Author note: Wow, less than 2 months since I last updated! Makes a change from the usual 18 months

Song of the chapter: 'Never' - All the luck in the world

Enjoy!!

SL xxx

Silence had fallen over the hospital wing; long shadows of silhouettes still working hard on injuries ghosted the walls. Hermione and Harry sat by Ron's bed in a separate corner of the wing. A curtain hung around them.

Ron was sleeping now. His fingers twitched every few minutes. Nerve damage, they had heard Poppy telling Severus earlier. He would take a while to recover, but he definitely would, which would be more than some people.

Hermione was staring out of the window. Darkness had fallen over the castle, and stars littered the sky. Albus had instructed both of them to leave, rest, and get something to eat, but neither wanted to. So they stayed with their friend in comfortable silence, reminiscing about the day.

Severus had gone to brew more potions for Poppy, and Harry's mind drifted back to earlier. He remembered fingers in his hair, desperate slight tugs when one got caught. He remembered the smell of Earl Grey as he buried his face in Severus' chest. He had never been so relieved to see someone in his life. But that was all it was: relief. It was all over, and he was glad to be safe. Seeing Severus safe was just another bonus. But he couldn't shake the itch, that it wasn't just relief he was feeling.

"I can't believe they managed to separate us three," Harry whispered, not to wake the sleeping Ron.

Hermione snapped her head back at the voice. Harry had barely said anything in the last couple of hours. Just simple 'I'm fine' when anyone asked him how he was.

"There were too many of them," Hermione said.

"We fight best as a team, and look what happened when we were separated," Harry said, glancing down at Ron's still figure.

"What's happened has happened. Let's just be thankful that we are alive." Hermione said, resting her hand on top of Harry's. Her thumb making small circles on the top of his.

Harry leaned his head back in the chair and shut his eyes gently. Hermione saw the one tear leak from his eye. It was so unlike him to cry. Always so brave. The weight of the world on his teenage shoulders.

"I could have done so much more," Harry whispered. Opening his eyes and quickly wiping the tears away. "Could have tried to save them, all of them." He turned to look Hermione in the eyes. "Did you see the bodies?" He didn't wait for her reply before continuing. "Tens of them were just on the street I was in. How many lives were lost today?"

"Stop it, Harry," Hermione said sternly. She had seen this path before, and it was an awful one. Why did he have to blame himself? "You have done enough. You will always do enough." Hermione said. Her hand turned his over, so she now held his hand in hers, "Don't go down this pathway. You are enough."

Harry lightly squeezed her hand and turned back to Ron.

"I want Colin to have a hero's funeral. He could have turned and hid in a shop, but instead, he fought right to the end." Harry spoke determinedly.

"He will." Hermione agreed. "They all will." Silence overcame them once more. They watched Madame Pomfrey check on all patient's vital signs. They had both offered to help many times, but they had been assured she wanted nothing from them but to sit with their friend.

People slowly trickled out, and with one look at the clock, Harry realised it was dinner time in the great hall. Not one part of him wanted to go. The idea of more stares and people asking him questions made him want to scream. He just needed time to process what had happened that day. Process what he had done and what he hadn't. More than anything, he wanted to talk to Severus about this. He would know what to say and would be calm and assertive. His eyes drifted back to Ron, who was sleeping soundly.

He heard the door creak open and heavy footsteps approach. He recognised the feel of the hand on his shoulder before hearing Hermione speak.

"Oh, Professor Snape!" Her shock was evident in her features.

Harry turned his head slightly to see the hand on his shoulder. He felt himself physically calm and then felt the hand fall. He watched as Severus moved around to talk to both of them.

"I thought you, too, would be at the great hall. You must have not eaten since breakfast?" He asked, staring questionly at them both.

"I don't think we're hungry.' Harry said quietly.

"Well, I don't believe that for a second," Severus replied before pulling up a chair near them. It had been a long day.

Harry could see Hermione straighten up more in her seat.

"Well," Severus said once more. "I was just coming up to bring some more potions for Poppy. I also remembered I had this particular one in my personal stores, which would be helpful for Mr. Weasley," he said, producing a small purple vial from his pocket. He reached over and handed it to Hermione. "It's nothing much, just a small pain potion, but it will help him greatly with the headache when he wakes. As someone who has suffered this fate more times than they can count, once you recover from the physical pain, the headache will almost be too much to bear."

Hermione let the potion roll around in her hand slightly. A slight glimmer shimmered back and forth with Severus' neat handwriting, including the name and date on the bottle.

"Thank you, Sir." She spoke quietly. "That's very thoughtful of you."

Harry shifted in his seat.

Hermione watched silently as Severus's eyes glanced over at him. His eyes took in the sight of the young man, and Hermione could almost see him suppress a sigh. Hermione had never seen Snape look at anyone this way before. He seemed to truly be concerned for the state of Harry's health. She wondered while they were fighting how many others had been fighting, too, and had lost their lives. She noticed a white bandage protruding from his shirt.

"Were you injured?" She asked, his head snapping from Harry to her immediately.

"Only a small cut." He replied, instinctively reaching up and touching the wound. "Courtesy of Mr Malfoy."

"Draco?" Hermione asked, shock evident in her voice.

"No, his father." Came the short, curt reply. Harry's head shot up, eyeing the bandage he could see.

"Oh." That was all Hermione said in reply.

"Well," Severus said, standing abruptly. "I understand what it's like not to want to face people, so I will have Nolly bring you up some food. Maybe you have some homework that needs finishing? It will take your mind off things. Perhaps she can also bring up some books for you?" Severus questioned, eyeing the two Gryffindors in front of him.

"Actually, professor, the only homework I haven't completed yet is yours," Hermione said.

"I will get Nolly to bring up some of my potion books then.' Severus said a matter of factly.

Hermione softly smiled and nodded her thank you.

"Miss Granger, I trust you to give these potions to Poppy when she has a spare minute," Severus said, handing Hermione a cloth bag, which clinked when it dropped into her hand.

"Of course," she replied, standing up to take it. Harry, too, stood.

"And if she is too busy, you can easily give Mr Weasley that potion yourself." He spoke again, nodding to the potion on the table by his bed. "Don't be seen after curfew." He spoke again, nodded them goodbye, and then headed to the door.

Harry and Hermione both recognised the warning 'don't be seen' rather than 'don't be out' and instantly were very grateful.

"Wait!" Harry said, walking quickly to match Severus. Hermione watched him out of the corner of her eye as she once again took her seat next to Ron and slowly reached for his hand, trying not to watch the couple walk towards the door but failing.

"Thank you for today, for your help. For everything, really." Harry said softly when they reached the door of the infirmary.

"I don't really think you needed my help. You had everything under control." He looked at Harry intently, his mind wandering quickly to his hands wrapped in his hair.

"But I needed you, so thank you." Harry replied sincerely, and before Severus could even utter a 'Your welcome, ' he was aware of Harry's hand wrapped loosely around his waist and a head lying lightly on his chest. Severus had not even been able to move his arms around him before Harry let go.

"You're welcome", Severus said, the words he was about to reply before the hug slipped from his lips.

Harry smiled softly and opened the door for him, letting him walk through, then wandered back to Hermione.

Hermione, who had, of course, seen the whole thing, quickly turned her head back to Ron so Harry would be none the wiser of what she had just witnessed.

Not even ten minutes had passed when two steaming bowls of Shepherd's pie appeared on their laps and a mountain of creamcakes on the table beside Ron. Nolly appeared with Severus' personal potion book in her hands, a quill, and some scroll paper in a little bag on her back.

"These are for you, Miss." She said, putting the books and bag down by Hermione's feet. "Snapey is hoping they help." Nolly smiled brightly at Hermione, who thanked the little house elf.

"Harry, Snapey is requesting you eat and relax. Look after Mr Weasley. He will be seeing you later." With one click of her fingers, Nolly was gone.

Harry smiled softly at the shepherd's pie in his lap, picked up his fork, and immediately started to eat. The smell alone was enough to make him realise how hungry he was.

Hermione eyed Harry while she, too, picked up her fork.

"Did he know this was your favourite or just a lucky guess?" She questioned him.

"I mean, I told him weeks ago, so he must have remembered." Harry said, shrugging.

"That's kind of him. Please say thank you for the books when you go home." She said, putting the bowl on the table beside her. Her appetite was still not entirely back.

She flicked open the books intently. Little handwritten scribbles highlighted most of the pages. Hints and tricks on how to improve simple recipes littered the pages. Scribbles of old calculations were crossed firmly out, with new measurements written next to them.

"It sounds so silly, but I didn't think you two spoke like we do?" Hermione said absentmindedly, still flipping through pages.

"What do you mean?" Harry questioned.

"Things like favourite food and just chatting." Hermione shrugged.

Harry paused slightly too long before answering.

"I mean, we live together, Hermione. We chat every evening."

"No, of course, of course!" Hermione replied, looking directly at him now. "I just, oh, I don't know what I'm trying to say." She chuckled and went back to the book intently.

Harry watched her flick through the books. The significance of Severus lending Hemione his own personal studies had not been lost on either of them.

The two once again fell into silence; only the tiny sounds of Harry's fork hitting the bowl broke it. Harry could sense Hermione had more to ask, and he could feel the questioning feelings about his relationship with this man. Questions Harry was unsure if he didn't want to answer or didn't know how.

"I suppose I should tell you something," Hermione spoke quietly once more. She closed the book, keeping a finger between the pages she was reading. At Harry's silent look, she continued. "I like Remus. An awful lot." She gulped. "Down at Hogsmeade, he um, he kissed me."

Harry raised his eyebrows and still said nothing, so Hermione continued.

"I don't want things to be strange between us and him and you, so just tell me if you don't want this to happen, and it won't. I don't want to do anything that would jeopardise our friendship," she rambled. "You mean the world to me, Harry and I couldn't-"

"Hermione, stop." Harry chuckled softly. "I'm just surprised it's taken this long to happen. I think it's wonderful. Anyone who can find someone in this horrible situation is lucky, and I'm just glad you found someone as wonderful as you." He smiled gently.

Hermione would have lept from her chair if she had been anywhere else but instead reached out her hand and smiled brightly at Harry.

"You have no idea how much that means to me." She smiled at him. "I think… I think this could genuinely be something wonderful." She said tentatively.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Harry whispered.

Hermione nodded.

"I think so, too." He smiled softly at her.

Ron let out a loud snore and shook a little.

Harry and Hermione giggled slightly, Hermione going back to her book.

No sooner had Hermione opened the page again, the door to the infirmary quietly swung open. Hermione turned her head at the footsteps to see Remus striding in.

Remus avoided her eye while he walked to the 3 of them.

"How is he?" He asked no one in particular, glancing down at the sleeping Ron.

"Recovering. Nerve damage, but Poppy has done a wonderful job, and Severus has given us some more potions for him." Harry said delicately. Watching Ron breathe up and down.

"Great," Remus replied. Harry knew him well enough to know something was on his mind.

"Hermione, just a quick word outside if you're not busy," Remus said, finally catching Hermione's gaze.

Hermione also knew Remus well enough to know something was bothering him.

Harry watched them both walk out of the room and smiled gently. At least something good had come out of today. A beautiful union between 2 of his closest friends meant the world to him, and if anyone would deal with what Remus went through every month, Hermione definitely could.

He remembered his conversation with the Weasleys over a month ago and how wrong they had been. How wrong Severus had been. Remus deserved love and someone who would love him in return, and he wouldn't not pursue this. This was Hermione, the strongest witch Harry knew and one of the kindest, most understanding people he knew. If Remus deserved anyone, it was Hermione, and Hermione was the perfect person for him.

Unbeknownst to Harry, the conversation behind the door was not one he or Hermione had expected.

"I just wanted to apologise." Remus had begun when the door had shut behind them.

"Apologise for what?" Hermione asked immediately in response.

"For what happened in Hogsmeade." Remus gulped and looked down at the ground. He sighed deeply before looking at her again. "It shouldn't have, and it won't happen again." He said matter of factly.

"I'm actually glad it happened," Hermione replied quickly.

"Be it may, it shouldn't have," Remus said firmly again.

Hermione watched his hand twitch slightly as if he thought he might reach out to her, but he mentally stopped himself.

"I don't understand," Hermione said, confused.

"Hermione, you're the smartest witch I know. You know why I can't allow this to happen."

Hermione tilted her head slightly to the side. She knew what he was saying but still wanted to hear the reasons.

"No, I don't really." She said, crossing her arms. "Please enlighten me."

This time, Remus reached for her hand, and Hermione let her arms unfold. She tentatively let her hand be held in his bigger one. Scarred skin touching her softly.

"You deserve the world, and I can't even give you an ocean." He said softly, eyes glancing at her hand in his. Sadness was evident on his face.

"I'd be happy with a lake with the right person." She spoke softly, willing him to look at her with her eyes.

"But I wouldn't be happy with you settling for the lake." That was all his reply was.

Hermione turned her hand over in his and took his other in hers.

"Remus, please look at me." She pleaded gently. "I understand what you're trying to say; honestly, I do, but you're talking to the wrong person. I want to fight these laws with you; I want to help make everything better for you, for a life that we could potentially have."

"And I think that's amazing that you're willing to do that," Remus interrupted, "but I don't want to ask that of you. I want you to be able to live the life that you want to lead, and I don't think that is with me." Hermione went to speak. "No, Hermione, it's not with me, and it won't ever be. These laws can not be overruled, I would never be able to give you children, you could never legally be anything more than a girlfriend, and there are so many other things that would stand in our way to live a normal life."

Remus could feel his anger bubbling slowly, and he willed it not to come out. No one liked an angry werewolf.

"I want to help these things! You know I want to help in the ministry. I could help change these laws! Together, we could prove that you deserve more rights!" Hermione started to shout passionately before lowering her voice once more.

"No, Hermione. I'm sorry. I don't want to start anything I can't see through to the end." He dropped her hands. "Especially not with you."

Hermione felt like the room was spinning. She had been overwhelmed and delighted when Remus had kissed her mere hours ago, and of course, those feelings had quickly been shoved aside within seconds to continue helping down in Hogsmeade. She was aware she had liked Remus for weeks if not months now, and she was aware it hadn't felt like other crushes before, but she had told herself to keep it hidden, keep it locked away for fear of ruining any relationship with Harry. She hadn't allowed herself to think or daydream about him, but sitting quietly with Harry and Ron her mind had wandered. She had pictured quiet evenings with Remus, busy Saturdays spent with the 4 of them, small dates and days of laughter shared with him, and it had gone. She had allowed herself just a few hours of an imaginary relationship, and it had all gone, and the worst thing about it was Hermione understood why.

Remus was too kind to allow himself to be loved by someone. Even the Weasleys had said it. He wouldn't put the person he loved in a situation where they may not be happy with him anymore, where they may want more in life.

She has pictured years down the line of herself advocating for werewolf rights, using her and Remus as spokespeople to show the world how, with potions and regular checkups, werewolves could live a completely normal, healthy, and wonderful life.

She had even pictured Severus showing his potions to the crowd.

She had imagined a time when they lived happily together in a cosy cottage, music playing gently as they sat on the sofa, reading books they would recommend to each other as soon as the last page had been turned.

She had never allowed herself to picture marriage or children, she hadn't allowed herself to go that far yet, but she had imagined a happy loving family of two.

She has pictured a life—a life with someone she knew would have been her person. She just knew it.

Hermione has been quiet for just a touch too long.

"So I guess that's final then?" She asked him softly.

"I'm sorry." Was all his reply was again. Hermione opened her mouth slightly and closed it again, back in her little imagination of a relationship that never started.

"You know I'll always adore you," Remus said, touching her upper arm tentatively. Hermione scoffed. As if that was supposed to make anything better, she thought bitterly.

"We'll have to be friends for Harry." She said bluntly.

Her sadness was rising in her chest. She needed to leave shortly before any tears started. She could feel them in her cheeks.

"We'll always be friends," Remus said. Hermione took one more look at him.

"Of course." Was all she replied before nodding her goodbye and walking to the infirmary door again, determined to put some distance between herself and the man who, in the last few hours, she had envisioned years of her life with.

She wiped tears desperately from her eyes, praying quietly Harry wouldn't see them. She had nowhere else to go. She could run to the common room, but waiting for her, there would be prying eyes and a million questions that she couldn't face right now, and then an emotion set in that she didn't see coming.

Guilt—an overwhelming amount of guilt—engulfed her and made her tears come faster.

She was crying over Remus, a man who didn't even want her.

People had died today.

She had helped people survive, patched up life-changing wounds, and held the hands of people too weak to carry on breathing.

Yet she was crying because the imaginary life she had built for herself was no longer coming true. She felt disgusted with herself.

She would continue living, finish school, get a job, make new friends, and fall in and out of love. She would see the sea, see the sun, go on holiday and get caught in rainstorms. And yet, here she was, crying real tears because Remus had left her down in the most gentle way possible.

Harry was up on his feet the moment he saw her hand wipe her face.

"Please don't think I'm a horrible person." She sobbed gently. "I'm crying because Remus told me he can't be with me. I'm not crying about deaths or what happened today, and I hate myself for it." She sniffed.

Harry hugged her tightly.

"You're allowed to have feelings." Was all he said in return, letting Hermione sob quietly into his shoulder.

When Harry's shoulder was damp with tears, Hermione realised tears could be caused by multiple reasons.