Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Snape, Hermione, or any other related characters in the HP verse.

He could have simply levitated her behind him as he left the small secluded house that had become more like a prison than a home to Harry Potter; however, in the event she were to revive, it was much wiser to be carrying her. Two things became blaringly apparent to Snape in the process of carrying her though: the first thing was that she was quite bony under the bulky clothes she wore. Hermione Granger would not be considered fat or even necessarily overweight, but from what Snape could tell, she was clearly underweight. He processed that thought and apparated just outside of the Hogwarts' grounds. As he carried Hermione, the second obvious thing he noticed was just how light she was even after carrying her for a decent amount of time. This only served to worry him further in regards to her current state.

"Severus," Minerva McGonagall, current headmistress of Hogwarts, said as she came out to meet him. "What happened to Miss Granger? Why have you brought her here?"

"She'll be fine, Minerva. We need to get her to the infirmary though. Poppy will be able to care for her at the moment," came his reply. "I'll explain once she's safe."

"Of course."

The two professors walked in a companionable silence to the infirmary. McGonagall knew Snape better than anyone since Dumbledore's passing. In the end, his actions really had spoken for themselves and she had absolutely no reason not to trust him.

Once Hermione was safely entrusted in Madam Pomfrey's care for the night, McGonagall and Snape retired to the headmistress' chambers. He helped himself to some of her scotch as they sat quietly by the fire. She simply waited for him to speak on his own knowing full well it was best not to push him.

"I took Granger to see Potter," he said simply. She did not respond immediately. "I felt it was time to be honest with her and give her an opportunity to face her demons."

"Perhaps dealing with your own demons as well, Severus?" McGonagall inquired in a contemplative tone.

He considered the comment briefly. Turning away from her to help himself to more scotch he replied quietly, almost remorsefully, "Perhaps." Snape hung back in the shadows for a moment before sitting in front of the fire again. He sighed heavily. "Strange as it may sound, sometimes I miss the old coot."

McGonagall smiled a bit forlornly in remembrance. "We all do, Severus. I would be more surprised if you didn't. And as for Miss Granger, it sounds as if she desperately needs to reconnect with her past. You've done the right thing whether you believe so or not."

: P

Hermione woke slowly. She knew immediately she was not home, but she felt like she was at home nonetheless. After fully stretching, she opened one eye almost immediately followed by the other. She quickly sat up and looked around the room. It was a place she easily recognized but did not expect to be. Of course, after what happened the previous night, Hermione had no clue what to expect.

"Ah, Miss Granger, you've decided to rejoin the living again I see?"

"Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked still a bit shocked.

"Yes, dear. How do you feel?"

"Confused, but otherwise fine. What's going on?"

Madam Pomfrey dodged the question by stating, "I believe Severus would like to have a word with you know that you're awake. You're to go to the headmistress' office. You remember the way?" Hermione nodded. "The password is unity. Now, off with you. I have work to do."

"Thank you," Hermione said as she scurried out of the infirmary. Something clicked as she passed the threshold. "You did say headmistress, didn't you?"

"You'll see, dear," Madam Pomfrey said with a hint of a smile.

Hermione nodded and left, inwardly shrugging. Ever since Severus Snape came back into her life everything was becoming stranger and more complex. Harry was alive but not exactly Harry. Ron would not accept him, Snape was his friend, and Hogwarts had a headmistress. More and more she was beginning to think that leaving was a bad idea.

Lost in these thoughts, it felt like only several moments passed by the time she reached the gargoyles leading to the headmistress' office. "Unity," she said clearly and waited for the staircase to descend. She quickly found her way up and let herself in. no one was waiting for her when she arrived so she sat in one of the chairs across from the desk. The office looked similar to the way it had when Dumbledore was headmaster. Now, his portrait hung on the wall, sleeping. She wondered briefly if he had even woken since she last saw the portrait.

The fire crackled and briefly came to life as Snape and McGonagall came trough the floo network.

"Hermione, how good to see you!" McGonagall said, pulling the girl into the hug Hermione approached for. She held on tighter as Hermione began to sob lightly. McGonagall was not surprised by the girl's reaction. According to Snape, she had been under a great deal of stress the night before. This type of reaction was expected.

Snape hung back in the shadows being as unobtrusive as possible. He knew she saw him come through so he avoided her until she was ready for him. Snape knew how fragile Hermione really was in her current state, more than he was about to let on. He did not intend to break her. That would only serve to push her farther away from him . . . from them. Hermione was too important to the wizarding world. She was too strong, too knowledgeable, just simply too instrumental. She just did not know any of that yet.

Hermione began to loosen her grip on McGonagall. Snape helped Hermione to her seat and sat in the chair next to hers. McGonagall sat in her chair opposite them. While they waited for Hermione to regain her composure, Winky brought a breakfast tray to her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, picking up some toast and nibbling on it. Snape watched as she picked at her food.

McGonagall spoke first. "Hermione, we realize that you must have many questions after last night. We hope that we have done right by you in revealing Harry to you. However, it is important that you keep Harry's secret. If word got out . . ."

"People will call me crazy. Of course, I'm supposedly missing myself, am I not? It would look awfully suspicious if I were to suddenly reappear and say that not only do I know where Harry is, I also know he's been hiding because he looks like a bad rendition of Frankenstein!" Her voice rose with each sentence.

"Miss Granger, I understand your anger regarding the situation, however . . ." Snape began.

"Anger? Don't talk to me about anger, Severus! For seven weeks I've put up with you digging into my psyche. I spent the better part of seven years with you doing the same before that. I'm pretty sure you didn't even try to understand my anger before then. Why start now?"

McGonagall moved to speak, but Snape held up a hand to stop her. Quiet, but demanding, he spoke. "Things have changed. Had you been here, you would know that. Don't judge what you don't know."

What ensued was a staring match that only ended when Headmistress McGonagall called them both children for their pettiness and bickering. "If Albus were here he'd have you both thrown out! Severus, I believe you have a class to teach in a couple of minutes. Miss Granger, you may do as you wish. We do not plan on keeping you hostage, do we Severus?" She gave him a rather pointed look.

Snape rose. "I was just leaving," he said menacingly.

Hermione stared at Snape's back as he left before collapsing into her chair. Everything had changed and she knew next to nothing about it. McGonagall was now headmistress, not a surprise really, but there had been no official head when Hermione graduated because of the war. Snape, as it turned out, could be nice when he wanted to be. And then there was Harry . . . She could not wrap her head around all of it. Sometimes Hermione knew exactly why she had left, but more and more she was beginning to doubt that leaving had been a good idea.

End Chapter 5

A/N: Chapter 6 to follow soon and after that I don't know how my updating schedule will be since classes will be starting again for me. As usual, please read and review. Also, don't expect this fic to get too angsty since it was intended to be more humorous than dramatic from the outset. Cheers!