Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine. I just borrowed them for a while. I promise to put them back when I'm done. Oh, nope, no money either...just for fun.

I want to give a great big thank you hug to EverMystique for combing through this to point out my numerous errors and help me make this presentable for reading. You're the best, thank you!

The sixth-year stood staring at him, wand drawn and ready to attack. It was a fabulous sight, his young self in a fighting stance, instincts trained from years of defending himself, alert, wary, determined.

Severus patiently waited for him to take in his appearance and ask the obvious question that he'd asked years ago.

"Are you me? What trickery is this?" they both said in unison, the teenager suspiciously, the adult with a tone that bordered on boredom.

"And before you ask, Polyjuice would not disguise me as an adult version of yourself. It would have made the drinker into an exact copy, and as you can see, I am not sixteen," Severus said smoothly, still standing in a relaxed pose, one hand still clasping the Time-Turner with his other arm at his side.

"You could have used an Aging Potion," the boy said, still aiming his wand at Severus' chest.

"Which is at best unpredictable and will not be perfected for another ten years," Severus said smoothly. By me actually. "The Aging Potion also has a dangerous side effect when used with the Polyjuice Potion in that it weakens the internal organs, especially the liver, which turns to mush since the Runspoor venom of the right head counteracts with the boomslang skin." His younger self looked rather impressed. "You already know this. You've been arguing with Slughorn about it for a week."

His young self smirked. "If I substitute the female for the more passive male the Aging..."

Severus smirked. Damn, I forgot that I'd solved that very problem in my sixth year. "Look, it is very dangerous, my being here." He opened his hand, letting the Time-Turner fall against his chest, knowing that the gold would stand out clearly against his black frockcoat. "I am from the future. I have come back in time to thwart a wrong...one you have to correct, actually, if I am to achieve my goal for coming here to see you. Th..."

"Oh, that's rich," his young self sneered, interrupting him.

"Don't interrupt," Severus said sternly. "You know very well I did not take Polyjuice Potion with the Aging Potion. I am you, only from the future from your perspective, and if you know yourself at all, you know that I wouldn't have risked this meeting if it wasn't important. Now, listen up. Tonight you will be attacked by Potter and Black, but Lily will be harmed in the crossfire. Tomorrow they will exact revenge. You will be in the hospital wing for a week. Madam Pomfrey will be acting too conservatively... You must leave the hospital wing on the sixth day."

The teen narrowed his eyes and glared at him. "What are you, a Seer?"

"No, I remember it happening," Severus said calmly, enjoying watching his younger self struggle with the apparent.

"I don't believe you," the boy said, his arm relaxing and standing up straight, although his feet remained planted firmly in first defense position.

Severus grinned. The trick was to give his attacker a false sense of security, to make them think that he'd lowered his defenses. "Obviously," he said, watching the boy with an amused smile. "Look, I have to tell you some facts, but I cannot tell you everything. Something happened that shouldn't have, and I...that is, you are the only one who can ensure that it doesn't happen."

"Why me?" the boy asked, his posture unchanging.

"Us," Severus corrected him.

"Okay, why us," the teen version of himself replied, smirking.

"What do you know about causing a paradox in the timeline, the time continuum, time dilation, or time loops?" Severus asked, remembering that he'd asked the same. That had caught his attention years ago...that the older version of himself had known about his interest in the subject. "I know that you are...were...fascinated with time travel. I know that you own H.G. Wells The Time Machine, and saw the movie with Rod Taylor, Alan Young, and Yvette Mimeux twice. You also read Paris Avant les Homes, in the original French, Twainright's The Time Traveler, Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau's El Anacronópete, and deAngelo's Memoiurs of the Anachronism."

"So?" the younger version of himself sneered.

This wasn't going how Severus remembered it; he had been more cooperative than this. Severus scoffed at himself. I have to be more careful of how much I tell him. I'm affecting my own past too much already. Well, if this works my timeline will not have happened. That is what I want. "Time is a tricky thing. Awful things happen to witches and wizards who meddle with time. Anything I tell you now can greatly affect what happens in my time...your future. This is very important; you must not interfere with the timeline, but you must protect a young witch who will."

"This is over a girl?" young Severus sneered accusingly.

Severus was getting fed up with himself. "A young girl who will make a huge difference in the world...should she live. It's imperative that she live."

"I don't understand," the boy asked, crossing his arms. "You want me to protect a girl from whom?"

"Your house mates will kill her. She will arrive in your time in the dungeon corridor outside the Potion professor's office at seven o'clock the day you would have been released from the hospital wing. That's why you must only stay for only six days..."

"Why not tell me where to avoid Potter and Black so that Lily won't get hurt and so that I don't end up in the hospital wing at all?" his younger self asked.

"Do you really think that would change anything? So, you miss one confrontation, Lily doesn't get hurt, and Potter and Black don't retaliate! Will that prevent Miss Granger from coming back in time? No. Will that prevent Potter and Black from hexing you or worse and send you to the hospital wing anyway? No. What will happen is that Miss Granger will come back in time and will get beaten to death by your housemates in retaliation for Potter's and Black's attacking you."

His younger self looked thoughtful, apparently mulling over what Severus said, so he continued, "You know as well as I do that they attack you without provocation at any given opportunity. That won't change, will it? But Miss Granger is the concern. If things go as I remember them, you will be able to save the girl...if not...she'll die. And the consequences will be severe."

"So why should I care about this girl?" the teen asked, glaring at Severus with distrust.

"Your future depends on her," Severus said. It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

"But you said that Lily gets hurt," the teen said.

Severus smirked. That would be my greater concern, yes. "Lily gets hurt, but not seriously. Madam Pomfrey sets her right in no time, and Lily only spends the night for observation. But Potter and Black retaliate on principle...nothing new for us, as I remember it. Since when did Black ever need an excuse to bully you?" He knew that he'd hit home, but the young wizard still didn't look convinced. "Lily is now best mates with Miss MacDonald and Miss Vargas. MacDonald is currently seeing Black, and Lily, by default, spends her time with Lupin...as much as you hate seeing her with that werewolf. So her being around the Marauders puts her in harm's way anyway. It's not your fault and unavoidable." He suddenly knew what would synch the plan. "At least this time she'll blame Potter and not you. She will even apologize to you in the hospital wing."

His younger self seemed to like that idea, and for the first time he truly relaxed. "All right, I'll think about it."

Severus nodded and showed the boy a small box. He knew that he had done it; he'd protected Granger. His plan worked. "Her name is Hermione Granger..."

"The daughter of Menelaus and Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world... You have to be kidding me? Or is she Queen Hermione of Sicily, Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale?" the boy asked, interrupting him again with his cheek.

"A witch," Severus corrected the boy. Damn, I forgot I'd read that over the summer before my sixth-year. He made a slight shake of his hand to draw attention back to the box he held. "This has charms on it to help restore the Time-Turner. Put it in here until the crystal sands cool from her trip. It should take about a week or so, unfortunately. The sands in the hourglass will look transparent, as if they were melting into glass. This box will cool the sand so it won't fuse, and it will prevent the setting to change so she can get back to the same place and time she'd left. That's important...she must return to the same place and time that she left. Keep it in your pocket."

He set it on the desk next to him. The boy simply stared at the box and then looked him in the eye. "You're assuming that I've agreed to do this."

Severus smiled as he set the Time-Turner to return him to his own time. "Yes, I am," he said as he activated the Time-Turner.

Severus stared at the spot where the wizard vanished. Time-Turners? It was unbelievable that they even existed. Scranton's law of time forbade the possibility of them, which Severus believed more than Valerian's romantic version of time travel. But he'd seen proof. His older self had appeared and vanished right in front of him, and that gold thing around his neck, the tiny hourglass surrounded by rings...that was the Time-Turner. He'd seen it...actually seen it. But if the wizard was right, Lily would get hurt, and he'd spend a week in the hospital wing. No six days; I am to leave in six days. If I decide that this is for real and I believe that man. But he did say that Lily would apologize to him. That was a good thing. Severus realized that his older self didn't tell him when or where the skirmish with Potter and Black would occur. Bugger. It's going to happen then, won't it?

Severus' mind warred within him, unable to not believe what the wizard had said, and not buying it either. It was maddening. Severus gave up contemplating the theories of time travel and went back to his dorm. Avery would still be in the room with Victoria, but hopefully they'd be done by now. If he was quiet enough, he could slip in and maybe go noticed.

He stood in the corridor, nonetheless, at the exact time the wizard said to be. He'd left the hospital wing at seven-thirty, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's protests that he should stay another day under her care. If he was right, this Miss Granger would appear, and he'd have to pull her to safety before his house mates saw her. Severus leaned against the wall, hidden by a Notice-Me-Not Charm. So far everything the wizard had said had come true, exactly how he'd said it would. Even the visit in the hospital wing when she'd come to apologize, which wasn't an apology that made Lily and him get back together, but one in which Lily had said she was sorry that Potter attacked him without provocation. But at least she had visited him.

Suddenly there she was, a girl he'd never seen before, walking out of Slughorn's office. She stood where the wizard said she'd be, looking around nervously and confused. Severus jumped forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to him. She immediately started to struggle and hit him. "If you want to live, stop fighting me," he snarled as he dragged her back into the doorway and cast a Notice-Me-Not, Disillusion Charm, and a sound deafening charm to conceal them. "I'm Severus Snape, you're Hermione Granger, and this is 1976. Now be quiet." He could hear Thortenson, Rosier, and Mulciber talking as they approached, grumbling about the Mudbloods and blood traitors in Gryffindor house and what they'd do if they saw one alone.

Hermione stopped struggling and listened, sucking in her breath at the vehement declaration from Rosier. "Oh how I'd love to make an example out of one of those little Gryffindors," he said as he smacked his fist into his palm.

"Yeah, would serve them right...let them know what's it like to be attacked for no reason. POW," Mulciber said, swinging his fist in the air. "Right in the face! I wouldn't even bother with any of these little hexes we learn in school. Nah, do some real damage."

"Face to face and personal," Rosier said and laughed. "Oh, yes, just haul off on one...wham! Just like Black did to Snape."

"Yeah! Oh, what I wouldn't give to tear one up right now," Thortenson declared equally as vehemently.

The wizard was right so far; his house mates wanted revenge, and this girl, Hermione Granger in her Gryffindor school robes, would have fallen prey to their vengeance. Neither of them would want to be seen as all talk and no action if the situation had presented itself at that very moment. Even Mulciber had a malicious gleam in his eye when he spoke. Severus crossed his arms and took the time to examine her face. "So you hear them, right? You understand that they mean what they are saying?"

She nodded mutely, and he was glad that she caught on quickly. "Do what I say and you'll be all right." His house mates passed right on by, still grumbling and sneering about Mudbloods and Gryffindors, not making any indication that they saw or knew that Severus was hiding in plain sight with a Gryffindor. A third- or fourth-year girl if his guess was right.

"If they had found you instead of me, they would have attacked you. Trust me on this," he said bluntly. He opened the door and shoved her inside. It'll take good ol' Slughorn a few minutes to get down here. I should have enough time for my house mates to reach the common room, at least. He lit his wand tip and ignited the wall scones so they'd have light. "Let me see it," he demanded.

She looked at him as if she still hadn't realized what was going on.

He rolled his eyes. "Bright one, aren't you? The Time-Turner, let me see it."

"How did you?" she asked, opening her hand, and the Time-Turner dangled from her fingers.

"I knew. I saw you and I know them... Don't ask questions." He hooked his finger on the chain so that he could examine it without changing the setting. "Good, the sand isn't fused or melted, but it's too hot to use. Until the sand cools and turns back to normal, you are stuck here...with me." He let go and fished out the small box.

"I'm stuck here...with you?" she asked, frightened and apparently nervous.

"Yes," he said sharply. "Put it in here." He opened the box and held it out to her.

"How long am I going to have to stay with you?" Her expression took on one of panic. "But I can't just stay here, can I? I have to see the Headmaster, or Professor McGonagall, don't I?" Hermione asked, looking up at him with huge doe eyes. "Why are you helping me? You don't know me, not yet any..."

"Look, you can't be seen. No one is to see you. I knew you'd be here, okay? Put the thing in here," he interrupted her impatiently. He smirked as she set the Time-Turner carefully inside and he closed the lid with a snap. He stared at her, taking in her school robes, which looked like the ones the girls wore, except that hers had a different type stitching, a double row of stitching on all of the seams. But the red lining in the hood was the same fabric as the Gryffindor robes. She had a bag in her hand, probably full of her school things. "Salazar's ghost, what am I going to do with you?" he asked, looking at the door and back. "I don't suppose you have anything in your pockets other than parchment and ink."

Hermione scowled at him. "I have loads in my pockets," she snapped. "What happened?"

"How should I know...you're the time traveler," he snapped and held up a hand to quiet her. "I mean, I don't know about Time-Turners. They are not even invented yet...I checked. I knew you...I cannot tell you anything, or more importantly you are not to tell me anything about your time. Understand me?"

"Yes," she said, letting her bag fall to the floor with a heavy thud. "If I say too much to you, it can and will change my timeline and what I return to will not be my time but a changed variation of the time continuum based upon variables of events that I alter... I do understand."

"Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time, Hermione," he warned her. "I'm surprised that you're meddling with it."

"I didn't!" she denied vehemently.

Severus felt amused by the flash of indignant fire in her warm brown eyes. "And yet, here you are, and I'm supposed to make sure you don't meddle in my time line or expose anything of yours." He grabbed her bag and turned to go. The bag is damn heavy for a third-year, so she's probably a fourth-year. "Okay, follow me, and stick close."

He led her to an unused classroom, an old one that had a dozen, old fashioned table-top desks, the kind that sat four students to a desk and had benches instead of chairs. He transfigured the large professor's desk into a reasonable bed frame. "I'll bring you a mattress and bedding. Wait here."

Avery, Thortenson, Rosier, and Mulciber were all sitting around the fireplace when he entered. They tried calling him over, but Severus said he had to catch up on his essays. The dorm room was empty when Severus entered. 'Oh, thank, Merlin,' he breathed in relief and pulled out Pettigrew's wand that he'd filched right after Potions. The signature would implicate the rat nicely. 'Serves him right for snitching on me,' Severus muttered to himself. He shrunk his bedding and a lamp and pocketed them. Grinning maliciously, he took the bedding from Townsend's and Rosier's bed, shrunk Mulciber's mattress since it was new, having had burnt his previous one, and took Avery's robes since they were nicer, and shrunk them all too.

Avery asked him where he was going as he left. "The library," he said, relieved when Avery shrugged and turned to answer Thortenson.

He left Pettigrew's wand in the corridor a few steps from the Potions classroom, tucked in a crevice at the base of the wall and hurried back to Hermione.

When he returned to the small classroom, he was pleased to see that Hermione had been productive. She'd stacked the benches against the wall, enlarged one of the desks into a sizable writing desk and made two comfortable chairs. Only nine desks remained, shrunken and moved over against the wall. "I assumed that this is to be my bedroom until I can go back to my own time."

"Yes," he said, pulling out the pilfered stuff from his pockets. "Here is bedding and robes. It gets cold down here. Use one of the desks to make a trunk. Do you know how?" He started enlarging everything to its normal size.

"Yes," she said, nodding, but looking at the small desks apprehensively.

"I'll bring you books," he suggested. He hoped that she'd keep to this room and not wander. If she liked to read, and if he brought enough books, she'd not get too bored.

"May I make a list of ones I've been wanting to read?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," he said, cringing at the thought of going to the romantic novel section. "Are you hungry? I'll bring food and... I'll be back. Don't wander, Hermione, it's not safe for you."

"No, I'll wait here for you, and yes, I'd appreciate some food," she said softly, crossing her arms about her. "How is it that you know me?"

"I'll tell you later," he said, grabbing a pillowcase and turning to go. Severus ran all the way to the kitchens and back, hoping that no one saw him carrying a pillowcase of food or heard the clink of the cutlery, cup, and plate.

By the time he'd returned, the bed was made, one quilt hung on the wall by the bed, and a desk had been reformed to serve as a kind of trunk on legs. Hermione was folding the extra blankets and stacking them on the benches. He set the food out on the desk and removed the Anti-Spilling Charm on the pitcher of pumpkin juice. "It's not much: sandwiches, cheese, fruit, éclairs, some carrots... I have no idea what you like."

"No, this is fine. I really appreciate it, thank you," she said, seating herself in one of the chairs. "Will you stay with me a while, or do you have to go?"

"Yeah, okay. We probably have to work a few things out anyway," he said, sitting across from her and picking up a carrot. "I don't know how long the sand will take to cool, and if it takes a while, I assume you'll have to bathe and such, huh?"

"Well, yes, that will become necessary," Hermione said between mouthfuls.

Severus watched her slyly so that she wouldn't catch him staring. She was famished, judging by the way she ate, but she still tried to eat with some decorum. Her napkin lay on her lap like the girls in his house did...the ones from the better families, so he assumed she came from a good home. "It will be tricky, but I suggest bathing at night. I always do anyway. I can't get you into the girls' bathroom, so you'll have to use the boys. I can ward the last stall so that no one will go near it while you're in there. I can do a Disillusionment Charm on you to get you in and back, but you'll have to trust me."

She simply nodded and took a sip of her juice.

"And you cannot be out in the corridors during the day...of course, you can't be out at night either. It's not that I'm trying to confine you, but I have no idea how long you'll be here and..."

"I cannot be seen," she said. "I know that. Even though I'm not known, if I'm seen by a professor they will instantly become suspicious and want to question me. There is a war going on, You-Know-Who is out there leading the Death Eaters and... Well, it's not safe for a girl like me."

"So, I'll bring you food and such. What do you like to eat?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I'll eat whatever you bring me. I suspect I'll be trouble enough for you without being overly picky."

Severus sighed in relief. At least she is going to be cooperative. He noticed Hermione watching him as he ate his carrot, demurely sneaking glances from under her lashes as she ate. It was amusing. Her obvious curiosity about him bordered on uncomfortable.

"I've got revision to do," he said finally. "Will you be all right, here?"

She looked up and a flicker of sadness crossed her features. "Yes, I'll be fine."

He could detect the remorse in her voice. Well, given the situation I suppose she really doesn't want to be alone. "Let me get my books and I'll come back." The look of relief on her face was comical. Damn, this girl is used to being around people all the time.

When he came back, she had cleaned the dishes, put a stasis on the leftover food, and had it all placed neatly on a bench by the wall. She was sitting at the desk, her book bag lay empty on the floor by her, and she had stacks of books, parchment, quill and ink out, busily revising an essay. He found it amusing that half of the desktop lengthwise remained bare in anticipation of his return. Severus took his seat across from her and pulled out his Potions books to finish his own essay. He glanced at her writing, noting the precise neat script that was a small as his own slanted script.

They worked in silence until she stifled a yawn. "You're tired. I should go and let you sleep," he said, closing his books.

"I'm fine. I usually stay up late anyway," she replied while checking something in a large red book. "If you're tired, you should go get some sleep though. I assume that you have classes tomorrow."

"I don't sleep much, but I'll be missed," he lied to her.

She smiled and pulled out a list, handing it over to him. "Here are some books I'd like, if that's all right."

He read down the list. He was stunned by her choices. "If there are any on the list you can't find, it may be that the library hasn't acquired them yet, so if you'd substitute something for me, I'd appreciate it."

"Sure," he said, thinking that Landry's Transfiguration of Animate to Inanimate Objects was really a bit advanced for her just before he looked up. "What subjects do you want?"

"Any...all, whatever you bring will be great," she said, smiling.

She really did have a nice smile, even though her front teeth were a bit large. But who was he to besmirch anyone on having overly large features? Certainly not he. His large nose and big ears, which were like his father's, had drawn enough attention over the years.

The next morning, Severus piled his plate as high as he could, grabbed his cup, and carried it to her room. He did the same at lunch and dinner, careful to add a Notice-Me-Not Charm on the plate because Avery had commented on his increased appetite. He'd spent his second break between lessons with Hermione, plus most of the evening until really late. Just as he was about to leave, Hermione asked when she could have the promised shower. Severus snuck her into the boys' bathroom at midnight and waited until she finished. He had slumped down against the wall, anticipating her to take a long time of it, but had been immensely pleased that she'd only taken a quick shower.

He got her back safely, pleased with himself that he'd pulled it off. He took the plates to the common room before he went to bed, although she'd asked to keep his cup. He hadn't thought to ask why she needed two; he'd just shrugged and left it with her.

The third day, he spent the first break compiling books both for himself and for Hermione. He'd been surprised that she was as voracious a reader as he, more so, he assumed, as she had little else to occupy her time.

He found that he liked revising with Hermione. She wasn't chatty like other girls and enjoyed getting into discussions with him, even heated ones, and although he was a few years older, she did know a lot. Nevertheless, he kept their discussions on academic subjects, refusing to answer any questions of a personal nature and avoiding asking her any questions of her time.

The only problem was that Avery's increasing suspicions about what Severus was up to. If the sand in the Time-Turner didn't return to normal, things were likely to get difficult. She described it as glittery sand with an iridescent white sheen. It still looks like ground glass to me, but it is changing...

"Severus?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, trying to decide if he should've asked the Headmaster to help him with her in the first place. She isn't exactly a problem, and she is keeping to the room, but she...

"What are you thinking about?" Hermione asked innocently enough.

"My Potions assignment from this morning," he lied, leaning over his book so that his hair obscured his face, absentmindedly tapping the same word on the potion directions.

"Oh, I see. It's just that neither your eyes nor your finger has moved for a while now," she pointed out with a hint of concern in her voice.

He glanced up at her and found her looking at him with her big doe eyes and her hands laced together on her book.

"Is anything wrong?"

"No, everything is fine," he said and returned his gaze back to the potion directions in front of him.

She laughed softly. "You definitely become a better liar in the future," she said, returning to her own book.

"And what exactly does that mean?" he snapped.

"Oh, nothing," she said, casually turning the page. "It's just that something is bothering you, and you've been ignoring me tonight."

"Nothing is bothering me," he said, adjusting the book in front of him and bending over the page. Bloody Gryffindors.

"I heard that," she chided him.

He sat up and looked at her. "No you didn't," he snapped.

"Erm, I was wondering," she said, fingering the page as if she was about to turn it.

He put his elbow on the desk and placed his head in his fingers. "What now?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Don't get testy with me," she snapped and glared at him.

"What is it now?" he asked, unmoving. He didn't want a scene. If she felt stir crazy, he couldn't help it; she had to say here.

"Never mind," she said, flipping the page.

"Fine," he said, returning to his mental debate of informing the Headmaster that he had her in this room. His older self had been insistent that he help her. He hadn't said anything about not getting help, only to keep her away from his house mates.

"I have to change my bedding," she announced nonchalantly.

He looked up at her again. "Why?"

"It smells," she insisted, refusing to look at him. "The housekeeping doesn't come in here and refreshing charms only do so much."

"Of all the bloody...why didn't you..." He looked at her then shrugged. "You could wash it here and hang them up. You do know how to make water come out of your wand, don't you?"

"Yes, thank you, and I know how to make it hot," she said with a smile. "But it's not the same."

"Bloody girls!" he sneered, packing up his things to leave. "I'll exchange it tomorrow okay?"

"Thank you," she said to him as he rose to his feet.

~T. B. C. ~

Author's Notes:

Actually, Severus is being right gallant so far, don't you think?

I'd love to know what you think. Reviews are like chocolate, and much appreciated.

Prompts used:

9. Hello, It's Me

a. Snape has a Time-Turner, and he 'bumps' into a later/earlier self as he's going about his day-to-day business. What happens next? What do they get up to?

8. Fix a Wrong, See a Right

a. Someone is given a Time-Turner and instructions to use it. (Hermione) Only once when using it, a mistake is made in counting or a slip of fingers, and he/she goes forward/backward in time. Who does the person meet/see? Your choice. How would he/she fix a wrong once back in the right time?

1. Suggestion: You could have someone steal a Time-Turner.