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!

FYI: I'm still in search of a beta so if anyone cares to volunteer or has any suggestions I'd be forever grateful.

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).

Severus jumped forward grabbing for Hermione before she fell, he wasn't quick enough and end up going to the floor with her.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

"My head." She panted out.

He pulled his jacket open pulling out a small bottle while asking,

"Pain?"

"Yes." She hissed at him.

"Drink this." He said placing the bottle into her hand.

In her ear he whispered,

"I didn't mean a word of it Hermione, not one word."

"Could have fooled me." She said.

"What!"

Severus looked up to see a red faced Redding looking down at them.

"Do you know why that spell doesn't work and has not been in use in hundred years or more? Because a simple pain potion counteracts it. Idiot."

Suddenly Severus remembered the man, he was a follower of the dark lord not a marked one. He looked the man up and down before saying,

"I remember you now, it wasn't my information that was faulty. It was your failure that killed your wife, I remember when the dark lord ordered it so."

"You lie."

"No, it was you inability to lie."

"No."

"Yes, you didn't do as the dark lord commanded and he deemed that if you couldn't maybe if your wife was gone that the next time you wouldn't hesitate."

Three aurors came in during Severus talking taking Redding into custody as Harry came up to Hermione still on the floor in Severus' arms.

"Are you okay 'Mione?"

"Yeah, I am." She turned to look at Severus asking,

"Is it really over?"

"I more than made up for it though, every mudblood, every muggle I could get."

"What is he talking about?" Harry asked.

"He was a low level follower of the dark lord, not a death eater. The dark lord would order followers to commit acts to prove their worth, he didn't do what he was suppose to, I would think that if you can get him to talk you'll find a fair few unsolved rapes in his wake."

"Go home, I'll take care of this." Harry said.

Hermione tried to stand, all that pain that had felt like thousands of hot needles in her head made her weak. Severus helped her stand before the three at the counter came up to her saying,

"Come back to visit soon and we'll explain it to you." Nick said as they each kissed her cheek before letting Severus apperate away with her.

When Hermione opened her eyes she wasn't where she had expected to be, when she said home she thought he would take her to Hogwarts. Then she looked up at him, no this was home. Not the house, but the man still holding her.

He helped her up the stairs and to dress for bed, when she crawled under the covers followed by him he wrapped her up in his arms tightly before saying to her,

"I'm sorry I said those things, I just wanted him to think you were not important to me. If he thought that then he might have let you go."

"I know, it's okay." She yawned. "Is it really over?"

"Yes it's really over."

"Good, now I can close that."

"Yes you can."

She was asleep in moments, Severus laid there with her in his arms. That had been way too close for him, he almost lost everything tonight. He never wanted to lose her, his angel. His Hermione.

Hermione woke with a start, she looked over at Severus when his arms tightened around her. She looked around the room, her room at her house. Then everything came back to her, the café, Redding wanting to get to Severus, using her because she was a mudblood.

She managed to get herself out of bed without waking him, she went to the bathroom first then sat in the chair in the room pulling her legs under her as she looked out the window to the street below. Things were so clear in her mind now, she wondered how that happen. Before when she tried to think about it, it always seemed fuzzy like trying to see though a thick fog. Now it was like that fog lifted and she could see.

Of course the images were ones she'd rather forget, things she had forgotten were there now. She had always thought it was one time that Connor drugged her, boy was she wrong it was close to ten but now she remembered. She remembered his hands on her, the memory causing her to shiver as she sat there.

Severus woke to an empty bed, he rolled over to see Hermione sitting in the chair looking out the window. He could see the tears running down her face, he went to her kneeling in front of her before saying,

"Hermione, what is it?"

She slowly looked down at him, the next thing he knew she was in his arms sobbing. She was trying to tell him about what happen to her but he couldn't understand her save for a few words. When she finally calmed she sat back against the chair saying,

"It wasn't my fault."

"No it wasn't."

"It wasn't yours either."

"No it wasn't."

"He took my virginity."

"Yes he did."

"I couldn't give it to who I wanted to have it, like I even knew who that was at the time."

"Yes."

"He wanted me to kill you."

"Yes he did, but he didn't count on one thing. Girls always have crushes, I don't know one year since I've been teaching that at least one girl didn't."

"I suppose so."

"Though they are usually Slytherin."

"Not always."

"No, not always."

"I didn't have a crush on you."

"No you didn't."

"At the end of my sixth year you broke my heart."

"I know." Somehow he knew that what he had done broke a lot of people's hearts.

When she didn't say anything else he finally asked the question that he had been scared of since he laid down with her.

"If it had not been for Redding's influence would you have bonded yourself to me?"

Hermione stared at the window for a long time, so long that Severus thought she wasn't going to answer. Finally she looked back at him before saying,

"Yes I would have, what he did was not create the feelings I had it was more like enhance them."

"I still hurt you again."

"Yes you did, but I don't want to talk about it right now. I want to settle everything he did, it's time for that to be over in my mind."

Severus reached over taking her hand in his, she turned her hand clasping his.

"Let's go back to bed." She said.

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.