Chapter 62: Hello, From The Other side
{A/N: Here's Another Update...Sorry for the delay...in the midst of getting over a bad cold and couldn't type contending with a headache and watery eyes...don't know how this will come out...trying to get my rhythm back so bare with me...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
Hermione Granger's Flat, Muggle England...
Night had fallen and Hermione Granger-Snape had still been up working on job reports. She had fallen asleep after the last stack had been completed and Snape saw his chance in that moment. He knew the reason she had taken to working so hard, her loneliness in the empty flat seemed to be getting the better of her. He wished he could lift Hermione into his arms and carry her into the bedroom. She had always liked when he did things like that. It made her giggle uncontrollably the first time he did it. He thought her a right loon as a result. The bushy haired subsequent resident "know-it-all" changed so much in the eleven years after the second wizarding war.
As Hermione slept her world began to shift around her until she found herself back in Snape's Quarters at Hogwarts.
{It had been another late night and Severus had just come in from his latest patrol. Hermione found herself already in bed when the snarky wizard arrived. He had been dressed in his usual trade mark ebony robes but quickly shed them entering the bed as naked as she had been beneath the large green comforter and black silk sheets.
The dour wizard affectionately ran his fingers across the exposed flesh of Hermione's back. She shifted some letting out a soft moan at the feel of his touch against her skin. He closed his eyes taking in everything about this rare little moment between them. The sounds of the school was so far away, the stresses of the day seemed to melt away and it was only the two of them in the darkness of the castle dungeons.
She had been the most beautiful witch he had ever seen, taking time to notice her indefinitely as she continued to sleep. The term "lucky" had scarcely described Snape in other aspect of his life but when it came to his marriage to Hermione, she turned out to be as passionate about the aspects of her marriage as she had been with her studies, driven yet focused on her goals.
He looked upon her with saddened obsidian eyes. He leaned close to the sleeping witch as he began to softly kiss her neck. She shifted some indulging in his soft kiss until she finally awoke and turned to face him. Obsidian met amber as Hermione turned to face her husband.
"Severus." she said with her eyes holding knowledge beyond the years that this moment between them had taken place.
"Insufferable know it all." said Snape not at all reflecting the impatience and unsure nature of his past self.
"A-Am I dreaming?" she asked.
"Of course." replied Snape. "A dream in combination with an old memory."
She looked at him confused for a moment.
"W-Why are..." she began.
"You are quite a stubborn witch Mrs. Snape." he said with a weak smile filed across his pale face.
"I wonder where I picked that up from." she replied.
Snape reached down and grasped the naked young witch pulling her close to him. She closed her eyes as if savoring the sensation of contact with him.
"Our son has grown into quite an impressive young wizard." said Snape as he began to softly kiss kiss naked wife along her neck like she had been accustomed to him doing for since he first allowed himself to indulge in affection for her.
She let out a soft moan at the contact stunned by how "real" it felt.
"Severus." she said nearly breathless.
"I've missed witch." he said with unmistakable longing in his tone.
"I've missed you too." replied Hermione as tears streamed down her supple cheeks.
"I'm still here." he replied continuing to kiss her.
Hermione could do little to stop the continuing onset of tears as she reveled in being back in her husband's arms. He wasn't really there and it was all because of Harry Potter.
She pulled away from him in that moment knowing all too well that this had all been just another torturous dream.
"No." she said attempting to climb out of bed. "You're not here...not really...and it's all because of Harry."
Snape shook his head not at all surprised by her behavior.
"So stubborn." he said. "How many times do I have to tell you that I will never leave you witch for you to get the point."
He reached over and with little to no effort pulled her back into his equally naked grasp.
"Let me go." said Hermione struggling some in his grasp.
"You know better than anyone that it is never going to be possible for me to do such a thing." he replied with an arrogant smirk.
Before she could protest further Snape already had his pale lips pressed against her soft pink ones. She tried in vain to struggle against him but try as she might she missed him far more than she was willing to admit. It had of course been of no surprise to Snape who had fully intended to live out the memory with a new set of rules.
He had to reestablish connection with his wife if he had any hope of staving off the binding spell Bellatrix was going to force upon him. Using the little magic Phaeron had given him, he was able to construct this elaborate little paradox.
"Severus." said Hermione finding her breathing had become ragged.
"I'm not letting you go witch...not until you remember just who it is that you are married to..." he said kissing her neck again.
The bushy haired witch let out another moan.
"Severus please..." she almost plead. "It hurts so much...I don't want to remember..."
"I haven't gone anywhere...I've been here suffering just as you have for eleven fucking years." said Snape recalling the sensation of being in her close proximity when he was back inside his own body. "The first few months of your pregnancy I missed being trapped at Hogwarts...but I knew...I knew the moment I took you to bed at that Inn that you would be carrying my son."
He kissed her again feeling the heat radiate from her body like so many times before. Only it was the first time since he knew he had this effect on her that he could not truly do anything about it. He was more desperate than ever to reestablish connection with her.
"I haven't left you." he said pulling her close to him, her bare chest against his. "I need your help...I need you to remember..."
"W-why?" asked Hermione still with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why is it so important for me to remember...so it can hurt all over again?"
Snape pressed her into the mattress and his lean pale form towered above her.
"It's not my intention to hurt you Mrs. Snape." he replied. "Quite the contrary...I want to make amends just like I promised to that night at Hogshead Inn."
He kissed her neck again and she relaxed this time losing herself in the wave of affection that had washed over her.
"I missed you so much." he said almost as if it pained him. "The first thing I am going to do when I get back is show you just how much witch..."
He started kissing her in earnest positioning himself between her warm slender thighs like so many times before. The skin to skin contact causing them to moan in unison. The projection of magic had been quite effecting as she felt it wrap around her pulsing like the beating of her heart.
"Severus..." she said breathless at last.
"I don't have enough power to do much in the here and now but I can make you remember...I can make you see..." he continued becoming as breathless as she had been. "I need you to see witch...I've haven't left you...I'd never leave you..."
In an instant she felt him thrust into her. There was pain and pleasure as her mind was flooded with everything she had been trying so hard to repress since his death at the hands of Harry Potter at the Fortress of Solitude.
"Remember..." hissed Severus in her ear as he continued to thrust pushing harder into her. "Hermione..."}
The blaring of an alarm clock shattered the realm of dream that had over taken the exhausted witch and she found herself back in her home office, sitting at her desk with rolls of parchment before her. She had been fully dressed in her usual attire and had quite the ache in her back due to her stubborn insistence in not returning to bed to avoid dreaming of her late husband.
One could not imagine her surprise when she seemed to recall in great detail not only her dream but everything that happened between them in their short time of marriage. The witch got to her feet and made her way toward the kitchen for a hot cup of coffee. Her head was spinning as her emotions warred with each other causing her to exhibit mood swings with on one to take them out on.
Upon entering the kitchen the witch's jaw dropped as inelegantly as Ronald Weasley's use to when eating at in the great hall.
"Hello witch." said a voice consisting of a deep baritone drawl belonging to none other than Severus Snape.
"SEVERUS!" she said stunned. "W-What...H-How?"
Snape smirked noting how much of a success his latest attempt at establishing a connection to his stubborn wife had been.
"Don't look so surprised." he replied. "You've been dreaming about me of bloody long enough."
Hermione shook her head in disbelief.
"Y-You can't be..." she said.
"Oh but I am my little insufferable know it all." replied Snape with a wicked smirk.
He had enjoyed unnerving her a little bit, he supposed it was left over from her being his student.
She moved close to him puzzled at to why she was able to see him.
"Spirit projection?" she said suddenly getting it. "But that would mean..."
"That's right...know it all." replied Snape still with the wicked grin. "I'm still alive."
"S-So Harry..." started Hermione.
"Is a self centered little shit...that had full intent to murder me..." replied Snape annoyed. "Only he had not counted on my vastly superior knowledge of the dark arts."
Hermione looked at him for a moment.
"I-If your not dead then..." she started to come to terms with what she was being told.
Snape nodded as she put the pieces together. Her amber eyes widened as her brain got to working on a solution even before she knew the problem. As he knew it would.
"Come up with something have you?" he asked. "My insufferable know it all."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.
"You are just lucky that I can't hit you." she said. "All this time you've been alive..."
"It's not like I haven't trying to tell you that for the past eleven years." said Snape in a bitterly sarcastic tone. "You shut me out and tried to forget about me what the hell do you want me to say."
"I didn't try to forget about you." said Hermione in her own defense. "I couldn't if I tried not really any way...your son is basically the spitting image of you."
"So I've noticed." replied Snape with an arrogant smirk.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Where is your body?" she asked. "Maybe we can finally reverse the spell."
"It's not that simple." replied Snape. "There are certain complications...that I did not foresee."
Hermione narrowed her eyes again.
"Complications in the form of a deranged bitch named Bellatrix LeStrange." she said bitterly.
Snape knew the reason for her fury all too well.
"Listen...About..." he began.
Hermione waved him off.
"Not now." she said. "Not when there is possibly a way out there to bring you back to me after all this time." she said daring to show a sign of hope after being bitter for so long."
Snape sighed. He had finally gotten through to her, she could see him and now so could Phaeron. He was one step closer to getting his family back. He had only gotten to revel in his much appreciated victory when he suddenly began to flicker in her view. Hermione looked at him concerned.
"Severus?" she said worried and scared that she was going to lose him again.
He looked at her noting all too well that he had used a good deal of magic to reach his wife.
"It's starting..." he managed. "Hermione..."
Without missing a beat, Hermione quickly cast a spell he had not recognized upon his flickering form.
"I won't let her bind you." she said with a look of Gryffindor determination upon her face reminiscent of when she was a student facing death eaters under Voldemort.
"I know." he replied. "I-I don't have enough magic left to keep projecting...you'll have to come to me..."
Hermione's concern grew more profound.
"Severus." she said. "How much magic do you have left?"
"If I conserve what I have stored up...about six years worth." he said.
It wasn't a lot of time. There was no guarantee that he could be revived in that short a time span.
"Looks like I have some studying to do." she said.
"I didn't doubt that you would." he replied. "Hermione..."
"I know." she said. "Just do whatever you have to to stay alive Severus...I can't lose you again."
"Duly noted." he replied as he began to flicker again. "Take care of yourself witch."
"Don't worry about me." she replied. "I can handle myself."
Snape smirked noting how she sounded so much like him.
Then all too soon he disappeared from her apartment and found himself being dragged back to the all too familiar hideout belonging to none other than Bellatrix Black. Hermione had been hurt by his sudden departure a little more than she let on with the truth of him being alive sinking in. She made up her mind to find a way to restore him as soon as possible, before his magic failed and she lost him for good.