The next morning Hermione was busy with her son. He was being fussy and she didn't know why. She had tried everything she possibly could to get him to stop crying. But he didn't stop, he continued until she was near tears herself. It had been going on all night. Christopher had been crying almost non stop since the headmaster left, and she was at her wits end. "Come on Chris, please stop crying for mommy." She muttered to herself. "Why are you so upset?" She was startled when she heard a very familiar voice.

"Perhaps he knows how upset his mommy is, and he can sense it." Hermione whipped her head around to see who was sitting there talking. It wasn't who she thought it would be. Subconsciously she held onto Christopher a little tighter upon seeing the face of the man she fled from almost 9 months ago. He stood in the door way looking at Hermione and the small baby in her arms. He looked at the miracle being cradled against her bosom. "Hello Hermione…"

"Severus I," she faltered. She was starting to go into panic mode; she had no idea what he was doing here. He held up his arm to silence her indicating that he wished to speak first. She closed her mouth, and noticed that Christopher was having a slightly hard time breathing; she immediately loosened her grip on him. She sat down with the baby in her arms, well away from where Severus was standing.

"Hermione, who is that?" He pointed to the bundle of blankets that she was holding. "Is that who I think it might be?" He asked, hoping that what he was thinking was true.

"If you're thinking it's your son, you would be correct." She muttered barely loud enough for Severus to hear her. He walked over to where she was sitting. Seeing this she got up and walked away. He followed her, and she continued to walk away from him, determined to keep at least a 2 meter difference between him, her, and her newborn.

"Hermione, come here please." Hermione shook her head and kept walking away from him. "Hermione." she still wouldn't let him near her. "Hermione, if you don't loosen up he is going to suffocate." She didn't realize she was holding him that tightly again, she walked over to his bassinet and put him down. Seizing the opportunity to get to her when she is occupied he walked over to the bassinet, and stood right beside her. He put his hand on her arm to get her to look at him. She pulled back quickly and took a step back. "Hermione please, why won't you acknowledge that I'm here?"

"Because you're not, this is just a dream. A dream I'm going to wake up from any moment." She knew it wasn't a dream. She knew deep down that he was standing before her, but she couldn't convince herself of that fact. She walked into the kitchen which was a bad idea as there was only one way in or out, and he cornered her.

"Hermione please!" She whipped around, gathering the courage that had been hidden for so long. She looked at him in the eye, and with a confidence she didn't know she possessed.

"What! What do you want? Why are you here? There was a reason you weren't supposed to know where I was. Why did Albus tell you where I was, after I specifically told him not to? Just go." She tried to get past him, to get to another room where he wasn't. But she walked right by him, shoving him as she went. He took advantage of this and grabbed both her arms. He was stronger than she was and she couldn't get away. "Let go of me!" She was struggling to break free; he did the only thing he could think of to stop her. He kissed her. He bent his head down and pressed his lips to hers, in an effort to stop her from struggling. She suddenly stopped struggling. She let him kiss her. For the first time in 9 months, she was calm, serene. But that moment left her soon after. She stomped on his foot to get away. He jumped back at the sudden impact of feet, hers on his, and she walked away. It took a mere moment before he walked back over to her and stopped her.

"Hermione, listen to me. I'm here because I care about you. I am in this room speaking to you, because I know that no matter what I do with my life, I will never be able to be happy. Albus never told me where you were." He muttered the last part. Hermione upon hearing this looked at him.

"What?" she asked him, wondering if what she just heard was really what he said.

"I didn't know Albus was in contact with you. I've been searching for you since you left Hermione." She couldn't believe it. He wanted to know where she was.

"Why?" She could only manage to let the one word out of her mouth. Choked up, she couldn't say anything else.

"When you left me 9 months ago, I couldn't believe it. I didn't believe it. For a month, Hermione, I had convinced myself you were just visiting family and friends, and would be back. It didn't sink in that you were gone until Albus introduced the new Charms professor. That's when I knew you wouldn't be back. I couldn't deal with the thought of not having you, with you not there. I love you Hermione. I truly do care for you, and I love you more than anything else in the world." Hermione was in tears by this point. She was completely wrong. Severus did love her, and she realized how stupid her fears were. Severus noticed this and took her in his arms. Hugged her, something he hadn't done in 9 months, and the feeling of her back where, in his mind, she belonged. Hermione suddenly looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"I love you Severus." With that, she leaned up and kissed him, like she never kissed him before. He happily complied.