Chapter 3

Many thanks to Emmeline33 for the prompts and Sunshine for the beta reading.

I make no money from this fan fiction and salute J.K. Rowling with grateful thanks for her wondrous characters. I also intend no copyright infringement.

Chapter Three

"How's the project coming, Hermione?" Harry entered the Potions lab at Hogwarts with Luna Lovegood a step behind him; it wasn't lost on Hermione that they were holding hands. Hermione smiled and rose from her lab stool to hug both of her visitors. "The potion is finished. I just need to let it cool before I can bottle it. I forgot to tell you that I found directions for the antidote, too, and I've finished brewing that as well. I'm going to take several flasks of the antidote back with me, just in case. And I've memorized the directions. I'm taking De-Aging potion with me, too."

Harry's smile was filled with slightly awestruck delight. "You think it's going to work!"

She bit her lip and nodded her head. "I really think there's a good chance it will."

Hermione cast a 'no disturb' charm on the cauldron on the work bench and motioned for Harry and Luna to follow her into the private sitting room reserved for the Potions instructor.

This was still Severus Snape's own personal domain, as Slughorn had demanded the suite of rooms used by Professor Merrythought when he'd come back to Hogwarts to teach Potions in Hermione and Harry's sixth year; those rooms were up on the third floor near the hospital wing.

Hermione found herself very comfortable in Snape's old quarters. The rooms were austerely furnished with mostly dark wood furniture and cool blue, green and silver being the prevalent colors. Snape had appreciated his creature comforts, too. His sofa and chairs had down-filled cushions, his rugs were thick and plush underfoot, and the stone walls were covered with heavy paneling to keep out the cold, paneling that was, in its turn, covered by built-in book shelves on all the walls. Hermione felt right at home among the books and had already read a goodly number of them. She was already planning which ones to shrink and bring with her on her journey.

Snape's bed was an indulgence she hadn't expected. It was wide and high and situated in an alcove with a window overlooking the Black Lake. Instead of bed curtains, the entire bed was built into a cupboard that could be closed off for privacy and warmth by heavy doors of carved mahogany. The mattress offered firm support but also had a thick layer of springy feathers for padding, much like the pillow-top designs used by Muggles. The linens were, frankly, decadent: smooth sheets of high thread-count cotton with embroidered monograms, topped by a thick down comforter tucked into a duvet made of silk brocade. Hermione couldn't remember ever sleeping in greater comfort.

Harry and Luna looked around curiously as Hermione called the kitchen and asked Kreacher to bring them tea; they were deep in conversation by the time the house-elf popped into the room with a heavily laden tray.

"You said, the last time we spoke, that you thought you'd have your plans finalized by the time the potion was done. Tell me all about everything," Harry said, serving Luna a cup of tea.

"Well, let me start with my parents. My dad was born in 1940, and my mum in 1941. They married November 28, 1959. They took their training together at the same college. Mum got pregnant sooner than they planned, must have been in midsummer, but she lost the baby in August of 1960. I went to the Muggle hospital where she was treated for the miscarriage and did some finagling, and so the hospital records actually show my being born at the time Mum was originally in hospital after losing that baby. She lost it very early; the fetus was only about seven weeks along when she miscarried, so it was too early to tell whether it was a boy or girl. My new birthdate is August 29, 1960, by the way. I'll be eight months younger than Severus and make the deadline for starting Hogwarts in 1971 by one day. We'll start in 1971 and graduate in 1978."

Harry listened intently but didn't say anything. He was trying to absorb as many details as he could, in case he needed any of the information later, and resolved then and there to have Hermione write it all down and give it to him, just in case.

Hermione continued, "Then I went to the Daily Prophet and looked through their archives of old issues of the paper. I found the marriage announcement of Eileen Prince to Tobias Snape, buried in the very back of the Society section. They were married in June of 1959. Severus was born January 9, 1960, if you're keeping track."

Luna nodded her head and scribbled another note on the parchment she had propped on a book in her lap.

"And yes, if you count on your fingers, you'll realize that Eileen Prince was pregnant when she married Tobias Snape. Something I didn't know and I doubt anyone bothered to remember; Tobias Snape was mentioned in the Prophet article because he was actually part of a group called the Muggle/Magical beings Liaison Committee. For a brief while back in the late 50s and early 60s, the Muggle government had this committee that met with a similar group from the Ministry on a regular basis. The meetings were held about every three months, at least from the records I could find. Snape's mum was employed as a clerk to the committee, and that must be how she met his dad."

"Wow, Professor Dumbledore never mentioned any kind of committee like that."

"No, and the committee wasn't mentioned in any of the books I read either. I wonder what made them decide to disband it. Probably never will know," Hermione grumped. Then she continued, "I needed to make sure my school records were correct for the time I'm going back to. Lucky for me, my mum and dad bought their house right when they got married and lived there all their married life, so the Primary school I went to is the same one I would have gone to if I'd been born twenty years earlier anyway. Again, it was really easy to finagle the school records. I went and talked to the Sorting Hat, did I tell you? And it told me how to bamboozle the magical records here at Hogwarts and at the Ministry. I think my identity and records and everything are good enough to pass as genuine. I've encoded some charms into the De-Aging potion; when I drink it, the charms will cast the needed changes to my magical birth and school records."

She sipped her tea while counting something on her fingers.

"You said it was safe to talk to Bill Weasley, Harry, so I did that. I didn't tell him I was planning to travel back in time; I told him I had used a Time-Turner third year and I thought I had messed up something in the past. He did whatever he does for Gringotts to make sure I will have an account in my name when I do get back to 1970. I've been studying old magazines and catalogs and looking at Oxfam and other thrift stores for 70's style clothes and shoes, too. I even found some school robes from that era at a thrift store in Diagon Alley. That was a major find!"

"Wow. You've thought of everything."

"I've tried to."

Harry nodded his head and then got to his feet. "I thought of something, myself, that might come in handy," he said quietly and rummaged in the pack he'd carried in with him. "I want you to take this with you. You might need it, and I want you to have everything that will help you succeed." He drew out his Invisibility Cloak.

"Oh, Harry! Are you sure? I may not be able to bring it back, you know."

"Won't matter. I don't think I'm going to need it and you very well might."

She sniffled and accepted the cloak from him. Not wanting to be caught sniffling himself, Harry sat back down next to Luna and determinedly asked a question that had been on his mind.

"Were you able to figure out the dates my mum must have met Snape at the playground?"

She nodded her head. "I had a bit of luck there. There was a notice in the Daily Prophet in August of 1970 that Eileen Prince Snape was hospitalized the first week of that month; the report said she'd been in a car smash up and spent ten days in hospital. I think that must be when Snape met your mum...his dad would have been working, so he could have snuck out to the park as much as he liked." Hermione paused to consider how lonely Severus must have been with his mum in hospital.

"That might explain why your mum was so important to him, Harry. He was worried about his own mum and missing her." Luna's comment was spoken lightly, but Hermione had learned to really LISTEN to Luna because she had the most ferociously insightful mind when it came to understanding emotional nuances.

"That could be." Harry nodded his head.

Hermione went over some more logistical issues she'd encountered and solved, and then she fell silent. Harry and Luna, who could read her well, noticed her fidgeting with the spoons on the tea tray and biting her bottom lip, and Harry, with the forthrightness of long friendship, called her on it. "Okay, out with it, Hermione. What are you trying to come up with a way to say?"

"Well, two things, really, but they're kind of related."

"Okay."

"First, Harry, I think we need to put all our memories of this into a Pensieve. I want you to be able to come back and find me if something goes wrong."

"Okay. That actually makes sense to me. I don't know what's bothering you about that."

"The second thing is I want to make you my Secret Keeper about my mum and dad's location. If something happens to me, it will be up to you to decide whether to find them and tell them about me."

"Okay." Harry thought for a few moments. "What else are you worried about? I know there's something you haven't told us yet."

She nodded and her eyes filled with tears. "Harry, what if I screw this up? If I do it wrong, I could hurt him even more than he already has been hurt. We know Voldemort was seeking followers; Severus was in Slytherin. He might still attract Riddle's attention."

"It won't be any worse than him being in love with my mum. Voldemort was horrible about her being a Muggle-born, too."

Luna pointed out in her usual breathy sing-song voice, "You don't know that he will sort into Slytherin when you go back. Maybe he'll be in another house."

Hermione dropped her head as if ashamed and began to cry.

Harry and Luna moved to her sofa and each of them put their arms around her. "'Mione, what is it?"

She looked at them with streaming eyes. "I'm scared. I'm so scared. I'm scared I'll screw it up, but I'm scared for myself, too. What if I become a target for Voldemort?"

Harry looked as if he'd been hit in the head by a Bludger. "Oh, Merlin's bloody beard! I didn't think you might be in danger. Hermione, I'm so sorry. Shall I go into the lab and pour out the De-Aging potion?"

"No! No, don't do that. I really want to help Professor Snape. Don't do that. Three months of work down the drain!" She sighed and wiped her eyes. "I think it's a bit like exam nerves. You know how it is, I think of every wrong answer I could have given and panic over every tiny thing I could have done badly."

"Yeah, and then you go on to get perfect marks anyway." Harry affectionately rumpled her hair. "I can understand you being scared. And I won't be mad if you decide you just can't stand to do this."

"No. I won't chuck it now, Harry. I'd never forgive myself for letting him down."

Hermione hesitated and then confided, "I truly don't have a crush on him, but I care about the person I wish I'd had the chance to know better. Does that make any sense? He means a great deal to me, Harry, and I won't quit now because I think I could make a difference in his life. I think he could turn out to be one of the best friends I could ever imagine having, if only we had the chance to know each other."

"I know you miss Ron."

"Terribly, but I don't think Ron and I could have ever been friends the way I hope to be friends with Severus. We're just too different, Ron and I. From what little I know, Severus was as much of a swot as I am. We might become quite good friends."

Luna looked at Hermione with a speculative gleam in her eyes. "You know, you should be quite open to the idea that he might fall in love with you."

At that, Hermione blushed and dropped her eyes. "That's not nearly as scary a thought as it ought to be," she said quietly. "I'm not expecting it to happen, and I'm not going back there with that intent. I...suppose it could happen, though. I couldn't just go back and stay there for a short time, fix everything and come back to this time, if we grew that close to one another."

"What would you do if it did happen?" The question was out of Harry's mouth before he realized he'd spoken it.

"If I really loved him, Harry, and he really loved me...I would either stay back with him or try to bring him forward to our time. I'd want us to be together, and I guess it really doesn't matter to me which timeline we chose. Harry, you saved the Wizarding world. You're happy with Luna. I thought I would spend the rest of my life with Ron, and that's not going to happen. I could get a job, there've been no shortage of offers, but I want to try to help Severus. And if I manage to go back and find something meaningful to do, I think I will stay there. There's nothing that will change now if I don't come back."

"I would miss you."

"I will miss you, too...both of you. But if I can save Severus Snape from dying on the floor of that horrible, dirty shack, it will be worth it." Her voice was filled with quiet conviction. "And, who knows, Professor Snape wound up teaching at Hogwarts. Maybe I will, too."

"'Mione, I love you." Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione and buried his face in her shoulder. "You're a genuinely good person, and I'm so glad we're friends."

Her eyes filled with tears again. "No matter when I wind up, you'll always be my best friend, Harry."

Silently, they held tightly to one another for a moment. Then, with one long, loving look, one heartfelt hug, Hermione drew away. "Now, let me tell you how I think we can manage to send me back."