Chapter 15

Disclaimer:All hail J.K. Rowling! I own nothing. I just play and manipulate to my liking.

A/N: Fluff alert. The next two chapters are dripping with fluff, some plot, and then more fluff. Consider yourself warned.

Chapter 15

Hermione sat grading papers, and Severus was reading. It had been two months since they had finally confessed their love for one another. Hermione had never been so happy. Almost too happy, she had thought. She wasn't used to things working out for her. She marveled at how naturally Severus and she got along. This younger Severus was much more willing to show his feelings than his counterpart. He was always saying he loved her, which made her feel open enough to tell him the same as often as she could. She was enjoying every minute of their relationship, but she knew that it couldn't last. She would eventually have to go back to her time, and she feared that Severus would eventually come to resent her for leaving him.

She felt his arms around her and looked over to see him sitting behind her on the floor, embracing her. She leaned back into him and put her quill down.

"Don't you think you've been at that long enough for one night?" he asked her.

"I'm not finished until the pile is gone," she said ruefully. "But I'm more than ready for a break."

She turned sideways and hugged him, placing her head on his chest. He rubbed her back as he enjoyed her closeness.

"Hermione, do you know when you're going back to your time?" he asked tentatively.

Hermione stiffened a little. Obviously he had been worrying about the same thing. She pulled back and looked at him.

"I'm not sure. Whenever I feel I've done all that I can with Malfoy, I guess."

"Are you sure you just can't stay here with me?"

"I want to, but I can't. Eventually there would be two of me around for a long time. I don't think that can happen. I would need to go into hiding or leave the country. It's quite impossible. I've been giving it a lot of thought lately."

"I've no doubt that you have," he murmured. "Have you spoken to Dumbledore about it?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course. He thinks it would be enchanting...his word, not mine...if I stayed, but told me it's completely impossible. First off, if anyone were to see me and my future self together, Dumbledore thinks that it might seriously affect the future. Secondly, if I spend too much time here, when I return, I will appear older than I did when I left, opening the door for questions I won't be able to answer."

"What do you think about what he said?"

"Personally, I don't care about questions I can't answer, but I've messed with the future enough already. I'm not sure I want to risk having it implode in my face if I were to never return to my present."

Severus caressed her cheek and pulled her close, kissing her gently.

"I wish you didn't have to go," he whispered to her when they finally pulled apart.

"Severus?"

"Yes," he responded.

"When I leave, I don't want you to wait for me."

He looked at her gravely. "But what if I want to wait for you?"

She smiled thinly at him. "It's not fair to you to wait so long. You deserve to be happy, not to be pining away for a woman you can't have. It would be like Lily all over again."

Severus took her hand in his. "No, it wouldn't. I would know that you would come back to me."

"It's too long, Severus," she admonished. "Twenty-five years is too long."

Severus brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "I would wait for eternity if I knew that you would be there at the end of it."

Tears filled Hermione's eyes as she pulled him to her.

"You don't know what that means to me," she confessed softly. "But I don't want you to wait. I want you to be happy."

"Hermione, you make me happy. I've never been this happy in my entire life."

Hermione pulled back so she could look at him. She shook her head as she spoke. "But I won't be here. You will grow to resent my absence. You should just move on. Find another woman you can be happy with. Get married and have a family."

Severus looked into her eyes and put his hand on her neck. "I want to do all of those things with you."

A shock went through her body. He wanted to marry her and have a family. That was exactly what she wanted with him. She pulled him to her and kissed him.

"And I want that too," she murmured. "But it's not fair to you, Severus. You shouldn't have to wait so long to be happy."

"What about you, Hermione? How would you feel going back to your time and finding me in the arms of another woman? How would I be hurting you if that happens? I won't hurt you like that. I will wait for you forever if I have to."

He pulled her into an embrace. "I won't hurt you like that ever."

"I could deal with it," she said into his chest. "I would understand."

"Perhaps, but it would hurt you deeply. I won't do it. You'll just have to accept that I will wait for you."

She tightened her grip around him. "I know I can't make you do anything, love. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy."

"I would feel better if I knew you wouldn't be lonely," she said after a while.

"If I promise you I won't be lonely, will you drop the matter?" he questioned.

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "How can you promise me that?"

"I promise not to live like the hermit you described to me before," he said with determination.

She looked up into his eyes. "I will hold you to that, Severus Snape," she charged.

"I've no doubt that you will," he countered before he covered her in kisses.

oooOOOooo

Lucius paced back and forth in front of Hermione's classroom. He needed to speak with her, but she wasn't there. He knew she would come by sooner or later as her quarters were right next to the classroom. He didn't need to wait long. Severus and Hermione wandered up about half an hour later. Hermione smiled at Lucius.

"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy," she said to him.

"Can I speak with you privately, Professor Granger?" His eyes wandered over to Severus.

Hermione looked concerned. "Of course, Mr. Malfoy. Why don't we head into my office?"

She turned and gave Severus a good night kiss and proceeded into her classroom. Lucius followed her. She headed to the back, where the office was, and opened the door. With a flick of her wand, the candles lit up the room. She frowned at the papers that covered the desk. Mallory had left a mess behind her in her rush to end her day. Hermione proceeded to the desk and sat down, leaving the papers strewn about. Lucius followed closely and sat in the chair that was strategically placed in front of the desk.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked him with concern.

"It's my father."

"What has he done?" Hermione asked.

"I was wrong in my assumption," Lucius explained. "We have argued by owl about your class constantly. Now he is threatening to disown me if I don't drop it."

Hermione thinned her lips as she thought about Lucius' statement. She finally looked back up at him.

"I think the time for making stands is over. It's not worth it for you to continue in my class just to lose your family."

"But his request is absurd!" Lucius said hotly.

"That may be, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said calmly. "He is your father, though. You don't want to be separated from your family just to prove a point."

Lucius balled his hands into fists. "Why can't he just accept that you're a teacher here? What is the big deal?"

"Mr. Malfoy, I suspect that I will always have this problem as a teacher, simply because of my birth circumstances."

"But that's not fair. You are a good teacher. Isn't that all that should count?"

"In a perfect world, that is all that would count," Hermione said ruefully. "But our world is filled with prejudices. You deal with them all the time, Mr. Malfoy. Aren't you a Death Eater?"

Lucius looked shocked that she had brought that up. He nodded curtly.

"Isn't the whole mantra of Voldemort to get rid of the dirty blood in our race? How do you expect to do that without killing off Muggle-borns or even half-bloods for that matter?"

Lucius looked down. "I'm not in it for the killing. I'm in it for the power. It doesn't interest me so much to destroy Muggle-borns. Not anymore."

"How can you serve your 'Master' with that attitude?"

"He doesn't know I feel this way. I am loyal to him. I do what he asks. That's all he cares about."

"Lucius, you're going to have to walk this line for the rest of your life. You will eventually need to make a decision as to where you stand. Right now, even though you are an adult, you're under your father's rules, but someday you will decide for yourself what you believe and how you will act about it."

"I believe, thanks to you, that Muggle-born witches and wizards are no different from us."

Hermione smiled at him. She had succeeded.

"Then you have learned all you can from me. Drop the class, Lucius. You don't need the extra N.E.W.T., you already said so. Don't separate yourself from your family. Ultimately, our families are all that we have."

He looked down. "It just seems so unfair," he muttered.

"Sometimes you have to do things that seem unfair for a better end. You can probably hear the same statement from Headmaster Dumbledore if you were to ask him."

He looked at her for a long time. "Okay," he said finally, "I'll drop your class. I want you to know that it's against my better judgment."

"Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy, I won't hold it against you." She smiled at him as he rose to leave.

He reached out to shake her hand. Hermione looked at it. Lucius Malfoy wanted to shake hands with her. Would wonders never cease? She reached out and grasped his hand. They shook hands with each other.

"Thank you for opening my eyes, Professor."

"To be honest with you, I wasn't sure it was possible, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you for proving me wrong."

He gave her a grin. "Now you're sure you're doing okay with Severus? I'm always available you know."

Hermione laughed. "I'm sure your father would love that development."

Lucius laughed as well. He turned and left her office. Hermione leaned back in her chair. It seemed that her mission was over. She had actually succeeded in changing Lucius Malfoy's ideas on Muggle-born wizards. She couldn't believe it. Her musings were interrupted by Severus coming into her office. She looked up at him.

"I waited outside until Lucius left," Severus explained. "Did he hit on you again? He and Narcissa are going through a tough time right now."

"Of course he did! Are you jealous?"

He crossed the room to her and stooped down so he was eye level with her. "Of course I am," he confessed with a grin.

"There's nothing to worry about. I told you he's not my type." She looked into Severus' dark eyes. "It worked, Severus. His views of Muggle-born wizards have changed. My mission is complete."

Severus frowned at her while stroking her face. "When will you go then?"

"I'm not ready to leave you yet. Staying a little while longer won't hurt anything in the future."

"I'm glad you're not going anywhere just yet," he said.

She leaned in and kissed him. She felt melancholy as her lips came to his. These wonderful kisses would soon be over. She would miss this Severus. She threw her arms around him and kissed him more, trying to make him part of her, so she would always remember how he was now.

A/N: Next up: Happy Birthday!

Thank you everyone, for reading and for your wonderful reviews.