I want to thank everyone who took the time to review; last chapter and the chapters before it. I am very grateful and extremely lucky to have so many readers following me from fandom to fandom. I cannot express how honored I am by your devotion. And I want to thank those who have not read my work before for giving it a chance.

Special thanks to my beta, Snarkyroxy.

Chapter four: Nothing, but a cheeky Gryffindor.

Severus Snape and Hermione Granger stared at one other in complete silence, each waiting for the other to make the first move and decide where their conversation would go.

Finally, Hermione began to speak when it was obvious to her that Snape didn't plan to talk. "I don't even know where to begin. There's so much…"

"At the beginning, Miss Granger," Snape told her, his voice lacking its usual sarcasm.

Hermione drew in a large breath and exhaled. As she opened her mouth to ask her question, someone pounded heavily on the door.

Snape frowned. Were they never to have a moment of peace?

The door opened slowly. Hermione and Snape looked up to see the Auror that Hermione disliked along with Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"It cannot be any later than seven-thirty in the morning," Snape growled. "What could be so important that I require a second visit today?"

"I'd tread carefully, Snape," Shacklebolt warned. He looked to Hermione, who smiled politely at him. Harry Potter had informed him that the young woman was watching over Snape. She had surprised everyone with her claims of evidence to prove Severus Snape was innocent, along with her desire to sit by his bedside. To Kingsley, she looked weary and years older than she actually was.

"It is early, Auror Shacklebolt, what can we do for you?" she asked softly.

"St Mungo's has requested that Severus Snape be moved," Shacklebolt announced.

"Moved?" The young witch's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "But where? A different level of the hospital?"

"Out of St Mungo's completely," the young Auror spoke up with a smug grin. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking quite pleased with the situation.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Where are we-"

Shacklebolt interrupted before the young woman could finish asking her question. "I'm afraid that is up to Mr. Snape."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, Shacklebolt?"

"The hospital has requested quite vehemently that you leave the premises. The publicity is less than flattering for them, the staff are afraid of you, and since they feel you are no longer deathly ill-"

"They've only been in here once to check on him! How do they know he isn't deathly ill?" Hermione called out. She was on her feet now, hands on her slender hips.

"He's alive and sitting up, isn't he?" the young Auror asked.

"The mediwizard who checked on him the first day he was here said he didn't think Severus was going to live. He's still ill."

Snape clenched his teeth. Was the girl going to broadcast to the entire world that he was feeling under the weather?

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger. This hospital is firm on this. Where you go is up to you." While surprised that the young woman was already on a first name basis with her former Professor, Shacklebolt didn't comment aloud. He looked at Snape; the greasy, dark- haired man did look paler than usual, but that was far from his concern.

"You will be tracked until your trial just in case you decide you don't want to show." Kingsley raised his wand and muttered a spell at Snape.

Yellow light surrounded Snape's entire body for a moment before it collected to form a bracelet of light around his wrist. The light pulsed in time to Snape's heartbeat.

"If you attempt to remove the tracking spell magically or otherwise, Aurors will Apparate to your location in a matter of moments. It is keyed to your heartbeat and if you remove it without the proper incantation you will die. It is in your best interest not to tamper with it."

"Why are they doing this now? His trial is in a week. He needs to rest," Hermione argued.

"I would have thought that was obvious!" the young Auror cried, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation. "The hospital doesn't want a murderer under their roof," he spat.

"Innocent until proven guilty," Hermione protested hotly.

"That's for the Wizengamot to decide, Miss Granger," Shacklebolt said coolly, and then he looked to Snape. "You have until eleven this morning to be gone, Mr. Snape. You had better rest and prepare yourself."

Kingsley Shacklebolt and the young Auror left the room without a backward glance.

Hermione let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She collapsed onto the end of Snape's bed, the mattress protesting the additional weight. "We can't leave."

"Apparently I can, and so I will."

Hermione spun around to face him. "How? You're far too weak to Apparate or walk out on your own. They've confiscated your wand, so magic is out of the question. And unless you have a broomstick hiding beneath your robes, which I doubt you do, you have no means of transport." She raked a shaking hand through her messy brown hair. "There's no where to take you except… no, I can't..."

"I do not require your assistance, Miss Granger. I will leave this hospital on my own," Snape replied stubbornly.

"In case your mind has grown foggy, Professor," she began in her best imitation of him, "you are too sick and weak, even if you don't want to admit it. You'll splinch if you attempt to Apparate. And if you try to walk of out of here the public will attack you."

Snape gritted his teeth. He wasn't used to taking cheek from Hermione Granger. Her foolish friends, yes, but not her. Were he still a professor, her House would be minus points. "I thought I asked you not to call me that."

"I'll call you Professor until you start letting what I tell you sink into that thick skull of yours!"

"You are quite lucky we are not at Hogwarts, Miss-"

"Oh, that's rich!" Hermione cried out at him, slapping a hand down on her thigh. "You're being kicked out of the hospital and will be standing trial for murder on Friday, and you're thinking about deducting House points from me!" She opened her mouth to continue, but noticed Snape looked exceptionally pale. Guilt assaulted her. She lowered her head in shame at the eruption of her temper. The man was sick and she was fighting with him. She would never have spoken to him like this in school.

"I'm sorry. This isn't the time to argue. I think I might be able to Apparate us both."

Snape felt like something was resting on his chest, crushing him. The sensation had come suddenly, and it angered and worried him at the same time. His breathing was labored and his ears were ringing. How could such a small argument drain him so much?

Her hand startled him as it brushed back his hair from his face. He jerked away from her, ignoring the hurt on her face. Her devotion to him was unnerving, and yet so typically like her. She always had to save those she found in need, just like those damn House Elves! He didn't want her assistance; he didn't want her trust. Only two other people had ever put forth so much trust in him, and both of them were dead because of it.

He tried to tell himself that he did not need her, but his curiosity was piqued. He wanted to know what she had discovered, and selfishly he desired to know how far she would go before she gave up on her new cause.

"Have you ever double- Apparated before, Miss Granger?" he asked, his tone biting. He hated the deep ragged breaths that resonated from his chest, as it ruined the effect he was striving for.

"No, I have never double- Apparated, but before you start, I'm confident I can do it."

"If I remember, you are far too over-confident. Double- Apparitions are not easy."

"I don't want to argue with you. You need medical attention. We can deal with everything else after you've had time to rest and recuperate. You can bite my head off when you're better, if you still feel you need to. Please, just…" her words faltered as she realized how sick he looked. His face was deathly pale, and he was shivering and breathing heavily. His hair looked greasier than she had ever seen it due to the sweat from his fever. He looked pathetic, and she had never seen him like this before. It frightened her.

"Please, let me help you."

Snape was taken back by the honest concern in her voice. He knew he could not keep up this battle with her. He was indeed weak and sick, as his body had just proven to him, and he needed to recuperate if he was going to make it to his trial. He clenched his teeth bitterly and nodded slowly to her.

Hermione got to her feet and walked to stand along the bedside. An awkward tension filled the room and neither of them moved.

"Uh,…Have you ever…?"

He nodded his head slowly as he pulled the bed covers back and began to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Oh, good," she allowed nervously.

The older wizard halted for a moment as dizziness caused the room to shift. He waited until it passed before dropping his bare feet to the cold, beige tile floor. He had double- Apparated several times in his life, and he was certain this time would be just as horrible as the other occasions. In fact, he knew it would be a disaster because Hermione Granger had only earned her Apparition license the previous year.

He watched as the black fabric of his hospital robes pooled down his thin legs to nearly touch the floor. One of his eyebrows rose. Black hospital robes? He had only known of white or blue. Had Miss Granger requested black for him because it was the color she normally saw him dressed in?

Slowly, Severus Snape gazed up at the girl who had once been his student, and he reminded himself that she was a woman now. She was very much still the witch he'd once taught, with her blinding desire to help those in need, but at the same time she seemed very different. She was exceptionally quiet, when in the years before, she had been nearly jumping out of her skin to share her knowledge with the world. Only time would help him understand exactly who Hermione Granger had become.

She was biting her lower lip, a habit he had seen from her often as she worked over her cauldron in Potions classes. He realized sadly that he would never again have the opportunity to smirk as he watched her check her notes eight or ten times when she already knew the procedure. He would never again watch her carefully prepare her ingredients with skill that was absent in most of her classmates. Her samples had always been near-perfection. She had earned the Outstanding she received on her OWL.

He sighed heavily. Much had changed.

Snape's legs began to tremble before he had even attempted to stand up. To his surprise, he felt Miss Granger's arm wrap around his waist to assist him. Normally, he would have snarled at her and pushed her away for touching him. He settled for silence instead, and concentrated on trying to remain upright.

"Your muscles aren't used to being put to work; You've been laying down for too long."

Snape's fingers dug into her arm as he tried to rise and he suppressed a smile. She always had the knack of stating the obvious. His knees began shaking. He felt as if he had not walked in years. "I had not realized that, Miss Granger. So good of you to point it out to me," he bit out, as was his habit.

Hermione smiled, much to Snape's chagrin. While his body was weak, his mind was perfectly healthy.

With her help, Snape managed to stand. Her arm was warm around him as was her breath on his neck as it left her lips with each exhale. She smelled faintly of lavender and something else he could not quite discern. Snape shivered and nearly lost his balance. When was the last time a woman had voluntarily held him or touched him? Self-pity descended over him like dense fog.

"This isn't going to work. There is no way you will be able to support my weight. We'll both splinch," he panted.

Sweat had broken out along Hermione's hairline due to her struggle to keep Snape standing. He was tall and despite being thin he was still much heavier than she was.

"Thanks …Mr. Optimistic," she said breathlessly.

Her humor didn't last long as one of Snape's knees gave way. He fell backwards, arms flapping like a demented bird as he attempted to brace his fall. He landed across the bed and she was pulled to land on top of him.

He grunted as her weight rammed into him, forcing the breath from his lungs. He could feel her arm pressed between the mattress and his back. Her face was level with his, her bushy hair tickling him. A sudden warm tingling began further down his body, and he realized that one of her legs was between his and the other was straddling his thigh. Gods, if anyone walked in and saw them like this…

Snape didn't have long to contemplate a scene playing out as he felt the sensation of Apparation and moments later the hospital room was gone.

Something cool pressed against his face, and Snape's eyes shot open to peer into Hermione Granger's worried brown orbs. She took the cloth she was holding and placed it into a bowl on a nearby desk.

He had hoped it had all been a nightmare; Dumbledore, the war, waking up in the hospital with no one but Miss Granger to keep him company.

"Are you okay, Severus? You passed out."

The sound of his name coming from her lips sounded foreign.

Snape glanced around the room without moving his head from the wonderfully soft pillow beneath him. The room was small, painted in earth tones and books lined nearly all the walls. There was a window, a small desk, a bureau and a closet.

"Where…?"

Hermione followed his gaze. "You're in my home."

Snape realized he must be in her bedroom as his eyes fell upon the titles of a few of Hogwarts' required textbooks. The smell in the room reminded him of another place he had known. It was that moldy, musty smell that came from the disuse of living space. Light dust covered everything; the windows were dirty but the bed was very comfortable to his weary body. He spotted a picture face down on a small desk and came to a startling realization.

"Your…parents' home." The words escaped him before he could stop them.

She looked away from him, and Snape grudgingly felt guilt for her loss and gratitude for her kindness. It was obvious that the house had not been lived in for several months, probably due to the pain living here caused her. Yet she had taken him, of all people, to her childhood home to help restore his health.

"I…I am sorry for your loss. I was not there, but I…I heard…" he told her awkwardly.

The young witch nodded, lowering her head to compose herself before she raised her eyes to his. "Now that I know you are all right, I'll let you sleep." She moved away from the bed, drawing one of the dusty shades down to darken the room, before she picked up a few books from one of the shelves.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She smirked at him. "I won't go far, don't worry."

He pursed his lips. Cheeky little Gryffindor.

"I'll be in the parlor downstairs. I thought I'd try to do some research on what curse might have hit you while I wait for Madam Pomfrey's response. I sent her an owl."

"She won't come here," he told her.

Hermione smiled sadly. She could not miss the hurt in Snape's voice. He had never had many friends, if any true ones at all, but the other professors had once trusted him and confided in him. The fact that none of them did now must have been like a bludger to the chest.

"I know she won't, but I thought she might be able to tell me what I can do to help you. I don't know many healing spells and the ones I do know won't do much good. I'm sure she knows something I don't."

She moved to the door and Snape noticed how tired the young witch looked. She was hunched over, her eyes had dark circles beneath them and she looked pale. The double- Apparation had certainly drained her, as had her weeks of sleeping in a chair by his bed while she waited for him to awaken.

He was amazed she had managed to Apparate without splinching them both. He glanced at himself and wiggled his fingers and toes to make sure everything was where it should be.

"Everything's still there," she informed him with a lazy smile.

He frowned deeply at her. She was observing him far too much and he did not like it.

"At least I think so," she teased. She smiled as she began to close the door behind her, stepping into a hallway.

Snape's eyes and limbs suddenly felt heavy. "Ten points to Gryffindor," the former Potions Professor allowed, so softly it was nearly a whisper. His voice was devoid of any of its usual mockery.

Hermione's eyes widened at his uncharacteristic gift of House points, even if he wasn't truly able to give them anymore.

He watched how her brown eyes filled with hope and then sadness.

Sadness descended over him, too. He didn't realize how much he enjoyed and missed certain things in his life until they were gone. Deducting House points from unsuspecting students had always been among the things he looked forward to when awakening in the morning. He rarely gave points, except to his own House, but if he had ever honestly been able to give a single student points they actually deserved, he would have given many to Hermione Granger.

He felt surprise at such an honest thought coming from himself and then a stab of pain in his chest. He was no longer the Head of Slytherin House. He had not been for months. He was no longer a professor at the school that had been his home for so many years.

For the first time since awakening after the battle, Severus Snape realized he had nothing.

He had nothing but a stubborn young witch who still believed in him after all he had done. He struggled to focus on the woman in the doorway, but he felt very weary and was unable to do so.

The door clicked shut and Snape blinked. Hermione Granger was no longer in his sight.

He could feel his body relaxing, his mind emptying itself of thoughts as it prepared for sleep.

Snape waited until he heard her footsteps disappear before he allowed his eyelids to close and sleep to finally claim him.

to be continued...