Author's Note: First let me thank everyone who had reviewed, alerted, or put this story on their favorites it means a lot to me and keeps me writing.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say that I don't own them? I'm just playing with someone else's toys and do return them in the same shape I have found them (well that may not always be the case).

It was well after midnight before they returned to Hogwarts, Hermione went straight to bed but Severus told her he would join her shortly. He wanted to have a drink beforehand.

What he had really wanted was to sit in the dark and fume about how that man had treated a child, and not just any child but Hermione.

Potter had said that he needed to see what was on the tape, but after they forwarded though some of it. Redding had recorded more than Hermione had even thought about, when they got down to the main reason of the tape Potter stood up after a minute or so turning it off saying he had seen enough. Severus hadn't, he wanted to know exactly what this vile person had done to her. After Potter left he turned it back on, he could only watch a few minutes before he had had enough also.

It had not been easy to not show is anger, if he ever got his hands on Redding he was sure the man wouldn't see the inside of Azkaban let alone dementors. Severus was sure he could make the man beg to be kissed.

Hermione laid in bed awake, she knew Severus had been upset since they watched that tape and now that she was just still her mind was going in circles about how mad he was at her, did he see her for what Conner said, and even Ron.

Maybe coming back to this world was a mistake, maybe she had only been meant to be in this world to help Harry and when that was over she wasn't meant to stay. It seemed everything tried to tell her that, from before she had even chose to go back and be a muggle again.

She knew what the right thing to do was, to allow Severus the option before he could be work himself into being angry enough to force her out. Tears came with the thought, she had found that this time she found Severus to be what she had wanted before. He was trying to be a loving partner that he knew she wanted, maybe it was time to give him what she thought he wanted.

When he finally came to bed he pulled her to him holding her close to him, as he always did. It was hard to make the words come but she knew she must, even if it was just to give him the option.

"Severus, if you've changed your mind I will understand."

Severus loosened his hold on her before turning her to face him,

"Change my mind about what?"

"Us, an apprenticeship, all of it."

"No, I have not changed my mind. Far from it."

"But I thought that…."

"I am angry, but not at you. I'm angry that someone did that to a child, that what he did caused you to not demand more. That you thought you were only….. that you deserved to be treated that way. I wish you had tried harder to tell me that happen."

"Would you have believed me?"

"I would have tried."

"I'm sorry I didn't try harder to talk to you, but at times I was….. scared if I pushed I would push you too far."

She didn't have to say what she really thought would happen if she had done that, Severus knew what went unsaid.

"I wouldn't have done that."

"I know that now, I didn't then."

"I know, I don't hold it against you. I forgive you for not speaking up more, though honestly now I'm not so sure that several things needed to happen before we could get to here, to this time."

"You may be right."

He reached up brushing her hair out of her face before leaning over but he hesitated when it dawned on him that they were in bed and a kiss may not be welcomed.

Hermione closed the distance between them lightly kissing his lips, when his tongue lightly traced her bottom lip she let him deepen the kiss. All too soon he pulled back kissing her forehead before laying back down pulling her to him.

Hermione listened as his breathing evened out, she couldn't find sleep that night as her mind went in circles for another reason. She had figured out while Severus and Harry had went through the study and bedroom that she would never reach forgiveness where sex was concerned until she closed the door on her first experience, and possibly on what Ron had done also. But it also didn't stop her from wanting Severus to snog her silly.

She knew it was crazy to lay here going in circles about kissing, not for the first time she thought that if that was how he kissed always deeply and without reservations then how would snogging be. And on the rare occasions she wondered about sex too, this time would he do that with the same passion that he seemed to kiss her with every time. There had never been any kissing before, and to be honest there wasn't a lot now either. But when there was it was, hot was the only term she could come up with for his kissing. Who knew Severus Snape could kiss like that?

The next morning Severus woke to an empty bed, laying his hand on the pillow he didn't feel any warmth so she had been up for a while now. He laid on his back for some time wondering how he went from a few short months ago to being alone and thinking that it would always be as such to having the one person back that loved him and didn't ask for anything from him but forgiveness for the what he considered tiny things she had done.

He threw his arm over his eyes as he tried to gain a few more moments of rest before starting the day, he closed his eyes. He felt as if he had just closed his eyes when he heard a voice from his past,

"Severus."

"Lily?" Severus sat up in bed looking across the room seeing the red hair young woman standing leaning against his dresser with her arms across her chest, he cocked his head to the side. This was not the Lily that he held after she was killed by the dark lord, this was the one from their youth that never forgave him.

"You must fight Severus, she is your destiny as you are hers." She dissipated in inky smoke as a pensive memory does.

Severus sat straight up in bed looking at the spot where the image from his dream stood. He scrubbed his hands down his face, that had to be the strangest dream he had ever had. When he lowered his hands he saw Hermione standing in the same spot holding a tray saying,

"Breakfast?"

He half smiled at her before saying,

"Sounds good."

Hermione walked toward the bed handing him the tray as she took a seat on the side of the bed picking up a piece of toast and her coffee.

"Smells good."

"Yeah, hold your comments until you taste it."

He shook his head before taking a drink of coffee then asking,

"What are you doing today?"

"I'm going to look into a project for my apprenticeship."

"What are you thinking of attempting?"

"Don't think that I regret what happen, I don't."

Severus thought that maybe she did with a preface like that.

"I want to try to make a potion that will at the best erase at the least lessen the effects of the cursitous curse in woman, specifically reproductive organs."

"I see." He said wondering if she was regretting what happen.

"I just don't want others to go through this. For me I was resigned to the fact after a lot of heartache that children wouldn't be a part of my future, I just don't want another woman to suffer that part of it."

Severus reached over laying his hand on hers before saying,

"Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't had to go it alone."

Hermione turned her hand over to hold his before saying,

"That's in the past, to me you've made up for not being there. I just wish sometimes they hadn't told me anything with the last one."

He rubbed his thumb along hers asking,

"Why?"

"In my mind I named her, it makes her all the more real by doing that."

"What name did you chose?" he had no idea why he wanted to know but at this moment it was all he wanted to know.

"Megan."

Severus studied her for several moments, running the name around in his mind before finally moving the tray to the side table.

Hermione watched him, his hands were shaking as he moved the tray. When it wasn't between them he pulled her to him wrapping his arms around her.

Severus had no idea why but she was right, running the name around in his mind he saw a child. A very real child that had her mother's features but his dark hair and eyes. A child that never had a chance to be, in that moment he realized what had been lost.

Hermione wrapped her arms around his middle, she was struck by his whole body shaking.

"Severus?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head as he buried his face in her hair. Finally she heard him say,

"I'm so sorry, I should have been there for you. I…. I never….. never realized what was lost."

Hermione ran her hand up and down his back, tears coming to her eyes. It took him years but he finally got it, he finally understood. Though now she hated that he did, it was a pain that she wouldn't wish on anyone. Why was it when he finally understood something that she wished he would have, even wished that he would feel what she felt, why did it leave her feeling a lot less triumphant that she thought it would?

"Severus." She said pulling back from him, "I….. hate this."

Author's Note: Comments really do make me smile and brighten my day.

Also I wanted to let you know that I have a couple of Severus/Hermione videos on youtube, the link is in my profile.