Hermione woke and rubbed lazily at her eyes, then suddenly shot up from where she was lying on the couch, her heart pounding. How long had she been asleep? Merlin!

"Are you alright?" A deep voice drew her attention to the kitchen behind her, where Severus was leaning against the counter and sipping a cup of tea.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Hermione replied absently, running one hand through her tangled mess of brown hair. "How long have I been asleep?" She rubbed her eyes with the heel of hand, stretching her other arm out and arching her back.

"Not that long, I assure you. You fell asleep last night and it's now about noon."

"It feels like I've been asleep for days."

"You must have slept deeply. That's good."

"Hmm..." She yawned.

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving." Now that Severus mentioned it, Hermione became aware of just how empty her stomach felt. She pressed her hand to her abdomen and felt it rumble beneath her palm. She heard Severus summon Dobby in the kitchen, and then he reappeared a couple seconds later beside the couch with a platter of food.

"Hello, Dobby." Hermione said softly, giving him a warm smile.

"Dobby has Hermy's lunch!"

"Thank you!"

Dobby handed her the platter and bowed, disappearing with a pop. Severus strode into the room with his cup of tea and seated himself in his recliner. Hermione glared at him.

"I didn't mean for you to summon Dobby." She said, spinning her cup of tea with her pinkie finger. Severus raised an eyebrow and reclined, his feet shooting up off the ground.

"Why ever not?"

"He's not our slave!"

"No, but he's a servant."

"Severus!"

"You did not see an issue when you were a lioness and he was bringing you your meat."

"Well, that was different. You couldn't exactly do that on your own."

"And...?" Severus looked at her expectantly.

"And what?" Hermione asked.

"He doesn't mind, does he? In fact, he enjoys serving you. It gives him a purpose, makes him feel useful. It's what he was made to do."

Hermione remained silent for a moment, debating whether or not to argue when she knew he had a point.

"Still. The way other wizards and witches treat their house elves is deplorable."

"I very much agree. But there is nothing wrong with asking Dobby to fetch you lunch."

"Hmph."

Severus gave her an amused smirk over the rim of his tea cup, and Hermione reluctantly raised a piece of buttered toast to her lips.

After she finished her lunch, Severus offered up his shower to Hermione, who accepted eagerly. She felt incredibly groggy after sleeping so much, and was convinced that she would never need to sleep again. She wasn't sure why Severus hadn't woke her earlier, but knowing him and how protective he'd become of her, he would have wanted to make sure she got as much rest and healing time as possible.

Hermione undressed, then moved to stand in front of the small mirror over the sink, taking in her human body for the first time in a long while.

The loud gasp escaped her before she could stop it, and then she couldn't breathe, her throat was closing up, her stomach sinking, her mouth going dry with shock.

"Oh." She mouthed, raising her fingers gingerly towards her throat. On the left side of her throat were two large spots of scar tissue, and on the right side, closer together, were two smaller scars. She brought a shaky hand to her throat, extending one finger and touching her skin gingerly, tracing around the edge of one of the raised scars.

"Oh..." She repeated, swallowing thickly.

Her eyes drifted from her neck, and she realized there were other marks on her body, scars from the curse Harry had cast upon her. She turned slowly in the mirror, her hand falling limp to her side as she took in her marked body.

Hermione didn't know what to do, or think. She wasn't one to think less of someone due to their physical appearance, but it was different when she was thinking about herself. Who would want her like this? And God, Severus... Severus would see what he'd done and he'd never forgive himself. And Harry... Well, at least the damage Harry had done wasn't visible, not like the scars on her neck which Severus would no doubt see, if he hadn't already. But Hermione was certain that he hadn't, for he would have felt too guilty to carry on without apologizing. She couldn't remember in this moment what she'd been wearing since she'd become human, but whatever it was must have been high enough to cover a portion of her neck, including her scars.

Hermione took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Everything would be OK. Her friends weren't so shallow that the would stop being friends with her merely because of her appearance. She should know that, she'd been living with crazy, unmanageable hair for her entire life and Harry and Ron hadn't cared. Surely they wouldn't mind her neck.

But no, they'd ask about it, wouldn't they? Where she'd gotten from, and how. And of course they would immediately jump to the conclusion that it was Severus's doing, his fault... How in the world was she supposed to handle this?

Taking another deep breath, she turned away from her reflection and turned on the shower, picking her wand up off the sink to adjust the temperature before returning it and stepping under the stream of hot water.

What better place to think than in the shower?

The water pressure was strong, and she hung her head to let it pelt onto the back of her neck and down her spine while tears streamed silently over her cheeks.

She lifted her head and took a shaky breath, running her hands over her hair. She needed to get herself together and be smart about this. She could deal with the scars, she would adjust to the sight of them, and eventually maybe she'd be able to look at them without thinking of what had happened to cause them... Being attacked by two of her most favorite people in the world, that is.

But it hadn't really been either of their faults, and she didn't blame them, so that was comforting.

Her school uniform was collared, which would take care of her neck scars. And her smaller, thinner scars from Harry's curse would be hidden by clothing. She knew she wouldn't be able to get rid of them, or even get them to fade, because they were curse scars. Curse scars didn't go away. Severus was proof of that.

Severus.

Severus, Severus, Severus.

She was more concerned about him than she was about Harry, or even herself. He'd see them eventually, and she needed to figure out how she'd handle it.

Should she show him after she showered, and get it over with? Tell him that she was OK with it, that it didn't matter, that her appearance had never been a priority anyways? No, because that made it sound like scars were a bad thing, and really, they weren't... She liked Severus despite all of his scars, and he had an abundance. She didn't think they made him look unappealing or broken. It just saddened her to see them, and to think about all of the torture he'd had to suffer through.

He wouldn't think the same, though. He'd think about how he'd attacked her and nearly killed her, and how he couldn't be trusted around her, how he hurt everyone he came near, how she should leave before he hurt her again. And now that she was human, it'd be easy. Even though Severus had told her as soon as she'd turned back that he wouldn't get rid of her. But, well. This might just make him change his mind.

Severus frowned to himself from where he was still sitting in his recliner. Hermione had been in the shower for a while. Was she alright?

He rose, and strode into his bedroom to the closed door of his bathroom. He leaned close and pressed his ear to the wood, listening for if the water was running. It was, and he could hear something else... Almost like muffled crying.

"Hermione?" He opened the door just a crack, enough so that his voice could carry through the steaming room. "Are you alright?"

'What? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I'm -" And then there was the sound of skin slipping over water and the smack of a body hitting the floor of the shower.

"Oh!" He heard Hermione gasp, and he swore under his breath,

"Shit!" He burst into the bathroom, grabbing the towel that was folded and sitting on the corner of the sink, and rushed to the side of the shower. "Hermione? Are you OK?"

"Oh my God," She said on the other side of the curtain, and he brought a hand to cover his eyes and pulled the curtain back, tossing her the towel while waving his wand in the direction of the shower head to stop the stream of water. "Are you decent?" He asked.

"Yeah," She responded, and Severus dropped his hand and opened his eyes to take in the injuries.

Only she was laughing. Laughing hysterically. She was lying on the floor of his shower with a towel draped over her and she was laughing, tears streaming from red eyes. She hiccuped, then kept laughing, and Severus rocked back on his heels, his eyes widening in surprise.

"I don't... I don't understand. Are you hurt?"

She waved a hand at him, continuing to laugh, and Severus's gut twisted with fear and discomfort. He had no idea how to handle this situation.

"No," She said, and she extended a hand towards him, waggling her fingers. "Help me - hiccup - up?"

Severus rose and gripped her hand, pulling her up from the shower floor. She tightened the towel around herself and gave him a shaky smile between laughs, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me."

"It's quite alright, as long as you're not hurt."

She took a deep breath, finally calming. "No, I promise, Severus. I'm fine." She brought a hand to her head and ran a few fingers through her dark, flat hair. "I still have conditioner in my hair." And then she was laughing all over again, leaving Severus dumbfounded.

"Umm.." Severus brought his wand out and with a murmured spell, Hermione's hair was clean and dry, as well as the rest of her.

Hermione brought a hand to her face, pressing a thumb into her cheek and draping her fingers over her mouth as she laughed.

"Hermione? Hermione, what's funny?"

He reached for her cautiously, full of uncertainty and shock, and gripped each of her arms. He shook her gently.

"Hello?"

She looked up at him and they locked eyes, and her hand slid down from her mouth to her neck. Her face fell flat and as he looked straight at her, he saw her expression change, and suddenly she was crying.

She trembled and she bent over herself, sobbing intensely, and Severus strengthened his grip on her arms to hold her up, pulling her to his chest so he could adjust his hold on her, sliding one arm under hers and wrapping one around her back. She steadied, then leaned all her weight into him, burying her nose into his chest and between muffed cries whispered, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Severus tucked his head into her neck, bringing his lips to her ear.

"What's wrong, Hermione? You've nothing to be sorry for." He squeezed her tighter and stroked the back of her head reassuringly. He hoped he was doing this right.

"I don't want to - hiccup - leave."

"Breathe, Hermione. Just breathe. You aren't going anywhere."

"I - sob -" She brought her arms up and wrapped one around his shoulder, the other she splayed across his chest, using to grab a fistful of his shirt. "I - I don't mind -"

"Don't mind what? I don't understand, Hermione. You're not making any sense."

She was scaring him, and he had no idea what to do. What was he supposed to do?!

"It wasn't - I don't blame - you - I never should -hiccup - have - sob - taken your - wand"

His wand? She didn't blame him? He felt his heart stop in his chest. Oh, no.

He slid his arms out from around her, and pressed them to her shoulders, pushing her back away from him, just enough for him to see...

"Oh, Hermione."

He'd done it. He'd scarred her. Just as he'd known he had, just as he feared he had... How hadn't he noticed sooner? Checked sooner? He'd scarred her, damn it!

He pulled her back to his chest just as she pulled him towards her, and they slammed together, her face pressed into his shoulder again, and his tucked down in the crook of her neck.

"I'm so sorry. I won't push you away, I promise, Hermione, but I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'll do everything I can to remove them, I'll work on a new salve immediately."

"No - I - I don't mind - I just - sniff..."

"What, Hermione? What is it?"

"Idon'twantittohurtyoutolookatme."

She spoke in such a rush that it took him a moment to understand what she'd said, and she must have misunderstood because she suddenly stiffened in his arms.

"See? You - sniff - you know it will. I - I need to - sob - leave."

"What? No! No, you don't!" He said quickly, pulling his face back so he could look down at her. She looked up at him, and he could see she was trying to pull herself together. She sniffed violently, fighting to stop her crying, and he knew then exactly what he was going to do.

He ran his thumb under her cheek, wiping away a few tears, then slowly brought his hand under her chin to tip it back. He looked down at her neck, where he'd once sunk in his fangs, intent on ripping out her throat, and at the scars that had been left from it, and he lowered his lips towards her exposed skin and pressed them gently on the space between the four circles of raised tissue.

Hermione gasped in surprise, but she didn't move away, and his heart beat just a bit faster in his chest.

He brushed his nose along her throat as he raised his head up, their faces mere centimeters from one another, their eye lashes almost touching. He tilted his head, and her lips parted. He brought both hands to her cheeks, one thumb circling her soft skin gently, and then they both moved so slowly towards one another, so painfully, excruciatingly slow, until finally their lips touched just slightly.

Severus had never felt anything like it.

God, it was amazing. Her lips - he felt like they'd shocked him, and enveloped him, and healed him, and energized him, and made him complete, and the thought flitted across his mind that he definitely didn't deserve this, shouldn't be doing this, didn't deserve her, and then it was gone as she moved her lips against his just slightly, and brought her fingers up to wrap around his wrists, and he lost himself in the moment and the feeling, and then just as soon as it had started, it was over, and he pulled away. He took a moment to catch his breath, since it seemed his body had forgotten it's need for oxygen, and he locked his eyes with hers.

"I need you to stay. I want you to stay." His voice rumbled deeper than he'd ever felt it, and his fingers burned where they still lay against her cheeks. God, she was perfect. He couldn't ever be without her.

He waited, his entire body tense with the fear of rejection, each second ticking by like an hour until finally, finally, she smiled up at him and stretched on her tiptoes, pressing a brief kiss to his lips before pulling back just slightly enough to whisper against his skin,

"Then of course I'll stay."

A/N - Ahh! Sorry it's been so long! I've had a bunch of projects for school (gross) and some other stuff going on where I haven't really been able to write, but I promise you - even if it's been a little while since I've updated, I have NOT abandoned the fic! Writing this is my favorite thing, and I wouldn't do that to you all, especially since you've been so good to me! So I just wanted to say sorry for taking so long, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)