3rd May 1998

Hermione knew it was late when she woke the next day. The sun was already high in the sky, and she felt truly rested for the first time in what felt like days. When she sat up in bed and stretched, and woke fully, her stomach felt like it plummeted to the ground.

Harry and Ron, she remembered, feeling more nauseated by the moment. There was no way she was going to be able to avoid them. But she didn't want to tell them everything yet. She wanted to speak to Severus first.

Hermione took her time in the shower, and spent much longer drying her hair than she normally did. It felt strange seeing the wild brown, bushy mane of curls on her head once again. It was almost like looking at an old friend when she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Obviously the sleek, long, black hair that she had charmed for so many months was easier to manage, but she preferred her natural curls.

When she decided she couldn't stall any longer, Hermione grabbed her beaded bag, and made her way down to the common room.

There weren't many people there. Harry, Ron, and Ginny sat in their usual spots in front of the fire. Neville was sitting on the floor with them. Seamus and Dean were sitting close together at one of the tables normally used for studying. A few of the Sixth Years sat together at some of the other tables, and a handful of Fifth Years were clustered near the portrait hole entrance. Everyone was either silent, or speaking in hushed tones. It reminded Hermione of a wake. In a way, she supposed, it was.

"Morning, Hermione," Ron greeted her, as she walked over to her friends.

Harry and Ginny, who she noticed were holding hands, looked up and gave Hermione a nod. Neville gave her an approximation of a smile.

"Morning," Hermione said softly to her friends.

It was strange that she'd had roughly six months to grieve over those who had been lost, yet it was so fresh to all of those around her. Obviously she was still deeply saddened by all the death, and the realization that she would never see Amelia or Remus again felt like a punch to the gut. But a part of her couldn't help feeling like an imposter, standing there, joining in on their hours old grief.

When Hermione didn't move, Ron patted the space next to him. Hermione swallowed reflexively. How was she going to break all of this to him when he was grieving the loss of his brother?

"Erm… actually, I'm not staying," she said, then watched Ron's face fall.

Harry looked back up at her again. His eyebrows scrunched together.

"Where are you going, Hermione?" he asked.

She couldn't do this now. She still needed time to think of how she would explain. Right now, she needed to get back to Severus.

"I have to step out for a little while. I - I promise that I will explain later, but right now, I really need some time to myself," she told them, with a hint of desperation in her tone.

Ron's brow furrowed.

"I can come with you," Ron said.

"No!" Hermione shouted.

Ron's ears went red, his eyes narrowed. Hermione felt her cheeks flush.

"No," Hermione repeated, this time more softly. "Thank you, Ron, but I really just want to be alone for a bit," she lied.

Ron looked as if he were going to speak, but Harry cut him off.

"It's alright, Hermione," Harry said gently. "I definitely understand how it feels to just need some time to yourself."

Hermione smiled. This was why Harry was her best friend. Besides Severus, he seemed to be able to read her better than most.

"Thank you, Harry," she told him.

Harry smiled back at her.

"We'll be here for you when you get back," he promised.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief, said goodbye once more, and made her way out of the portrait hole.

When she arrived at St. Mungo's she walked past the reception desk, and hurried her way to Severus' room. When she got there, she saw that he was again sleeping, as a Healer ran diagnostic tests over him with his wand. The Healer turned once he was finished, and saw Hermione hovering in the doorway.

"Otto?" Hermione asked.

Otto smiled at her.

Now that she got a better look at him, and wasn't overcome with sheer panic, she realized she should have known it was him at once. Yes, he had a little bit more forehead, and less hair than she remembered, but the dimples and infectious smile were still very much the same.

"Hello, Hermione," he said.

"How did you -" Hermione began, but Otto shook his head.

"Come on," he told her, and gestured to the door. "Let's let him rest, and you and I could talk elsewhere."

Hermione nodded. She was almost bursting with questions, and followed him at once.

The pair walked down the hallway, and stopped in front of a door that said, Healer Bagman on the glass. He opened the door for her, and indicated for her to enter.

It was a small office. Otto's desk dominated most of the floor space, which had two chairs in front of it, and four large filing cabinets behind it. Hermione plopped into one of the chairs in front of the desk, as Otto took a seat behind it.

There were several photos on his desk. His family, she assumed, as she saw Otto, a very pretty brunette, and two small girls, who both inherited Otto's curls and smile, stood waving from inside the frame. Hermione couldn't help but smile, seeing the happy family.

As she looked back at Otto, she took a deep breath.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked.

Otto let out a loud laugh. "Amelia, of course," he said.

Hermione's brow crinkled in confusion. How did she know? Then, a pain of sadness came over her at the mention of her old friend. How she wished she could have seen her again.

Otto must have read Hermione's expression.

"I know. It was a terrible loss when she was murdered," he said softly. "And Edgar," he added, looking down at his intertwined fingers upon his desk.

Hermione swallowed down the rising lump in her throat. Her eyes prickled with unshed tears.

Otto looked up and locked eyes with Hermione. He gave her a small, lopsided grin, which made him nearly look like the seventeen year old boy she remembered.

"It was Remus who told her," Otto began to explain. "Just over four years ago. I believe it was the year the Ministry issued you a Time-Turner, if I recall correctly."

Hermione nodded. She did receive a Time-Turner her third year. But that was not when she used it to travel back to the year 1976.

"I didn't use it then, though," said Hermione. "Technically, it was yesterday morning, after Voldemort had been defeated by Harry."

Otto winced when she said, Voldemort, and she noticed a touch of color left his face.

"Yes, Remus told her that he didn't believe you had traveled back yet, at that time. You were still too young."

Hermione suddenly felt slightly irritated with Remus. Why would he have told anyone of her true identity? Did he not think it was dangerous to do so?

"Who did Remus tell?" Hermione asked.

"Just Amelia," Otto said. "They had lost contact after they split at the end of our seventh year, but he didn't feel right not telling her, is what I was told. She then told me and Sturgis. Edgar was…" he hesitated, "already gone. She felt, as we were your closest friends at that time, that we had the right to know. All of us vowed to never speak of it to anyone."

She supposed that made sense. Now that she thought about it, Sturgis was always very kind to her, every time she would see him at Grimmauld Place the summer before her Fifth Year. She always assumed that he was just a kind man, but knowing that he had known who she was, his almost immediate familiarity with her did not seem so strange now.

"I'm so sorry, Otto," said Hermione quietly. "About Edgar," she clarified.

Otto's eyes were uncharacteristically somber.

"I'll always miss him. And Amelia," he said.

Hermione's eyes watered.

"I wish I could have seen her again. I would have loved to explain in person. She," Hermione sniffled, "was one of the best friends I've ever had."

Otto reached across the desk and patted the back of Hermione's hand.

"She couldn't wait to speak to you," he told her. "Amelia always said that you, too, were one of the best friends she ever had. Despite everything, I know she was dying to reconnect with you, when the time came."

Tears freely flowed down her cheeks at those words. Damn Voldemort all the way to the deepest pits of Hell for all the lives he had taken.

"I have to admit, though," Otto went on, now smiling. "We all had quite a laugh at those ridiculous articles Skeeter printed about you a few years ago. We all wondered if somehow she knew."

Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"Did she?" she asked.

Otto shook his head, chuckling.

"No. Not as far as any of us know," he told her. "We all then understood why it seemed like you hated her so quickly, and so intensely, though."

Hermione let out a snort.

"The vile cow," she hissed.

A wicked sparkle came into Otto's eyes, as he laughed at her.

"Viktor Krum, huh?" he asked with a smirk. "If I'd have known you had a taste for Quidditch players, maybe I would have played my cards better back then." He winked at her.

Hermione couldn't help it, and a laugh escaped her, as she shook her head.

"Haven't changed much, have we?" she joked.

"Nah, not really," he told her. "Neither have you. Quite literally, actually." He chortled at his own joke.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled despite herself. Then just as quickly, her smile disappeared.

"Severus?" she asked.

Otto's eyes softened.

"I have complete faith that he'll make a full recovery, Hermione. That antivenin of yours saved his life. Without it…" he trailed off.

A flicker of hope sparked in her chest. Surely Otto wouldn't have lied to her. He saw their relationship firsthand, and knew how much Severus meant to her. He really would be okay then, wouldn't he?

Hermione started to rise from her seat. As much as she loved catching up with Otto, she really was anxious to see Severus again. To see with her own eyes that he really was well, and alive.

"He needs rest, Hermione," Otto cautioned, guessing why she was rising.

"I won't wake him," she promised quickly. "I just…"

Otto's eyes, although disapproving, filled with understanding. He gave her a small nod.

"We must catch up properly sometime," he said to her.

Hermione smiled as she made her way to the door.

"I would like that," she said. "And thank you, Otto. For saving him."

Hermione was sat at Severus' bedside, again reading a book that she brought with her. She alternated between the pages, and glancing up to make sure he was still breathing, every few minutes.

Just over an hour passed, and she heard him stirring, then he coughed. When he looked over and saw Hermione sitting there, his lips twitched.

"Back again?" he asked sleepily, his voice still much rougher than she remembered it.

Hermione felt her face redden at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him, and felt her lips turn up into a reflexive smile. Even bandaged and wearing hospital gowns, he was still the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Yeah," she responded lamely, and felt her face flush more deeply.

Severus stretched, and then shifted to sit up. His mood seemed to slowly change as he fully woke up. His brow furrowed, and his lips formed a straight line.

"Why?" he asked.

Hermione was confused. Her eyebrows pulled together as she tried to understand his question. Wasn't it obvious?

"Why?" she repeated.

His expression changed again. He wasn't her Severus. He was Professor Snape. There was no warmth in his eyes.

"Have you damaged your hearing in the last twenty-four hours?"

She hated the sneer that formed on his face. A part of her wanted to slap it off of him.

"Why are you being like this, Severus?" she demanded, her voice sharp as glass. "You were perfectly fine with me yesterday."

A snort escaped him.

"I was under the influence of many pain potions," he told her in that dry, sarcastic tone she had been so familiar with in the Potions classroom at Hogwarts.

Without even intending to, Hermione abruptly stood from her seat. Her book fell off her lap and thumped softly on the floor, near her feet. Her eyes narrowed at him, and she placed her hands on her hips.

No. No, he was not going to speak to her like this. He was not going to treat her this way! Not after everything she had done. Not after everything they had gone through together. She was not allowing Severus Snape to fall back on his way of being cold and cutting to protect himself. Not again, she wasn't.

"Don't!" Hermione shouted.

Severus' eyes narrowed to slits, and he opened his mouth to speak. Hermione cut him off.

"No. You are going to listen to me, Severus Snape! You are not going to do this!"

"Do what, exactly?" he hissed.

Hermione was sure a Healer would interrupt them at any moment, as a shouting match didn't quite constitute as rest, but she didn't care. Her temper was flaring.

"This!" She waved her arm out in front of her. "Speak to me like I'm some errant child! Like we never meant anything to each other!"

Her chest was heaving. She was quite sure, if she had been holding it, that sparks would have been shooting out of the tip of her wand.

Severus sank back into his pillows. He looked away from her.

"That was a long time ago," he said in almost a whisper.

"Not for me it wasn't," she countered.

Severus snorted again. He looked back up at her. A fraction of the frostiness his eyes just held had melted away. His expression still wasn't as open and warm as it had once been towards her, but he didn't appear as if he hated her at that moment.

"So you still love me?" he asked with another sneer.

Hermione rolled her eyes and let out a loud sigh.

"Of course I do, you… you…" she was struggling with what to say, "absolute arse!" she yelled. "Why the hell do you think I worked so hard to save you?"

Severus then did something that rendered her completely silent. He laughed. His body shook from his laughter, which caused him to grimace in pain. He stopped suddenly, but the smirk did not leave his lips.

"What is so funny?!" she nearly shrieked. Hermione actually stomped her foot as she shouted at him.

"Arse?" He raised an eyebrow. "That was the best insult you could come up with?"

Hermione growled in frustration. He laughed again.

"You are - the most - infuriating wizard I have ever met!" she said through her teeth.

"But I thought you loved me?" he asked, his voice saturated with sarcasm.

Hermione growled again, then sat back down.

"That doesn't mean you don't do my head in at times, Severus," she retorted.

As she looked up at him, she began to see some of the warmth come back into his eyes. He looked at her for a long time, without saying a word. Hermione started to become a bit uncomfortable with his scrutinizing gaze. She began to fidget.

"I'm sorry," he said so quietly, she could barely make the words out.

"For what?" she asked.

He looked away from her. She noticed he was tugging at the sheets that covered his legs and half of his torso. Was he nervous, she wondered?

"Like I said before, for me, it has been a long time. You were my student. I don't -" she watched him swallow, then flinch in pain. "I don't know how I'm meant to speak to you now."

Hermione's irritation deflated. Yes, for her everything between them had just happened, and ended. For him… well, he would probably have needed some time to process it all.

"I didn't think of how strange this must all be for you," she admitted.

Severus snorted again. "Strange," he repeated. "I suppose that is one way to describe it."

Hermione exhaled loudly, then sank back into her chair. She reached over and placed her hand on Severus' forearm. He froze, but didn't remove his arm from her touch.

"So what happens now?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Severus was quiet for a long time. Hermione's heart raced. Surely he wouldn't still want her. She was not his Hermione in this time period. She was not the long, dark haired peer that he had fallen in love with. She was now the bushy-haired know-it-all, whom he had spent six years teaching. How silly she was to have hoped they could have continued right where they left off.

Finally, Severus spoke.

"I'm not sure," he whispered.

Hermione felt herself deflate, as she removed her hand from his arm. This was going to be it, wasn't it?

"I - I need some time," he said, turning his head back to look at her. "I need time to think."

Hermione nodded, and tried to blink away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

"I understand," she told him, her voice hoarse.

Severus cleared his throat, and again grimaced from the pain.

"We will discuss… everything," he looked away, clearly uncomfortable. "Once I am out of this blasted hospital. I give you my word," he promised.

Hermione nodded again. She suddenly felt as if she couldn't speak. She was sure that if she tried to speak, she would have lost the little bit of control she was clinging to, and would have broken down completely.

"But for now," he continued, "I need to rest."

Hermione stood again from her chair, and clenched her beaded bag in her hand. She took a shuddering breath, and nodded a third time.

"Should I come back?" she asked, her voice quivered.

Severus exhaled through his nose, then shrugged his shoulders.

"If you must," he said.

Hermione nearly smiled, remembering him speaking those exact words when she first tried to help him with his non-verbal magic. Once again, she took, if you must, as a yes.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she told him.

He shrugged again, and mumbled something that sounded strangely like, insufferable. Her lips twitched again. She patted his arm once, then made her way towards the door. When she closed the door, she could have sworn she heard Severus say, "tomorrow then," softly from behind it.

When Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room, her friends were still in the same spots she had left them in. They all looked up as she walked towards them, a million questions in each of their eyes.

"Hi," she said, as she stood before them.

She twisted her fingers as her anxiety began to rise. Now. She had to do it now. Before she lost her nerve.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked, giving her a scrutinizing look.

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond. Was she alright? She supposed she could have been a lot worse. No, she and Severus did not have the sweet reunion that she had hoped for. However, deep down she knew that wouldn't have been the case. Regardless, Severus was alive, and that was what truly mattered. So, she supposed, she was alright.

"I'm fine, Ginny. But, I do need to speak to you all," she said, avoiding all of their gazes, but especially Ron's.

"Of course," said Harry. "What about?"

Hermione looked up, and into Harry's eyes only.

"Can we do it somewhere else? Somewhere we won't be overheard?" she asked.

Everyone agreed and followed her out of the portrait hole, through the castle, and out into the grounds.

Here goes nothing, she thought.

ooo

A/N - Thank you again everyone for the kind words and support! I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter! I do just want to throw a little PSA out there. I received a not so nice, and completely non-constructive review on an early chapter of this story. For those of you who do not write, or even those of you who do, and decide to comment on people's stories, ask yourself this before you do. Is this constructive, or just rude and cruel for the sake of being rude and cruel? Not everyone is going to like every piece of fanfiction out there, and that is more than okay. But what is not okay is to leave something that will make the author feel like shit, just for the sake of being a jerk. You never know what someone is going through, and why they might be writing. It takes no energy to just back out of a fic, and go find something else to read, you don't have to be unnecessarily mean in the process. Just a little food for thought. Truthfully, the positive monumentally outweighs the negative, when it comes to those of you who have reviewed this story, but ask anyone who posts fic, the negative will always stay without you, no matter how much you try to tell yourself not to let it bother you.

Anyhooo *steps off soapbox* I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Next update will be up next Saturday as usual! Have a great weekend, and week ahead!