Chapter 107: A Young Heart For The Breaking

{A/N: Guess Who's Back...}

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers-S.S.

Hermione's Childhood Bedroom, The Granger Residence, Muggle World...

Severus Snape thought it absurd that he couldn't even take his own wife home and had been reduced to them sneaking about at her parents house despite the eminent danger and the obvious issue of them possibly finding out about them. Hermione had not been of the mind to care what anyone thought of their relationship as it had been a legitimate one but she knew it would be difficult given the situation with the despot trying to destroy Muggles indefinitely and her husband's curious position as both a spy for both The Order Of Phoenix and The Despot respectively. It was even worse that he'd been her potions professor. Still she refused to give up on them being together especially after all they shared in the past few months and the uncertainty of the war only served to remind the both of them that their days could actually be numbered whether they liked it or not.

Snape resisted the urge to scowl when she talked him into climbing through her bedroom window once again knowing full well what risk it posed. For a moment he thought back to all the times he'd seen boys risk life and limb to see the girls on the grounds even if it meant having to serve detention via himself and Filch, with him being the worst option entirely.

While he had been a long way from being a teenage boy, he understood the sentiment when he looked upon his lovely young wife and the added bonus of never knowing whether he'd live through the coming war or become another of it's numerous casualties, he aimed to take any opportunity he could get to spend time with her like any true Slytherin.

Hermione seemed to be of the same mind as she lead him through the window and into her childhood bedroom. She had taken a moment to sound proof the room as well as ensure they couldn't be disturbed before her notice via a few quick flicks of her wand.

Snape crashed onto the bed, feeling every bit as exhausted as he had looked the moment his head hit the nearby pillow. Hermione had climbed onto the bed beside him smirking about how he looked amid the pink and white pillows despite his aversion to them. She could see for the first time in a long time that he'd been quite tired and the bags beneath his eyes suggested that he had not been getting much sleep for some time.

The young witch rested her head against the dour man's ebony clad chest as they both seemed to lounge in her bed amid the semi darkness and their own mutual thoughts after their discussion on what Dumbledore had attempted to do to them. The news had apparently shaken Hermione to her core, as she couldn't imagine life without her husband. He'd been the sole reason what she had been planning to do to keep her family safe in the near future had been bearable to even fathom. They would be safe from any and all harm, but she would miss them terribly and as a result came to the conclusion that it was better for them not to worry or possibly be killed than to be looking over their shoulders waiting for their end because of the despot and their connection to her.

Snape stared up at the ceiling of his wife's bedroom as his mind had been along similar thoughts, but he'd been far more selfish in his actions than she had. He was of the mind to spend as many moments with her as possible before all hell broke loose with the coming war. He could feel the onset of her fast approaching hatred for him and knew all too well what it would do to him but he pushed it down far into the darkest recesses of his weary mind if only to have the shared moments for later recollection.

He tried his best to forget that she had so foolishly and freely given him her heart. A rather young heart so full of wonder and love only for him to eventually shatter it when the time came. He closed his eyes fighting back the images of the not so distant future that threatened to break him even in this quiet moment. Hermione seemed to sense his distress and clung to him all the more.

"A penny for your thoughts." she said softly as she lied with her head resting against Snape's chest.

The dour wizard slowly ran his fingers through her unruly locks finding the easy peace that passed between them was well worth climbing through the bedroom window and risking being caught by her parents.

"I haven't got much on my mind, aside from you." admitted Snape.

Hermione seemed to smile amid the darkness.

"This war isn't going to be easily won." he said finally as the somber nature of his inner thoughts took hold.

"I know." replied Hermione still clinging to him. "But that doesn't mean it's all doom and gloom we still have a chance at winning this, even if it's the slimmest of chances."

"Your optimism astounds me." replied Snape with a smirk of his own amid the darkness.

"Git." said Hermione knowing all too well what he'd been doing despite not being able to see him. "Hope isn't a bad thing to have you know."

"Not by it's very nature no...but it is dangerous all the same." replied Snape.

"Well it's a good thing we're married." replied Hermione choosing to focus on the much better outcome than her husband. "I suppose I'll just have to have enough hope for the both of us."

And just like that, Severus Snape was reminded of just how much he had loved her and why the inevitable agony he'd suffer when the time came would be his undoing. It wasn't so much that The Dark Lord would destroy him if he found out about his spy work being counter productive or that Dumbledore would lead him astray in his folly. It was the fact that Severus Snape knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would never recover from the loss of his wife's love whether he lived through the war or not.

Lying awake in the darkness of her childhood bedroom. Hermione Granger-Snape had been all in when it came to giving her husband her whole heart and Severus Snape knew all too well that he'd been the one from the very beginning that would ultimately end up breaking it.