Lily Evans was livid. She stormed down the grassy hill away from Hogwarts, until she rested underneath the comfort of one of the trees by the lake. Huffing with indignation, she stewed in what she was forcing herself to believe was righteous anger. He had called her that name. That horrid name! And he was supposed to be her friend! Again she felt the tide of anger swell inside. Until the thoughts she was trying to suppress made themselves known. The understanding that he had been embarrassed, and knowing Severus as she did, she knew he didn't handle emotions well. She knew he was simply lashing out, and the guilt of allowing that humiliating scene to go on unchecked ate away at her resolve to be angry. She had most likely hurt him more than he had hurt her.
'Poor Severus,' the thought came unbidden, 'He really does have horrid underwear.'
Finally allowing the anger to ebb away, leaving only the cold hollow inside her, Lily glanced around the grounds of Hogwarts. Vaguely she could make out the crowds still surrounding the fighting boys a little ways away from her.
Suddenly she jumped, feeling something wet slide down her head onto her neck. Then another drip following to land on her cheek. Glancing up slightly she saw that the sky was perfectly blue, so, it couldn't just be raining on her under this tree. What was dripping on her? An unexplainable panic started to well inside her, and tentatively she reached up to her cheek to wipe off the wet drop. Glancing down at her fingers with trepidation she saw the slick red of blood coating her forefinger and thumb. Eyes wide with horror, she slowly stepped out from under the tree and turned her head upwards to look above her. There dangling a few feet above her was a hand; a pale, torn looking hand with rivulets of blood coursing down the wrist and palm to pearl and drop from the limp fingers. A horrified shriek tore from her throat and she turned abruptly screaming for help as she ran up the hill she just recently stormed down.
She stumbled along the way, sprawling out on the grass, before climbing back to her feet to continue running. The horror of that hand seemed to be burned into her eyes. She had to get help. Feeling the ground shake underneath her feet, she knew the crowd was storming toward her. Glancing up, she saw James nearing and threw herself into his arms crying and clutching at him as she tried to catch her breath.
"Oh! Oh James it was horrible!" Lily cried, as James pulled her to arms length, looking over her for injuries. He noticed the blood on her face and some splatters along her clothes.
"Lily! Calm down!" James gave her a harsh shake. "Are you alright? You're bleeding!"
Lily looked at him confused. Bleeding? She wasn't hurt, Oh! "No, no this isn't my blood. That's the problem! There in that tree, there is something, a hand! A bloody hand! It was awful James! Just awful!" She cried once again burying herself into his chest.
Severus, forgotten in the confusion, listened avidly to Lily's hysterical words. 'A bloody hand dangling in a tree? What is she on about?' He thought to himself. Quietly he separated himself from the growing crowd and headed down to where he knew Lily had stormed off to. Glancing back up the hill as he neared the tree he noticed several students run off to the castle, most likely to get a teacher and if they were smart Pomfrey.
Reaching the shade of the tree, Severus quickly scanned the ground and noticed what seemed to be a growing spot of damp. Stalking quietly up to it, he crouched down for a closer view. Sure enough, it was blood. Glancing up warily, he spotted what Lily had. What appeared to be a mangled hand dangling out of the branches. He sucked in a harsh breath. From his vantage point, he could see more than just the hand. The tattered cloth and limp limbs of a female was caught up in the branches. Standing upright, he waved his wand to move a few boughs aside and reached up to grasp the arm and leg he was able to see. Pulling somewhat harder than he had meant, the body tumbled loose and plummeted to the ground with a harsh thump. Wincing at the pain that fall had to have caused, and knowing it was his fault, he quickly knelt down and turned the body over onto it's back.
A sudden groan made him suck in another harsh breath and back away slightly. This person was still alive. 'Oh Merlin…'
The harsh landing jarred Hermione out of her unconsciousness. Pain threatened to overwhelm her once again, and she couldn't help the pitiful whimper that escaped her lips. How was she still alive? The fall from the tower surely should have killed her. A soft shuffling at her side caused her to tense up and force her eyes open. The sight of her potions master gave her pause. 'Why was he here? Shouldn't he be fighting? And why did he look so young?' That thought clicked in her head and the image of her time turner exploding in shards of glass and sand rose behind her eyes. 'Ah. That would explain it.'
Severus was frantic. He had no idea what to do, this girl, broken at his knees was still alive! It seemed unbelievable. He knew he should try to let her know she wasn't alone.
"Hello? Girl, can you hear me? Some students have gone to get you some help, so try to hang on a little longer." He choked on his words somewhat as the girl opened her eyes somewhat to focus on his face. He saw the blood pooling around her body and realized she was going to die soon. No one could survive such blood loss. That thought terrified him. If she died he might be blamed. Oh, he was such a fool to come looking for her! She couldn't die just yet!
"Please, just listen to the sound of my voice, if you can focus on that you should be able to stay awake." Severus pleaded quietly. He looked down at her pain glazed face and noticed that her eyes were a lovely shade of cinnamon. He let a crooked smile come to his face as he noticed she seemed to understand his words. He grasped her limp hand and held it to his lap. He was shocked to notice her lips move.
Struggling to speak, Hermione wanted to ask him how old he was so she would know in what time she had come to be. Only it was so difficult to move! She croaked slightly, spilling blood out of her mouth as she opened her lips slightly. Her eyes widened slightly at the horror she saw filling this young Severus' face. He seemed unable to hide his emotions as well as she was used to. Maybe that was something he would grow into. Oh he was talking again. Too bad the ringing in her ears wasn't letting her understand his words. He seemed panicked. She tried to say something again to sooth his worries, she wasn't afraid to die.
Severus was horrified watching her dribble blood out of her mouth. He paled drastically and started to cry for help to come faster, alerting the crowd a little ways away to the fact that he had found the body the bloody hand was attached to. Glancing back down he noticed she was trying to say something again. He leaned down closer to try and shush her, to tell her to be still, when he understood her sighed words. Confusion and shock started to war for dominance on his face. "What?" he uttered staring down at the now unconscious girl.
She had breathed, "I have always loved listening to your voice Severus."
Hermione woke abruptly to the extreme urge to vomit. Her stomach rolled harshly and she tried to curl to her side so she could throw up over the side of whatever she was laying on. Panic suffused her mind when she realized she was restrained. Images of the torture she was wrought with back in Gryffindor tower flew rapidly through her minds eye and she started to struggle in earnest, panic and hysteria completely in control. She couldn't move! She couldn't see! And except for the guttural noises coming from her throat as she tried to cry out, she couldn't speak!
She felt strong hands trying to press her shoulders to stay still against the bed which only caused her to panic more. She was going to throw up and would be unable to expel it! She was going to choke to death! Oh Merlin!
Severus noticed that his hands holding her down were not helping, if the animal noises of pain and panic were any indication so he backed away slightly. He should get the Madam, but he really didn't want to leave the panicked girls bedside. Besides, Dumbledore had told him not to leave until he said he could.
Madam Pomfrey, hearing the commotion, hurried to her ward. "Severus, I see our guest has awakened? Panicked is she? Well of course she is!" Pomfrey bustled about, holding a conversation with herself. "Probably very nauseous and obviously can't move or see or speak. Poor thing." Deftly waving her wand over the struggling body, Madam Pomfrey released the bindings holding the girls head straight. Then, gently unwrapping the bit of gauze covering the girls mouth, lifted her head up all the while crooning soothing words of nonsense to the frightened girl.
"Severus, be a dear and hand me that nausea suppressing potion and the pain potion on the table please?" Pomfrey asked as she gently massaged the girl's neck with one hand. "Come now child, open your mouth for me; I have a few potions to make you feel much more at ease. I promise neither I, nor anyone else here for that matter are going to hurt you."
Inordinately relieved to hear the comforting tones of Poppy Pomfrey, Hermione relaxed completely into the strong hold of the medi-witch. Obeying promptly she opened her mouth and allowed the witch to pour potion after potion into her. The instant relief of her rolling stomach and the pain that clouded her mind was very welcome. A small sigh escaped her lips at the relief.
"Now my dear, you just lay still while I finish my diagnostic and I will let you know why we can't be having you moving, alright?" Waiting for a slight nod from the girl, Pomfrey continued.
"You have been unconscious for about two weeks now, and most of your wounds are healing nicely. I'm afraid we have you wrapped up rather tightly to help set the many bones that were not just broken but shattered. That's why you can't move. However, I think we will be able to remove the wrappings in a day or two. You have amazing will-power my dear. Many a lesser witch or wizard would not have survived what you did. I don't think I need to catalogue your various injuries, as I am sure you know what happened to you…." Pomfrey choked somewhat, remembering the extent of the injuries, and the obvious signs of rape on the young woman's body. "Now, do you think if I take the bindings off your eyes, that you would be willing to tell us a bit about yourself?"
Hermione pursed her lips slightly. 'Us? Who else was there?'
Poppy interpreted that look correctly and went on to explain. "Severus is here with us, and will be for sometime I suppose. He is the one that found you and helped keep you awake until I could arrive. You should be very grateful to him. The Headmaster has appointed him as your guardian and companion until you are able to move about freely." She didn't bother to explain that this was the Headmasters form of punishment for Severus' earlier fight with his golden Gryffindor's. Poppy still didn't believe he had done anything wrong. 'Humph.'
Coming to a decision, Hermione opened her lips slightly to let out a ragged sounding "Alright." startling both her companions.
Beaming, Pomfrey started to unbind Hermione's eyes. "There you go my dear, all healed. Smooth pale skin once again. Hang on one moment and let me dim these candles, don't want to shock you now do we? There we go. Alright, let's see those lovely eyes of yours."
Struggling slightly, Hermione tried to force her eyelids to obey her will. Eyelashes fluttering against her pale cheeks, she finally forced them to crack open and blink quickly to adjust to the dim lighting. Slowly the room began to focus and the blobs of color that were Madam Pomfrey and Severus Snape started to sharpen into their features.
Trying to smile, but only succeeding in a twitch of her lip, she croaked out a "hello."
Pomfrey beamed at her, before lifting Hermione's head once again and pouring a throat soothing potion into her mouth followed by cool water. Sighing her thanks Hermione closed her eyes and savored the relief in her throat.
"Now my dear, tell us your name, so we have something that we can call you by." Poppy asked as she settled herself into a chair next to the bedside. Severus leaned forward slightly in his own chair to regard the girl closely.
Thinking quickly Hermione tried to decide what she should do. If she gave her real name, then things in the future could be irrevocably changed. Then again, she really didn't want the current future to come about. Then again, if she changed things to much, she could cease to exist, or some other even worse future could occur. 'To hell with it,' Hermione thought viciously to herself, 'let the laws of time travel be damned.'
Clearing her throat slightly, she quietly answered. "Hermione, Hermione Granger."