The first day was a living nightmare for both witches as they watched the man they secretly held in such high regard, reduced to a whimpering and thrashing broken man. His face was etched with many lines of pain and sorrow that would have caused anyone to believe the man to be older than he actually was. They stunned him with a stupefy charm, trying to keep him still least he tare open his stitches or hurt himself further. Hermione had reapplied the healing paste on all this cuts and whatever bruises were still visible. Her heart burned for the wounded solider who condemned himself to fulfill such a dangerous role. She hated what he put himself through, what the Dark Lord did to him, what the Dark Lord stood for. She hated them all for causing harm to people who did not deserve it, to those who were defenseless, who had no idea what was going on. Hermione never hated a soul in her life, not even Draco for the times he and his entourage of evil goons called her a 'Mudblood'. What was the point to hate? Her parents had always taught her that it was normal to dislike someone, but to hate was something no one deserved no matter what wrongs they had done. Hating only drained the energy that could best be used for something positive.

Did she dare hate now? Yes, she dare hate now. Severus Snape was by no means an easy person to like or a compassionate one, but he was human and kind in his own manipulative and dark way. He did deserve being brought down a peg or two, but not to be reduced to a defenseless being no better than wounded animal. He did not deserve this and Hermione's heartburn with sadness as tears slid down her face. She wanted to help him, but above all else, she wanted to kill those who had killed her parents and those who had harmed this man. It was funny in a dark and sickening way, that the person who really killed them was this man who lay motionless in front of her. Except, in reality, he was the one to bring them release; the true murderer was the man with the snake face of a traitor to the whole wizarding world, Voldemort and his real followers of psychopaths.

Minerva watched her cub as silent tears poured down her face, as she was lost within her mind. She could see the emotions of anger and determination cross through her eyes and Minerva grew slightly concern. These where the signs that she had misjudged in Severus when he was young; Minerva didn't want that for Hermione. She didn't want the young woman falling into the dark that was beginning to beckon for her. Yet, at the same time Minerva felt the same angry emotions run through her, the same want and pleasure to seek revenge on behalf of the young man. Maybe it would be good for the girl to feel something towards Severus, for her to care, not many people did and that was why he still carried on in such a bad manner. Wanting to break the silence that had set in, Minerva, against her better judgment, took it upon herself to tell a tale that few knew.

"Severus was entering his 6th year at Hogwarts, 17 at the time, when his parents died. He was a bright child, still is, but like you Hermione, it set him apart from everyone else. He held a quick tongue and even faster reflexes that seemed to threaten everyone around him. He was too good, better than the 7th years and half the professors on staff at the time. I learned early on that it was from the high expectations set by his parents and like many pureblood families, who hired governesses to teach the children, I thought that they had employed a very good tutor. But, Severus was different, he learned from the books he snuck out of his father's library, learning all he needed to know before the age of 8. One might say he was perfect, except for his social skills. He was an only child, only everything really in the Snape and Prince Family, and never really had the joy nor opportunity of meeting anyone outside of the family and servants that worked for the family. He was a quite boy, still is, never spoke unless spoken to and respectful to everyone around him. Now, he's only respectful towards those who he deems worthy and those are very few. He loved his parent's greatly; they were his only real friends and when he received his Hogwarts letter, his parent's couldn't be any prouder. As the days grew closer, Severus grew nervous with the anticipation of making his parents proud. When he finally got to Hogwarts, within the first day he had just about offended every single person without meaning to. Being a Slytherin already isolated him from the other three houses, but he further isolated himself by taking too much pride in showing off his knowledge and skills within his own house. You must understand Hermione, he didn't know how to make friends and when he met Lily Evans he was smitten. She was the first person to not shy away from his intimidating persona and at 11, many, including professors, were put off by him. She offered him friendship and he grew to want more and she was willing to give until she betrayed him. I still resent not stepping in when I had the chance, standing by Albus in the belief that children are children and will one day grow out of things. It was Severus' first and last love, or so he claims. He resented calling her a Mudblood, but not once did she resent betraying him and in the same year his parents were murdered. Their deaths sent him into a downward spiral. He grew angry and withdrawn, more than before, and it didn't take long for him to give into the Slytherin peer pressure of taking the Dark Mark."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione asked her glazed eyes fixed on the broken man.

"Because I want someone to care." Came the elderly woman's grim voice.

"I do." She whispered.

A/N: VERRYYYY SHORT! I know by u just wanted to end it right there because it was the perfect ending. Next chapter will be up soon enough! I will make it up to you I promise! Please leave a review if you liked it. I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who have been following this story and have left a review. Thank you all!