A/N- Alright you guys, this chapter was needed desperately, so don't hate for the emotional drama! Things kick up again soon ;) Thank you so, so much for the reviews! I adore when you guys take the time out of your day to tell me what you liked. Adore it. Continue doing it? :D Enjoy!

Severus blankly allowed Hermione to steer him towards the couch. He barely registered her arm around him, rubbing his shoulder repeatedly. His anger was palpable, and Hermione was slightly afraid of what he might do. "Severus...he didn't mean it," she said cautiously.

"Didn't he? Perhaps he finally said what he felt, and his grief simply relieved him of his Gryffindor morals."

"No. Severus, no. Harry respects you greatly. What you did for him changed how he saw the world. Grief makes people lose their reason."

"What about you, Hermione?" Severus replied slowly. "Don't you feel the same? How can you not? I'm tired of being lied to."

Hermione took a step back. Lied to? "Severus, what are you talking about? I haven't lied about anything."

"Don't take me for a fool, Miss Granger. I know perfectly well that you only put up with my company because you are forced to."

Hermione gaped at Severus, unable to grasp what brought on this notion. "I don't put up with your company. I enjoy it, Severus, how could you possibly think otherwise? Especially given recent events."

"People often don't know what they are doing," Severus said stiffly as he glared down at her. "I would not hold it against you if you regret whatever you did."

"Regret?" Hermione stared at Severus incredulously, feeling her anger at his stubbornness rising up. "Regret? Severus, don't you know me at all? Everything I do is something I want to do, you stupid bastard. You aren't as terrible as you think, you know. Yes, you're a bastard, and sometimes your barbs sting a little too deep, but if at any time it was too much for me to handle I would have left. Why can't you see that? I'm not stupid. I'm not under some false illusion. I want to be here, with you. Stop bloody thinking you're too terrible of a person for any one to ever like again, and stop bloody insulting my intelligence!"

"I...that wasn't my intention," Severus replied, shocked at Hermione's outburst. "But I cannot deny the truth to myself." He cringed as the intense feeling nausea grew in his stomach as years of buried emotions and feelings threatened to burst through the walls he had built to hold them down. He wasn't an emotional man, and he rarely showed anything other than indifference, but for whatever reason, Harry's words had cracked the base of his emotional defenses, and Hermione's blind statement only solidified his feeling of self-loathing. She didn't know of the things he did, she didn't know what kind of man he was at the core.

Flashes of people he had killed and tortured flashed across his mind without abandon, and he groaned heavily, placing his head in his hands. What sort of man was he, to kill and brush it off in the name of good? Dumbledore hadn't though Severus would survive the war, and neither had he. He hadn't prepared for the emotional trauma of what he been through in any way, he did it all with the finalizing knowledge that he would die anyways.

Finding out he had a life to live after the war had been startling, and it had taken him the most part of the first year after the war to become a functioning human being. He had nothing to live for afterwards, and he just went through the motions of the day without any real regard for what he was doing. The curse, working on something that was for the good of people, that had given his life a new meaning, but it hadn't erased the scars of what he had done in the past.

Potter's words had brought the blinding pain and guilt of everything he had ever done back up in an instant, and Severus felt his self control crack slowly, the torrent of suppressed emotions threatening to burst forth. His breathing grew strained, and he gasped for breath as his chest tightened painfully as the recollections came faster and faster. If only Hermione could see what he saw, he would be free. Free from knowing that Hermione only liked him because she didn't know the truth.

Hermione watched Severus with growing anxiety. He was trembling with the force of whatever he was going through. Hermione didn't know exactly what he was thinking, but she had an idea. Harry's thoughtless words had elicited a rage in the man that Hermione had seen few times in her life, and she could only guess what the rage had turned into.

Without pausing to think, she grabbed Severus, pulling him back with her, causing him to lay on her. Taking a deep breath, Hermione began to sing as she hugged Severus closer, willing him to calm down. It was a method her mum had used to calm her down when she had been near hysterical about school or something else.

Severus had stiffened when he felt Hermione pull him towards her, but he didn't bother to resist. The gesture had been comforting on a deep, unknown level and he took in one deep, shuddering breath as she began to sing, and relaxed ever so slightly. His mother had sung to him before, before Tobias had started to drink. The memory of Eileen's voice was the earliest recollection Severus had, and Hermione singing to him, and holding him brought him back sharply. Inhaling harshly, he gripped Hermione's arm tightly as a single tear slid down his nose. Allowing himself to take comfort in Hermione was something he committed to memory, because he knew that it could never last. The more she found out about him, the more she would grow to detest him. It was inevitable, so he granted himself this one, small comfort.

Hermione didn't know what exactly it was that she was singing, but she felt Severus relax in her arms, and when he clutched at her arm she knew it was working. Breathing a quick sigh of relief, she warbled on, hugging Severus to her tightly. She had rarely seen rage like his before, and Hermione's instinct had told her he was seconds from releasing whatever pent up feelings and emotions he had been holding back. A release of that magnitude would have only ended up badly, as one was usually not in control of ones magic at times like those.

"From every depth of good and ill, the mystery that binds me still," Severus spoke out suddenly but quietly, the words reverberating through his mind. He never quite knew why that particular poem of Poe's struck him so, but now it rang with an inexplicable meaning.

Hermione stopped singing at Severus's words. She felt tears prick her eyes at the trembling emotion that impregnated the words, and she inhaled sharply. Severus lifted his head, and locked his gaze to hers. She gasped softly at the absolute pain and anguish that burned in the depths of his eyes. His suffering hadn't ended with the war, she realized in an instant. It continued on as if nothing had happened, perhaps even worse. A wave of pity crashed over Hermione, and she stared wordlessly back at Severus as the reality of the life Severus had led hit her with the force of a train. Silently, she wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his neck, drawing him close to her in a vain attempt to convey her sudden understanding, sympathy, and the simple fact that she cared.

"Severus, you aren't that person, as much as you think you are. Maybe once, but not anymore, and certainly not for a long time. I know, I know what you did, what you were forced to do. But I don't hate you for it, and if anyone does...well, they're a blind fool."

Severus wrapped an arm around her waist as he breathed deeply, her warm vanilla scent acting as a balm for his troubled emotions. Her words meant the world to him, but he couldn't shake off the self-doubt he felt, even though he was beginning to feel better. He never quite understood why, but Hermione acted as a calming agent to him. When they slept together, he had not a hint of a nightmare, and it was the same now. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions that were not minutes ago threatening to break through, were suddenly calmer.

In that instant, Severus realized exactly why his Patronus had changed.

For most of his life, whenever the guilt of what he had done threatened to overwhelm him, he had always thought of Lily. His one, true reason for staying alive throughout the war. Just the thought of her, the way she laughed, the way she smiled and his burning desire to repay the terrible things he had done had never failed to strengthen him. But now, just then, Severus realized he no longer needed Lily.

His love for her would always remain, but the need, the need for her was gone. She was no longer what tied him to reality any more.

Severus had no idea what exactly caused it, or why it had happened, but somewhere, somehow, his feelings had changed dramatically. The potion he was working on with her gave him a reason to live, to fight for the lives of others who couldn't for themselves. But he knew then that even after the potion was completed, he would continue having a reason to live, and part of that reason was the witch he clung to now. Feeling all of his anger seep away, Severus exhaled in relief at finally knowing what had happened.

Hermione held on to Severus tightly, something inside her knew he needed her to. Closing her eyes, she willed herself not to cry. The pain in the mans eyes had almost been too much for her to bear, and the reality of exactly how penetratingly deep his guilt about his life ran was rattling to Hermione. The idea that someone could carry around that much emotional agony was beyond her.

Severus slowly loosened his hold on Hermione, and sat back while Hermione remained at his side. Conjuring a watch, he glanced at the time; it was well into the afternoon. "It appears we missed our chance to investigate what my latest research had produced. How unfortunate," he observed dryly.

Hermione stared at Severus incredulously, and then burst out laughing. The morning they had shared had been so deep, so influential on so many levels, and he returned to his usual dry, sarcastic, virtually indifferent self within a matter of seconds.

Severus eyed the witch curiously. Laughter had not been the reaction he was expecting, and he waited for her to be done. "Finished with that ridiculous show of amusement, are we?" He asked once she had quieted down.

Hermione nodded, her eyes dancing with mirth. "I think so," she gasped as she tried to regulate her breathing after the outburst. She didn't question why Severus had suddenly calmed; she knew on some level that he had come to an understanding with himself. Severus regaining complete control over his emotions was no surprise to her whatsoever. Suddenly, her stomach rumbled menacingly, and Hermione was painfully reminded that she hadn't eaten since the previous evening. Severus arched an eyebrow at her body's loud protest at its lack of nourishment.

"It would be in your best interest to eat something, I think," Severus said delicately as he stood up. "It wouldn't be enjoyable to have you faint from undernourishment," he added as he offered her his hand.

Taking it gratefully, they made their way to the kitchen, and Hermione appeased her ravenous hunger. Hermione studied Severus as she ate, slightly unsettled by the change in him. His eyes that had looked at hers, so filled with pain, were now as clear as they ever were and his face was peaceful. She found herself wondering at what exactly had happened to cause such a dramatic change so quickly but she kept silent as she ate her food.

Severus could feel Hermione's gaze on him, and he ignored it stoically. Focusing instead on his food, he quickly cleaned the plate off.

"Harry didn't mean it you know," Hermione said softly once she realized Severus had finished eating.

Severus froze at the mention of Potter's name. "One should never speak what one does not intend."

"I know, and he knows that. It slipped out, he didn't know who or what to think or blame for what had happened."

"He should be blaming whomever is casting this damned curse on innocent people," Severus snarled, his anger returning, but much less intense than it had been.

Hermione nodded quickly. "He should, and he knows that as well. He will apologize for it someday, Severus, and you will have to let him."

Severus scowled as Hermione spoke. If he never saw that damned boy again in his life, it would be too soon. "I am not a child, Miss Granger. I understand."

"I know," Hermione replied softly. "I just wanted to make sure."

Severus nodded curtly, and rose, headed towards the sitting room. Settling himself on the couch, he summoned a book from the library, and started to read. Hermione joined him soon after, settling herself next to him. His arm found its way around her shoulders soon enough, and Hermione sighed contentedly at the contact.

Something fundamental had changed in their relationship that day, and whilst Severus had remained silent about whatever it was that had caused such a sudden change in him, Hermione had the feeling it would show itself soon enough. For now, although she didn't know exactly what it was that her and Severus were becoming, all she knew was that she enjoyed it immensely, and did not want to see it end any time soon.

Yep, very emotional... glad that's out of the way! Poor Severus, it's about time he started figuring himself out!