavesdropping-portraits tried to make their own opinions heard over the others'. Dumbledore held a hand up and gestured imperiously for silence. He massaged his tired eyes with bony fingers.

Finally, one of the portraits ventured to speak into the silence, "This little meeting has certainly completed the puzzle."

"It certainly has, Dilys," said Dumbledore.

"Why didn't you tell him about Mel and Hermione and the baby?"

"That right belongs to Hermione."

"Will she ever come back?"

"For our sake, Dippet, I hope she does."