Chapter 2

I do not own these characters. No infrigement of rights intented.

This story will eventually become very adult: minors, please do not read.

Snape became aware as Hermione woke.  Well, that's odd, he thought, not only am I tied to the wand, but I am only awake when she is.

Hermione woke lying in a fetal position on the bed, wrapped in Severus' nightshirt.  She groaned and dragged herself out of bed.  She stood looking at herself in the bathroom and said, "Girl, you went overboard yesterday.  Being here really got you to thinking about old times.  It's time to get back to the real world and get to work." 

Severus stood outside the door listening to her with a smirk on his face. Maybe she had let her thoughts take weird paths yesterday.  He'd be lucky to be awake if she got to work.  She'd very likely forget about him, and he'd fade away again.

He wanted her to know he was there. But if she continued to avoid Sybil, would it be possible to let her know?  She had heard him a couple of times but dismissed it as an overactive imagination. 

When she came from the bathroom after a shower, she was dressed. He expected her to put the nightshirt away somewhere, but she folded it carefully and placed it under her pillow.

She left the rooms and warded them, and he was close enough to hear her say, "Severus, I wish you were here."

Severus' feelings were overwhelming: He was desperate that she continue to talk and think of him and then suddenly terrified that she would let him slip away, and he would be forever trapped in nothingness.  He was beginning to realize he was not like the other ghosts in the castle.  Even they could not hear or see him.  What could this be?  He was nearly certain it was death, but what kind of death?  Was he stuck here because he had a purpose to fulfill?  Didn't those left behind in old Muggle movies get to move on when they accomplished their task?  What could his task be?  Was he supposed to get Hermione Granger to let go of him and get on with her life?  Or was he supposed to find her someone to love? 

The idea immediately made him feel nauseated. 

Right now, she was his, and he didn't want to share her.  This woman, who was once the most annoying child, now was his lifeline, and he wanted...no, needed...her to stay with him.  He looked around and noted that he'd been drawn to the main hall, and the staff and the students were assembled for breakfast.  He guessed it was mid-semester after the Christmas holidays as the children had their coats and gloves and looked prepared for a weekend trip to Hogsmeade.

Breakfast was quickly eaten, and then the children all left for the walk to Hogsmeade. To Severus' delight Hermione was a chaperon, and he was drawn along with her.  He literally felt as if he were encased in a bubble floating along.  The snow was deep, and the kids talked excitedly. Some of the students stopped to say hello to Hermione and ask her questions about her involvement in the war.  They seemed very excited that she would be teaching when classes started on Monday.

Dismissing the children, Severus took the time to look around.  It was amazing how beautiful the landscape was.  He'd always ignored his surroundings before.  He had been so intent on his business, constantly reflecting inward, practicing in Occlumency and going over details in his mind to protect himself.  He'd had to make sure there was no way he was going to trip up and reveal himself to Voldemort.  It had been an exhausting life.  Today he didn't have to worry about any of that.  He could just look at the beauty around him.  He thought briefly that it was odd his senses were exactly as they had been before.  He could see everything, hear everything, and to his surprise, he realized he could smell different things.  Maybe the longer he was awake the more he would be able to do.  The idea made him happy, and he turned his attention to watch Hermione as she pulled him along with her. 

The children, who were quite a distance ahead, were launching a few snowballs at one another.  Hermione sighed, remembering walks along the road with Ron and Harry. 

Severus saw her shoulders slump a bit and heard her sigh.

No doubt she's remembering her dimwitted friends, he thought scathingly.

Then she said, "Severus, I wish you could see what a beautiful, clean day this is.  I would have loved to share the day with you, walking arm-in-arm to Hogsmeade."

Snape felt his invisible eyebrow shoot up.  She was thinking about him again, and he called to her, "Hermione."

Hermione heard her name as if on the wind, and she stopped to listen, letting the children move further and further way. "Severus?" she whispered into the wind.

"Hermione, I am here." he shouted, wishing he could move forward.  Then to his happiness, he did seem to float closer till he was near her ear.

"Hermione, I am here," he repeated.

Hermione's eyes widened again as she heard her name whispered over the breeze. Just then a nasty gust of cold air seemed to wrap itself around her.  She shuddered and laughed nervously.

"I'm going nuts. Coming back here may not have been the brightest of ideas."  She hurried to catch up with the children.

Severus snarled with anger.  Will the chit, not listen to me! he complained to himself.  She's too logical, too literal. How will I get her to really hear me?  He felt himself slip into darkness.  Somehow she had found the power to push him from her thoughts.

When Severus became aware again, he was in a bookstore. Hermione was standing before the potions books.  Her hands were practically caressing the spines of some of the very expensive books. 

"I will have to look through your books, Severus, before I indulge in any of these."  She let out a soft sigh. "I cannot get you out of my mind," she whispered.  Her fingers went to the hidden place in her sleeve where she kept his wand. "I always wished we could have come to this store together.  You could have told me what books to buy and the ones that were a waste of money.  I wish you could have seen that we had so much in common.  None of the students my age engaged my mind the way you did.  I often wished I'd been born at least ten years earlier.  You might have given me respect enough to have apprenticed me." 

Her face seemed to fall, and Severus noted she had tears in her eyes.

Not even thinking, he reached out his invisible hand and touched her, "Hermione."

Hermione felt the touch of coldness, and she heard his voice again near her ear. She jumped back eyes wide.  She didn't say anything but left the store quickly, and Severus bobbed around, like that proverbial balloon on a string.

"Damn it, woman," he called to her, "stop and just listen."

Hermione stopped as she realized she was looking around wildly, standing in the middle of the road with students all around her. She waved her hands erratically.

"Sorry, there was a bee.  I hate bees."  She giggled and blushed.

The kids shook their heads.  Some of the older ones still looked at her funny.  After all it was the dead of winter and there were no bees.

"Must have been a joke from Zonko's," she said lamely.

The children nodded, seeming satisfied, and headed for the aforementioned store.  Hermione prayed they did have a bee trick.  She glanced around her.

"Severus, if that's really you, keep your mouth shut until we get home.  I can't look like I'm crazy, even though I may be a little to think you're here."

Severus said, "Alright, Miss Granger."

He settled back and let himself relax.  It was odd how a nonexistent bubble could be so comfortable.  He wanted for nothing. He wasn't hungry or thirsty, and he didn't need a bathroom. 

What in bloody hell is this? he thought.

Hermione had a meal at the local pub and a glass of fire whiskey, Severus noted with amusement. In the late afternoon she met the students in front of Zonko's Joke Shop. After having to root out a few stragglers from the store, she herded the group back to Hogwarts.

They stood outside the door to the castle, stomping their feet and shaking off the loose snow and ice that had accumulated on them during the long walk home. Then the students filed through the doors and headed for dinner.

Hermione stood for a moment, looking out over the grounds.  She wondered if Hagrid was home.  No, he was probably at dinner, too.  As an instructor, he came to most of the meals provided in the castle, now.

She looked around her but didn't speak because she was almost afraid to find that Severus wouldn't answer.

He watched the emotion cascade across her face and saw her sigh and head for dinner.  What had she been thinking?  Was it possible to use Legilimency to contact her?  Or would that only scare her? She was starting to think he was really there, he could feel a difference.  He was getting stronger.  But he'd seen fear.  What did she fear...that he was real or that he was not real?  The latter intrigued him. Hermione was somehow linked to him in a way he could not understand, and he found the problem gave him the ability to think longer.

He became aware that he had been drawn to the staff table, and he was behind Hermione as he had been this morning.  She was talking to Hagrid, who sat on her left, in whispers.  He heard his name.

"I swear, Hagrid, I heard his voice.  It's been more than once.  I heard it in the classroom, in his quarters, and even in Hogsmeade.  It's like he's following me around."

Hagrid looked down at the young woman. "Ye sure you're not just a imagining this, Hermione. You always had such adventures here as a student.  Maybe you're missin' Harry and Ron too much and bein' around his things is bringing him back."

Hermione saw him squinting at her.  He thought she was nuts.

She waved her hand and said, "I'm sure that's all it is."  She laughed. "Well, I'd best get back to my room. I've got a lot of planning to do for Monday's classes.  I'm very happy to be working here, Hagrid."

He smiled at her. "It's right nice to be havin you here.  Now you come for a visit some afternoon, and we will have tea and talk about old times."

Hermione stood and gave the half-giant a hug, smiling when she realized standing she didn't even come to his elbow as he sat.  She said goodbye to a few others as she made her way to the teachers' entrance and into the narrow hall. 

Severus was pulled behind.

She didn't speak until she got back into her classroom and warded the door. She took a deep breath and said, "Now, Severus, if you're here, we've got to get this settled."

"I'm here," he said.  He saw her eyes widen.  "I'm right inside the door."

Hermione turned toward the door and looked. "I see nothing. Do you know what you are?"

Severus sighed. "No, maybe energy, ghost, spirit."

Hermione felt the coldness again and strained to hear his words.  This couldn't be her imagination.  He was speaking to her.  She heard his voice...the same deep, sexy voice he'd always had.  His voice was slow and articulate.  She reached out her hand and felt the coldness deepened as she got closer to the voice.

"It's been years since you died." she said.  "Why now, why me?"

"You found my wand."  He saw her reach up to touch her sleeve where his wand was encased.  She slipped it from her sleeve and moved forward, holding it out before her. The moment it touched the bubble that encased him, he felt himself dumped unceremoniously at her feet.

"What was that?" she said, jumping back.

Severus was so astonished to feel the hard floor against his backside that he didn't realize she still couldn't see him until he saw her looking wildly around.  He climbed to his feet.

"You still can't see me?" He reached out and touched her arm, and she screamed, backing away.

She held her hands up and shuddered. "No, and don't do that again." She was rubbing her arm. "It's nearly frozen."

Severus asked, "Can you hear me better now?"

She nodded. "It's as if you were here in the room instead of a long distance away."

He explained, "I was incased in a bubble of some sort.  You punctured it with my wand.  I damn near busted my tailbone landing."

"Do me a favor, sir. Please see if you can sit at the chair in front of my desk."

"You mean my desk," he said acidly.

"No, it's mine now, and you'd be wise to respect that. Your wand obviously is connected somehow.  I could just snap it," she said, holding the wand up and placing her fingers along it.

"Ha," he laughed. "I've been watching you for days. You're not going to break my wand.  That would destroy your pretty little fantasies about me now, wouldn't it?"

Hermione felt the blush rise up her neck and color her cheeks, and she pressed her cool hand against her face.

"You've been watching me?" she accused. 

"Don't get your knickers in a twist. I didn't have a choice because I'm tethered to my wand.  I was thankfully excluded from your bathroom time. I get stuck outside next to the door." 

"Well, thank God for that. I'll make sure I don't change clothes outside the bathroom."

"Shame," came a whisper. 

Hermione turned, and a smile played about her lips. "What did you say?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," he said. He found he could now walk, and he sat in the chair.  It felt as if he'd been able to actually take the weight off straining, underused muscles. "I'm sitting. You can come sit at your desk."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't understand this.  If you're a ghost, why can't I see you?"

"I've no idea," he replied in a nasty tone. "I didn't even realize I was in this state until you came back."  He told her of seeing her and McGonagall crying over him and then not remembering more than a snatch of thought here or there for years. He'd always been in the Shrieking Shack until she had found his wand."

"That's very odd. I've never heard of a curse attached to the owner's wand."  She started to sit in her chair and then panicked.

Severus sighed. "I am sitting where you told me to, Miss Granger. But it might have been fun to have a comely witch sit in my lap," he said teasingly.

Again she blushed. He'd said I am comely. Embarrassed she said scathingly, "As if anyone would want to sit in your lap."

For a moment, Severus was stunned with her comeback, and then he laughed. "Touché."

"Besides, I don't want to freeze my back side."  She sat at her desk and stared at the seemingly empty chair before her. "You never used to make off-handed remarks," she observed.

"You were a child.  You knew me only as your teacher and a spy for Voldemort," he told her.

"That's true." Then she shook her head and placed her face in her hands.  "I must be going mad.  If someone were to come here and find me talking to myself, they'd think I was crazy." 

She got up and moved away and started to place books on each table, ignoring him.

He got up and followed her. "Miss Granger, please, you must believe I'm here.  You need to help me figure out why I'm here.  This is torture."

Hermione jumped at his closeness and turned toward his voice. "Are you in pain or hungry?"

"No," he said with a sigh. "None of that. I can't even see myself.  I'm just veiled or cloaked or something.

Hermione felt paniced at the enormity of what had just been placed on her shoulders.  If Snape really was here and trapped between worlds, she knew she had to help him.

She said, "Alright, sir. I will do some research and see what I can find out."

Thank you Lisa, I appreciate your beta work. I could not do this without you.

Becky, I appreciate you help and support.