Hermione remained kneeling on the dirty wooden floor, the blood of Severus Snape had formed a pool only millimetres from her. She stared at it, transfixed, only vaguely aware as Voldemort's emotionless, high voice reverberated around them, giving them one hour to dispose of their dead, giving Harry one hour to give himself up.

"You promised." She whispered, feeling fresh tears running down her cheeks as she stared at the lifeless body before her. This felt like the end of everything. If Severus was dead, and Harry was to die too, she could not continue. "YOU PROMISED." She screamed.

Harry and Ron were staring at her as if they had never seen her before. She stood.

"Go." Her voice was harsh. "Go back to the castle, I'll meet you there later."

Both boys opened their mouths to argue.

"I'll explain later. GO."

Something in her voice did not allow for discussion. They turned, looking utterly mystified, and crawled back into the tunnel in silence. Hermione felt adrenaline pulsing through her, her magic stirred powerfully, she felt her hair crackle with electricity.

"You promised me, Severus Snape."

She held out her left hand and a bag of potions hidden deep within Severus' robes flew into her palm. Dropping back down to her knees, she picked one out and looked at it carefully. It had been labelled by Severus' hand, Cruciatus Relief, HJG.

HJG … Her initials!

She grabbed another Spell Damage, HJG. And another, Antivenom, Nagini, HJG.

He'd made her a first aid kit.

She choked a sob away, pulled on her magic, and 4 more potions flew from the bag, a glance at them showed that each had been labelled 'Nagini'. She tipped the antivenom, blood replenisher and healing potion down his throat without hesitation, then paused. The remaining two were skelegrow and felix felicis. Hermione was fairly sure he didn't have any broken bones, so she put this back, then regarded the little bottle of liquid luck cautiously. Had he meant this for her, so she knew what to do, or for him, to help his body recover? Frowning, Hermione allowed herself only the slightest sip, instantly feeling warmer, stronger and sure of what to do, so she tipped the remainder down his throat. The puncture wounds on his neck were so large that the healing potion hadn't closed them very well, so she whispered a healing spell and used her own dittany, frowning as they closed messily leaving a mass of scar tissue. Finally, she shoved a bezoar into his mouth for good measure and gave herself a moment to breathe. Then, she reached down and felt for a pulse in his wrist.

For what felt like an age, she could detect nothing.

Then … there was something. It was thready, and weak … so very weak. But it was something. She pushed with her magic again … the anti-apparition wards had fallen. Bracing herself, she gripped his arm tightly, closed her eyes, concentrated with all her might and turned into darkness. They reappeared with a crack, on the floor of her empty childhood home. She summoned her shrunken furniture from the depths of her beaded bad, enlarged her bed, and levitated Severus onto it, conjuring a blanket to place on top of him. Nervously, she reached again for his wrist. The pulse was still there, fluttering feebly underneath her fingertips, and she could feel the faintest wisp of his breath as she held her hand in front of his nose. Feeling the last of her emotional strength leave her, Hermione sunk onto the bed, rest her head on his chest, and cried. She cried until she could barely breathe, feeling helpless and desperate and afraid.

"You promised me, Severus. You promised me you'd survive." Her tears soaked him.

Then she stood. Determined, brave once more. She placed a soft kiss to his lips, vowing to return, littered protective spells around the bedroom, then disapparated back to Hogwarts, while she still had the willpower.

The Great Hall was crowded with survivors, the injured were being treated on a raised platform and the dead lay in the middle of the Hall. Lupin, Tonks, Colin, Fred and a dozen or more others. She sat with the Weasleys, her arms around Ginny as the younger Gryffindor cried. She felt empty, wrung out, numb. She thought she ought really to go and help Madam Pomfrey, but she didn't believe she had the strength to see yet more pain. And her Severus was lying unconscious, barely alive back at home. She would tell no one about it. She wouldn't risk his safety, hated as he was. No one would think to look for him there. No one would know.

She wasn't sure how much later it was that someone shouted, and they began to leave the sanctuary of the Great Hall and face the Death Eaters lining the entrance.

Harry.

She had forgotten all about him, and she realised, before she saw, that Harry had gone and viewed Severus' memories, had gone to meet Voldemort, alone, and had died, just as he was always supposed to.

The sight that met her eyes shattered what was left of her. Harry was lying in Hagrid's arms, limp, lifeless.

*"NO!"

The scream was all more terrible because Hermione had never imagined, never dreamed that Professor McGonagall could ever make such a sound.

"No!"

"No!"

"Harry! HARRY!"*

She was screaming, Ron was screaming, Ginny was screaming, the air was filled with such anguished sounds she couldn't stand it. There were shrieks and shouts, yells and threats, and Voldemort couldn't keep them silent for more than a few seconds, such was the grief and anger and despair and bitter determination.

Then several things seemed to happen simultaneously and all in slow motion. Hundreds of reinforcements came charging up the drive, screaming their defiance, hooves thundered on the ground as centaurs shot arrows into the Death Eaters en masse, Neville pulled the glittering, silver sword from the Sorting Hat and decapitated Nagini in one swift motion. Voldemort screamed, giants fought, Thestrals and Buckbeak the beautiful, wonderful Hippogriff flew into their midst, scratching at the giants' eyes, curses and hexes flew all around them, and they were forced back, back into the castle. Hermione was fighting like she had never fought before, grief, fear, agony fuelling her as she cast spell after spell, watching Death Eaters fall around her, feeling utterly, gloriously invincible. She caught glimpses of adults who looked like they must be the parents of the remaining students, shop and home owners from Hogsmeade, still in their pyjamas, the centaurs burst into the hall, arrows raised, and soon even the house elves were swarming round them, brandishing pans, knives, cleavers, stabbing at the Death Eaters ankles. She realised, with a jolt of something that felt suspiciously like joy, that they were winning. They far outnumbered their enemies now, and all around her, Death Eaters were overcome by spells, pulling arrows from their bodies, hobbling on bleeding legs or else simply trying to run away.

Then she, Ginny and Luna were all duelling Bellatrix, and cold, hard hatred was powering her every spell, fury for all the damage the woman had done in her life, to Severus, to Neville's parents and to countless, countless others.

*"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Molly Weasley was terrifying in her rage. "Get back! Get back! She is mine!"*

Without realising what was happening, everyone lined the walls, watching the two fights: Bellatrix and Mrs Weasley and Voldemort, McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn, no one daring to intervene for fear of hurting the wrong person.

Finally, one of Mrs Weasley's curses hit its target. Bellatrix's eyes widened in shock, and then she fell, the crowd roared, Voldemort screamed, the force of his anger sending everyone flying backwards and he turned, wand raised, to Molly Weasley.

*"Protego!" Harry roared.

Harry. He's alive, he's alive, he's alive!

The jubilant screams of onlookers died at the same moment Hermione grew afraid once more. Voldemort and Harry circled each other, looking one another up and down, predator and prey suddenly confused by this miraculous survival.

Harry was wonderfully, gloriously confident. The way he spoke to Voldemort was full of authority, power, and the red eyed monster seemed hesitant to strike, perhaps more unnerved than he was letting on.

*"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's, Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my Mother. And you never realised it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle? Snape's Patronus was a doe, the same as my Mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realised, he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him-"

"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"*

Hermione heard very little after that, but she kept her eyes firmly on the scene in front of her, crying quietly, feeling oddly humbled and grateful that Severus had given Harry the full story, rather than just what he needed to know.

*"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The bang was like a canon-blast and golden flames erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marking the point where the spells collided. The Elder Wand flew high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling towards the master it would not kill. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backwards, hitting the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the snake-like face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead.*

The silence was momentarily deafening. And then cheers and shouts and screams ripped through the air. Hermione and Ron were the first to reach Harry, and Hermione hugged them both tighter than ever before, screaming things she barely understood, crying and laughing and so full of joy and relief she felt like she might explode. Neville, Ginny, Luna, McGonagall, Hagrid and countless others were all hugging and cheering and celebrating together, a mass of exhilaration, all centred around Harry. The Boy Who Lived, again.

A little while later, Hermione watched as Harry celebrated and mourned with the survivors, shaking hands, receiving thanks and giving condolences. She saw Madam Pomfrey standing to one side, and an idea, terrifying and brilliant occurred to her.

"Madam Pomfrey, could I speak with you privately, please?"

"Of course, my dear. I can patch you up in no time, come with me-"

"No, I'm fine," she said firmly ignoring the sceptical look she was getting. "I just need to speak to you."

Once they were outside and quite alone, Hermione cast a few privacy spells around them, while the Mediwitch regarded her curiously.

"Did you hear what Harry said about Severus?" Instantly Hermione knew she had misspoken. "Professor Snape." She corrected, far too late, her stomach dropping.

"Yes, of course I did." Said Madam Pomfrey, blinking slightly more often than was necessary.

"And do you believe him?" Hermione kept her tone light, but her pulse accelerated.

"Do I b-? Y-yes, yes I do believe him." She frowned suddenly. "It explains a lot actually. Things were bad here, very bad … but I often wondered why they weren't far worse. And … at the beginning of the year I noticed my stores filled with all sorts of more unusual potions, to counter Dark magic, to cure curses I'd never even heard of, I assumed Slughorn had done it, but when I asked him for more of the Cruciatus relief he had no idea what I was talking about."

Hermione swallowed.

"Would you come with me? Please? I won't tell you where and I won't answer any questions and I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about any of this."

"Miss Granger… What- what on earth?"

"Please," said Hermione, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice, "please, Madam Pomfrey, I wouldn't ask like this unless it was important."

"I… Oh very well then." The Mediwitch replied, wiping her hands nervously against her apron. "And seeing as you're taking me to some undisclosed location, I think you should call me Poppy."

"Poppy." Hermione felt her face shift into a small, but genuine smile, and she took Poppy's arm, and apparated them directly into her bedroom.

"Oh." Said Poppy, staring wide eyed at Severus.

He was exactly as she had left him, deathly pale, barely breathing.

"Can you help him?" She asked, impatience creeping into her tone. "He was bitten badly by Nagini – the snake – he's had antivenom specifically for her, blood replenisher and a general healing potion. I've healed the wounds on his neck, but not very well, and I gave him a bezoar too."

"Has he had any pain relief?"

"Any … any pain relief - ?" Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, turning away, horrified, ashamed…

"Miss Granger," Poppy said firmly, "Severus is very deeply unconscious; I would be astonished if he can feel anything at all at the moment. I was asking because it could interfere with any number of other potions he may need."

"Oh." She replied weakly.

Poppy got to work, casting spell after spell over Severus' still body.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hermione asked.

"He'll need something clean to change into, and this bed should be made properly, a mattress and a blanket isn't good enough in my books. And cast some warming charms, I'll need to clean him up properly and he mustn't get cold." She answered briefly.

Hermione nodded, feeling suddenly out of her depth and wholly inadequate. She pulled a pair of her own clean pyjamas out of her bag, thinking Severus' would much prefer to be in her clothes than either of the boys, then transfigured them into something larger and more masculine. She cast warming charms around them and conjured some bluebell flames for good measure, then sat herself on the floor and had a good rummage for sheets and duvets and useful furniture; a chest of drawers and a couple of chairs. By the time she was finished Poppy was singing a spell Hermione had never heard before, but she knew better than to interrupt, so sat herself down and stared up at Severus, sending a silent prayer to God, or Merlin, or whoever, that he would be okay.

"Will he survive?" Her voice sounded scared to her own ears.

"He should really be in St Mungo's-"

"NO! Absolutely not. No one can know he's here. I won't risk him being carted off to Azkaban or treated badly because he killed Dumbledore. The very least he deserves is safety. No one can know!"

Poppy sighed deeply, looking troubled for a moment, before her expression cleared.

"Very well." She said finally. "I will know more in a day or two, I can't say anything yet. I'll need to see him twice a day, I suppose you won't tell me where we are, exactly?

Hermione shook her head.

"Fine. Then I suggest you collect me from my office at Hogwarts at 9am and 6pm each day. Will that work?"

"Yes." Said Hermione, faintly. "I – I can't thank you enough, Poppy-"

"You don't need to thank me." She replied kindly. "I'm not going to ask questions, but sooner or later, questions will be coming, you can't keep him hidden in here forever, and you need to think very carefully about how you are going to answer them. Any hint of impropriety will not do Severus any favours-" Poppy held out a hand to stop Hermione from interrupting. "I have eyes. Clearly you care about him very deeply and while it's obvious to me you haven't been coerced in any way, others won't be so open minded. Think about what you want to do here, Miss Granger, that's all I'm saying."

"I think you should call me Hermione." Hermione said quietly, fighting back tears. "Thank you."

It was 4pm the following day and Hermione was restless. There had been no change to Severus' condition and she still had a couple of hours before she would go and fetch Poppy. Besides briefly going back to tell Harry and Ron she was okay, but dealing with something she would explain later, she had avoided Hogwarts and her friends entirely. What Poppy had said had really hit home, and until she knew Severus would survive, she wasn't telling anyone anything. And if he did survive, then only Harry and Ron would be told the whole truth. To everyone else she had simply heard what Harry had said, gone to retrieve Severus' body, found signs of life, and taken him to a safe place to be healed. After she'd taken Poppy back yesterday, Hermione had returned to her bedroom and promptly fallen apart entirely. Everything that had happened, how injured Severus was … all the people they'd lost… She'd cried herself to sleep and woken the following morning, still in her filthy clothes and desperately hungry. Death Eaters hadn't destroyed the house as she'd feared, but they had made their displeasure at finding it empty known; there were several scorch marks on the walls and some of the back windows were broken. This hadn't taken too much effort to fix, but it had been a chilling reminder of just what could have happened here. She'd showered and changed feeling rather grim, and then made her way to the local shop to get some food in, transfiguring herself just to be safe. Poppy had taught her a spell that would alert her if there was any change to Severus' condition, for the better or the worse, but she still felt uncomfortable leaving him alone.

Tomorrow, she would go back to Hogwarts and help to rebuild. Tomorrow she would face her friends. It was surely, surely okay that she taking today for herself and for Severus. She stroked her fingers through his hair. He was still so pale, it utterly terrified her. She had talked to him, touched him, kissed him, anything she could think of to bring him comfort, to bring him back to her, but he was as still and silent and lifeless as he had been on the floor of the shrieking shack. She'd lost track of how many times she'd lain her hands gently across him to feel his ribcage expand and contract with air, how many times she'd pushed her fingertips into his wrist to feel his pulse. She blinked away more tears, cross with herself. They had won the war and Harry was, against all the odds, still alive, and Severus' wasn't gone from her yet.

She was watching with a detached sort of interest as Poppy worked on Severus. He'd had more blood replenisher and more antivenom and the healer was currently working on his neck. Hermione was holding his hand, not bothering to hide this from Poppy when she as already putting so much trust in her. Eventually the older woman turned to her with a strange expression.

"I think you need to speak to Mr Potter soon, or to Kingsley Shacklebolt." She said.

"You … you mean?"

"He's not out of the woods yet and he's got a long, long way to go, but I am optimistic that he will recover, Hermione."

Hermione stood, unknowingly as adrenaline pumped through her veins.

"There may be lasting effects from this trauma, we can't know exactly what will happen yet but-"

Hermione cut her off by throwing her arms around her and pulling her in a bone crushing hug as tears poured down her cheeks.

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you."

"Harry."

He smiled, looking relieved as he turned to her, but his expression quickly faltered at the look on her face.

"I need to speak with you. Somewhere private."

They walked to the headmaster's office in silence, Harry glancing at her from time to time, his expression oddly nervous.

"I need you to listen, Harry, and I need you to help me. I've never asked for your help before."

"What is going on Hermione?! You vanish after the battle; you've been acting so weirdly-" He trailed off. "You said listen and help." He flashed her a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"Thank you." She took a deep breath in. "Severus is alive, Harry."

A collective gasp from all the surrounding portraits took her completely off guard.

"He's safe. I won't tell you or anyone else where he is. He's very seriously hurt, and he still might not make it. You know what he did now, you know he was always, always on our side. I need to know what's going to happen to him if we stay here. If there is any chance that he'll end up in Azkaban, even for a day, I will take him far away from here and no one will ever see us again." She held up a hand to stop him interrupting. For once she couldn't begin to interpret the expression on his face. "I know you'll need to talk to Kingsley, but I would like you to keep it in hypotheticals for now. If Kingsley thinks it would go to trial and end badly, then Severus can stay 'dead' and I'll just be your friend who ran away after the war. But surely he should be pardoned, surely he deserves to be free after everything he's done… Can you help me?"

"Of course I'll help." Said Harry, straight away. "Everything he went through, everything he did for us, of course he shouldn't go to Azkaban! I'll talk to Kingsley this evening and I'll be really careful, don't worry." Here, he paused and looked suddenly very troubled. "Severus? Going away with him? What is this? Did you know the whole time then, that he was on our side? Why he killed Dumbledore? Why didn't you say? He could have helped us!"

"Harry…" Hermione sighed. "It's all a very long story and I'm not sure this is quite the time to tell it. I figured out what had happened with Dumbledore and I was in contact with Severus the whole time. He helped us as much as he could, but he didn't know where the horcruxes were either and he had to be so careful. Would you have believed me, if I'd told you?"

Harry frowned and slowly shook his head, looking ashamed.

"Exactly, and I couldn't risk Voldemort getting in your head and knowing that he was on our side. I could have never risked his life like that. I'm sorry."

Harry shook his head again.

"You … the way you're talking … This is more than … an alliance or – or even a friendship, isn't it?"

"Are you sure you want me to answer that?" Hermione swallowed nervously.

"Umm no," said Harry apologetically. "I don't think I'm ready for anything else just yet. I want to know everything at some point though. Maybe you could show me? I could look at your memories in the pensive-"

"Harry," Hermione interrupted, "if you don't think you can handle hearing about it, what on earth makes you think you'll want to see it?"

Harry looked horrified, then laughed, and Hermione did too, feeling very tentatively … happy.

"To be clear," she said finally, "just get a feel for things for now. And if/when it does come to it, I just found him and helped to save him, there's nothing more to it than that, okay?"

"Of course. Who knew you had such big secrets." He smiled ruefully at her, apparently not angry.

"Thank you." She said seriously. "I know I'm springing an awful lot on you, I wasn't expecting you to be quite so…"

"Hermione, so many people have died, I'm really glad he's alive, I owe him so much. We all do. And you're my best friend, you've never, ever let me down. If this is what you want, then I suppose I'm happy for you. Confused and slightly grossed out too-" Hermione hugged him tightly, once again impressed by the man he had become. "But you do need to speak to Ron about all this at some point. I think he'd hoped, you know, that the two of you…"

"I know." She answered sadly. "I will."

She glanced briefly up at the portrait of Dumbledore, he was smiling at her with undisguised enthusiasm, blue eyes sparkling more than ever.

Hermione had spent the last few days at Hogwarts, helping to rebuild and make plans for the reformation of the Ministry. She popped back to her childhood home every few hours, despite Poppy's assurances that that she would know if there were any changes to Severus' condition. To her, it seemed that nothing had changed at all, but she stayed cautiously hopeful at Poppy's increasing optimism. Ron had been very, very angry when she'd tried to talk to him. To him, it seemed a betrayal, made all the worse by her absence after his brother's death. Hermione did feel guilty for not supporting him and his family immediately after the battle, but they all had each other, and Severus had only her. Harry had reassured her that he would come around with time, and she had faith that he wouldn't go blabbing to the general public, but the way he was so obviously giving her the cold shoulder still hurt.

At 6pm she went to Poppy's office, and they apparated into the bedroom together.

Poppy Pomfrey stared down at the unconscious form of Severus Snape. If it hadn't been for the battle of Hogwarts, he would have been the most badly injured person she had ever encountered, as it was, he was still the most badly injured person to survive she had ever seen. And this was one of the oddest situations she had ever been involved in by a mile. At this point, she was pretty sure that Hermione would tell her where they were if she asked, but the way the girl was so ferociously protective over Severus was something she admired, and she was glad to be able to help the both of them, however unconventional all of this was. He was healing well, slowly, but steadily, and given what had happened to him, that was a near miracle. A slight noise brought her attention firmly to the man before her, he was stirring, and soon his dark, heavy gaze met hers.

"Welcome back, Severus." She said warmly, watching as his eyes darted round the room. "She's just gone to the bathroom, I'm sure she'll be back in a – ah – Hermione."

The girl's eyes looked impossibly big in her pale face. She crossed the room and placed her hand against Severus' cheek.

"Don't try to speak." She said softly. "Don't move, don't do anything, just rest, my darling. You're safe." She smoothed his hair away from his face, her eyes filled with tears. "We did it, Severus. The Dark Lord is dead, all the horcruxes have been destroyed, and Harry-" here her voice broke, "he survived, Severus, I don't really know how, but he's okay."

Severus' eyes closed, and for a moment, Poppy thought he had drifted back into unconsciousness, but then they opened again, and a single tear slid down his pale cheek, and the look of undisguised adoration he gave Hermione Granger made Poppy's throat tight.

"Sleep now, my Severus. Everything is going to be okay." Hermione wiped the tear away with her thumb, her face full of emotion, staring down at the man she so obviously loved, long after his eyes had closed once more.

Finally, she looked up at the Mediwitch, her face shining with happiness and gratitude, and this time, Poppy walked over to her, and pulled her into a fierce hug.

It was 11 days since Severus had first opened his eyes and made her the happiest person on the planet. She still felt their loses acutely, of course, grief hung in the air all around them, and she found she couldn't think about little orphaned Teddy, George without his twin, or anyone else who had lost loved ones for too long without crying. But she couldn't help but feel elated that it was all finally over, and her future with Severus was open before her, wide and enticing. The first day after he'd woken he'd developed a fever, it was low-grade and Poppy hadn't been worried, but Hermione hadn't left his side, and even during the night she'd woken every couple of hours to press a cold flannel to his face and whisper words of comfort to him, so he'd know he wasn't alone. At one point he had called out something that sounded a lot like her name, but his vocal cords were still badly damaged, so she didn't know for sure. Things had been steadily improving since then. He still wasn't allowed to speak yet, the first week this hadn't been an issue at all; he'd only been awake a few minutes a day, just enough time for her to catch him up with everything that had happened bit by bit, before he went back to sleep. This impairment had obviously begun to annoy him the last few days though, and yesterday he had flashed Poppy such a venomous glare when she'd told him to rest that both witches had burst out laughing. It was such a relief and a joy to watch his progress. She spent the mornings now at Hogwarts helping to rebuild and the afternoons at home, making the most of when Severus was awake. They'd realised recently that intention was also important for the repairs of the castle: you had to focus on each brick, intending to protect future generations of students and continue their learning, otherwise the spellwork just didn't take. It made the process a lot slower and a lot harder, but it was fascinating magic, and really made Hermione think how much the founders must have put their hearts and souls into this building. It was something she was hoping to research at some point, and talk over with Severus. He'd find it fascinating too.

"I take it he's doing better." Harry's voice made her jump, she'd been quite alone down this little corridor. "You've been smiling lovingly at that stone the whole time I've been standing here."

"Maybe I'm just really fond of this stone." She told him waspishly, then grinned. He looked good. And although she knew grief surrounded him too, she suspected he was feeling as excited about the future as she was. "He is, thank you. He's awake a bit now, and scowling."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, obviously a little uncomfortable. "The two of you are really serious."

"Yes." She answered, then cast a few privacy charms around. "We love each other, Harry."

"But, my mum-"

"He loves her too." She cut him off. "She means so much to him, he'll always love her. But she's been gone a long time. He can love me, as well."

"How on earth did this happen?! When did it happen?" Harry turned slightly pink. "I don't want details, but I just…" He broke off and frowned. "I understand now how completely wrong I was about him. I understand he's a good man, an incredibly brave man, but… he's … umm, not exactly the friendliest?"

"No." Said Hermione, trying not to laugh. "Not exactly the friendliest is putting it mildly."

"Then how?"

"I'm not exactly sure, to be honest, slowly I guess." Hermione frowned and thought back, trying to think of the moment that had started it all. "You remember how angry, how deranged he was after Sirius escaped in our third year?" Harry nodded. "I went after him. I was worried, and he was … drunk, livid, upset, hurt even. And I couldn't quite look at him the same afterwards - he was suddenly a person. I sought him out occasionally… No, it wasn't occasionally, it was a lot, as often as I dared. And he snapped and snarled and kept telling me to go away, but I saw flashes of who he was, and of what his life was like. And it was awful, Harry. He had so much to deal with, and he was so alone. I guess I must have just slowly worn him down over the years."

"Oh, don't look like that." She scolded. "Nothing happened while I was at school and he never did anything inappropriate; it was all me. It was after Dumbledore that things changed. I worked out what had happened, or some of it at least, and I contacted him – I'd made a version of the galleons we used for DA and given one to him just before the end of term – and we met at Grimmauld Place."

"But then we went on the run, so you wouldn't have seen him for almost a year-"

"We saw each other," said Hermione, blushing, "quite a few times."

"What?! When?"

"Well, twice before we went on the run, and then when we escaped Godric's Hollow, he came and healed you, and he visited me when he left us the sword, and then a few times at Shell Cottage."

Harry looked absolutely dumfounded. "Blimey." He said weakly, and Hermione smiled.

"I know what I've got myself into, you don't need to worry. I know he's difficult and moody and angry, but there is so much more to him that. He's also funny and so thoughtful and caring and gentle-" Hermione broke off at the horrified look on her friend's face. "I hope one day, you'll get to see some of that too."

Harry was saved the necessity of answering as Kingsley Shacklebolt rounded the corner and walked towards them, Hermione cancelled the spells around them and felt a jolt of fear run through her system.

"How convenient," he said in his deep, rich voice, "I need to speak with you both." He indicated to a classroom and the three of them filed in. "So, Severus Snape is alive."

Hermione turned to Harry, furious, but before she could say anything, Kingsley started speaking again.

"Miss Granger, Harry has spoken to me very cautiously and only strictly in hypotheticals, but the time for hypotheticals has passed. Seeing as neither of you have alerted me of his death, he must be alive. So now we need to talk openly."

"I won't be telling you where he is and he won't be stepping foot in Azkaban, no matter what." Hermione said firmly, already on the defensive.

"I have absolutely no desire for Severus to go to Azkaban. Harry has explained everything to me and I have seen the memories for myself. They are currently on their way to the seventh independent authenticator who will do doubt determine them genuine as well. Severus can flee the country, but he could not safely return. I want to discuss options with him, but from what Harry has said, he is currently too greatly injured for this, so I will discuss options with you, Miss Granger, for now. For all intents and purposes, he is currently under house arrest with a member of the Order-"

"House arrest?! He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Miss Granger, please will you listen?"

Reluctantly, Hermione nodded.

"Regardless of the reasons, Severus killed Dumbledore, and there have been numerous cases of torture here at Hogwarts in the year since, while Severus was Headmaster. We cannot simply ignore those facts, however much we may want to. I strongly believe that the best option for Severus is to remain where he is, under so called house arrest while he recovers and then go to trial. The Ministry is currently ordering several cutting edge devices that will alert us whenever the person on trial lies – the Ministry doesn't want to make the same mistakes it made after the last war – a trial is the best way for Severus to prove his loyalty and exist in post-war society. To be truly free. To be completely honest here, I would expect there to be some sort of punishment post trial, but something minor, like a year of house arrest or community service. After that, Severus could do whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted. Of course he could flee, but I truly believe this would be the best course of action. This is a chance to show the world what really happened."

"I understand what you're saying, Kingsley." Said Hermione after a moment, still processing everything. "But I will need to talk this all over with him, and he's nowhere near well enough yet-"

"There's time." Kingsley interrupted. "There will be many trials before his. Some will be easy, like the Carrows, others will be more difficult, like the Malfoys. He has at least 3 months before he will need to make a decision."

"Okay." She said thoughtfully. "Thank you."

The Minister for Magic nodded.

"In the meantime, I would suggest rounding up as many people as you can think of to speak on Severus' behalf during the trial-"

"I'll testify," said Harry instantly, "and so will Ginny and Luna, they're both saying now how stupid they feel for not realising he was on our side."

"And I will." Said Hermione.

"No." Said Kingsley. "You will not speak at the trial, you must have absolutely nothing to do with it."

"What?!" Hermione cried, incensed. "Of course I will."

"No," said Kingsley again, "you mustn't. You will do him far more harm than good. No!" He said as she went to interrupt, his voice rising. "What is your relationship with Severus Snape?"

Hermione spluttered for a moment, shocked.

"That is what they will ask you on the stand. It's not an uncommon question, and you will not be able to lie! And then the trial will become not only about whether or not Severus was a good and loyal Death Eater, but also about whether or not he abused his position as a teacher! Can't you see how much damage it would do?!" Kingsley took a deep breath. "I do not wish to know the nature of your relationship with Severus. I am not accusing Severus of any wrongdoing and I know you have his best interests at heart. But so do I, and I am in a better position to judge them in this situation than you are. If you want my help and my advice, you are going to have to try and trust me, at least a little. Is that something you can do?"

Hermione nodded mutely, angry, but not at Kingsley.

"Poppy will testify on his behalf too. She knows of a few occasions where he did everything he could to help." She said, a little stiffly.

"Good." Replied Kingsley. "That's a start. I suggest you make me a list. What Harry said about Severus as he faced Voldemort helped to sway public opinion in his favour. In the lead up to the trial – if there is one – senior Order members and other prominent figures speaking up on his behalf will certainly help. This may end up being more of a trial of public opinion than the law."

"Professor Snape has my full support, Hermione." Harry said firmly. "If you decide to go to trial, we'll do everything we can to clear his name."

"Severus has my full support too." Said Kingsley, his eyes suddenly kind.

"Thank you." Hermione said quietly, scared and hopeful all at once.

*Text in between asterisks* from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

There will be one last chapter and then an epilogue - almost there.

Thank you to everyone who reviews as a guest (doesn't have a fanfiction account), I can't reply to them individually, but I see them and appreciate them a lot.