Chapter 9: Gaining trust

30th April 1981

Having her mind invaded by Severus Snape was nothing that Hermione could have prepared herself for. It was one thing having her mind analysed by the gentle and skilled touch of Albus Dumbledore but quite another thing to have a young and not nearly as experienced Severus Snape there. Dumbledore had just taken a quick peek into her head to assure himself that she was trustworthy, but the young wizard that was sitting before her now was digging into her brain with the determination of a bloodhound. It was almost too intimate, and not in a good way. It felt like being stripped naked, only ten times worse. And for a moment Hermione felt the panic rise. Merlin, what had she thought she was doing? Why couldn't she just have told him everything she knew? But now it was too late, Severus Snape had seen the first pictures and Hermione could feel his determination rise to find out everything he could from her mind. And there was nothing she could do to make him stop now.

Somewhere along the way, Hermione must have lost consciousness, because when she came to her senses again, her body was splayed on the ground with her head resting in somebody's lap, while a shouting match had erupted around her. One of the twins was screaming something about Snape having almost killed her and she groaned, as her head pounded painfully under the noise.

"You alright Miss Granger?" Snape's concerned words rang through the fog in her head and she shook it weekly.

"Potion please," she groaned and cradled her scalp. It didn't take more than a few moments before she could feel a cold vial being pressed against her lips and she opened up her mouth readily. The potion was bitter and salty on her tongue, but Hermione didn't care and swallowed it gratefully. She hadn't been wrong. Severus Snape was a potions prodigy and the potion he gave her, took effect immediately. Only after a few seconds, the pounding in her head was reduced to an unpleasant but tolerable hum and a minute later she was completely without pain. She sighed in relief.

"Thank you," she croaked and opened her eyes. Above her, the concerned face of Gideon looked down at her.

"Merlin, you've almost scared us to death," he admitted with a pained smile and Fabian hummed his agreement.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly and tried to sit up on the floor. But the world started spinning around her violently and she sunk back to the floor with a pained moan. "God's I'm never doing that again," she said and couldn't suppress the violent shiver that gripped her body. Immediately strong arms cradled her body protectively.

"Not that we would let you repeat that ever again. Merlin woman, you really have balls," Fabian mumbled next to her and Hermione couldn't help but smile weakly.

"Well, I was a Gryffindor after all," she admitted, which earned her an amused snort from the twins.

"Should have guessed that one, Gid," Fabian said with a shake of his head and his brother nodded with a grin. That was when a shaken looking Snape appeared at her other side.

"Here's another potion for you. This should help with the dizziness." He smiled shyly and handed her a small vial with a pink, milky substance inside and Hermione uncorked it trustingly.

"Thank you, Mr Snape," she said before drowning the sweet thick substance with a single gulp.

"Severus," he corrected her gently. "Call me Severus, Miss Granger." Hermione looked at him in stunned silence. "I think after showing me that much trust, you have earned yourself the right to call me by my first name," Severus explained and offered her a hand.

Hermione took it with a smile. "Only if you call me Hermione," she said and took it. He gripped her hand tightly and smiled back at her. "Alright, Hermione. Can you get up from the floor? Because I think I've got a vow to make."

She pulled herself up with a tired groan, before looking at him wide-eyed. "Does that mean you're agreeing to help us?"

He snorted before grinning at her crookedly. "I thought that was fairly obvious."

11th of September 1999

"Merlin, I just experienced déjá vu," Hermione groaned when she came back to her senses lying on Severus' floor. It was just like being thrown back into her most recent memory, the one she had regained just now, but this time she looked up into the concerned eyes of the other twin brother.

"I didn't do a thing," came Snape's voice from somewhere behind, but just a moment later he appeared right next to her companion. "Do you need a headache potion or something? You looked like you were having quite the flashback."

Hermione smiled sheepishly at him. "You can say that. I wouldn't mind a potion, it's not as bad as back then, but it's not really comfortable either."

The black-haired wizard nodded. "Alright, hold on. I'll get you something."

Some minutes later she was back at her seat, where she cradled her cup of tea with shaking hands. She didn't know what to say, as her head was still contemplating, what she had just learned about the past.

"How much did you remember?" Fabian asked her somewhat concerned and Hermione noticed that Snape was looking at him with dark analysing eyes.

"Just our first visit here," she replied cautiously and looked at Severus with searching eyes. "But not even all of it. What happened after you made the vow?"

He chuckled darkly and Hermione shook her head in confusion. It was so strange to see her former potions professor in something else than a dark mood. "You made me search for the damned diary of course," he said and took a sip from his cup. "And I can tell you it was anything but easy. Even though Malfoy and I were friends back then, as you knowingly pointed out, I couldn't just raid his whole Manor. There would have been uncomfortable questions and unwanted attention. And so it took me quite some time and some illegal potions to find the damned thing."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "You found it?"

He snorted. "Of course I did. But it almost took me two months."

Hermione sighed with relief. "Thank you for helping us. I hope it was worth it, for you."

Snape fixed her with his dark eyes. "Are you joking Hermione? Of course, it was worth it. Remember? You showed me what would have happened and I was as horrified back then at what could have been as I am now. Can you imagine? Me teaching poor Hogwarts students potions for decades?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to snort. "I don't need to imagine it, Severus. I lived through six years of your insults."

At that, Professor Burbage patted her hand understandingly. "I am thankful you saved hundreds of students from that fate, and Severus, too. He would have hated the job as he simply cannot stand incompetence and laziness, two traits that can be found at Hogwarts in abundance."

Hermione nodded. "That's true I guess. And I am happy to have helped, then." With that, she raised herself from the chair and nodded towards Fabian. "We'll leave the two of you in peace then. Thanks for seeing us."

But before she knew what was happening, her former potions professor had pulled her into a strong embrace. She went rigid in shock.

"Thank you for everything," he whispered into her ear and squeezed her tightly. After a moment she willed herself to relax, even though her heart kept beating wildly in her chest. "But don't think I am just letting you disappear again young Miss, do you hear me? You'll be coming back for tea and a discussion next week and I won't take no for an answer."

With that he finally released her and Hermione stumbled back, only to bump into Fabian, who was standing close behind her. "Um, alright?" she said and looked at her former professor with rosy cheeks.

He smiled at her, amused. "I'll owl you one of my recent research papers and the time for the meeting. Don't be late, you know I can't stand tardiness."

She blinked at him owlishly. Merlin, this new Severus Snape would take some time getting used to. It was like being Alice in Wonderland all over again. Only that there was no way back for her and Hermione wasn't sure if she was scared or pleased at that prospect.

30th April 1981

Hermione almost fell asleep on her way back from Cokeworth and excused herself to bed immediately after returning back home. Taking the vow from Severus had taken the last bit of energy out of her and she was glad to be able to rest for the next hours. But she should have known better. It couldn't have been long after falling asleep, as the first nightmare gripped her with force and pulled her back into Malfoy Manor, where she had been tortured mercilessly by Bellatrix Lestrange. It was like experiencing the worst day of her life all over again, the burning pain in her limbs and the feel of the icy blade in her arm.

"Hermione, are you alright?" an urgent-sounding voice drifted towards her through the fog and with a gasp she awoke in her bed. She pulled her eyes open and looked around in a panic, only to find the face of a stranger looming directly over her. She flinched away with a small scream.

"Don't hurt me," she begged and tried to scramble away, but immediately the dark silhouette took some hasty steps back.

"I'm not going to hurt you," a man's voice soothed and she looked into the darkness with wide eyes. "It's Gideon, Hermione. Do you remember? You're living with us now…"

She blinked in confusion, but finally, her mind caught on. "Gideon Prewett?" she asked and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Of course, I remember now. Sorry, I didn't want to scare you. I must have had a nightmare."

"I could tell. Your screams woke me up next door," he sighed and Hermione could tell he was shaking his head. "Are you alright?"

She wanted to nod, but instead, she felt her body starting to shake all over. "No," she finally admitted and hugged herself. "I keep seeing her, seeing the manor," she confessed before her teeth started to chatter. Gideon was by her side just a moment later.

"I'm here," he promised. "No one is going to hurt you. We're protecting you, remember?"

Hermione nodded timidly and looked at him with wide eyes. "Please don't go," she said and he shook his head with a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. Do you want me to get Fabian, too? Would that make you feel safer?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I don't want to interrupt his sleep, too. I already feel silly enough as it is."

But Gideon just shook his head with a smile. "I bet he's already awake but doesn't dare to come in. Let me just send him a quick Patronus and see if I'm correct, alright?"

Hermione nodded and watched him as he cast the spell. His Patronus was a little fennec with huge batty ears and a bushy tail. It curiously sniffed her out before leaping from her bed and zooming away through the wall to her right. Not even a minute later the door to her room was pried open and Fabian slipped inside.

"Gid said you wanted us to stay with you?" he asked cautiously and moved towards her bed slowly. Hermione sighed embarrassedly.

"You don't have to, Fabian. It was just a nightmare," she mumbled with clattering teeth. Fabian shook his head and looked at her with scrutinising eyes. "I don't think it was just a nightmare," he said sternly and sat down on the other side of her bed. "It's some memories that came back to haunt you, am I right?"

She nodded weakly into the darkness but didn't trust her voice to say something in return. He murmured silently to himself before she suddenly felt her blanket being lifted up, as he crawled into bed with her. "What are you doing?" she squeaked and looked at him with panicked eyes.

He snorted. "I thought that is fairly obvious. I'm staying with you, but I refuse to spend the night on the chair. And now budge over." Hermione blinked at him speechlessly for a moment, before she crawled into the middle of the bed. Gideon had obviously interpreted her action as an invitation too and climbed into her bed from the other side. Surprisingly the bed was big enough to host everybody comfortably and Hermione could feel the two of them comfortingly at her sides, without them actually touching her. Still, their warmth radiated towards her and her body was lulled into feeling safe again. She sighed in relief, as the shivers finally started to die down.

"Feeling better now?" Gideon whispered to her left and Hermione nodded.

"Yeah. I don't know what came over me. I haven't had a nightmare that bad in months."

He sighed and rolled over to his side so that he was facing her. "I'm not surprised at all. You had Snape rummaging through your mind for almost half an hour until you passed out and fell to the floor with blood running out of your nose."

She heard Fabian nod on her other side. "It's no wonder that some memories came back to haunt you. Do you want to talk about what happened to you? You don't have to, of course, but maybe it will help to share some of it?"

Hermione thought about it for a long moment and even considering it, brought the shiver back to her limbs. She moaned unhappily.

"It's alright. You don't have to say a thing if it's making you feel bad," Gideon assured her and took her into his arms. Just a second later she felt Fabian's arms close around her from behind. "Fabian and I are not going anywhere. We'll be here to protect you, Hermione, no matter if it's from a nightmare or some bad guys."

She nodded gratefully into his chest and sighed. "Thank you for staying with me," she said and relaxed into their embrace. "Thank you for being my friends."

"Anytime," they answered in unison and Hermione smiled. She couldn't explain it, but those two had really managed to make her feel safe again. It was totally irrational, as she had only known them for a couple of days, but it was the truth. And Hermione decided to just accept it for what it was. She had found herself two friends that were willing to protect her from the ghosts of her past as well as the dangers that waited in her future. And she would protect them in return.

11th of September 1999

Hermione awoke in her bed with a gasp, but the pictures of her most recent dream kept forcing themselves on her. Triggered by her visit with Severus, another memory had come back to her in her dreams, a memory of her waking up from a nightmare in the very same bed and being comforted by her hosts that held her while she fell asleep again. Had that really happened? Or was it in fact just a dream that her fantasy had supplied after being hugged by a very much changed Severus Snape? It was a possibility, as she was really starting to get starved of affection of any kind. Her friends were all out of reach for her now and it was saying something, that the only one willing to give her a hug, was her old grumpy potions professor. Merlin, the world had really gone mad.

But what if the dream was, in fact, a real memory? Had they really been that close? Had she and the Prewett twins been friends? It was possible of course as they were almost the same age back then. Even though Hermione had never been good at making friends she could have managed to befriend those two, much like she had befriended Harry and Ron. But how should she find out? Should she simply ask them? Well, it would certainly be the most logical thing to do. She would just have to wait for the right moment to ask them about it.