Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while--Finally I have some time again! (Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up before too long…) Thanks be to all who've clicked on this story and enjoyed it enough to come back and read again! I really appreciate the support. Hope you're still enjoying it.

Red hair and a white dress lay in the grass. Pale skin caressed the green. A warm breeze went through Severus' heavy black hair. His chest felt heavy; he watched from a distance. The strapping James Potter lay next to Lily; they laughed, they smiled. Severus leaned against his shady tree trunk. Seventeen and springtime; they were all ready to leave school.

SS

Snape calmly sipped his strong black tea. The frizzy-haired individual in the bed next to him stirred and calmed. Letting out an aggravated sigh, Snape paced to the window. He absolutely detested the sterility of hospital rooms: off white walls, cold sheets, uncomfortable furniture, simultaneously dim and harsh lighting…A small cough sounded from behind him.
"Sir?" Hermione tried to sit up; she could not.
"Miss Granger, do stay still. Your body has suffered enough. No more messes to clean up, if you please. Do you recall what happened?"
"I—I fell--"
"You fainted, you had a serious seizure, Miss Granger." Snape was calm and cool, as if their heated argument had, in fact, not occurred. What was he up to?
"I'm in St. Mugno's, aren't I?" Hermione's voice was weak, as if her throat had folded in on itself.
"You've been here for a week, to be exact." Snape surveyed her. She felt uncomfortable under such an appraising glance. She must look awful…"Are you hungry, Miss Granger?"

Famished actually, she realized. "Yes, thank you."
"There seem to be sufficient neural wounds that developed parallel to your shoulder injury," Snape seemed to blurt out, deciding it was better to be blunt than gentle.
Hermione nodded, her neck was sore. "What—what does that mean, sir?"
Severus scowled. "It's difficult to say. Your potions have halted the development of any more damage. However, I do not know if the current damage is repairable."

"Sir…" Hermione blinked, catching her breath, "why are you being civil towards me?"
"Excuse me?" That was not the right way to test the waters, Hermione knew now.

"I--I just mean, we had fought before I—I--"

"If you must know, Miss Granger, you are frustrating. There should be a potion compound to cancel out the effects of venom. I daresay I cannot figure it out--" A cloud had appeared over Severus' face. A young and worn-thin looking nurse drifted in the room.
"Ah, Miss Granger, you're awake."
Hermione blinked; she didn't want to deal with extraneous outsiders right now.
Snape snapped towards the woman, she visibly flinched. "Miss Granger would like some food. Preferably soup--" The nurse nodded and left quickly, either out of respect or fear.
"I don't like soup," Hermione mumbled when the nurse's heels had tapped down the hall.
"Now you do," Snape said, raising his eyebrows. "Now, Miss Granger, I have a proposal for you--"
"Seriously, sir, why are you acting--?" Hermione was getting annoyed by his conduct.
"Miss Granger, I am identifying that you are an invalid--"
"I am not!" Hermione said loudly, sending herself into a coughing fit.
"You dare to disagree?" Snape raised an eyebrow, starting to tower over her, "Miss Granger, I am not pretending to pity you. You have a relatively grave condition that, if you let me, can be researched and perhaps solved,"
"Why? Why the insufferable know-it-all?"
Snape paced towards the window again, "I will completely understand, Miss Granger, if you feel you would like to transfer to the Weasleys and live life to the best of your ability--"
"What do you mean, 'best of my ability'?"
"Miss Granger, do not pretend to not understand your condition! It's a scientific miracle you survived the bite--"
"Because of you--" Hermione said shakily.
"Because of--" Snape's breath, barely noticeably, caught. "Because you were not meant to get--"
The nurse slipped into the room again, rolling a rickety tray with a steaming bowl of something.
"Oh," Hermione directed her attention towards the nurse, "may I have release papers?"
The nurse glanced at Snape, "You have to ask your guardian, miss--"
"I'm—My parents are--" How was she to explain her parents' living in Australia, not even knowing her name?! "Really, I'll be eighteen in barely two months, I can make my own decis--"
"Miss, do you not know your guardian is right there?" The nurse nodded towards Snape.
"No, no that's a mistake--"
"It is not, Miss Granger." Snape said, constrained.

"I'll leave the soup here," the nurse awkwardly glanced at the two people and scurried from the room.
"What exactly has happened?" Hermione was going red with annoyance; to be in a bed was one thing, to not have control of her own life was…

"Miss Granger," Snape said, clasping his mug with both hands, "while you were unconscious, they needed to have someone to sign forms and agree to treatments--"

"What have you done to me?!" Hermione's voice climbed several octaves.

"Well," Snape took the seat next to her bed, "I was trying to explain that two you--" Hermione opened her mouth. "If you will please, Miss Granger, shut your mouth and listen." Hermione crossed her arms. Snape closed his eyes for a few seconds, collecting thoughts.

"I am proposing a different treatment option for you than what St. Mugno's wanted to provide. The potions supplied from my previous experiments, which have since been perfected, have helped you so far. However, the neurological complexities were not taken into account when you were bitten…There could be a way to cleanse your system of the venom still coursing through your veins. There is absolutely no guarantee that more experimental potions will work. Nor would it be an easy alternative. There would be pain and sleepless nights. The venom is a silent killer, no matter what. To live, you will have to face death first. And you will have to listen and take my directions…Your arm is doing better," he motioned to her no longer bandaged shoulder, "you'll have scabbing for a while and a scar. That will not go away. But it would be rather…unfortunate to see you waste more of your future for more sentimental purposes." Hermione's brow furrowed. Looking at her with an almost hint of thoughtfulness in the very back of his eyes, Snape said, "Eat your soup, Miss Granger. It will get cold. I will leave you to your thoughts." Snape then abruptly hoisted himself out of his seat and walked out of the room. Hermione blinked. What could she say, what should she say? Glancing sideways at her soup, she pulled a hand through her tangled hair. She surveyed the legs lying in her bed; she'd lost weight. Testing her shoulder, she found that it was not very painful to move around; scars…she thought. What had she done to herself?

A piece of parchment and a quill appeared at her eye level. Snape looked down his nose; "release papers. Do as you wish."

"Y-yes, sir. I'll take the offer."

A moment of astonishment and relief crossed Snape's face.

"Very well. Eat your soup, you'll need all the strength you can get."

"I'll eat the soup if I can have some proper clothes, please."

HG

In a comfortably oversized grey sweater and jeans, Hermione followed Snape out into the main hall of the hospital. "Miss Granger, I realize you will be quite tired after traveling by floo, due to the time you have spent in bed. I, however, have some supplies to retrieve. I can drop you off and let you settle into the guest quarters again--"

"I won't be in the hospital wing, or…?"

"Miss Granger, even you should know that intense potions means a practice of not only discipline but care and attention. For at least the next several months we must be in close contact; we will not be able to rely on a stable effectiveness of a potion, and must always assume there will be gross side effects."

"Right," Hermione nodded. "Wait," Snape gave her a perplexed stare, "will there be a bond?"

"'Bond,' Miss Granger?"

"Like between gravely ill patients and doctors, so doctors can be alerted when a patient has crashed, or--"

"If you have no objections, then yes. At least for the next few months."

"Right," Hermione nodded again. A pang hit her heart, where for a few seconds she missed Ron. But she was far too curious about Snape's altered attitude to let it bother her for long.

Stepping in front of an empty fireplace, Snape inquired, "Shall I return you to the guest quarters?"

"What do you have to buy, sir?"

"Books."

"Please, may I come along?" excitement twinkled in Hermione's eyes, and some healthy color rose in her cheeks. Steady rows of leather spines could cure a thousand illnesses, for her.

"As you wish, Miss Granger," Snape said, taking a deep breath. "Flourish and Blotts," Snape's voice boomed as green flames rose in the stone enclosure.

SS

"Miss Granger," Snape's voice was insistent, "you must go to bed and rest. I will prepare potions and directions--"

"May I please help, sir? I mean, it would be a brilliant learning experience. And the book is so old--"

"Miss Granger, it is only from the 1800s, where there appeared the most amount of snake attacks--"

"And you are thinking there is a potion in there to aid nerves?"

"Perhaps, Miss Granger. There are no guarantees."

"May I at least look at the book?"
"You must rest. Dinner will be at 6:30. I will cast the bonding charm then. You need food and rest to gain some strength. We start the process in the morning." Snape turned on his heel and headed toward a dark door in the corner of the main room. "If you need anything, I will be in my study. However, I prefer you to not bother me. If you have any problems, contact a house elf."
"But I don't believe in house--" but Snape had already gone into his study.

Wandering through Snape's sitting room, Hermione was astonished that he would need any more books. Shelf upon shelf wrapped around the walls, stacked and stuffed with books old and new. "Miss Granger, to bed!" Snape said with cold annoyance.

"Sir, really, I cannot rest. At least may I retrieve my books from my dormitory?"

Snape sighed; pinching the bridge of his nose he said, "I will get someone to send them down tomorrow. You may not go get them, you must conserve any strength you have. If you really must have something to read, you may select from my personal collection. I trust you will not damage anything," he said in a stern tone.

"Oh, thank you, sir."

"To bed, please, Miss Granger. It's for your own good."