Summary: Severus regains consciousness.

A/N: This chapter is a bit of a bridge, thus the title. And as it's not a full chapter, you get double postings this week. You're welcome. ? As you can imagine, there is angst ahead.

Entre-act

Severus opened his eyes and looked around. He recognized that he was in the Infirmary by all the white surrounding him. Turning his head, his eyes grew wide. Hermione was asleep in the chair next to him. But this wasn't the Hermione he knew. She was a young woman, no older than twenty-two.

What was going on?

Had their life bond given her back to him but de-aged her? How would he be able to be with her if he was so much older?

Lifting his hands, he was shocked to see them. There were no wrinkles or age spots; they were as fit as they had been when he was forty.

"Oh! You're awake. Thank Merlin!" Hermione cried as she got to the edge of her seat and grasped his arm.

He looked over at her. "What's going on, Hermione?"

"The experiment… you cast the spell and the cauldron exploded. It's good that I was in the room, or you would have died on the lab floor."

He reached out and covered her hand in his, squeezing it lightly. Suddenly, he stilled.

"Wait, what experiment? What are you talking about? I haven't experimented in years!"

"The potion to determine the future."

His eyes narrowed, and he looked around. Things looked about the same as they always had, but that experiment was ages ago. What on earth was going on?

"I don't understand," he said. "How could this be?"

"Don't you remember the experiment?"

"I do, but…" His eyes met hers as reality hit him. It had all been a dream.

"How long?" he asked with trepidation.

She made a face showing that she didn't understand.

"How long was I unconscious?" he demanded.

"About an hour."

"An hour? An hour? You mean I lived a lifetime in a bloody hour?"

"I don't understand. What do you mean, Severus?"

He looked away from her, confusion filling him. He'd conjured up his whole life in an hour? How could that be?

Hermione's hand squeezed his arm, and he pulled it away from her as if he'd been burned.

This was not his wife. This was a fellow teacher that he was only friends with. His life as he remembered it was… gone. He was nothing now.

Reaching out to him again, she gave him a concerned look.

"Severus, are you all right? Should I call Poppy?"

He wrenched his arm from her grasp again and glared at her. Calming himself, he stopped his glare. She was not to blame for his mind playing tricks on him.

"Please go, Hermione."

"But I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm obviously fine! Please, I want you to leave."

"Severus…"

"Just go!"

She gave him a stricken look and fled.

Severus felt tears coming. He tried to force them away, but he couldn't. His wife was dead, and the woman he was just conversing with had no interest in him whatsoever. The tears came unbidden, falling down his cheeks just like they had when his beautiful wife had passed. A great sob wracked his body as he threw his head into his hands. The tears and sobs kept coming as his grief overcame him.

Poppy rushed to his bedside, but he just waved her off.

"Severus?"

"Please, leave me alone. Please."

She gave him a concerned look but nodded.

"I'll check on you in a little while." Turning, she retreated back to her office.

More tears fell. He was engulfed in agony as everything became clear.

Not only had he lost his wife, but his entire family. His whole life had been a mirage. Nothing had been real, and Hermione Granger definitely did not love him.

A/N: Soooo, how many of you guessed the twist before the twist was revealed? How many of you didn't?