A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

Word count: 810

Warning: mentions of character death, tiny bit of gore

He didn't ask her about what had happened in the past. He knew she'd seen things, probably done things, that she didn't want him, or anyone else, to know about. He could see it in her eyes sometimes, the sadness when she looked at him, the haunted expression she wore as the weather warmed. Something had happened, something she didn't, couldn't, talk about. He never pressed her, knowing if she wanted to tell him, she would in her own way. That's why the declaration she made that morning at breakfast shook him so much.

"You died," she stated, her tone even, almost flat as if she were merely reciting something she'd read in a book. He nearly dropped his coffee mug.

"I died?!"

"Yes, at the end. You died. That was the future I had to stop, I had to prevent. I couldn't allow that to happen, for you to die like that."

"Like what?" he asked, sitting down at the table next to her. His coffee forgotten for the moment. She raised her head, her eyes meeting his.

"The Dark Lord. He ordered his snake-"

"Nagini."

"Yes, Nagini to bite you. She took a chunk from your neck, her fangs sinking into your flesh. It's not clear what killed you, the blood loss or the venom that she sent coursing through your veins. It didn't matter. I couldn't let it happen again."

"You went back to the past to save me? Why?"

"I had to, I couldn't just let you die, not like that, not in pain. After all this time, you deserved peace, dignity, in death."

"I never would have asked-"

"I know, you knew you weren't going to survive the war, you never dreamed of living past the final battle. You never dreamed of finding love, of starting a new life where you're not serving two madmen."

"No, I never dreamed of this, Hermione. I never could have even dared."

"That's why I did it. You would never accept the fact you actually did deserve this, that you deserved love, and I do love you, Severus. I have loved you for what feels like a lifetime, maybe it has been, maybe I have lived more than once, going back, coming home, hoping I'd managed to do the one thing I had dreamed of fixing, without doing more harm to the world."

"How many times?" Severus asked, picking up his mug. He took a sip watching Hermione. She frowned deeply.

"Too many, I saw you die too many times. This time, this last time, the one you know about, the one you remember, it worked. It finally worked and you lived."

"At what cost?" Severus finally asked. He'd wondered for so long what cost she had paid for whatever she'd done in the past. Now he knew what she'd done, but what had she paid?

"I was hoping you'd never ask that."

"If you do not wish to tell me, I will understand."

"It would haunt you though, not knowing. There's a price for wizards and witches who mess with time, we both know that."

"Hermione."

"Twenty years of my own time line. Twenty years less than I should have, but I don't care, I would have given more if asked. I wasn't going to lose you, my life meant nothing without you by my side. Besides, it averages out the age difference a little. You're older than me, you'd have most likely died first, this way, I hopefully will not have to live without you for long," she smiled softly, the sadness in her eyes muting the smile almost entirely. Severus nodded as he took another drink of his coffee. He knew he'd cut his own life line short between being a spy, being tortured on a regular basis, Hermione would still out last him, he was sure of this.

"Then I think it would be best if we lived our lives together until then," he stated, his lips forming a smile, one Hermione noticed quickly. She leaned over, kissing his cheek.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Now, what did you want to do today? And don't say spend all day in the basement working on a new potion. It's a lovely day out," she added, nodding to the stream of sunlight coming in from the window.

"No, I think today would be a good day to gather some more ingredients, in a meadow. We could make a morning of it, pack a picnic lunch?" he suggested slowly, watching as Hermione grew more excited by the idea.

"Perfect," she laughed, "I'll start packing some food while you grab a list of what we need to pick," she stated, rising to her feet. She gave Severus a quick kiss before heading to the pantry to look for their picnic basket, or something she could transfigure into one.