A/N: Wow! I am so flattered by the support of this fic so far. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Thanks as always to my beta, the lovely AdelaideArcher.

Chapter 2: Greetings, Headmaster

I was glad that as the room reformed around me, Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen. I was in his quarters, after all; I had a feeling that popping in on him getting undressed or coming out of the shower would not have been a good way to start my task.

I looked around the room and wondered what to do: go and find him, or wait? In the end I decided it would be best to stay hidden under the cloak behind the couch near the wall, just in case Snape didn't enter his rooms alone. Of course, I had no idea what kind of private life the man led, but it wasn't worth the risk. What if he had secret Death Eater meetings up here? For my own safety, I certainly hoped not, but better to hide until I was sure.

An hour later Snape had still not appeared. Getting impatient, I calculated that it was probably around 6 o'clock in the morning, and I realized I had not slept in a very very long time. I leaned against the back of the couch because my back and legs were beginning to ache from sitting in the same position for so long, and shifted underneath the Invisibility Cloak to find a more comfortable position. I hoped Professor Snape wouldn't be too much longer. Maybe he was still asleep?

The next thing I knew, my eyes were flying open as the cloak was pulled away from me, and there was a loud shout of "Expelliarmus!" I felt my wand leap out of my pocket, and followed it to the long, pale fingers of the left hand of Severus Snape, who was standing over me with his wand drawn.

It wasn't the introduction I hoped for, but I scrambled to my feet, cursing myself for falling asleep. I could only assume I had moved in my sleep and become visible underneath the cloak.

"Miss Granger?" said Snape incredulously as I stood before him, a look of slight shock on his face. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" He looked around quickly, his eyes shifting to the corners of the room, and I knew he was looking for Ron and Harry.

"How did you get into my chambers? Where is Potter?" he asked swiftly.

"I am alone, Professor Snape," I said, stepping towards him. He took a step backwards and scowled at me.

"Then you are stupider than I imagined, even for one of Potter's friends," he spat. "How do you know I am not going to kill you right here?"

"Because I know you're on our side," I said with a smile, feeling more confident than perhaps I should have given the way Snape was glaring at me. But I saw his eyes flicker for a moment as I said it, and knew I was right.

"How do you know this?" he asked smoothly, lowering his wand, though he still held mine in his other hand.

"You told Harry, in the future," I said, figuring it was okay to be honest with him about travelling back in time; he'd know eventually that there was another me out there. I couldn't tell him what the other me was doing, but at least I could tell him this truth.

"That still doesn't explain why you are here. What do you want? If anyone found you in the castle—the Carrows—well, it would not be pretty; I could not protect you," said Snape.

"That's why I didn't go through the castle," I said.

"What do you mean you didn't go through the castle?" asked Snape, his eyes darting to the closed window, and then the fireplace.

"Well, I did in the future, but I promise, in this time I have not been out of this room," I explained.

As if on cue, the rising sun spilled through the window to my right, its golden rays landing on the Time Turner around my neck, making it glint in the light. I saw comprehension dawn on Snape's pale face, and then he looked up at me again.

"I am here to help you," I said, trying to look more sure than I felt under his scrutinising gaze.

"Help me? And who says I need help from you?" he snapped. "Leave and tell whatever meddlesome idiot that put you up to this that I am doing perfectly fine on my own."

"You are, and you will do fine for about eight more months," I said slowly. "Then you are going to need my help." Trust me, please.

"Then why come now?" he asked, still sounding angry, but at least he was listening and not screaming at me to get out, which seemed the other likely option.

"Why don't we sit down and I can explain?" I asked, my calves starting to ache and the two couches looking terribly comfortable right then.

"You will tell me now or I will hex you out of this room so quickly you won't know what hit you," spat Snape. So much for being willing to listen, I thought. At least he hadn't just gone and hexed me without warning.

"That would not be wise," I said carefully, thinking I might as well drop the whole truth if it meant I could get him to listen to me, "if you plan on surviving this war."

"And what if I don't?" said Snape. I blinked, taking a moment to go over what he said in my mind. No… no, certainly he couldn't want to die at the end of the war?

"Professor," I said uncertainly, sure I had misinterpreted his words.

"I will be the master of my own fate," said Snape, his eyes flashing. "Go back to your own time, Miss Granger. You are not wanted here."

I couldn't believe it: the man honestly wanted to die. Was my rescue mission to end so quickly? No, I couldn't give up yet. I couldn't go back without really trying. I didn't need to listen, did I? He wasn't my professor anymore, and Dumbledore had said to save him.

"No," I said, drawing myself to my full height and jutting out my jaw. "I'm going to help you."

"I will not allow it," hissed Snape, closing the gap between us. I thought he might hit me then, but instead he grabbed the Time Turner and pushed it into my chest forcefully enough I had to take a step back.

"Go home, Miss Granger," he spat, staring down his long nose at me, his eyes the colour of the lake in the depths of a frozen winter night. I stared back at him, and noticed he looked tired: sweat beaded across his forehead and there were bags under his dark eyes.

"No," I said once more. This man needed my help. I couldn't fail him. He had no one else.

"Then I will force you," he said, grabbing for me once more. I ducked and ran behind him, and before I knew what I was doing I ripped the Time Turner from my neck and threw it on the floor with all my strength, finally crushing it under my foot.

Snape screamed behind me and I covered my face with my arm as spell hit a jar on the shelf behind me, spraying the room with tiny shards of glass. Then I turned back to Snape, who was shaking in rage on the other side of the room, his wand pointed at me once more.

"You stupid, stupid girl!" he shouted, his face contorted into a mask of purest loathing.

"I am not stupid!" I shouted back, drawing myself up again, feeling frustration building inside me, bubbling like a hot spring in my chest. "In fact, it's clearly the opposite!" I shouted. Stupid, stubborn man!

"Excuse me?" asked Snape dangerously.

"You heard me! What kind of stupid man turns down help during a war? What kind of stupid man wants to die?" I screamed at him, refusing to back down. He wouldn't listen to politeness, so maybe he'd listen to rudeness; it was certainly the way he preferred to communicate.

Snape stared at me in return, his face now emotionless except for his burning eyes, and I realized suddenly that he did not know how to respond. I allowed myself a small smile, knowing this was my chance.

"Now kindly sit down so I can explain everything, or so help me God, I will make your life a living hell for the next eight months," I said firmly.

"What is stopping me from throwing you out right now?" asked Snape, making me want to scream and rip out my hair. Why couldn't he just listen to me?!

"You won't," I said, playing his bluff. No, he was on our side; Harry said so and Dumbledore said so. He would not throw me to the wolves now that I had no way to return home.

"How do you know that?" he said coldly.

"Because, as I said, you're on our side," I said, "and I trust you." It was true. Harry trusted him and Dumbledore trusted him, so I trusted him. I always had, hadn't I, except for the past year? Even when Ron and Harry were convinced he was evil, I knew Snape was a good guy; I knew it!

Snape glared at me once more, but the steam seemed to have dissipated from his frame, and I knew I'd finally managed to get him to listen. He flicked his wand and the glass shards disappeared, and then he lowered himself to the couch, perching like a bird.

"Thank you," I said, honestly relieved, and sat on the couch opposite him. I put out my hand, and he grudgingly gave me back my wand, which I stowed back in my pocket.

"Who sent you here?" he asked. "Who put you up to this?"

"Dumbledore, of course," I said. Wasn't it obvious? He was always the one with all the plans.

"But Dumbledore—"

"—is dead, I know," I said, interrupting him, "but his portrait hangs downstairs and still has more brain cells than both of us." Snape inclined his head, which I assumed meant to go on.

"Let me make this clear," I said, trying not to sound too bossy, "without my help, you will die a horrible, painful death at the hands on Voldemort in eight months. With my help, you have a chance to survive."

"And why should it matter if I survive?" asked Snape, without the anger in his voice this time. "I am not afraid to die."

His words made me suddenly sad. I knew what it was like to put your life on the line when it mattered, when you needed to fight, but to give in so easily when there was still a chance to live? It was beyond my comprehension.

"Because you deserve to," I said simply, deciding to be honest with him once more. "I know about your past, and no one deserves to live more than you, except maybe Harry."

Severus's eyes flashed again as I spoke about his past, but then his face returned to its emotionless countenance.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"I know about your childhood, about Lily, and the prophecy, how you begged Dumbledore to save—"

"Enough!" he shouted, turning his head to the side so his face was blocked by long sheets of ebony hair. I stopped talking, thinking this time I would give him a moment to calm down. When he said nothing after some time, I decided to speak again.

"Surely you must see how you deserve to live," I said quietly, praying he did.

"What I see is none of your concern," he replied, and I wished for a moment I knew Legilimency, so I could see what was going on in his mind. But I didn't, and I didn't know what else I could say to convince him he ought to try to live.

"Then we are at an impasse," I said, feeling somewhat defeated, but unwilling to give up all hope. I still had eight months to figure something out.

"So leave," said Snape. "Go and bother somebody else."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," I said. "Laws of time and all that."

Snape's brows stitched into furrows above his long nose.

"You're stuck with me, I'm afraid," I said, leaning back on the couch. And I'm stuck with you.