Hermione

CHAPTER 2: Hermione

The hospital wing had grown dark since Hermione had brought Andromeda down for her first visit with her father since the battle. She knew that Snape's bed was directly across from Madam Pomfrey's office, but she felt as if the floor were spinning in a thousand different directions at once. She felt disoriented and nauseated. Her legs shook beneath her, and Hermione knew she would faint if she took a single step.

A tiny shape moved in the distance, and Hermione heard Andromeda's soft voice. "Herminny, is Daddy going to be okay?" The little girl fumbled through the darkened hospital wing toward Madam Pomfrey's office.

Hermione reached out her hand and, kneeling, pulled the little girl close to her. She wrapped her in her arms and kissed the top of her head gently. "I don't know, Andromeda. I hope so," she whispered. Hermione pulled away from the little girl and stared down into her dark brown eyes. "Why don't you go in with Gampa and Aunt Poppy while I go check on Daddy, okay?"

"Okay, Herminny," Andromeda whispered. She turned to go into Madam Pomfrey's office, but then raced back to Hermione. She wrapped her tiny arms around Hermione's neck and mumbled, "I love you, Herminny."

The tears sprang to Hermione's eyes so quickly that she didn't trust herself to talk at all. She kissed Andromeda's head again and shooed her off to Madam Pomfrey's office. She stood and made her way to Professor Snape's bedside on wobbly legs.

Snape's ragged, shallow breathing seemed to echo through the hospital wing. Hermione couldn't tell whether he was awake and still crying or had drifted off into a fitful sleep. She crept close to Snape's bedside and sank into the wooden chair that sat next to it. Tears from Andromeda's heartfelt confession still glided down her cheeks as she stared down at Snape's gaunt form. After convincing herself that he indeed was asleep, Hermione reached out and took his hand.

"Oh, Severus," she whispered, her voice choked and raw from her tears. "How I love that little girl of yours. She's so wonderful, Severus. She's so much like you, I can't help but love her." Hermione stopped and swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I can see so much of you in her, Severus. Andromeda has your wit. I've never seen a child so precocious and talkative. She loves learning so much. I'll miss her when you are well enough to take her back. These past few weeks... Oh, Severus, it feels like she's mine." Hermione laughed nervously. "Harry and Ron told me once she even looks like me. I can't see it, but sometimes I wish I could. I loved Samantha like a sister and I..."

Hermione stopped and put her free hand over her mouth as she felt Professor Snape squeeze her hand gently. She could see his black eyes glistening in the moonlight and felt her face redden. She quickly looked down and tried to hide her face behind her falling hair. Hermione felt as if she could die of embarrassment. Dumbledore had asked her not to say anything, but it seemed as if the words came spilling out before she could stop them.

"Hermione," came Snape's voice. It was soft and gentle, something that Hermione would have given all the high marks she'd ever gotten to hear just once in class. A cool waft of air washed over Hermione's face as Snape raised his free hand and swept her thick brown curls behind her ear. "Hermione, look at me."

She obligingly raised her eyes to his and felt her heart skip a beat. "She loved you the same," he continued as he held her gaze. It was so different from the way he had looked at her for so many years. It could almost be called loving as his dark eyes shifted over her face in the darkness. "We talked about you often, especially when we began to notice how much Andromeda looked like you."

"Please, Professor," Hermione managed. "Lay back and try to sleep. I shouldn't have bothered you. Andromeda and I will be back tomorrow morning, now that you're well enough to know we're here."

Snape grunted as he struggled to sit up, despite Hermione's protestations that he try to sleep. "How often have you visited and I haven't been coherent enough to notice, Hermione?"

"Everyday, sir. I haven't brought Andromeda until today. I didn't want her to see you in such bad shape," she whispered. "Ron and Harry looked after her while I visited. Sometimes Professor Dumbledore watched her for me."

"Hermione, will you miss her so much when I am better?" He looked at her with such sincerity that the tears tickled Hermione's eyes again.

She nodded and swiped haphazardly at her tearing eyes. "I... oh, sod it. Yes, Professor, I will miss her terribly. I have fallen in love with that little girl. It will break my heart to give her up. I wish..." Hermione's eyes grew wide as she slapped her free hand over her mouth. She had almost said too much. She quickly recollected herself. "I have to get Andromeda back to bed."

With that, Hermione squeezed Snape's hand quickly and stood. "Good night, sir," she mumbled before hurrying off to Madam Pomfrey's office to collect Andromeda. She knew that if she stayed at Snape's bedside any longer, she would say things that she had no right to say to him. Not now, not ever.

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Hermione was up before dawn the next morning. Her mortification of revealing the little that she had to Professor Snape was evident in her face as she stared into the mirror after her bath. Her thick brown curls hung heavy and wet around her shoulders as tiny droplets of water clung to her skin and dripped onto the floor. Holding her towel in place, Hermione reached for her wand to cast a quick drying charm on her hair. She had learned the charm in fourth year from Witch Weekly and had tried it out for the Yule Ball. It kept her hair from getting frizzy and made her curls look more tamed and defined.

Once her hair was dry, Hermione pulled it back into a twist with a large clip. She was never much for spending hours getting ready in the mornings. However, since she had taken Andromeda in it was necessary to get up early to be ready when the child woke up. Hermione quickly dried off, trying desperately to ignore the pink scars crossing over almost every part of her body, and dressed in a pair of jeans and long-sleeved shirt. Andromeda was just stirring in her bed as Hermione slipped out of her private bathroom.

Hermione started a small fire and opened the curtains as Andromeda sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. She looked sleepily up at Hermione and smiled. "Morning, Mummy," she mumbled as she slipped out from under her covers and toddled toward the bathroom door.

The breath caught in Hermione's throat when she heard Andromeda's words. How much she wanted to hear those words every morning! "Give over, Granger," Hermione muttered angrily to herself. "He hated you then, and he hates you now. He's only being civil because he's heavily medicated and his daughter was in the room. Severus will never look at you as anything other than an insufferable know-it-all."

Hermione shook her head trying to dispel the torrent of thoughts swirling through her brain. She drew her wand and quickly made up both of the beds in the room. The window sprang open, and the cool morning air wafted through the room. A jumper and a skirt appeared, draped over the chair next to Andromeda's bed and a pair of shoes settled themselves alongside the chair.

"Good morning, Miss Professor," came a squeaky voice from behind Hermione. She turned to find a small house-elf standing behind her with a tray bearing a tumbler of orange juice, a steaming cup of coffee, two plates of toast and eggs, a copy of the Daily Prophet, and a small bundle of letters.

"Oh, good morning, Caddy," Hermione sighed as she cleared off a small table in the corner. "Have you been up to the hospital wing this morning?"

"No, Miss Professor. I is going there with Professor Snape's breakfast soon," replied the house-elf. "Is you wanting me to take a message there?" The house-elf began setting out their breakfast as the bathroom door opened and Andromeda emerged.

"Let's get dressed and eat our breakfast, and then we'll go see Daddy," Hermione said happily as she ushered the little girl over to the chair by her bed. She folded her nightgown and placed it on the end of her bed before conjuring a warm washcloth. Hermione washed Andromeda's face and hands with the warm water and smiled when the child started giggling when the cloth tickled her ribs. "Okay, change your knickers and put on your clothes. Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yes, Herminny," the little girl said, nodding her head and sending her black curls bouncing. She turned away from Hermione and began dressing herself. She was six years old, after all. Her mum had taught her how to dress herself when she was three.

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Professor Snape was still asleep when Hermione arrived an hour later. She had brought Andromeda with her on the way to the hospital wing, but they had passed Professor Dumbledore as he left after visiting Severus. He had grabbed Andromeda up in his arms and taken her to his office to play with Fawkes and eat sweets. Perhaps it was for the best that she could face Professor Snape alone after what had happened the night before. She didn't think she could sit there with him and Andromeda at the same time.

Hermione sank onto the chair next to Professor Snape's bed and took his hand in her own. He still looked thin and frail as he lay sleeping, the morning sunlight washing over his bed. His black hair spilled across his pillows and made his complexion look even paler than usual.

"I'm sorry, Severus," she mumbled, swiping at the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I should have kept my mouth shut last night. It's just that I can't bear to see you in pain. Not like this. You shouldn't have had to go through this. You should have been able to live a long, healthy life with Samantha and Andromeda. You should be looking forward to the rest of your life and not dreading it."

Hermione fell silent and sniffled. She could remember so clearly the day of her last start of term feast as a student. There was Samantha Cole in the Defense Against the Dark Arts spot, her auburn hair tied back in a ponytail and her green eyes flitting over the brimming Great Hall. Hermione had loved her from that first moment she'd laid eyes on her. Samantha seemed a woman after Hermione's own heart... the new teacher had a copy of Hogwarts, A History propped open in front of her. Professor Snape sat to her right, sneering and casting sidelong glances at her.

It hadn't been long afterward that Professor Snape and Samantha Cole began sharing a table in the library. They could burst into terrible fights over some passage in some dusty tomb about some useless subject. Madam Pince threw them out more times than Hermione could count, but she chuckled knowing when she did. They were married that Christmas. In class, Professor Snape was still a right bastard who would still as soon insult her as look at her. But, then again, when he did look at her, there was a different look in his eyes. The real change for Severus Snape came whenever his new bride was in the room. He stood a little straighter, looked a little softer, acted a little nicer, and smiled a little... and just a little more.

Andromeda had been born September fourteenth, just three months after Hermione graduated from Hogwarts. She came back for the baby shower Minerva had thrown for Samantha. By the time she had left to return to her flat in Birmingham, she had fallen in love with Andromeda Diana Snape. In her years away from Hogwarts, Hermione had thought about the three of them often. She'd thought about everyone at Hogwarts often. Professor Flitwick had been on her mind as she worked toward her certification in Charms. She'd thought of Professor Vector when she was awarded her degree in Arithmancy. She had wondered if Professor Snape would be proud that shehad achieved certification--though not quite Master status--in Potions at the same time.

Professor Snape grumbled something in his sleep and flexed his fingers around her hand. Hermione smiled as she heard a familiar laughter flitting down the hallway. She wondered wistfully as to when she'd fallen in love with the both of them.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here, Hermione," Madam Pomfrey said brightly as she brought out several doses of medicine for when Severus woke up.

Hermione laughed. "I doubt that, Madam Pomfrey. You know everything that goes on in this place. But, thank you for the privacy anyway."

The old mediwitch smiled softly and placed a gentle hand on Hermione's shoulder. "It will get better, dear. Sooner or later. He loved Samantha dearly; it will be hard for him to get along without her. The poor boy has been through so much as it is."

"At least he has Andromeda," the young witch sighed. She watched his chest rise and fall slowly with each breath he took. Please, God, if you're listening, let him get better. I can't bear to lose him.

"Perhaps he has more than that, Hermione." Madam Pomfrey smiled knowingly before walking away to her office, leaving a terribly confused Arithmancy Professor in her wake.