Sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long! Just a couple of major changes in my life had been a bit busy but I should be back-ish on track... ish? Warning: a little bit of wandering, but it was preorganized-ish.

Chapter 32. Worry Rock

Severus stood up suddenly, the cold of his absence was felt immediately and she subtly reached out to bring him back to her. He was angry, tense, not at all the many she had just fucked the daylights out of. Who fucked the daylights out of you, she remembered fondly. No, he was gripping his forearm as if it hurt more than it had in the past when she'd witnessed his summoning. Worry sank into her gut and she sat up, gathering the covers over her chest. He dressed hurriedly, summoning his clothes and quickly doing up the hundreds of small buttons that lined his frock.

He muttered something under his breath that she couldn't catch. "What is it, Severus?" She asked. The wizard didn't look at her just strode over to the fireplace and leaned against the mantel. Silence clung in the air that made her ears buzz so loudly it felt as though she would go deaf. Biting her lip, she moved to fill it, but he beat her to it.

"Draco knows," he stated simply. "He knows that you and I are together, in a relationship. That we've had… relations." The confession struck her hard and she got out of bed, bringing the blanket with her to stand next to him. The height difference was evident as she gazed up at him, scared to touch him. She felt small, vulnerable standing next to him naked.

"How?" The witch finally voiced, her words cracking with worry. He had been suspicious, sure, but there was no way he could know. Unless he saw you two doing something. What if he reports it to Dumbledore? We'll both be fucked if he does. But how could he have seen us? We're careful and this is the first time in ages we've actually gotten to see each other. Severus wouldn't know so quickly if Draco knew about this time. That's just ridiculous. Before her internal debate could continue, he answered her question.

"The witch I brought to the school last week told him. I suppose she may have heard me say your name. I don't know how it came up, but she knows, and he knows," Severus strained through his words and refused to look down at her. He was obviously in pain, clutching his forearm as he explained it to her.

"So, what now?" She posed timidly. Her question seemed to spur him to move, darting towards the exit and only hesitating for a moment to look down at the floor. She took a step towards him, but his voice scared her into staying still.

"I have to go, but if you run into Draco, just know that he knows, and I've given him permission," he stated ominously.

"Permission for what?" She questioned, knowing deep down what it was he was about to say.

"To snog you, publicly, for now. We need the Dark Lord to feel safe and that will do it. I trust you, Hermione. I love you." With that, he vanished from the room.

"Shit," she hissed under her breath. The witch wanted to ask so many more questions, to understand why on earth she had to keep up her charade with Draco. He had nearly killed her and while she sympathized with him, it was still frightening. What if I don't want to snog him? Did you get my permission? She wanted to berate him, to demand an answer, but he was gone. She sat on the bed and fumed a bit, clutching the blankets tight to her as she thought of all the things she would say to him next she saw him.

When her anger subsided, worry set in. He had gone to Voldemort. He had been in pain and that couldn't have been good. Voldemort must be livid with him to inflict that sort of agony on his followers. Hermione's thoughts quickly spiralled into all the possible reasons he would be called out at this hour. It was the weekend, but it wasn't as though he had much time since last he was summoned. Could it have something to do with Draco? Did someone hear us in the Slytherin dormitories? She attempted to go over exactly what it was the two discussed in the middle of the corridor, but her building panic was obstructing her memory.

Frustration built in her stomach and she quickly decided that it would be best to simply return to her own dormitories. It was well past curfew and she had gotten exactly what she came for. As she dressed, the brunette continued to mull over the conversation with Severus and came to a decision. If Severus needs to me to fake it with Draco, then there is nothing I can do about that. Whatever it takes to get the three of us out of here alive, she resolved, pushing through the room's exit.

-x-

The Saturday Quidditch game rolled around, and Hermione was decidedly uninterested in viewing it. It wasn't her house or a real game of importance, so she opted to spend her time a little more wisely in the library. It was her favourite place in the castle after all and there was nothing more centring than reading up on new material or finishing an essay a few weeks in advance. When she rounded the corner to her favourite collection of reading, she was shocked to find Draco buried in a book. His head shot up at her presence and she didn't have the chance to double back.

"Good morning, Granger," he greeted. The way her name fell from his tongue made her uneasy but she managed a smile and tried to remember her resolve to be a little more than civil.

"Good morning, Draco," she replied, tucking her hands behind her back and looking about the library. Her bag was beginning to pull on her shoulder as it was full of texts she was going to read and return while she was here. The pain made her want to sit down but he was quite definitely in her spot.

"I thought we could do some testing today, for our project," he offered. Ah so he planned to interrupt my day, figures, she acknowledged.

"Profess- Severus told you about my plan?" She wondered, catching herself. He knows about you two, you might as well use his first name.

"Yes, my Godfather, mentioned it. I'm glad you came up with it. I was obviously too worried for your safety to think that far." She couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or spite lacing his tone, but it was definitely cold. While the two hadn't gotten on in their first few years, she thought his kindness had come through some since he had developed romantic feelings for her. It had never felt this awkward though. "He also told me we ought to be a bit more public with our displays, catch some attention," he continued. The last thing Hermione wanted to do at that point was to be any kind of affectionate with Draco. He was being cold and distant, not even friendly as he had been.

"Yes, he mentioned the same to me," Hermione agreed. There was a pause and she looked around the library and kicked the back of her heel with her other foot, whilst chewing her lip. "So, testing?" She finally offered, breaking the silence and hopefully the tension with it.

The blond wizard leaned back a bit and peeked around the library. "As good a time as any, I suppose," he responded, standing up from his spot at the desk and motioning for her to lay down her bag. Gratefully, she did, relieving her shoulder of the stress and taking up the seat opposite him. She fished through her belongings and pulled out the time turner casing and slid it across the table at him. The witch watched as he picked up the box and opened it, inspecting the device closely. "How does it work?" He asked, lifting it up to look at it in better lighting.

"You turn the dial the number of hours you want to go back in time, or halfway if you want to go back say-"

"Half an hour, yeah I get it," he interrupted.

"Then you lace the necklace around your neck and the person's whom you'll be travelling with and you..." Preparing for him to finish her sentence, she purposefully allowed for the interruption. He had his heart broken by her, so she felt she deserved a bit of a front when it came to him. Though she was determined to get him to warm up to her since he was the person that was supposed to rescue her in a matter of weeks.

"Go back in time," he completed for her. Standing up, his eyes never parting from the device, he walked around the table and lacing the chain around his neck as he did. Hermione got up from her spot too, assuming his intention. He only looked into her eyes after he laced the necklace around her and there stood nearly nose to nose. He paused a moment, and she could only hear their breathing, and her heart pounding in her ears. "Shall we?" He whispered, his gaze flicking away from her to assess the room after she nodded. Spinning the dial back once, the world buzzed past them until it stopped.

"What made you come to the library?" Hermione questioned, immediately removing herself from the chain and taking the device from him. He stepped back from her only once but she stumbled back a few paces looking about the library for any prying students. It was empty, naturally, since the others were either at lunch or gearing up for their Quidditch match.

"I got a note from Severus," he answered, digging through his pocket and producing a piece of parchment. Taking it from him, she examined the handwriting.

Meet Hermione in the library to practice the time travel theory.

"It's not his printing," she noted, handing it back to him. He looked at her perplexed, snatching the note from her and looking it over again as if he would be able to tell their professor's handwriting better than she could. "We write quite a bit, Draco, it's how we stay in touch. I know that's not his handwriting," she continued, tucking the Time-Turner into her pocket and glancing about once more.

"It's not mine," he assured her, offering it up to her again. It was scribbled, kindly wobbly and forced as if the person were trying to write like Severus.

"That's it!" She exclaimed as the thought rushed into her head. The witch grabbed the boy's hand and dragged him out of the library. He didn't seem to question the movement and easily joined her pace, allowing her to let him go. Though that surely wasn't his plan. The two darted up to the Gryffindor tower and she quickly declared the password. "Stay here," she commanded, disillusioning herself before walking into the common room and rushing up to the dormitories. Her earlier self had been taking a shower in the prefect's bathroom at the time, but she didn't want anyone finding her out again, so she tiptoed through her room and found her notebook. Tearing a piece of parchment from one of the pages, she tucked it into her pocket and hurried back downstairs. Departing the common room, she cancelled her charm and excitedly handed him the blank corner. "It's my handwriting, trying to be his. Do they match?"

She watched as he pulled out the note he'd been given and compared them. "Well shit, Granger," he spoke under his breath in amazement. They were identical, and existing in the same time frame while being an hour apart.

"How did you find it?" She asked, taking the blank parchment from him and conjuring her self-inking quill from her bag before writing out the note.

"It was on my nightstand," he replied quietly. "I was-" The boy seemed to stop himself and swallow hard before continuing his sentence. "I was out for a walk around this time, we could sneak into the Slytherin dormitories and drop it off now."

"Let's," she proclaimed, gesturing him to lead the way.

They ventured into the Slytherin common room and she waited, disillusioned, in the in the empty area. The witch was partly shocked that there wasn't even a single student milling about, but then again, she couldn't blame them. Hermione had never taken the time to look around another House's common room, but Slytherin's grim, green and black theme was quite depressing. She realized that Gryffindor was rather warm and inviting, likely by design, but not all Slytherins were dark and brooding. They too deserved a bright relaxation area.

"It's the Dungeons. It's meant to be dark and dreary," Draco commented as he came down the steps from the dorms. "There's been a prejudice against this House since the beginning," he continued. "Though given our founder's beliefs and the continued tradition of murder, hatred, and torture, I'd put us in the dungeons too." The blond glanced around, looking at nothing in particular and no really peaking her way. "I can't see you, but you ought to use your occlumency shields a bit more often." She cancelled her spell and looked at him in disbelief.

"You're a Legilimens?" Hermione realized her jaw was likely hanging open as she stared at him. He nodded once, finally seeing her, and smirking. "How? Who taught you?" She asked, attempting to compose herself, desperately slamming her shields down.

"Only just mastered the spell last night, my-" his voice caught for a second. "Aunt taught me. Not aunt Bella," he clarified. He was acting awfully suspicious, and as certainly hiding more from her than simply his desire to snog her or his disgust for her relationship with Severus.

"I didn't know your father had a sister," Hermione added, hoping he'd take it as a question and offer up a bit more context. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open and quickly Draco jumped to her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before gathering her in his arms and kissing her passionately. Frozen by the shock of it all, she looked at him wide-eyed as he attempted to make their encounter appear romantic. Hesitantly, she winced and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck awkwardly. There was a snicker from behind them, and Draco broke away from her.

"Don't let me interrupt mate," Theodore Nott chuckled before dashing up the stairs to the dormitories.

"And that would be why he congratulated me when I saw him later," Draco muttered, but Hermione wasn't amused.

"What on earth made you think that was the right thing to do?" She demanded, glaring at him and holding herself back from slapping him. They have Severus' permission to do that. In fact, he asked you to. It'll save his arse, don't blame Draco for it, her rational side fought to keep her from acting. But then again, he's the one who got you involved in the first place, bloody prat.

"It was a Slytherin coming through that door and we were supposed to be seen snogging," Draco reasoned. "Frankly we ought to be hiding in alcoves and sitting beside each other in the library, getting caught staring at each other. Normal couple things," he emphasized, but the thought just made Hermione want to be sick. "I know you're fucking good ol' uncle Sev, so I respect you don't want to be public with it, but we have to be sometimes."

"I can handle the staring and the sitting close to each other-"

"And a kiss once in a while," he interrupted, a smirk adorning his face. Gritting her teeth, she glared at him and rolled her eyes. Hermione dug her nails into her palm and took a deep breath.

"Once in a while, to get rumours going. That is all, understood?" She hissed.

"Yes Madame Snape," he teased.

"Oh, fuck off," she spat, though secretly she enjoyed the dig. She wanted to be Missus Snape, so it wasn't much of an insult at all. "Let's head out before we're seen again, okay?" He nodded disillusioned them both. She huffed and stormed out of dungeon House.

-x-

She had to admit, the surprise kiss had stirred something in her, but it was definitely attributable to her hormones and nothing to do with attraction to him. And after Draco's quip about her being Madame Snape, she was practically drowning in fantasies of marrying the father of their child. When the two had caught up with themselves and returned to the library, they had sat back at their normal table, Hermione taking up her spot and Draco across from her. She spent the time reading through more books while the blond wrote down their experiences while leaving his partner to work through the actual maths portion of the work. However, Hermione wasn't much help and certainly hadn't done much reading. Unless you count the same sentence she had read over countless times before she could actually move down the page.

Hermione imagined Severus massaging her back while they cuddled on the couch. There was tea and she was reading, just a happy couple expecting a baby. She wasn't sure what gender she wanted for her child, but she thought Severus might enjoy having a son to raise better than his father had him. A daughter would be just as nice, so long as she wasn't stuck with Hermione's mane of hair or buck teeth. Another scenario was when she was putting their baby to bed in their nursery, watching them pout, their eyes fluttering and their stomach slowly rising and falling with every breath. Just the idea of watching their child sleep was intoxicating and she desperately wanted to be with Severus. For a hug or to talk about it. With no one to share in her joy, she was bubbling over with joy and excitement, and it would definitely start to show.

"I'm going to head out." Draco's voice snapped the witch to attention and she became very aware that he could have been reading her thoughts. Oh gods, she panicked, attempting to keep her face as stoic as possible as she looked up at him. "Go see him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind the company. I'll cover for you if anyone asks," Draco suggested, making her stomach drop.

"Who would ask?" She replied wearily, closing the book she hadn't even slightly digested and slowly began packing up. He motioned with a nod of his head to his right and she looked in the direction. There were Lavender and Parvati watching the two of them and giggling. "Oh," she whispered. "What would you say?" The brunette asked, worried about the answer.

"That you were waiting for me in the Room of Requirements, and that I really should be going," he emphasized as if he were genuinely telling someone what was happening. She didn't want him to be her alibi, but he was taking the hit awful well and she couldn't exactly back out now.

"Alright."

"So off with you, I'll see you another time, Granger," Draco grumbled, packing up his own things. She slung her bag over her shoulder, which was much lighter than it had been previously, having left some of the books in the library, and left the library. The witch made a detour, as to hopefully lose the pair of gossipers should they have deemed it necessary to follow her, and she quietly cast a tempus charm. It was late, and she ought to be making her way to dinner shortly, but she desperately wanted to see Severus, so she snuck to his office and knocked quietly. The door opened and she peeked in, but the room was dark and empty. The girl cast her Patronus and sent it on another hunt around his rooms to see if he was present but it returned to her with no luck.

"Miss Granger," an even-toned brogue spoke from behind her, making her jump and turn around. Professor McGonagall was standing behind Hermione, with her hands folded in front of her and a sombre look on her face. "I seem to always be the bearer of bad news when it comes to you and Severus, but he is in the infirmary. Vol- Riddle did quite the number on him and he hasn't woken up since I gathered him from the front lawn when he returned." Hermione's entire body became heavy and she wanted to sit down, picturing the man she loved beaten and bruised, unconscious and vulnerable. She wanted to help, to be with him, but when she moved to pass the Deputy Headmistress, the Irish woman stopped her. "Dumbledore is with him now, it would be best you wait, I will find you when you can."

The world spun around the younger witch as she stumbled away, clutching her abdomen as she attempted to steady her breathing. She wanted to cry, sob, scream, anything, but it felt as though the oxygen had been ripped from her lungs so she made her way to the Gryffindor tower in silence. Grateful that another student had been ahead of her to open the portrait, she walked through and stared down at her feet, her worry burrowing deeper within her. Is he going to be okay? What made Voldemort so angry? How often does he end up in the infirmary?

"Hermione." Her head shot up at her name and the room spun a bit, but she managed to steady herself as she took in the sight of her two best friends approaching her. The witch did her best to compose herself, at least appear to be put together and faked a slight smile. "When were you going to tell us you were fucking a Slytherin?" Her eyes widened at Ron's outburst. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, how do they know?

"And not just any Slytherin," Harry added. They can't know it's Severus, they can't, that impossible, oh gods. Nausea pricked at her but she managed to keep it down and flicked her attention back to Ronald when he spoke.

"Yeah, you had to go about dating Malfoy?"

"Malfoy," she repeated, a sigh of relief casting over her. The fluctuation of hormones left her feeling cold and clammy as she came down from her adrenaline high and she nearly laughed. "What on earth are you talking about?" A giggle escaped her, which only drew angry glares from the boys. It was odd how little they saw of each other that year, how little they felt like friends at that moment.

"What are you laughing about? Lav told us you spent the entire afternoon together in the library," Ron protested.

"And Theodore Nott said he caught you two snogging," Harry added.

"Since when do you listen to what Nott says?" Hermione countered, noticing a deep blush develop on Harry's face.

"It doesn't matter, you're not denying it, 'mione!" Ron accused, giving her a look of disgust mixed with jealousy. It didn't look good on him. then again, not much does look good on him, Hermione mused, rolling her eyes.

"We were studying, we have a big project coming up and we had to work on the paper. It's Arithmancy," she excused, adjusting her bag on her shoulder and looking past the boys to see the source of her pain standing and watching them from the top of the girl's dormitory's staircase. "It doesn't matter anyway, Ronald, I can date who I want to. You'll notice Draco hasn't been antagonizing you as of late, maybe he's trying to be better?" Hermione offered, knowing she'd had more a friend in the blond than in the two standing in front of her.

"That's because he's up to something, Hermione, I can tell. He was the one who cursed Katie and nearly poisoned Ron, I know he was," Harry insisted.

"No Harry, you don't know that," she clarified.

"He's the one who landed you in the infirmary from nearly drowning you in the Great Lake," the boy-who-lived reminded her. A shiver instinctively ran over her skin but she brushed it off and shook her head.

"He was defending himself," Hermione reasoned.

"Like hell he was!" Harry spat back.

"Yeah, we were defending ourselves," Ron added.

"Oh, I am so sick of you! Grow up or leave me out of it!" Hermione groaned, stomping her foot and taking off to the dormitories, passing Lavender on the way. "I swear to Merlin, if you don't stop sticking your nose into other people's business, I'll make your nose grow to the size of the Quidditch Pitch, understood?" The brunette threatened, glaring into the shocked blue eyes of Ron's current witch. Quickly, Hermione stormed off to worry about her wizard in peace.