Chapter 1:

Happiness

Another Order Meeting. Like one after the other since the girl's...no woman's imprisonment. McGonagall had been speaking for the past half an hour on a plan, however attempts had been futile. Whatever Granger had been working on at the Ministry had either been destroyed or misplaced by Granger herself.

"She must've known she was going to get sentenced to Azkaban. Why did she not inform us prior? It only makes her look more incriminating" Kingsley rebutted to Minerva, however she was not taking any of it tonight and defended the girl as much as she could. Post-war Granger had ended up staying with Minerva for some time since she no longer had any parents or financial aid to help her get through to any college. Minerva had attempted to force the girl to go to college whilst simultaneously completing her training as an Auror. He remembered seeing the girl every so often around Hogwarts and no, he never offered her one bit of solidarity. He had been so angry with her for forcing him to live on in this life, teaching dunderheads that he could only offer her snide remarks at best of days and glares at the worst of days.

When she grew older, she visited the school less and less, if only to see the Headmistress, attempt to raid his potion stores (as usual) and the library before heading off on her own. He never knew what she was up to and he believed Minerva blind for not seeing that Granger may of in-fact killed an innocent person from the Ministry.

"I have been looking into the Alexander Statton's history. He has no ties to any Death-Eaters we are aware of other than being a bit of a gambler"

"And-" Mad-eye leaned forward at the table with his staff staying at Potter. "There isn't very much information to go on. He was a half-blood, transferred from the Ministry of Germany and, from rumours, was dating Hermione"

"Rumours?" Remus look concerned as he sat next to Minerva, opposite Severus.

Harry and Ron both looked a little taken back, "Hermione said some guy at work kept bugging her and interrupting her work. I hadn't realised it was him" Harry added, concerned that he didn't take his closest friend more seriously.

Moody nodded before turning back to his paper, "Supposedly, they had been on a few dates before he was found deceased in her lab" Potter replied back, his face poised with concern.

"So you reckon that the report issued by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement are untrue?" Sirius butted in before glaring at Serverus as he sat at the table, not overly concerned, nor surprised that the chit ended up in this situation.

"Gawain Robards who filed the investigation, reported that Hermione's PTSD from the war had something to do with it. He wrote that Hermione and Alexander had some qualm and then she lashed out at him. Had some flashbacks from the war and that was it" Potter replied.

"So then why was she charged with first-degree murder?" Tonks asked.

"Hermione's apartment had some pretty nasty dark artifacts in them. Item's that had been previously taken from some Dark Wizards. They believe she was responsible to taking the dark artifacts illegally and using them for her own experiments. When Alexander found out and confronted Hermione, she supposedly went off in a fit of rage and killed him. We don't know if he was trying to steal it or sell it. Turns out he had some major debts and needed money. He had totalled up approximately $300,000 in debt"

"So he could have attempted to steal from Granger and then they had the row. Killed him to stop him from taking her research" Mad eye stared at Harry as if to say that he had made a mistake about the girl, his best-friend and partner.

Severus could see the tension between the two and turned his head towards the empty seat next to him where Granger usually sat in between himself and Harry.

"She didn't bother to hide the body" Severus turned to see Remus sipping on a cup of warm tea.

"It was Hermione's lab they had found him in. It's rare for people to visit her laboratory as she keeps it pretty much under key and lock" Harry muttered running his hands through his messy black hair.

"They didn't find his body until a half an hour later. After, Hermione had already taken as much of her research as possible and hid it"

"Convenient to find a body in the first hour, given that no one particularly goes into her lab!" Minerva retorted, glaring a Alastor, knowing he was dismissing the case.

"Did anyone know what she was working on?" Remus piped up.

"Indeed" Severus agreed with her. How could it not be?

"No, she didn't tell me that either. Something top-secret. Her boss was non-compliant in the matter as well" Harry responded.

"The scumbag basically threw us out for nothin'!" Ron in anger and pounding his fist on the table.

"Typical Unspeakables" Sirius muttered under his breathe.

"What's strange is that she didn't try and get rid of the illegal objects in her room" Arthur looked towards Harry in concern. Would Hermione actually steal from crime-scenes. Severus could only guess 'Yes'. Granger was a thief at that to him and wouldn't have been surprised if she had seen something shiny to which she wanted to learn more about...like his potions ingredients.

"Maybe she already knew the Aurors were after her?" Molly muttered to her husband.

"Or maybe they were planted in her apartment after the murder was already committed?" Fred and George added.

"Someone would have known if Hermione had illegal artifacts in her home" Minerva stated, looking towards her two best-friends Ron and Harry who could only look at each other concerned. "I don't know. Hermione kept her research pretty close to her heart" Harry scratched the back of his neck. "Still, I don't think she would have killed someone to protect it if that's what it was. She would have come to me or Ron first"

"There was burn marks in her lab" Kingsley chimed in. "Across the ceiling and the walls, they were fresh. The two had a fight and no-one knows what happened but they were caused from both their wands when the ministry inspected them. There is mounting evidence to state that Hermione in-fact murdered the man to protect her research, then fled to hide it. We received a tip-off that she had been attempting to flee the country via plane to France, then onto America. They caught her in London just passed 1pm on the Friday. The trial was short due to the abundance of evidence. She's likely to face the dementors kiss if she is found to be guilty"

"Will she?" Ron asked concerned.

Kingsley was silent for the moment capturing everyone's attention. "It is likely. She has declined any visits from myself whilst incarcerated. Minerva, Harry, Ron. You perhaps have better luck convincing her to have visitors"

Severus looked back to Minerva noticing the empty chair in between himself and Harry. He felt a pang of guilt grow in his chest as he stared back at the heart-aching mother. Severus, for some unknown reason, decided to place a hand over the heart-broken woman in comfort. She looked up at him in surprised before smiling and gripping his hand. He leaned back in his chair before Kingsley advised everyone on the plan.

Severus sighed as he poured himself a drink of firewhiskey. It had been a long day with dealing with basically everyone and at current, he felt like he deserved it. It felt like wherever he went there was talks or the girl. If it wasn't on the news, it was in the Hall with whispering children, if not then it was the rest of the professors in the staff room and Minerva dragging him into her office every so often to discuss plans to rescue the chit. Bloody-know-it-all. His fists curled in anger around the glass as he thought about everything that girl had destroyed for her own selfishness. Severus still remembered that fateful when the girl had ruined his life.

Flashback:

He was floating, weightless and happy, he was finally happy for the first time in his life. He had done the right thing and kept his promise; he could die in peace. He could be with his true love. He thought back to the image of a red-headed woman smiling and waving to him to come closer. Her smile was so warm he could have melted into her touch right then and there. Finally he thought, he could be happy. So happy...so close.

"Argh!" He felt a way of pain overcome him as he tried hopelessly to grab his neck. The pain was intense, unlike something he had never truly felt before. Raw and...He tried to breathe. Slow shallow puffs of air. He felt as though he was suffocating. Suddenly everything went black.

"Professor?" A girl's voice called to him. He tried to open his eyes but everything hurt. His body was screaming in pain. "Everything's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here" The voice said again. He yelped in pain as he felt a large weight cut across his neck and diagonal across his chest before wrapping under his arm pit. "There, that should hopefully stop the bleeding. Dittany doesn't appear to be working and the phoenix tears have helped remove some of the poison but we've got to get you to Madame Pomphrey - she'll know what to do. Here, give me your arm, we're going to stand up, ready? One, two, three"

"Aargh!" He screamed in agony as he felt himself being pulled up. He tried to open his eyes again but he was blinded by light. "Come on, we have to go. It's too dangerous to stay here" He felt like every bone in his body was broken as he was pulled into the light. His brain hurt, His body reeling. He wanted to vomit. He needed to vomit. "No, no. Don't stop now; we've got to go. There's still Death Eaters out here" He hunched forwarded, chucking up whatever was remaining in his stomach which really wasn't anything. "My shoes! Merlin, I think it's on my leg" He felt himself being dragged again. His body feeling as though it was rocking in and out of consciousness. A few more steps and he was gone.

He blinked his eyes, the next time feeling very different from how he was before. No longer in too much pain but able to form some clue of where he was. In a nice, soft and warm bed, maybe, perhaps by a fire. His eyes fluttered open before he could make out the cracks on the ceiling. Those looked very familiar. He could hear people in the background talking. God, why were they so loud? Couldn't of they been quiet, even for just a minute?

"Severus?" He groaned before hearing Poppy's voice. Great! He's alive! Why the fuck is he alive? "Severus?" She called again as she neared him. He felt her touch his face and touching the side of his neck. He groaned in pain, trying to push her fingers away from the sensitive area but it was too difficult. His body was too weak and his throat burned as though it was on fire. "It's okay Severus. You are at Hogwarts; you are safe?"

Safe?

Was he seriously safe? He stared up at her eyes, filled with fear. "We thought we had lost you" She told him worriedly. "But you came back to us. I am so happy to see you again" Tears streaked down her face. She wiped them away before looking back down at him, lying on the hospital bed. "Hhhhooww?" He winced as he tried to speak, his throat raw, raspy and sore. He tried to grab at his throat with his right hand but found it pinned under a weight then, he saw Poppy smile. "It appears you have a guardian angel" She hinted across at him. He turned his head to where she was nodding and found it...her. His devil. The girl grasping his hand, asleep with her head on his bed. She looked exhausted and was covered in cuts and bruises covering her face and hands. She was wearing a ripped and torn denim jacket which still looked as though some of the blood stains had remained. Severus snarled in anger trying to move his hand but finding it impossible. Granger!

Of course, it had to be freaking Granger. Part of the Golden Trio. He couldn't die in peace. "Well, I suppose you require some rest. I will leave you alone and send Miss Granger off to bed" He gave the girl a gentle shove of her shoulders. "Miss Granger" She called to the girl as Severus couldn't help but glare at the girl who had ruined his version of a happy ending. "Hermione?" She called watching as the girl struggled and finally opened her eyes. "Oh, Madame Pomphrey. I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep" She rubbed her tired eyes as Severus wriggled his hand out of her intense grip before. Finally!

"It's alright dear, however Professor Snape has awoken"

She immediately turned her head back to him and smiled in relief. "Professor? I'm so glad your awake. You've been asleep for almost a fortnight and-" Poppy placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing her speech. "I would suggest you wrap up, Miss Granger. Severus will still require his rest and you have done a great job watching over him" Hermione smiled gently up at her and nodded. "Okay" Poppy smiled before looking back over to Severus. "Miss Granger saved your life Severus. She's been over-looking your recovery as well. You've done so well under her care. Natural healer talent if you ask me" She patted Hermione's shoulder as the girl had the audacity to blush. He snarled in anger at her, not that the two of them even noticed. "Get some rest dear. You've done an excellent job at healing him" She smiled and walked away. Hermione turned back to him, her face smiling in relief and happiness to see him. "I'm glad you are back with the living Sir" She nodded her head before standing however, not before Severus had a chance to grab her wrist and pull her back to face him.

Her doe-like eyes turned from shock to fear as he spun her around to face him. "III h-hate yyyou!" He whispered hoarsely at her before shoving her away. She stared back into his eyes filled with anger, her once fearful eyes turned from anger to stern. She glared at him before she turned away and left.

Severus didn't see her again for some time. Over the next few weeks he was forced to remain on bedrest. The days passed in a blur between somewhat conscious to unconscious in a blink of an eye.

It seemed like an outer-body experience when he next saw her to find her resting in the bed opposite him, her eyes staring at the roof in anger as tears streamed down her face. She looked as though she was wearing very similar clothes from when he had last seen her, a denim jacket and ripped jeans.

"Here dear!" She heard Poppy call over to her before handing her a potion of what looked like dreamless sleep. Poppy watched and waited for the bloody chit to down the potion before falling back onto the pillows, her eyes remaining glaring at the ceiling before they fluttered shut.

"Severus, I didn't realise you were awake. Gave me a bit of a scare. I hope you don't mind Miss Granger remaining in the bed over to you. It has been a rather taxing few weeks for the poor girl"

"Weeks?" He asked raspy. "Yes, you have been in and out of consciousness for the past month, I'm afraid"

Damn!

"It's alright now. You are with us and you are safe here at Hogwarts. Minerva has taken over as Headmistress and provided you sanction until you are well enough"

"Thennn...wwwhat?"

Poppy leaned back and thought about it for only a second. "I suppose it is a discussion for later. At the moment you need to get plenty of rest. We'll look at assessing your mobility tomorrow if you are up to it. I will get Miss Granger to-"

"Nooo!" He glared daggers at the woman. "No? Severus she has been most helpful in your recovery"

"I wwwwill not have t-that chit anywhere near meee"

"Oh Severus please, you are being over-dramatic. Miss Granger requires a job whilst she remains here and you need assistance. There will be no argument on the matter". She uncrossed her arms and strode away. Severus looked over at the girl across from him, now asleep on the bed opposite in a restless fit of sleep.

He didn't want to know why she was here again. Not that he should care. The bloody-chit took away his happiness and left in this sess pool to rot. He wanted her to feel as much pain as he did. Feel her happiness ripped away from her just as she had done to him.

She deserved it no less for what she had done.

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