Andromeda

Chapter 1: Andromeda

"Victory Day," boomed an ancient looking man standing on the grotesque mud pit that had once been the picturesque sloping lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The man's long silver beard and hair were tucked haphazardly into his belt and his half-moon spectacles skewed on the end of his long, crooked nose. His eyes were a crisp, knowing blue and reflected the light of the fading sun. He surveyed the ragtag group around him with a satisfied sigh but a deep frown etched across his worn face. "Victory Day!"

The crowd around him whooped in triumph as they looked at the still smoldering pile of black robes in the middle of the battlefield. Lying there, stinking of burned flesh and unspeakable rotting things, were the remains of the most evil wizard the world had ever known. In a final, tortuously long battle on the grounds of Hogwarts itself, Lord Voldemort, the creature who had once been the handsome boy Tom Riddle, had been defeated by the Boy Who Lived. And so there he stood, black hair falling over his face as he leaned over the remains of Lord Voldemort, gathering his thoughts as the splinters of his wand dangled from his right hand.

A tall, lanky redhead limped over to the Boy Who Lived and grasped him firmly by the shoulder. "Well done, mate," the redhead said, wincing as he put a bit of weight on his left foot. "You've done it, Harry."

"Yeah," came the mumbled reply from the Boy Who Lived. "But not soon enough." Harry raised his eyes and surveyed the battlefield. "Who's missing, Ron?'

The redhead drew an unsteady breath and braced himself on Harry's shoulder again. "McGonagall, Shacklebolt, Tonks, Moody, Lavender, Parvati, Pansy... Cho. I'm sorry, Harry."

"Where's Hermione?" Harry looked around anxiously. "Where's Ginny?"

"POTTER! WEASLEY! Give me a hand over here!" came a deep, rough voice from off in the distance. Seven years under his unbearably watchful eye taught Ron and Harry to obey this command without question as they followed the sound of Severus Snape's voice.

Stepping over the bodies of Death Eaters and fellow Order members alike, Ron and Harry found Professor Snape kneeling in the mud and muck between two mangled bodies. To his right, lay the silent and motionless form of Ginny Weasley. Her flaming red hair was blackened with congealed blood and muck as it fanned out beneath her head. Her face was smeared with blood and cut so deep Harry thought he could see her cheekbones. Her clothes were ripped, torn, and bloodied from neck to ankle. More cuts and bruises criss-crossed her body the further down Harry looked. Her shattered wand lay at her feet. The green eyes of the Boy Who Lived glistened with tears as he knelt at Ginny's side and took her hand. Merlin and Dumbledore, she's still alive, Harry thought as he felt her faint pulse skip against the pads of his fingers. Harry stole a glance to Snape's left and saw Ron cradling Hermione Granger in his arms.

Intelligent, loyal, loving Hermione lay covered in blood and muck, her left leg twisting at an odd angle and both shoulders clearly sitting out of their sockets. Her brown curls were limp and tangled around her shoulders as Ron pulled her into his lap, her arms flailing grotesquely behind her. The faint rise and fall of her chest was all that kept Ron from turning to Snape and begging him for the Avada Kedavra curse.

"Mr. Weasley, it's best that you put Miss Granger down for now, you may do more damage than good. Watch her arms, boy!" Snape ordered, his voice raw and deep. "Listen carefully, Potter. You as well, Weasley. They are already taking the wounded to the Great Hall. There is not enough room in the hospital wing for them. I am going to conjure stretchers for Misses Granger and Weasley. You are to take them directly to the Great Hall where the mediwizards can properly care for them. Am I understood?"

Harry and Ron nodded absently and took control of the stretchers Snape conjured. After Hermione and Ginny had been safely and gently placed in the stretchers, Snape shooed the boys off towards Hogwarts castle. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, were already being treated for Sectumsempra wounds. As Ron maneuvered Hermione's stretcher through the maze of bodies, he looked over his shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, sir."

Snape, who had turned to make his way toward Dumbledore, glanced back at the redhead with weary irritation in his eyes. "Sorry for what, Mr. Weasley?"

The color drained from Ron's face as quickly as if Moody had been dangling a spider in front of his face again. He cleared his throat and looked to Harry for support, but Harry was already guiding Ginny's stretcher up the marble steps of the castle. "You didn't know, sir? Oh... um... I really shouldn't be the one to tell you then, sir. Maybe Dumbledore could..."

"SPIT. IT. OUT. WEASLEY!" Snape bellowed, striding purposefully over a dozen bodies and closed the distance between himself and the younger boy. He grabbed the boy by the front of his sweater and dragged him nearer. "What is it you're sorry for, Weasley?"

"Mrs. Snape, sir," Ron sputtered, staring down at the long fingered hands that had a white-knuckled grip on his sweater.

"Samantha? Where is she, Weasley? WHERE IS SHE?!" Snape's bellow echoed through the silent battlefield as he shook Ron senseless.

"Over there, sir," Ron muttered, pointing to where the Whomping Willow stood motionless and charred. Beneath it laid a single body, the young, beautiful body of Samantha Snape.

Severus dropped Ron roughly and set off at a sprint toward the Whomping Willow. The smell of rotting flesh and death was in his sensitive nostrils as he stumbled over a jumble of bodies and fell to the ground. Sliding in the mud and muck, Severus struggled to regain his footing as he stared into the face of Minerva McGonagall. Her pale, sharp eyes were staring blankly at some lost point in the distance. A gash stretched across her stern face from her right temple to beneath her left ear. Severus felt the bile begin to rise in his throat as his brain struggled between mourning the loss of the woman who had been a mother to him and going to the side of his wife. Digging his worn dragon hide boots in the soft turf, he pushed himself off the ground and set off once more towards the smoldering tree in the distance.

"SAMANTHA!" The sound was out of his mouth before he could hold it back. Her thick, auburn curls came into view as he cleared the top of the tiny hill upon which the Whomping Willow stood. Her face was pink, flushed, and spotted with blood as he neared her motionless body. Wide, empty green eyes stared into nothingness, an expression of utter fear on her once beautiful face.

Severus fell to his knees, all pretense of the Potions master lost beside the body of his wife. He pulled her into his lap with shaking arms and felt the hot, stinging tears run down his cheeks. The grief that was visible in those fathomless black eyes was enough to bring the old man standing nearby to sickness. It was a moment Albus Dumbledore didn't want to intrude on, this tender sight of a man so haunted by his past now having to face his future with a shattered heart.

Almost as if he sensed the presence of the older wizard, Severus lifted his tear-stained face from where it was buried in his wife's shoulder. Gazing absently in Dumbledore's direction, Severus whispered, "Please, Albus, as your last kindness to me... kill me."

Dumbledore's face contorted with a wince at this request. The younger man kneeling in the mud had been so in love with the wife whose body he now clutched desperately to his chest. "I cannot, Severus, not when you have Andromeda. If it were not for her, I might consider..."

Severus's head jerked. "Andromeda? Dear gods, Albus, what has happened to her? Where is she? I will Avada myself if I have lost her as well. Tell me, do I have a reason to live?" The desperate look that invaded those tired, sculpted features cut Dumbledore as deep in his heart as anything ever had.

He knelt beside Snape and placed a soothing hand on the back of the younger man's head as he began to sob. "Hush, my boy," Dumbledore cooed. "She is quite safe, Severus. I put her in the care of the house-elves myself as soon as the alarm was sounded."

Snape let out a rattling, deep breath and looked gratefully into the older man's crisp eyes. "I cannot tell you how thankful I am for that. How did you find her, Albus?"

A soft, genuine smile spread across Dumbledore's old face as he recalled the sight of Severus and Samantha's daughter from just a few hours before. "She was in my study, Severus, eating lemon drops and playing with Hermione Granger's cat. I gave her to Dobby and Winky, giving them explicit instructions as to protect Andromeda from harm at all costs. They have taken her into hiding in the most secret places of the castle. The house-elves will not allow an innocent child to be harmed."

Severus sighed with something resembling relief before turning back toward the body of his wife. The pink flush of her face had been replaced by a pale gray shadow. Her green eyes still stared off into an unknown distance, the mask of fear forever etched onto her face. Severus scrunched his eyes together and tried desperately to hold back the bile that rose in his throat. A soft hand fell on his shoulder and an expressly feminine voice whispered in his ear.

"Get up, Professor," said the gentle voice. "You're bleeding; you need to see Madam Pomfrey."

An animalistic grunt rumbled from his chest, and he pulled the body of his wife closer. His black robes were now spotted red with their mingled blood. The gentle voice was in his ear again.

"Please, Professor. You seem to be hurt pretty bad. Let me take you up to the castle, sir." The girl to whom the gentle voice belonged began to tug insistently at his arms. She began to plead with him. "Sir, please, get up. Please, sir, please. Severus..."

The use of his given name startled him, and he turned his head to see the girl standing behind him. She couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen and Severus thought that he knew the girl's name, but it wouldn't come to him. All he could think about was the body in his arms and the growing pain low in his back. It grew, searing through him like white, hot fire. A primal scream erupted from him before everything went black. Severus Snape slumped over the body of his wife on the battlefield.

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The sun was streaming through the high windows of the hospital wing as Severus Snape began to rouse from a deep, heavy sleep. There were white curtains around his bed to ensure his privacy. A pitcher of water and an empty glass were on the table beside him, along with a worn encyclopedia of medicinal potions. He groaned as he tried to sit up, the pain in his lower back excruciating.

There was a soft rustling of robes as Madam Pomfrey pushed aside the curtains surrounding his bed. The mediwitch clicked her tongue reprovingly as she swept her wand through the air above Snape's body. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Exactly what it looks like I'm doing, Poppy." Snape winced as he shifted against his pillows. "I need to get to Andromeda. I haven't seen her in... Merlin, how long has it been?"

A softer look crossed the old mediwitch's face as she looked down at Severus. "Two weeks, Severus. But don't worry. Andromeda is quite all right. Albus has been checking in on her every day. Winky and Dobby have kept her safe until Hermione was well enough to take charge of her."

"Humph," Severus mumbled. "Who would have thought Miss Granger had a mothering instinct?"

"Oh, really. Don't be so sarcastic. She's not let Andromeda out of her sight since she left the hospital wing." Madam Pomfrey fluffed Snape's pillows and turned to pour a draught of potion into the glass on the table. "She was asking about you almost as soon as she woke up, Severus. And that was a week and a half ago. Here, drink this."

Severus took the cup and drank the potion down in one swallow. He made a sour face as he handed the glass back to the mediwitch. "Is she being good to my daughter, Poppy?"

"Like she was her own," she replied. "Now go back to sleep and I'll see if Miss Granger will bring her up to see you when you wake up." Madam Pomfrey placed the glass on the table and turned to see Severus snuggling back down into his bed.

"Poppy," he murmured as he began to drift off to sleep again, the pain in his back ebbing away. "Send for Samantha... I would... yawn... like to tell her... yawn... I love her."

Madam Pomfrey closed her eyes tightly to hold back the stinging tears threatening to spill out. She closed her soft, worn hand over Severus's and whispered, "I can't do that, dear boy."

Snape grunted in answer before he drifted off completely. It seemed to Madam Pomfrey that he slept for hours, but they were peaceful hours. He neither moved nor made noise until near dinnertime when he began to stir. Of course, thought Madam Pomfrey as she made her rounds in the hospital wing. Severus must be starving. The poor thing hasn't eaten anything solid in two weeks.

She crossed the room to her office and grasped a handful of Floo powder. Kneeling slowly onto the hearth of her fireplace, Madam Pomfrey threw the powder into the fire and watched the flames burn high and green. She called out "Professor Granger's chambers!" before sticking her head into the warm flames.

Her head continued to spin for a few moments before she opened her eyes to see Hermione Granger sitting in the floor playing dolls with a small child. Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat in order to not frighten them.

"Oh, hello, Madam Pomfrey. I didn't see you there," said Hermione cheerfully. She smiled and turned her attention to the child playing in the floor near her. "Andromeda, I am going to talk to Madam Pomfrey for a minute. I'll be just here, okay?"

The child looked up, her eyes were deep green and wide with ridiculously long, black lashes. Her face was round and pleasant with rose-colored lips and pink cheeks. Her hair was black and fell in thick curls that Hermione had pulled away from her face with clips. Anyone who looked at the child would not have mistaken that she was the daughter of Severus Snape and Samantha Cole.

Hermione turned her attention back to the head of the mediwitch sitting in her fireplace. "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yes, dear. I thought you might be glad to hear that Severus is going to make a full recovery. He's sleeping just now, but he said he would like to see Andromeda. I was hoping you would bring her down to visit after he has eaten his supper." There was a muffled grunt from Madam Pomfrey's end of the Floo connection. A soft smile crossed her face. "Apparently, he is already awake. If you don't mind, Hermione, please bring the child down in half an hour. I think she will be the only one to keep him tolerable until he is well enough to be out on his own."

"Of course, Madam Pomfrey. I... um..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she stared at the little girl nearby.

A soft, almost knowing smile crossed the old mediwitch's face. "Something you want to ask, dear?" Madam Pomfrey didn't need to ask. She already knew that Hermione was going to ask about Samantha Snape.

"Has Sev... I mean, Professor Snape realized about his wife? Is he all right?" The look that crossed the young woman's face was enough to make the mediwitch staring at her from the fire want to cry.

"He's asked for her, Hermione, but I can't bring myself to tell him what happened. I believe he's blocked it out for the time being. It's best we don't come out and tell him in his current state, but if he were to ask, we cannot... nor should we... hide it from him." She smiled and looked at Hermione sideways. "I think he will be all right with time. Andromeda will be able to help him heal some of those wounds that his wife's death has inflicted. A child is one of the best healers, dear; remember that. They work so innocently that their magic cannot help but be felt."

There was another grunt from the other end of the Floo connection. Madam Pomfrey smiled slightly at the child playing in the floor before her head disappeared with a pop. Hermione turned back to the child stroking the hair of her dolls. Those soft green eyes turned up to hers, and a smile stretched across her round face as she scooted across the carpet. "Herminny... I want daddy," the little girl mumbled.

Hermione smiled and reached out to scoop the girl up off the floor. "We're going to see daddy today, Andromeda. That was daddy's doctor that I was just talking to, you know, in the fireplace."

Andromeda Snape looked at the fireplace for a moment then turned her green eyes back to her babysitter. "Aunt Pop-pee," she mumbled, crawling up into Hermione's lap. "Where did Mummy go?"

The question caught Hermione off guard so that she jumped a bit. She pulled the little girl closer against her chest and kissed the top of her head. "Your mummy was a very brave woman, Andromeda. She was a soldier, and she fought in a dangerous war. We all fought, daddy and Gampa and Gamma, me and Harry and Ron." Hermione smiled as the little girl in her arms giggled and held her tiny fingers over her nose. Every time Ron came near her, he would pretend to steal Andromeda's nose and hide it. She had taken well to Ron and Harry, who helped give Hermione a few well-deserved naps every now and then.

"The war came here to our house, and your mummy went out to fight with everyone else, Andromeda. But a very, very bad man didn't want your mummy to fight for us because he knew we would win. So, he hurt your mummy really bad. He hurt her so bad that she went to be with the angels. And you know what, Andromeda?" The little girl twisted in Hermione's arms and looked up at her questioningly. "Now, your mummy is with the angels and so is Gamma and my grandmother. They're all watching over us now, and they'll keep us safe."

Hermione thought her heart was going to burst when the little girl started to cry. "Mummy coming back from the angels, Herminny?" When Hermione shook her head and murmured "no" into the little girl's hair, tears began to streak down her cheeks as well. Yes, she mourned for the loss of Samantha Snape, who had been a wonderful Dark Arts teacher and a good friend (having been a Gryffindor herself). But more so, she mourned for Professor Snape, who had changed so much with Samantha in his life. He had emerged from his bitter, dark, snapping persona to become a respected mentor, a loyal soldier and husband, and a doting father. She mourned for the man she had secretly come to admire and to love.

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"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Andromeda chanted as she skipped next to Hermione on the way to the hospital wing. Her black curls were bouncing, and her green eyes were shining as Hermione told her stories about Professor Snape. "Daddy said you have big teeth, Herminny?"

Although the memory used to break her heart and make her feel so much like crying that she felt sick, Hermione laughed in spite of herself. "Yes, and I cried so hard that I almost got sick. I went to Aunt Poppy, and she made them better. I even let her make them smaller than what I started with!"

They had arrived at the door of the hospital wing. Hermione raised her hand to knock on the door but found it being pushed open by Andromeda. The little girl squeezed through the opening she had made and ran through the rows of empty beds squealing "Daddy!" the whole way. Hermione slid through the opening and pushed the door shut behind her before rushing off in pursuit of the little girl.

"Andromeda," she called in a hushed voice. She caught up to the child and grasped her by the back of her dress and pulled her back. "We have to be quiet or else we go back to our room."

"I should think not, Miss Granger," came the familiar, albeit a bit softer, voice of Professor Snape.

Hermione looked up to see him propped up against a pile of pillows in the very last bed. The afternoon light trickled through the window above his bed and cast a faint glow on him. It was the first time Hermione had seen him awake since the battle, and she had to admit he was looking better than he had that day. She grasped Andromeda by her tiny hand and led her to her father's bedside.

"You're looking much better today, Professor," she said, sitting in the chair set up beside his bed and pulling Andromeda into her lap. "Have you been eating well?"

Hermione expected the customary sneer and insult from the man sitting in the bed. It didn't come. Instead, he replied, "I have eaten what Poppy has brought me, but it hasn't been much."

If that hadn't been enough to stop Hermione's heart from shock, what he said next finished the job.

"How have you been feeling?"

"I... um... I'm fine, Professor," she sputtered, breaking away from looking at him to stare into Andromeda's hair. She began fidgeting with a group of curls pulled back from the child's face. "I've not felt any pain for a few days now, and the wounds have healed for the most part. I just have to be careful."

"I am glad to hear that, Miss Granger, but that is not all that I was inquiring about," said Snape, a concerned look passing over his face momentarily. "I know you have been looking after Andromeda while I have been otherwise disposed. And, I also know what an energetic child she can be. You may be truthful. Have you been eating and sleeping decently? Has she been any trouble at all?"

Hermione released the child as she slid out of her lap and went to climb into her father's bed. Automatically, Hermione stood and helped Andromeda onto the bed, being careful to position her away from Professor Snape's fresh battle wounds. "She has been no trouble at all, Professor. It has been a pleasure to take care of her. I think I will be quite lonely once Madam Pomfrey has released you and you have taken her back. I will miss her."

Sinking back into her chair, Hermione watched as Snape put his arm around his daughter and pulled her closer. The little girl turned her face up to her father and gave him a beaming smile. "Daddy, you said Herminny has big teeth!"

Blushing furiously, Hermione felt like melting into the floor and disappearing forever.

A small smile fluttered over Snape's face. "Yes, I did. It was very rude and very ugly of me to say that, Andromeda. I should apologize to 'Herminny,' shouldn't I?"

"Daddy, you should say sorry to Herminy." Andromeda giggled as she wriggled under the blankets and pulled them daintily over her legs.

"I'm very sorry for anything I have said that has hurt your feelings, Miss Granger. I would hope that you understand now why I acted as I did," said Snape, the sincere look in his eyes making Hermione feel as if she was flying. Snape had never so much as looked at her without disdain, and now he was apologizing to her for the lot of it.

The door at the end of the room opened with a creak, and Professor Dumbledore swept inside. Andromeda turned away from her father at the sound and squealed, "Gampa!" before sliding from the bed and running the length of the room. Professor Snape winced as Andromeda's foot made contact with a fresh wound on his side. Professor Dumbledore swept his goddaughter into his arms and began to make his way toward Snape and Hermione.

"Really, Miss Granger, I'm perfectly fine," Snape was grumbling as Hermione insisted on pulling back his blankets and checking the bandage that Andromeda had dislodged. "It was an accident. It doesn't even hurt anymore. I'm fine, Miss Granger... Miss Granger... really, could you just... Stop that!"

Hermione jumped and clasped her hands together over her mouth. The bandage had been completely removed from the gaping wound in Professor Snape's side. The gash was red and glistening with blood. It stretched in a wide arc from his right hipbone over his flattened stomach and disappeared beneath his left arm. It seemed as if it went all the way around his body. The tears welled up in Hermione's eyes as he fumbled to pull the blankets over his wounds so that Andromeda wouldn't see them.

"How are you feeling today, my boy?" asked Professor Dumbledore, as he swept up to Snape's bedside and conjured himself a cushy chair opposite Hermione's wooden one. "You look much better than you did yesterday. I'm very pleased with your recovery."

Snape smiled weakly and tried to ignore the sight of Hermione sinking into her chair and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Andromeda, don't pull on Gampa's beard. That hurts," he said as his daughter gave Dumbledore's long silver beard a hearty tug. "Thank you for everything you've done for us, Albus. It would break Samantha's heart if something happened to Andromeda. How is she, Albus? Poppy won't tell me where she is or what is wrong with her."

A sad light came into Dumbledore's eyes as he looked from the child in his arms to the younger man lying in the hospital bed to Hermione, who was trying desperately to wipe the tears from her eyes. His heart ached for the young woman she had become, the young woman who had accepted his offer as a confidant during one of their many meetings at Snape's bedside. Hermione had confided to Dumbledore through a myriad of tears and sniffles that not only had she grown to love and adore Andromeda, she had also come to love Severus himself. Dumbledore's crystal blue eyes followed her as she swiped at the tears in her eyes and stood slowly.

Hermione's legs were shaking as she stood, and she felt the bile rise in her throat. She didn't think she could listen to this; she shouldn't. This was something private between Dumbledore and Professor Snape. The tears began to well up again as she murmured something about going to see Madam Pomfrey about a headache potion, turned on her heel, and all but ran to the mediwitch's office.

Severus stared after her for a moment. "What is the matter with Miss Granger?" he mumbled, almost as if to himself. His attention shifted to his daughter, who was still tugging insistently on Dumbledore's beard.

"What did I tell you, Andromeda? Mummy and I have told you a hundred times..."

"Mummy is with Gamma and the angels, Daddy," said Andromeda as she let go of Dumbledore's beard and slid out of his lap. She went to her father's bedside and grasped his large, long-fingered hand in both of hers. "Herminny says she can't come back."

Severus looked as if he had been hit. What color he had drained rapidly from his face. He swallowed hard and shifted his gaze to his mentor. "Albus, what is this? I demand you tell me what happened? Why can't I remember anything about Samantha after the battle broke out? Albus, tell me, please."

The light in Dumbledore's eyes faded until his eyes were bleak and gray. He looked at the younger man with more sympathy and remorse than he had ever felt in his very long life. "I don't know how to tell you, Severus. I will confess that I had hoped it would never come to this... that you would come to the realization of what happened on your own. But as it has not been so simple, I suppose it has fallen upon me to be the bearer of terrible news."

As Dumbledore spoke, Severus began to pale even further, if that were even possible. The younger man pulled his daughter onto the bed next to him and cradled her as close as he could without agitating his wounds. "Severus, I am sorry," Dumbledore continued. "Samantha did not make it through the battle. Voldemort himself killed her."

For a moment it looked as if Snape didn't believe what he had heard. He knew that somehow, it had to be a cruel and insensitive joke. However, slowly and painfully, his brain began to compute what Dumbledore said. The innocent confession of his daughter, the uncomfortable tears of Hermione, and the pained expression on Dumbledore's face all pointed to the one conclusion that Snape had blocked from his mind for days. Samantha, his wonderful, beautiful, intelligent wife, was dead and gone forever. Without the energy to compose himself and put on a brave face, the tears began to trickle out of Snape's distant black eyes.

Andromeda looked up at her father with her wide green eyes and smiled. She reached up her tiny hand and clumsily wiped the tears from his cheeks. "It's okay, Daddy. Mummy and Gamma were brave, and they are taking care of us and helping the angels."

Dumbledore stood and left the grieving man with his daughter. He crossed the hospital wing and knocked quietly on Madam Pomfrey's office door. The mediwitch appeared at the door with red, puffy eyes and a handkerchief. "Oh, Albus. How is he?"

"He will be alright in time, Poppy. I think it will do him good to have Andromeda with him for a while so that he can reconnect with the only part of Samantha he has left," Dumbledore said as he stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. "Give him some time and do not badger him to talk about anything he does not wish to. Now, how are you feeling, Hermione?"

Startled, Hermione looked up at the Headmaster with red eyes. She pressed a tissue to her eyes and drew in several deep breaths. "Professor, I can't do this. I don't think I can watch him hurt so much. It was hard enough to listen to Andromeda crying for Samantha the first few nights. I can't watch Severus go through this... Oh, Professor, what am I going to do?"

Hermione's tears began to flow anew, and Dumbledore pulled her into his arms as she cried. "As unfortunate as it is, he will not heal if he does not experience the pain that comes from losing someone you care about. It will be hard for Severus. He has never loved anyone before Samantha and Andromeda."

"No, Professor," Hermione mumbled as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. "He loves you, sir." I wonder if he loved his parents? Hermione thought as she stared at the office door. "May I go check on him, Madam Pomfrey, or should I just let him be?"

Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention to Hermione, who still looked as if she could burst into tears again at any moment. "I must caution you not to push him, Hermione. Do not make him talk about anything he does not wish to. And, for your own sake as well as his, please do not make any drastic bedside confessions."

Hermione nodded limply and made her way slowly to the door of Madam Pomfrey's office. She turned and smiled weakly at Professor Dumbledore.

"Go on, Hermione. I suppose he will thank you for it some day."