A/N: Hello all. Thank you for the spectacular reviews. I loved them all. Haven't had time to respond yet, dealing with the aftermath of my daughter's 6th birthday party yesterday, meaning a few kids are still here due to a sleep over that came out of no where. But I will, I just need to connect an IV into me with coffee in the drip bag first. lol. Anyhoo, thanks too for of you still adding me to their alerts or faves. As always, Read and Review. Take care Everyone.
Special Thanks to my wonder beta, Kristine Thorne, who has done an excellent job with the story and for being patient with me over the final chapters.
Special thanks as well to my second beta, PandaHeart, has been doing a great job too. Thank you both, I appreciate it.
Chapter 33
When they could move again, she used a cleansing spell on them both and they moved to the overstuffed chair beside the desk, with him sitting on the chair while holding her in his lap.
They didn't speak for a long time. Both were simply enjoying being together after so much heartache—his more than hers. But she had been miserable too thinking she had come back to a world he no longer existed in.
She shifted after a bit longer, straddling his lap to look in his dark eyes. "I'm not sure what to ask first. I want to know what has changed, so I'm prepared for it, but...I still don't know how you're even here. I saw you…in the shrieking shack. You…stopped breathing. At least I think you did. I know I told Minerva that I felt like you were still…there, but how…?"
His hands tightened slightly on her waist. He didn't like to think about that night. But he knew she didn't understand. "Your memory of the battle is a bit different than what happened. After the Dark Lord left, you three found me…I know you tried to save me. Even then, when you didn't know me like you do now. You tried. I could see your despair and panic at not knowing how. I tried to speak to you, tell you that I loved you, even though it wasn't the same you. But the words couldn't make it out past the damage that had been done to my throat. You held my hand as you cried."
He paused as the memory swept him. "I heard the banging on the door, heard your friends say you all had to go. I heard you telling them that you all couldn't leave me like that. Saw them have to drag you out. I vaguely heard the door open, since I was barely there at that point. But it wasn't Death Eaters like you all feared. It was Minerva. She was trying to get you all to leave so she could get to me in time."
"Dumbledore told you that it couldn't be changed, but he did his best to figure out a way to save you all that pain when you returned. He left Minerva a memory before he died. It was set to open sometime after his funeral. It was of him talking to himself in a mirror, but he was talking to Minerva." He told her.
Hermione frowned. "What did he say?"
Severus smiled slightly. "He told her how to save me. You told Minerva about the Phoenix tears. You had mentioned it along with a Bezoar but she didn't know how to get the tears on her own. They're rare. She got Fawkes when Albus died. But he never cried for her. He didn't live long after Albus died. He just didn't come back from the ashes after he molted the final time. We think he didn't want to go on without Albus. But Albus had three vials of Fawkes' tears for her hidden in her office. They had unbreakable glass charms on them and would only open to her hand."
"He didn't give her the vials of tears sooner so she wouldn't waste them on him. When she came to me, she shoved the Bezoar down my throat like you mentioned. Then uncorked one vial to pour on the wounds themselves, and a second one she made me drink. The tears are rather vile I've found, when you taste them." He said with a grimace.
"She also made me drink a Blood Replenishing potion. She didn't know the tears alone would have worked. She quickly apparated us back to an empty classroom that was never used, and stopped me from following you. I was still weak from it all and as she pointed out, I was supposed to be dead. If I showed up to help you, not only would it ruin that, but also I'd change the time line and probably get you killed. That last part is the only reason I didn't rush to help you." He told her, stroking her hair that was still pulled up into a knot on her head, while her head rested on his shoulder.
She opened her mouth to speak, but a voice coming into the room stopped her. "Severus, I still don't know how you can get any bird to shag your ugly arse, especially one that has such a lovely arse herself. At least from this view she does."
Hermione froze, and Severus cursed. A bark of laughter was heard. "Though they're squished against your chest, it looks like she has nice breasts too." This making Severus growl at their intruder.
She knew that voice. She knew that laugh too. It was impossible. She had to be dreaming now. This was all a dream and she was going to wake up at any moment and find she was alone after all.
Her body started shaking, which stopped Severus from making a scathing remark or hexing the idiot. Her trembles getting worse the longer she sat there as he held her.
Love, what's wrong? He asked in her mind that was open since her walls were down with her shock.
Her shaking just got worse. I know I'm dreaming now. Or I've lost my mind. The pressure from leaving has made me snap. She thought for him to read.
"What did you have to do to get the chit to shag you anyway Severus? Did you have to pay her?" Sirius asked, still laughing, oblivious to Hermione's trembles while she sat there, still straddling Severus' naked lap.
Hearing his comment, made her trembles slow. She stiffened and with a growl of her own, she flicked her hand towards him without looking. Hitting him in the face with the same puss filled boil curse she had in the past.
Dreaming or not, I will not tolerate being called a whore. She thought as she felt Severus smirk against her collar bone.
She heard a roar of laughter and stiffened even more as she recognized that laugh too. Bugger. I'm dead. I'm dead this time and I'm in hell. She thought as she buried her face even closer against Severus' shoulder, hiding her face more from the other faces she was sure to meet when she looked over at them.
She felt Severus chuckle softly and felt something instantly cover her from the middle of her back and down over her legs. Severus had placed a blanket or some kind of cloak to cover her nakedness from the two staring at her.
Why are you in hell? I doubt seriously that you'd scream in pleasure like you did a short while ago in hell. He asked in her mind, still chuckling at her thoughts.
"What the hell?" Barked Sirius after conjuring a mirror to see his boil covered face. "I only know of one little chit that would throw this at me." His eyes grew wide as he stared at the girl still hiding her face.
"Is that her, Severus? Is she back?" Sirius asked a bit more softly.
You're going to have to face them eventually, love. Severus thought to her, stroking her back softly.
Hermione sighed and slowly sat up and turned her head, keeping herself covered as much as possible in the process. Earning a gasp from the redhead in the room as Sirius grinned at her, the boils starting to pulsate on his face.
"Would someone tell me why Hermione Granger, Virgin Gryffindor, is naked and on Snape's equally naked lap?" The redhead asked, looking horrified.
"I'm not a virgin, you prat. What are you doing here, George?" She said with a mild glare, annoyed and embarrassed at being caught like she was.
Severus on the other hand, had a small smirk as he thought about how she hadn't been a virgin by the time he had gotten done with her. Far from it in fact. He recalled having shagged the sexy witch every chance he got before she left.
The redhead grinned at her. "Still can't tell us apart. You're worse than my mother. She at least sometimes gets it right."
"Fred?" She whispered softly, making the redhead grin even more.
Hermione's heart started to race, the blood started to pound in her head, as her vision started to dim. This was too much for her. Sirius was dead. Fred was dead too. If she was staring at them and they weren't real…that meant that Severus wasn't real either. She had lost her mind after all.
"No. That's impossible. I…I didn't tell Minerva how you…" She trailed off as the throbbing got worse in her head, making speaking difficult as her brain slowly shut down. Feeling her body grow oddly heavy, just before everything went black.
Severus caught her as she slumped against him. His heart clenched once again at feeling her dead weight and fearing the worst. He sighed, his heart beating normally once again as he realized she had only fainted again. Just like when she saw them all so many years ago.
Sirius rushed into the room when he saw her eyes cross a second before she fainted. "She doesn't know?" He asked, dropping down beside the naked couple, covered only with a long cloak. Sirius didn't care that they were naked. He was just concerned that Hermione had fainted.
Severus sighed as he cradled her in his arms. "Apparently not. I don't know why Minerva would send her here without telling her first."
"Would someone care to fill me in on why someone that doesn't even like Snape here was just shagging him rather loudly a little bit ago?" Fred asked still perplexed about the whole thing.
Severus spared him a brief glare.
Sirius speaking stopped Severus' retort to the annoying redhead. "We need to move her, lay her down somewhere. Here let me have her." Reaching up and touching her back, ready to take her.
Severus growled. "Do you really believe I'm going to hand you Hermione while she's still naked? Let go and let me at least dress her."
Sirius sighed and let go of her. He watched as Severus waved his hand and they were both instantly dressed again. "I see you didn't fill her in either before you decided to shag her senseless."
Severus glared at Sirius. "I've waited twenty years for her again, Black. You don't get to have an opinion on what I did or didn't do before we did what we did."
"Hello, still waiting for answers here." Fred said, annoying both of the other men in the room.
Severus flicked his hand towards the boy. Muffling him instantly.
Sirius grinned and looked back at Severus. "How and when did she get here? She's early."
Both Severus and Sirius saw Fred waving his arms, not happy to have been silenced. Severus slowly shifted Hermione, and stood with her in his arms. Sirius flicked his wand and the overstuffed chair became a sofa to lay her down on.
Severus bent and gently eased Hermione onto it, standing back up afterward. "She got here a little while ago. I found her in here, but I didn't know it was her. I had disillusioned myself and grabbed her arm, trying to see who she was and how she got here. It's not as though just anyone is supposed to be able to get in here. She turned and punched me in the chest."
A small smile graced his lips as he remembered her doing it, and remembered seeing her fighting the dummies so many years ago. The witch could certainly take care of herself, tiny as she was or not.
Sirius barked out a laugh. "She punched you? Oh, I can't wait to see the memory of that one. You have to let me see it."
Severus glared for a moment, before his lips quirked into a small smile again. "When I took the spell off so she could see me, she didn't believe it was me. I figured Minerva hadn't told her anything at that point, so I filled her in on a little bit. I needed her to know that I wasn't the same boy I was back then. She didn't care. I tried to tell her about all the things I had done…but she didn't care about that either. Then I…we…it's been twenty years, Black. What would you have done?"
Sirius was laughing softly again as he looked down at Hermione's sleeping form. "The same. I would have shagged the hell out of her too. But, I would have at least warded the room and put up silencing spells though."
Severus smirked. "I was distracted."
Sirius barked out a laugh again. "We heard. Damn, she does have a set of lungs on her though. If I'd known she was a screamer like that, I'd have nurtured that crush she had on me as a teenager."
Severus' smirk faded and he growled. "Don't make me change my mind on letting you live and kill you myself."
Sirius chuckled. "You wont now. She's seen me already."
Severus raised an eyebrow at him. "She thinks she's dreaming about you two being alive. I could kill you both and she's never to be the wiser."
Both men felt a tap on their shoulders and turned back to Fred. He pointed at his throat while looking very annoyed. Sirius grinned.
"Why should we let you speak yet, mate?" Sirius asked. "You wont shut up."
Fred smirked and pointed to the Marauder's face and then his own wand. It reminded Sirius that Hermione had hit him with the boil hex.
Even now, the older men didn't know the counter curse. The twins refused to give it to them and at the time, Hermione, before her trip back in time, hadn't known it when they had last seen her. She must have learned it later, after the war.
Severus chuckled. "I think he's trying to barter his voice for your boils that look like they're about to explode any moment now."
Fred nodded with a bigger grin, bringing his hands up and motioning a huge explosion and pointed to his wrist. Making it sound like they were going to blow at any minute.
Sirius sighed. "Fine, take the boils away first."
Fred crossed his arms and shook his head. Sirius sighed again. Damn obnoxious brat is too smart sometimes.
Sirius glanced at Severus with a scowl. "Take the spell away, Severus. Otherwise, I'll let my boils explode all over you."
Severus raised an eyebrow at the man and Sirius frowned, knowing Severus didn't take orders or threats well. "Fine, please give the little shit his voice back." Sirius finally said.
Severus smirked and gave Fred his voice back. Fred kept his arms crossed, making Severus roll his eyes. "You do realize that if he explodes puss on me or Hermione, I will make your life a living hell right? Worse than it is now." The dark man drawled.
Fred shrugged and pointed his wand at Sirius and cleared the boils away. "Is anyone going to explain what the hell is going on? Hermione, when I last saw her, hated Snape here. She hasn't seen him since the war to have changed her mind about him. So why in the hell was she just doing the naked bounce on his damn lap?"
Severus and Sirius both glared at the redhead for his crude question.
"First off…" Sirius said, before with a nod to each other, both men reached up and smacked Fred in the back of the head. Not realizing how much they looked more like friends than enemies these days.
Sirius went on. "The naked bounce? That is your friend you're talking about. Have some respect. Second, things have happened that you have no idea about, so why not shut it until we can explain, which wont be until our little Kitten here wakes up. She is a bit more important than answering you right now. Besides we need to figure why she is here without knowing about the changes."
Hermione stirred and both older men dropped down by her side. Her head turned slowly, but her eyes didn't open. She was listening, but it was silent in the room now. She had stirred at the sound of voices, but they were gone now.
"Hermione?" Severus said her softly.
Hearing that voice, her brain started whirling back to life. Okay, he's still here. So either I'm still dreaming, or I'm still crazy. Or was that the part that might be real?
"Hermione love, you're not dreaming or crazy. This is real. All of it." He told her.
"She didn't say anything." Fred said, pointing out the obvious. "Why would you tell her that?"
Sirius saw Severus getting annoyed again so he spoke up. "You're reading her mind? She's so going to kill you for that later."
"It's not the first time he's done it." Hermione said softly. Her eyes slowly opened and took in each face that was looking at her. "He used to do it quite frequently. I at least used to feel it before. Why can't I feel it now?" She asked, her gaze settling on Severus.
He smiled softly. "I've gotten better at it. Surface scans are not felt anymore when I do them. Are you alright?"
She slowly sat up on the couch, frowning slightly. "I think so. Wasn't this a chair?"
Sirius nodded. "We transfigured it so we could lay you down. How are you feeling, Kitten?"
She shrugged. "Confused. What happened? What changed by me going back? You're all supposed to be dead. I kind of know how Severus is here, but Sirius…you fell into the veil. Fred…you were caught in that explosion and we never found your body. How are you both here? Please tell me that I didn't change things so much that we lost the war?"
Fred was the confused one now, but decided to wait and let the other two fill her in since he hadn't a clue about all she was talking about.
Sirius spoke. "We still won, Kitten. During the Department of Mysteries battle, Severus here shielded Harry and me from getting hit by Bellatrix's curse and shot me with a stunning spell at the last second to knock me out. From his position, he knocked me away from the veil, but instantly disillusioned me so no one knew I was there. You all thought I fell into the veil with me disappearing. Harry got angry and took off after Bellatrix to meet Voldemort, which was how it was supposed to go down according to Minerva."
Hermione looked at Severus. "But…you weren't at that battle. You were at Hogwarts, if I remember correctly"
He took her hand. "I showed up and kept myself disillusioned so no one knew I was there. Minerva showed me the memory pertaining to that battle and I knew how it would go down. I placed myself just right to knock Sirius out of the way of falling into the veil. I blocked the spell meant for Harry that Sirius tried to block with his body.
Severus took a breath before going on. "Then, instantly hit him with a stunning spell and kept anyone from seeing he was still there until I could move him. It all went down so fast that no one really saw what happened anyway. Dumbledore knew what I had done and started saying that Sirius must have fallen into veil to keep the time line in place. Only we know that Sirius is alive. The story is he died there at the Ministry and he had to remain dead until your return."
"Return from what?" Fred asked, still not understanding. They had never said why he couldn't leave the house after the war; they just didn't let him leave. Saying that if he ruined their careful planning they'd kill him.
Severus growled at the interruption. "Would you just wait? Sirius, I don't know why you had to save him. He's an annoying little ponce."
Hermione looked at Sirius. "You saved Fred?"
Sirius shrugged. "Kitten, I didn't know he was supposed to die. I showed up at the final battle to help out while using polyjuice potion so no one knew it was me. I saw Fred dueling some Death Eaters and went to help. I cast a shield around us both when the explosion happened. I pulled Fred with me as I went to fight again, but ran into Minerva."
Sirius smirked. "She saw Fred and knew he was supposed to be dead at this point and dragged us both to an empty classroom and locked us inside. We couldn't get out. Especially since she used a body-binding curse on us to get us to go with her. She came back later, after the battle and found Fred and me still in the room. I was back in my normal form again since my potion had worn off. She explained to Fred that he was supposed to be dead and sent us back here, along with Severus. Remus and Minerva are the only ones that know we're all alive."
Hermione sat stunned. "So do I still not know you're all alive?" She asked.
Fred was even more confused but the other two shook their heads no since they understood what she meant. Severus spoke. "Love, you still think we're all dead, so everything should still happen the same way again that it did."
Hermione sighed in relief and took in Fred's extremely confused face. "He doesn't know?"
The other two shook their head again. "No. We didn't want to tell him in case he somehow got free from here and was spotted. We didn't want him to spill everything and change too much." Sirius said.
They heard the front door open and slam shut. Sirius and Severus both stood, blocking Hermione to protect her and raised their wands as Remus and Minerva came running down the hall, calling for Hermione.
Both men lowered their wands. "We're in here Minerva." Sirius called out.
Remus and Minerva came into the library and saw them all gathered around Hermione. "Thank heavens. It took forever to find Remus and I figured she would want him here for this. Plus…I'll be so glad when all the protective wards on this place finally end. Albus was a dear for setting this house up but it's a pain in the arse to get inside it. Took me over an hour to get past the wards."
Hermione smiled slightly. Minerva came over and sat next to her. "My dear girl, I was supposed to tell you everything before you saw them. I didn't know you would grab the portkey so soon. Why did you even touch it?"
Hermione blushed. "I was shocked to see it on your desk. I…I gave it to Lily for Christmas and didn't know why you had it."
Minerva sighed. "It would be nice if Albus would have told me about the damn figurine. All he said was he had that key made just for you. He said it would only work once and that's it. You're the only one it would work for too. I'm sure he knew it had some kind of sentimental value if he used it, and it was Lily's. Though I have no idea how he got it."
"I gave it to him." Remus said. "He saw it at Grimmauld Place and asked me about it and if he could borrow it for a few years. We found it at the Potter's house after they died. It was buried under all the rubble and I picked it up. Lily must have placed an unbreakable charm on it. She loved it. It reminded her of Hermione."
Hermione smiled sadly. "How I wish I could have saved her. I loved her so much. James too." Tears stinging her eyes at the memory of her dear friends that died.
Severus squeezed her hand. "She loved you too. She was frantic to find you after you left. But after Albus pulled her aside a week later, she seemed happy again. I don't know what he told her, she never told me. I didn't understand, but I was so upset about losing you that I didn't press the matter."
Lily had stayed his friend until the end of her life. They never had the blow up that ruined their friendship during their seventh year. All because Hermione had come into his life.
Minerva smiled. "I know what he told her. He left me many memory vials. He pulled her into his office and said she had to swear not to breathe a word to anyone except James and only if he vowed not to speak of it either."
All eyes fell on Minerva and waited for her to go on. "He told her the truth, well part of it. Told her that Hermione was really from the future. That she was the best friend of her future son. He told her many things about Harry, nothing that might damage the future, but things a parent might like to know. What he looked like, that he was good at Quidditch like his father. Things like that."
Minerva sighed. "He explained that Hermione hadn't wanted to leave, but had to go home. Told her that her son would be devastated if she didn't return. Lily was happy to learn that all the times Hermione had spoken of Harry, she had meant her son. Happy to know Hermione was safe and that she would see her again one day, thinking she'd get to see Hermione grow up. Albus didn't correct her since the thoughts kept her happy. Lily did tell James and he got to know what an amazing son he'd have and was happy to know that he'd see Hermione again too after just a decade or so. That he'd get to watch her grow up with his son ."
Hermione felt a tear slip down her cheek. She had wanted to tell them what an amazing son they'd have one day. "I'm glad they knew a bit about Harry and what he became before they died."
Severus moved to sit beside her, putting his arm around her as she cried softly against his chest. "Love, they had a good life. Short as it was. They had love, and great friends, minus Peter. They knew how their son would turn out to be and knew he'd have a dear friend in you. They were happy."
Hermione sniffed, and Remus handed her a handkerchief. She gave him a watery smile. "Thanks Remus."
He gave her a smile and a wink. Minerva sighed. "Well, since you are a week early in your arrival, I guess you're stuck here with them. I don't need two of you wandering around the school."
Fred had been patient but no one was explaining anything that made sense. How had Hermione given Harry's mum anything? "Okay, is anyone going to fill me in on what exactly is going on?" He asked in mild annoyance at being left out for so long .
A/N: I dedicate this chapter to all of you who hated Fred and Sirius dying, like I hated it too. Okay, next, we'll see a more of her first night back. More coming soon. Take care everyone and Please, leave me your thoughts.