Chapter 31

A/N: Thank you to all the wonderful reviews and also to my excellent betas, luvsev and WriterMerrin.

Just so you know, this will not be a complete recap of JKR's books. The next two chapters of Hermione's third year will have a lot of Rowling's own work, but from Hermione's POV. Much thanks to JKR for the creation of this wonderful world!

***

Hermione landed on her backside in the Gryffindor common room. She was alone in the dark, with only the light from the fireplace to guide her. There, on the table, were her books, wand, and book bag. Her hands shook as she gathered up her things and crept her way towards the third-year girls' dorm. She saw Parvati and Lavender asleep in their beds as she took off her clothes and the Time-Turner, tucking them into her footlocker.

She slipped on her nightgown and went to bed. She didn't know how she was going to sleep or how things would be in the morning, but she was back, and everything so far had gone according to plan. She was excited to see Harry and Ron after all these years. However, the only person she truly wanted to see more than anyone else was Severus. She wondered how he was sleeping, if he was sleeping at all. She wondered if he would remember that she was back...the Hermione who knew their love and the oaths they had made to each other. A part of her was frightened that he had forgotten her, or he was going to be cruel towards her. As her thoughts wound round and round, she finally fell asleep.

***

The next morning, Hermione found Ron and Harry waiting for her in the common room. She smiled and gave them huge hugs.

"Hermione, geroff!" Ron exclaimed as he tried to breathe.

She released him only to grab Harry instead. When he pulled back from her, he said, "Hermione, where's your tan?"

Hermione's insides puckered. "I don't know. Don't I look the same?" she asked.

The boys shrugged it off, and they went to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione was nervous. She was going to see Severus, and even though for him it had been nearly a decade, she hoped he would remember that she was the Hermione he had known and loved.

She glanced up at the High Table when Ron pointed out that Snape was looking extra furious today at the new DADA professor. Hermione watched as Severus glared at Remus with suspicion. Finally, when the boys were tucking into their food, she chanced a look at Severus. He looked at her but did not register any emotion on his face. Hermione was downcast. She hoped he was he was just putting on an act for everyone.

Malfoy was in excellent form as he mimicked Harry's fainting spell brought on by the Dementors.

"Just ignore them, Harry," Hermione whispered.

Hermione could not believe she was back in the thick of adolescence. Hadn't it been terrible the first time? She found herself pushing her food around her plate, feeling listless, when the term schedules came in.

"Ooh," she said excitedly. "We're starting new subjects today."

Hermione was excited about Divination. It hadn't been a part of the curriculum back in the '70's. She was looking forward to it. She recalled it had been during her days as Jessica Irving that she had first noticed the professor. She liked to stay up in her tower, something about "clouding her inner eye," or something. Also, she was taking Muggle Studies. That was a class she hadn't taken back then. So, at least there would be new things that she would look forward to.

Ron interrupted her thoughts. "Uh, Hermione, I think your schedule is messed up. You've got three classes that are going on at the same time."

"Don't worry, Ron," she answered without paying him real attention. "I have it all worked out with Professor McGonagall."

"Don't you think your schedule is a bit too full? I mean you already take on enough as it is!"

She looked up and glared at him. "Ronald, I don't see how my schedule is any concern of yours. As I said before, McGonagall has already cleared my class schedule, so just drop it," she snapped at him.

She got up and said, "Divination's first. Let's get going," she said bossily to them. She watched Ron as he crammed a whole piece of toast and jam into his mouth, and she shook her head disgustedly. She had forgotten how bad Ron's table manners were.

They made their way, huffing and puffing, up towards the North tower, getting a bit lost in the process. They finally found the silvery ladder that led up to Professor Trelawney's classroom and proceeded to sit through the woolliest class she had ever been in, not to mention she was starting to think the whole subject of Divination was a bit dodgy as well.

Hermione continued to sit, unimpressed, as Trelawney droned on about the images the dregs of the tealeaves had left in their cups. When she "proclaimed to foresee" that Harry had an enemy, Hermione snorted.

"Well, of course Harry has an enemy," she snarled. "You-Know-Who?" she said in exasperation.

The class gasped, and Hermione rolled her eyes. This is such bullshit! she thought. Harry and Ron were looking at her as if she were a total stranger. Hermione fixed her stare back on the old fraud as she kept turning Harry's cup around and around in her hand muttering various images of doom and gloom she was seeing until finally, she screamed and swayed on her feet and went to collapse most dramatically into an armchair near Harry and Ron's table. Harry and Ron went to look into the cup with interest, trying to see what would have made her react like that. Some of the others were gathering around as well, trying to see what Trelawney had seen.

She was shaking and protesting for them not to make her tell what she had seen in Harry's cup until finally, while whispering, said, "You have the Grim!" she said in a terrified whisper.

Everyone was asking what the Grim was. Hermione groaned into her hand, which was covering her face. Everyone was clamoring for more information, and Trelawney was more than willing to give them all the details.

Hermione got up and walked behind Trelawney's chair and said sharply, "I don't think it looks like the Grim," she announced calmly.

Trelawney looked at Hermione with disdain, and there lingered a flicker of anger in her eyes.

"You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future," she said in a wounded voice.

Hermione's eyebrow raised itself sharply in rage. She wished she could give the old girl what for. Inner Eye, indeed! If she were so keen, she'd know that Hermione had a very interesting past and an even more fascinating perception of the future. She was glad when Trelawney declared class was over, and she could get out of that nightmare of a class.

Everyone was depressed and downcast in Transfiguration during that next period. Hermione informed McGonagall that they had just come from their first Divination class, and McGonagall had sniffed and asked which one of them was scheduled to die this year.

Hermione laughed as McGonagall sarcastically dealt with the prognostications of Sybil Trelawney. She started to feel a bit better. Transfiguration had always been one of her two favorite classes, the other being Charms. She soon started to feel more like herself.

The bell rang, and everyone started heading towards lunch. Hermione hung back to speak with Minerva. The older witch closed the door and placed a silencing charm on it.

"Well, Hermione, how are things going for you?" she inquired. "Just so you know, this is your official debriefing. Albus, you know, is very busy with Fudge and all these nasty Dementors."

"Minerva, thank you for not talking to me like a third-year," Hermione said gratefully.

Minerva laughed and conjured a chair. "Sit down, and have a spot of tea. I'm going to give you a bit of scotch too; you'll need it," she warned.

Her teacup was halfway to her lips when she stopped in dread and said, "What?"

Minerva sighed and spoke reluctantly. "It's Severus. He's not taking this well at all. Not at all," she said as she shook her head. "Then there is this business with hiring Remus. Severus was furious when Albus hired him. I thought Severus was going to kill someone when Albus told him his decision was final. Then, Remus really got off on the wrong foot when he tried to talk to Severus about you just before the Welcoming Feast."

Hermione nearly dropped her teacup. "I don't know why Severus should take on so. He never really got on with Remus, especially after the stunt Sirius pulled on him, but he knew we were training and studying Occlumency together, and he wasn't too fussed about it," she replied.

Minerva shrugged. "Well, it's because of all this drama with Sirius escaping from Azkaban," she replied. "Severus has it in his mind that Remus will foolishly aid Sirius into the castle."

"That is preposterous!" Hermione exclaimed. "Remus would never do such a thing," she declared.

Minerva breathed in deep and sipped her tea. "When it comes to Severus and his prejudices, it is impossible to make him see reason. All he can say is that Remus never believed Sirius betrayed James and Lily and also never believed it was he that killed Peter and those Muggles."

Hermione felt Minerva's eyes studying her carefully. "Have you spoken with Severus yet?"

Hermione set down her tea. "How could I?" she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I just got back in the middle of the night and have been running my arse ragged all morning. I hope tonight I can somehow see him."

"Hermione," Minerva said as she placed her hand on the younger witch's hand. "Severus went through a very difficult time when you left. He took up the drink, which Albus helped him through. He became withdrawn and angry. He missed you desperately, and many nights I sat with him as he slept. He cried, although he'd never admitted it to anyone," she said with wide eyes. "He would cry bitterly, he was so lonely and confused. Then, you arrived as a first-year, and at first, he was excited because you were back, and he could see you, but it wasn't you, and he found himself irritated and even more befuddled. He doubted that you both would find each other again."

Hermione felt her chest constrict, and tears burned in her eyes. "I have to talk to him, Minerva. He needs to know I love him still," she whispered.

"Just be careful, Hermione. He is not the young man you once knew. He is thirty-three and a man now. A grown man, not the young, open, young man you grew up with. He's complicated."

"Minerva," Hermione said calmly, "Severus and I were separated for three years during the war. When we came together, it was as if no time had passed between us. Our love is real, and as soon as I talk to him, he'll realize the worst is over, and in just a couple more years, we can be together again."

Minerva looked at her strangely. "I hope you are right, for both your sakes'," she replied.

***

Hermione searched for Severus at lunch, and they briefly made eye contact. He looked so cold and sour, so unlike the laughing man she had known. But she remembered again the public persona he was forced to wear. She wished she could assure him. Well, time would come when she had Potions class later in the week...if she couldn't get him alone in the meantime.

She began to eat as Ron went on about the Grim.

"Nonsense," she muttered as she ate.

"No!" Ron insisted. My Uncle Bilius saw one, and then he died twenty-four hours later," he said soberly.

"Coincidence," she replied. "You can't be scared to death. That's what you are claiming. It's not an omen; it's the cause of death."

She ate hurriedly and then went into her bag to find her Arithmancy book. "Divination seems to be a very woolly subject. Guesswork, that's all it is," she declared.

"You're just mad because Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura," Ron shouted. "You just don't like not being the best at everything!"

Hermione glared at him. She slammed her Arithmancy book down so hard, bits of meat, peas, and carrots flew everywhere.

"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!"

Hermione had had it. She snatched up her books and her bag and left. As she walked, she kept thinking, Why am I so bloody emotional? Damn hormones! She was conflicted. She had to pretend she was nearly fourteen, when in truth she was nearly twenty-four...or was it thirty-four? She hated that she couldn't just go down to her real bedroom with Severus and have a good talk with him. She smiled as she thought how stupid he probably thought Trelawney was. She could imagine him laughing with his head thrown back and the crinkles in his eyes.

She sat in an alcove on the floor and thought about the Severus she had seen at breakfast and then at lunch. Was he still the same person who would laugh with her and make love to her like he used to once the time arrived? He probably thinks I am repulsive. I'm just a child, and he doesn't want a child. Will he even wait for me to be a woman again? I wonder if he'd ever strayed?

She shook her head of those thoughts and tried to get herself mentally prepared for her next class: Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.

She refused to speak with Ron, not so much about being angry; she was extremely nervous Hagrid would let it slip that he'd known her. Hagrid knew about her being back as a Hogwarts student, and he knew to keep it quiet from the other students. He gave her a smile that went straight to her heart. She truly loved Hagrid. He was the first person who had really cared for her during those lonely days back in 1973.

The class was a fiasco. Hagrid had brought a Hippogriff to class, and after a breathtaking view of Harry in flight with "Buckbeak," things took a turn. Draco Malfoy decided he wasn't about to be outdone by Harry Potter, strutted up to Buckbeak and got a slash in his arm from one of Buckbeak's talons. Things looked very bad for Hagrid, even though he had warned the class how to approach the creature properly.

After Hagrid went to take Draco to the infirmary, they all made their way back to the castle. Hermione was really worried for Hagrid. She decided to seek out Severus and speak with him. She slipped away from Harry and Ron and went down the long circular dungeon stairwell that she knew by heart. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears and her pulse racing. She couldn't wait to see him, to feel him. She shook her head. Get a grip, Hermione! You are thirteen. He's your teacher.

"What do you think you are doing, Miss Granger?" a cold voice rang out from nowhere. She turned around and finally saw Severus step out into the light. She had forgotten how tall he was, or rather how short she was now that she was thirteen again.

"I needed to see you, Severus," she said as she reached out for him.

In a flash, he had her by her upper arm and drug her into his classroom. He slammed the door behind him and glared at her in fury.

"What do you think you are doing? First, you come down here, and then you speak to me in that manner! Have you lost your mind?" he hissed.

Hermione was lost for words. Then she registered the pain his fingers were causing in her arm as he gripped her.

"Let me go!" she threatened as she brandished her wand at him.

His fury broke, and he ripped her wand from her hand, forcefully, throwing it onto the floor.

"You have a lot of nerve coming down here like it was only yesterday we were together, when in reality it has been long and torturous years," he whispered angrily.

He towered over her, continuing to look at her with rage. "This isn't like the old days, Hermione. I am no teenage Head of Slytherin. There is no more self-appointed Head of Slytherin. Only me!" he roared. "And I do not make deals, accords, nor do I make alliances. You are Hermione Granger, thirteen, student of Gryffindor house. I am Severus Snape, thirty-three, Head of Slytherin house. I refuse to allow you to disturb that reality."

Hermione looked at him warily as she stood up slowly. "I have no problem with facing reality, Severus. But it seems you do. I am Hermione Granger, your fiancée, and am twenty-three years old. Perhaps I am thirty-three or thirty-four with all this time hopping. I don't know. But, don't underestimate me, Severus. I know you. This mask, this persona is a lie! I know who you really are, even if you've forgotten!" she shouted.

He slowly released her arm and reached his hands up to his neck, where he took out a golden chain with their rings on it from underneath his robes. "I haven't forgotten," he whispered as he turned his back to her. "I just can't think of you being that. You are the girl from my youth, my old friend. I know inside you are the woman I love, but my mind cannot handle it. Please, Hermione, I asked you before to not do this to me. I will come to you when you are sixteen, not one day before."

He turned to look into her eyes and said, "I'm older, Hermione. I've aged and am not as open as I once was," he whispered.

"Just keep yourself open a little so I can get back in," she softly replied.

"You're in there; you will always be in there. There was never another woman, never a substitute. I missed you. I miss you. " He whispered so softly, Hermione could barely hear it.

"Love does not know time, Severus," she said clearly. "I love you, and I will love you, forever. I shan't bother you again. Consider the matter closed. Just promise me you will come for me on my sixteenth birthday. Even if we don't make love, just let me be near you, hold you, kiss you."

He nodded as he kept his back to her. She picked up her bag and her wand, and with a wave of his hand, the door opened. She knew he was crying. She knew this was much more than a case of missing her. He was truly torn and lonely for her. She prayed the next two years would pass quickly.

***

Her fourteenth birthday came around, and she received a note in the morning owl post. It read, "Love does not know time." Hermione held it close to her heart that night and cried. She missed him so desperately at times, and his behavior in class grew exceeding terrible. Harry and Ron commented again and again that Snape seemed more "vindictive" than ever.

First, it had been their first Potions class of the year. Severus had called her "a show-off" and had taken five points from Gryffindor for helping Neville in class. Then he had raked Hermione over the coals. Finally, when they had their first Defense class in the teacher's lounge, Severus had been relaxing in there when they had all walked in with Professor Lupin. He had made a dramatic exit by informing Remus that he needed to "watch out for Longbottom unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."

***

"Mighty Merlin, that man needs to get laid!" snapped Lavender as she, Parvati, and Hermione got ready for bed.

Parvati snorted. "I wonder if any of the Slytherin girls don't already do it! I know Pansy would do anything to get ahead," she said haughtily.

"So, that's the reason she got caught by Fred and George giving Malfoy head?" Lavender said in mock confusion.

"What?" shouted Parvati.

"Fred and George caught them while she was going down on Draco! They swore to secrecy, but made Draco cough up twenty Galleons for their silence," Lavender said as she giggled hysterically.

"Did he pay?" Hermione said nonchalantly from her own bed as she flipped though her Ancient Runes textbook.

Lavender and Parvati just started at her. "When have you ever been interested in idle gossip?" Lavender challenged her.

"Whenever it seems interesting enough," Hermione said languidly. "So, do you both think girls try to get ahead through sexual favors?"

Lavender looked very interested in such a sordid topic. "Well, I can't imagine any of the teachers being remotely attractive enough for that. Perhaps when McGonagall was younger or even Dumbledore. Now, Snape is a different kettle of fish." She tapped a finger on her cheek.

"I would think since he is young, and is a Head of a house, that probably he's had his fair share of offers...especially Slytherin girls. They'd do it with anybody if it meant getting what they want...I'm sure."

"Well, I guess he must not be getting offers since he is being such a nasty piece of work these days," Hermione mused.

Lavender began to comb out her hair. "Well, I would think Professor Lupin would be an interesting conquest. He does look careworn, and his clothes are terribly shabby, but I wonder what he looks like without the robes!" she said saucily.

Hermione closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. Nothing much has changed since the old days with Lily. Except Lavender isn't about to work her way into my knickers, she thought.

Hermione couldn't help but think about Lily. They'd had a special relationship that had been exciting and forbidden. Lily had given her her first orgasm. She had given her her first kiss. She had been the one to first touch her breasts, and it had been reciprocal. It was nothing like how she had felt the night she and Severus had made love. When Lily's lips touched her nipples, it had been pleasant. When Severus' lips did the same, she felt she was going to positively melt.

Lily had been pretty, and Hermione hadn't been. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the gangly girl she had been. She was also going to have to get her teeth fixed as well. That had made an impression. Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry over going through that disgusting experience when Severus' father tried to rape her. He was long since dead and gone. She wondered about Spinner's End. Had Severus ever returned there? Had he kept it up, or had he refused to return after that last Christmas before she had left? It was so strange. It had been just weeks ago, but for Severus, it had been memory from long ago.

Hermione thought about how Severus showed her the chain that held the engagement ring he had given her and the wedding ring she had given him. He had said he missed her...that he misses her. She felt the tears fall from her face and reached for the note she had received from him on her birthday. "Love does not know time." She read it over and over, memorizing his handwriting. She was fourteen, and she would only have to wait two more years. Just two more years, and she could be with him forever and never have to be alone again.