Hey there

Just trying to write a dream I had, to practice my English. I'm from Venezuela, so obviously that isn't my first language but I will do my best. I do hope that you guys like it and leave your feedback about it.

This chapter was read and fixed by debjunk and a sweet woman, Shelle. Thanks a lot ❤️

Never, never, but never in his entire life, had Severus expected such a visit at such an hour of the night, and especially during that awful weather. The nastiest storm he had ever seen before. Heavy raindrops were falling from the sky above them, and of course, she was soaking wet from head to toe. How unnervingly cliche. "Hi, Professor Snape," she gushed as she smiled blissfully. "I'm truly sorry for coming without Owling first but... there's something I would like to discuss with you if you don't mind of course."

What was he even supposed to answer? And how on earth was she even there?

"May I come in, please? I promise that it won't be long."

She continued to smile, seemingly not even caring about the rain that was pouring all over what he noticed were just Muggle clothes: a simple black shirt and jeans that looked worn and quite old.

"Miss Granger... to what do I owe the pleasure of you gracing me with this visit after so many years?"

Arms crossed tightly and both eyebrows up in genuine surprise, Severus eyed her up and down, before stepping aside and letting her in, closing the door behind them. There was, undoubtedly, something very wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. The memories of the war were still something difficult to deal with but finally, he was somehow getting over the fact that he still had a very visible scar on his neck, so he wasn't that sure about wanting to have anything to do with his past again. A trembling whisper brought him back to reality, making him turn away from the door to face his unexpected visitor.

"I... Professor Snape..."

"I will not even ask how, for Merlin's sake, you found my address because I know that it has been written for months and months in that ugly book that Skeeter published about me," Severus said.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest again and gave her a hard look that made her shiver, reminding him that she was still pretty wet, dripping all over his wooden floor. Taking his wand out and pointing it at her without any warning, he whispered a drying spell, making her yelp in surprise and stare down at her now dry and warm hands.

"You aren't a child anymore, Miss Granger, so I fail to understand the urgency to come to my place at this hour of the night with this weather and without even Owling me first about the matter."

Wasn't as if she didn't think about it for hours and hours. How was she supposed to write that she was sick and surely about to die, and just send it as if it was just something of every day?

Ten past twelve and there she was, without even knowing why her chest was thumping so hard and her hands shaking so badly. She couldn't even tell what had gotten into her so that she didn't even care about her appearance or what she was about to say anymore.

"And? What's so important that you couldn't even wait for a proper hour to visit?" Severus demanded.

The man sounded impatient, tapping the wooden floor with his right foot. Did he always wear these black robes at all hours of the day or was he expecting someone else that wasn't her? Hermione Granger smiled briefly at the stupidity of such thoughts.

"I'm so sorry, Professor," she murmured, looking at everything else but him. "I... received some news today that made me realize so many things that I simply couldn't think straight, I guess..."

"And what has that anything to do with me, Miss Granger?" the man asked, raising one eyebrow at her trembling voice and overall sad image.

Gathering the courage to look at him, the young witch simply smiled.

"I thought about it the entire day and concluded that even when it would be a bit unfair for you, Professor, that you still had to know. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I thought that..."

"Cut to the chase, Granger. I don't have all the time in the world to wait for you to divulge why it is you're here." Severus replied in between clenched teeth.

Hermione nervously laughed.

Time. Right.

"I'm sorry". she said, biting her lower lip and looking down at her feet. "Like I was saying before, I received some news yesterday that I wasn't expecting, and after some deep thinking about the matter, I concluded that I had to put some things of my life in order so... that's why I'm here."

Severus opened his mouth to reply, so she spoke louder.

"I love you."

A heavy silence filled the air of the room, making her feel small in front of him. She suddenly felt as if a long and cold finger had descended through her spine, making her shiver and embrace herself.

"Pardon me, Miss Granger?"

Severus Snape blinked several times, obviously caught off guard.

"What did you just say, witch?"

"I love and will always love you."

She spoke quietly, gathering the courage to look at him again and smile. "I found out yesterday that I don't have much time to live..." she started to explain.

Trying to fight back the sudden tears, she furiously blinked them away.

"So... my doctor said that I had to start putting everything about my life in order and... I know this is so ridiculous, but I thought that I... I could confess to you my feelings and... you know..."

It felt like static going through his ears in a high-pitched tone.

Love? Dying?

"What?"

The man barely spoke aloud, he was so shocked. Hermione gave a short, nervous laugh.

"Quite the confession, right?! Now that I think of it... how stupid of me? I should just have kept these feelings to myself and that would be it. No harm done."

His ears were still ringing so he swallowed hard before speaking again.

"Are you...?"

"Yes, I'm dying, and yes... I do love you. How ridiculous, right?" She quickly added, "Don't worry, it isn't like I'm expecting you to love me back. It's just something that I wanted to get off my chest. Crazy, right!?, I said it without even considering how you would feel about it, Professor. Bloody brilliant!"

Her voice cracked for a second before she gave one last look around. She started walking back to the front door of his home.

"I believe that I should be going now since I wasted so much of your time already, and you must be tired and..."

She stopped talking and tried to walk past him quickly, but a hand closed around one of her arms fiercely, halted her midway.

"It's... it's still raining," Severus muttered.

He had so much more to say but he found himself unable to for some reason. The look of discomfort and pain in her eyes made him slowly let her go. He stared at the sudden bruise that started to form where his fingers had been.

"You can use my fireplace."

"I can't perform magic anymore, Professor. It's exhausting, and it hurts," she whispered, not looking at him.

She softly caressed the spot he had held a couple of seconds before, closing her eyes at the sudden pain that went through her entire body. She was physically and mentally tired. She just wanted to sleep and finally die without hurting anymore.

In the middle of the poorly lit room, Professor Snape looked even more menacing than what she had remembered from her school days. She tried not to look at it, but the scar on his neck was a painful reminder that still looked fairly recent and unforgiving. A few grey strands of hair were now visible on his short ponytail, and she even noticed a pair of lecture glasses on the coffee table. Was all that a part of time passing or a side effect of that ugly scar he had on his neck? Suddenly she wanted to know a bit more about what he was doing after so many years.

"How are you even..." Severus began to ask.

"I simply traveled here. And just in case you were wondering, I didn't get your address out of that stupid book about you either. I simply hate that woman, so I refuse to read whatever she writes about everything and everyone. I just wrote a letter to Professor McGonagall, and she kindly agreed to help me. Well, I had to press on the matter a little bit..." She hesitated for a moment. "I better leave now."

It felt so surreal that he was just looking at her. He couldn't move. It felt as if his feet were glued to the floor beneath him. Part of him wanted to yell at her and kick her out for such nonsensical love confession, and the other half was debating if doing so in the middle of a storm would accelerate her supposed death, and then he would have to carry even more weight than what he already was burdened with.

"You can't leave with the weather like this. If you were sufficiently careless and… so out of character of you to come here, risking your health, I will not let you do so again. Not while you're in my house."

"But I can't stay! I... all I just..."

"You will leave in the morning, don't worry." he bitterly added, avoiding looking at her surprised expression. "You will stay and rest for the night, and that's it."

With that, he walked past her, disappearing behind a moving bookshelf, leaving her alone in the middle of the dimly lit room to silently cry her eyes out for making such a foolish decision.