Tuesday, noon

George had departed when Hermione's lunch arrived, so when Snape returned he found her with a crumb-covered plate pushed to the side and paperwork spread over her lap.

"What are you doing?"

"Finishing my reports," she answered, tapping her quill on her nose.

"I believe I finished them before I left, did I not?"

Hermione noted the crisp T at the end of his sentence but kept her cool. "It wasn't fair that you had to do it all. Besides, you very much downplayed your efforts staving off my demise."

"Standard Auror emergency procedures."

"Severus, there's nothing standard about being an Auror. You ripped your own cloak asunder to staunch the bleeding. That was practical thinking. It might serve another Auror well to read of such a thing."

Snape drew himself up and looked down at her. "Perhaps other Aurors' partners are not as reckless as some."

Hermione looked up from the papers in her lap and scoffed. "Reckless! I was pursuing a man who killed fourteen Muggles! What would you have me do? Send my patronus after him to report on his whereabouts while he killed several more?"

"I'm quite certain there are one or two options in between using one's patronus to track amid a hail storm and being struck down with dark magic in the middle of nowhere."

Hermione took in a long sharp breath that she held for quite awhile. She pulled her papers together and handed them to him as she exhaled. It pained her chest to do it, but it was an old trick she learned in her endless arguments with Ron and Harry. There was no use in raising her voice or continuing down this road. Snape wanted something she was too tired to give.

"I'm being discharged tomorrow afternoon, once Healer Siobhan meets with me. I'll be back at the Ministry before two, I expect."

"You'll do no such thing," he said darkly. "You will take the prescribed time off from the Aurory, and you will return no sooner than Monday."

"I'm not going to spend five days - " But she cut herself off with another deep, deep breath. One…. Two…. She held up a finger and closed her eyes as she counted to five slowly. "Severus, I am too old to be lectured," she continued, "or told what I am or am not allowed to do. If Siobhan discharges me, I will return to work when I am ready. And neither you, nor George, nor anyone else may tell me otherwise."

"So there is a Weasley with a brain in his head at that?"

Hermione sighed again. It was the closest thing to a compliment Snape had eked out for George or any of the other gingers in her life in ages. "I am not a child, and I would appreciate you not treating me like one. Or are we going to have to get into yet another physical fight like last time?" she smiled artificially.

Last time had been in their office, their brand new office into which they had just moved, in the newest wing of the Ministry. Afterwards they'd had to call maintenance to fix the ceiling fan. Harry had laughed but Kingsley had not been amused.

Snape stood at the foot of her bed and glowered at her. All the Northern light through the window had been blocked by his frame and he appeared a great ominous statue bearing down on her.

Hermione didn't bat an eye.

"You are an obstinate, headstrong girl," he spat.

"Quoting Austen at me will get you many places, Severus, but it won't earn you a deciding vote on my comings and goings."

His countenance shrunk back only a little, but his tone did not change and his impatience seemed palpable. "I don't think it's unreasonable to be concerned for your welfare, seeing as you nearly died two days ago."

"But I didn't, because you were there, because you saved me. Just like you've saved me before. And, might I add, just as I've saved you several times when you were injured."

Snape made a disgusted, derisive noise in the back of his throat, but Hermione continued. "Being an Auror isn't safe, Severus. We chase down evil men and women who kill children, who burn villages to the ground. We've fallen off cliffs, and been set on fire, and you've nearly drowned, and I've nearly bled to death. But it's our job, one we've chosen to do. And I, for one, am very grateful you decided to do it with me." It was quiet for a moment, and Hermione folded her hands on her lap. Her impassioned speech over, she relaxed her tone. "I'm not going to stop being an Auror, Severus. I'm good at it. Despite the terrible things I've seen, I get fulfillment out of it. I'm going to be an Auror until there's something better for me to do, and I'm sorry if you don't agree."

There was something weighty and final in her words, something they both felt, like a physical presence in the room.

Snape had a look on his face like he was stepping down off a ledge, rethinking his next move. He picked up his work bag and left the room, left the hospital, and left Hermione.