Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, never was, never will be.

A/N: We're getting to the end; it looks like it'll be about 15 chapters long, so there's only a few more to go. Look for 13 soon unless schoolwork gets in the way.

He made a full commitment to her long ago. Being a man of his word, the promise he made was no small thing. The fact he loved her changed only one thing: that he would actually enjoy keeping his promise for once. However, frustration set in slowly and sometimes he would find himself suppressing certain urges more than he really wanted to. It was the waiting; for once it actually made him antsy. She was different. The whole set of circumstances was different. He promised to wait however long it took. Their fates depended on it.

So when that urge quickly started to consume him after her voiced comment of affection, he suppressed it as soon as he recognized what it was. Officially, she was his. She had just said the one thing he had been waiting for her to say. Unofficially, he had no right to take her.

Hermione watched briefly as the face of the man she as falling in love with shifted between a variety of emotions. Eventually she turned away and fiddled with whatever was close at hand. She wondered what was going through Snape's head. He looked confused, which was odd given that she as sure they were destined to be together.

Her head snapped up at she stared at him wide eyed. He was confused because his mind and body were at war. She just knew it, but she did not know why.

'She's yours, but she's not yours.'

'Come on, you know you want her. Take her!'

'No!'

His head suddenly snapped to meet her gaze. The last thought was certainly not his own. The first two were certainly not her own.

"Severus?"

"Hermione?"

They stared at each other for another moment then quickly turned away.

Under his breath Snape muttered, "This wasn't in the prophecy."

Hermione was unsure how to react to the idea that she had tapped into Snape's thoughts just by staring at him. It was certainly only one revelation of many on her mind at the moment.

Several long minutes of silence later Snape said, "I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to hear that."

"That's an understatement," Hermione replied quietly.

"Given my occlumency training, I'm quite shocked I didn't notice it. I'm beginning to think the connection is something else entirely."

"How could that be?"

He finally looked at her and waited to speak until she looked at him. "I honestly don't know."

They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence before Hermione said she was tired and desired to go to bed. Snape offered to escort her to her quarters, but she refused. He bid her good night as she left.

It was not that Hermione did not trust Snape. She knew he could have acted on his impulses many times, especially when he was drunk. He never did though. What unnerved her was that he was as in the dark about their new discovery as she was. She had an urge to go research it, but stopped herself knowing that she was better off even attempting sleep than not.

Snape, in the meantime, let his thoughts wander. Hermione seemed distant again, something he was not too keen about. He sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. Perhaps if he could understand even a little what she saw in him, he could begin to understand, but that, too, was a mystery. At one point he thought he understood life, but ever since Trelawny made another accurate prophecy life had turned upside down more than once. Eventually Snape grew tired of his own thoughts and attempted to get some sleep.

Morning came much too early. For the second day in a row, Snape confused students and staff alike. He managed to pass through it in a haze, not really caring about what was going on around him. Several times he failed to prevent student mistakes he would otherwise have caught. Other times he failed to assign homework. All day he was trying to work out an answer to a question there quite possibly was not an answer for.

Hermione's line of thought was much the same as Snape's. She just took it a different route, deciding to confide in Headmistress McGonagall. Three heads were better than two, she figured, and McGonagall must be curious about the latest happenings. Unfortunately, the headmistress was just as stumped, but at least discussing the problem helped generate some ideas.

Snape actually showed for super in the Great Hall that night, to everyone's surprise. McGonagall mentioned briefly to him that Hermione told her about their latest issue. He was not surprised. He just did not want everyone knowing their private business.

Hermione took her meal in her quarters and browsed several books. She was so engrossed in them that she did not hear Snape's knock at first. Several minutes later she was aware of someone outside her door. She easily crossed the room to let him in.

"Good evening, Hermione. May I come in?"

"Yes, of course, Severus. Please make yourself comfortable."

He did just that. "Have you found anything useful?"

She looked at the stack of books and shook her head. "No, but I wish I had. It seems so strange to me that we would suddenly have this connection."

"As it does to me. I would like you to try again though."

Hermione nodded and looked at him for several moments. Like a flash of lightening, she found herself listening to his thoughts again.

' . . .certainly hasn't turned out how I . . .'

'Sorry.'

'No, don't be.' He smiled at her then. 'That answers that question.'

'But not the other,' she replied, still in his mind (or was it hers or both now?). 'Sure does feel strange though. Kinda like a lightening storm in my head, just without the thunder.'

'Yes, as if we're . . .' his thought trailed off.

'As if we're what, Severus?' She was not quite following.

"Working on the same wavelength," he said aloud.

"Wait, what?" Hermione asked.

"It's like sound waves in a way. If you combine them just right, so they're perfectly in sync, the sound is amplified."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes, Hermione. Our conscious thoughts match up in some way occasionally that we are able to hear each other. It's not like Legilimency in that we're not trying to dig up a specific thought. It just . . ."

"Happens," Hermione finished for him. "But what does it mean?"

He looked at her for a moment and for the second time in as many days responded, "I don't know."

Several moments of thought later, she replied, "I do."

End Chapter 12