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Unquestionable Love	By : CRMediaGal Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 3380 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is copyrighted to and belongs to JK Rowling. I own none of her associated characters. New characters belong to me. No money/profit is made from this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
A/N: A trip down memory lane. There is a lot more in depth back story about Severus and Hermione in my prequel, which has just started over at FFN; however, you really are meant to read the original first, otherwise a major revelation that happens in this story will be for naught if you come back to it later. There will be more flashbacks like this to come...

Many thanks to my wonderful beta reader, Brittny!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is copyrighted to and belongs to JK Rowling. I own none of her associated characters. New characters belong to me.

Chapter 12: A Never Forgotten Memory

A defiant gasp escaped Severus Snape's lips, and then his body turned away from them and was still, seemingly lifeless. Hermione looked upon the black mass on the floor before her, the man she loved covered in blood, and her heart lodged in her throat.

Harry slowly stumbled to his feet in a state of shock and turned around to face Hermione and Ron. Professor Snape was dead.

The famous young wizard with the penetrating green eyes stared down at the phial in his hand that contained selections of the late professor's memories, which he had begged Harry to take. The Boy Who Lived felt suddenly crestfallen at witnessing the death of the Slytherin who had hated him in life. He was not sure why, for the man was quite spiteful towards him over the years, but after observing the ever strong, powerful wizard receive several snake bites to the neck from Nagini, Harry quickly changed his mind about ever wanting to see justice done upon the unpopular professor with straggly, dark hair and hooked nose. It was too horrifying to watch.

Hermione could not look at the young men beside her. All she could do—all she wanted to do—was stare at the lifeless body that was Severus Snape, forever. A lump formed in her throat, and she felt the tears begin to stream down her face. Her breath quickened, and she was unable to suppress the excruciating grief that was scorching through her every limb. The pain was absolutely unbearable. She wanted to die. She wanted to join him.

Harry and Ron were watching the sorrow that swept across Hermione's face and, in that moment, Harry came to a dawning, stunned realization: Hermione Granger was in love with Professor Snape. It was undeniable. It was written all over her anguished, grief-stricken visage. That misery, those tears, that devastated look... There was no question about it. That was love.

Despite the complete shock he was experiencing, Harry managed a comforting whisper to the sobbing young woman before him, "Hermione... I... I'm so sorry..."

Ron was staring at Hermione, befuddled. Why was she crying over Professor Snape? Sure, it was unsettling to watch him die. No one deserved to die like that, not even the Slytherin professor, the 'bat of the dungeons' as the Gryffindors called him. But why was she weeping uncontrollably, as if the man before her were one of them? Because he was not! He was a Death Eater, he had been Voldemort's right-hand man, he had killed Professor Dumbledore in cold blood. Why on earth would Hermione lose her composure over someone like that?

Ron did not understand why Harry was apologizing to her, as the realization had not come to him and would not come until the battle was over, but the redheaded man reached out and grabbed Hermione's arm tenderly, desperate to comfort the young woman he had so fallen in love with over their years spent together at Hogwarts. Hermione did not rebuff him, but she also did not want Ron to touch her. Not in that way, at least. It was all wrong, and it pained Hermione that she had not been entirely forthright with Ron about her feelings.

Through the wet tears swimming around in her eyes that blurred and obstructed her vision, Hermione continued to gape at the infamous, once powerful figure on the floor. She wiped her tears on her sleeve, unaware of Harry and Ron gawking at her, not conscious of what Harry now knew, and a small gasp escaped her lips. Was Severus still breathing?

That's your grief talking, Hermione, she reflected sorely. But then, indeed, she saw it for sure. No part of Severus's body moved except his chest, which rose and fell subtly, and with much difficulty, and the sight shook Hermione to her very foundation. She could not believe it. He was not dead! She had been grieving for the past few moments with the time ticking away and the man she loved was still alive!

In an instant, Hermione ran to Severus's side and took hold of his stiff upper body, stirring him slightly. Her hands ran across his chest and were immediately soaked in his blood. Harry and Ron were completely dumbfounded, their eyes wide with alarm.

"Severus!" Hermione cried, inching herself as close to him as possible, feeling the tickling of his labored breaths against her face. He did not open his eyes. She did not realize that she had addressed their professor by his first name, something she had done quite often in private, but never in front of Harry or Ron. It was a slip that did not escape their attention, but they were equally stunned at the still alive man before them.

"Harry! Ron! He's alive! Quick, we have to do something!"

Ron continued to stare, confused at Hermione's anxiety and the wet tears still trickling down her cheeks. She was grasping the professor in a manner that felt inappropriate. Had she ever embraced him that way? He couldn't remember. Why did she care so much whether the man lived or died? He was a traitor. Why was she so desperate to save him after everything he had done?

Harry did not share his best friend's inner confusion and ran to Hermione and Severus, utterly bewildered at seeing him still alive and clinging to life. He was unsure of what to do. He turned to the frantic, brilliant witch at his feet. Her chestnut curls were clasped back in a lose braid, strands falling every which way. Did not Hermione, the smartest of them all, always have a solution for everything?

"I have to get him out of here!" Hermione exclaimed, looking over Severus's frightening condition with panic-stricken eyes. "The Potions lab! There must be something there I can give him that will offset the venom!"

"Hermione," Harry murmured, at which she whipped her head around and looked up at him. "I - I have to find out what's in this phial. I have to find out what Snape wanted me to know. And there's not much time..."

Hermione watched the contortions of Harry's handsome, beaten face, which darted from her to Severus and back, a mixture of guilt and uncertainty emerging behind the round glasses. As distraught as Hermione was, she nodded to her brave friend and tried to offer him a consoling smile, but she was overwrought with worry at Severus's declining state.

"It's all right, Harry," she tried to reassure him. "You and Ron go on! I'll find you."

"Are you mad?" Ron came rushing over to them, staring at both in disbelief. "Hermione, we have to destroy the snake before it's too late! It's one of the last Horcruxes! We have to go! Leave him!"

Hermione tried to mask the sting at Ron's careless words, but then, he did not know what she knew. Nor did Ron realize what he was asking of her.

"I'm not going to just let him die, Ron! I have to help him! Now GO! You're wasting time!"

The two male wizards glanced at each other, a mixture of concern and apprehension in their eyes. Then Harry shifted his focus back to Hermione, and she was grateful for the unexpected, encouraging words her friend offered.

"Get him an antidote, Hermione. I - I'm sure he'll be fine."

Fresh tears emerged from Hermione's sad eyes and she gazed up at both men thoughtfully, trying to etch the image of the pair of them in her memory. Would this be the last time she saw her closest friends?

Don't think like that Hermione! she berated herself. Focus! Severus needs you!

She turned back towards the dying professor she was holding and did not hear Harry or Ron exit the Shrieking Shack, but she gathered that they must be very perplexed by her actions. But she did not have time to reflect on any of that. She had to save the dark, misunderstood wizard she loved.

"Severus?" she whispered rather loudly; he did not respond to her voice. "Severus, I'm going to get you out of here. Please hang on! Stay with me!"

Severus was clearly too weak to Disapparate. It would have to be all Hermione's doing and, even then, there was no guarantee that he would make it out unscathed, but she had to try. There was no other alternative that her racing mind could recollect at the moment, and she had to move as fast as she could.

Hermione attempted to move Severus's rigid, heavy body, but he would not budge. A small, painful moan escaped his mouth, giving Hermione a start. Even if they did Disapparate, Severus was too hefty for her petite frame to carry. She whipped out her wand and aimed it at the bloody, unconscious man.

"Mobilicorpus," she muttered, allowing her to move Severus more freely.

Hermione glided him to his feet and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, never letting her wand aim away from him so that the spell held, and placed her other arm carefully around his waist. He stirred a little in her embrace but never opened his eyes. Hermione could feel a warm, unnatural liquid oozing against her jacket, saturating the fabric over her skin, and she tried desperately to put it out of her mind, because her nose could also smell the unsettling odor. Severus's blood.

Once firmly on her feet with him in her grasp, Hermione gulped and turned to the once powerful wizard beside her, now completely limp in her arms. "Severus," she said close to his ear, "I have to Disapparate us. Hang on."

Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated all of her attention on their destination. Their bodies suddenly contorted in space and whirled about. Hermione felt a wave of nausea in the pit of her stomach as they twisted every which way. She always got slightly sick during Apparition. She held tight to Severus as they were transported to Hogwarts and heard something almost inaudible come from Severus's lips, but there was no time to ask or gather what he said; however, it dawned on her as soon as they landed.

They were suddenly in one of the storage rooms off of the Potions lab, and it was Severus who had uttered some password to get them access. He had shared with her long ago that, aside from Dumbledore, he was the only who could Apparate in and out of Hogwarts. He had done so many times when summoned by the Dark Lord, and she was grateful that he was at least conscious enough to get them back into the school where she might have a prayer of helping him.

Hermione immediately collapsed with Severus onto the stone floor. Her wand had not been aimed at him when they landed, rather ungracefully, on the cold ground, and his weak body crumbled now that the moving spell had ceased. Hermione let out a gasp as they crashed and fumbled momentarily to keep Severus steady and unharmed. She leaned him carefully against the wall and was stunned when Severus's eyes shot open as a result of being tossed around. But then their blackness contracted and they were practically lifeless again, fluttering helplessly and fighting to stay open.

"Severus!" Hermione breathed, hard and desperate, taking the pale man's face in her hands and trying to shake him awake. Her hands were covered in blood—his blood—but she ignored it. "Severus! I need you to stay awake! Please!"

Severus did not say anything or open his eyes, his mind and body evidently focused on just trying to stay alive. Hermione frantically stood up and scanned her surroundings. There were thousands of potions in this frigid room, lining the walls and towering to the ceiling. How on earth was she going to find the potion she needed amongst all of this? Her usually composed intellect ran away with her fear and panic, leaving the logical portion of her brain blank.

"Severus!" she yelled helplessly to the somber, frail figure on the ground. "Which one is the one we need? Please! I'll never find the antidote without your help!"

When Severus did not answer, she groaned miserably. She held out her wand in the darkness, her mind berating her for what she was about to try. It would not work.

"Accio Anti-Snake Venom Potion!"

No phial emerged from the shelves. Nothing happened at all, which the clever witch had anticipated. Nagini was no ordinary snake, and the venom would certainly require a unique solution. Hermione fathomed that whatever poison was now advancing through Severus's system was far worse than what any single anti-venom potion could heal. What could she do? Her mind simply would not allow her to think clearly.

Hermione hurried to Severus and shook him violently with all of her might. Hermione had gotten them this far and Severus was still with her, though his breathing was strained and there was an overt struggle throughout every part of him to fight off death. But Hermione would not give up now, even if her Potions Master did. If their roles were reversed, she knew with every fiber of her being that Severus would never, ever give up trying to save her and that gave her pause, but only for a second.

"SEVERUS!" she shrieked urgently, her voice echoing in the lonely, foreboding air. "PLEASE! HELP ME!"

When the man she loved said nothing in return, Hermione lost her already fragile composure. She fell in a heap beside him and buried her face in his thick, black mane, wailing uncontrollably. Severus's head bobbed back and forth against hers, as his body continued to attempt warding off the venom that coursed through his veins, shutting down his organs one by one. Hermione knew it was only a matter of moments, and then Severus would truly be gone, lost to her forever, and she was so close now, but had no clue where to go from here.

Hermione clung to her dying man in desperation, wanting nothing more than to feel his weight against her, to smell his wonderful, intoxicating scent, though his blood was too overpowering to her senses now, and the sheer panic of his last moments overtook any calculated awareness she previously had. Hermione began to kiss Severus despairingly, her lips moving from his cheeks to his lips and all around his face in a frantic, passionate motion. All the while, she sobbed, her soft lips quivering against Severus's skin. It was critical to Hermione that, if these were to be Severus's last moments, that he knew, somehow, that she was with him, loving him, caressing him, and that she would not let him die alone.

As Hermione planted another anguished kiss on Severus's trembling lips, she felt him push back ever so gently, and her wet eyes shot open. Though he was still very much striving for consciousness, Severus had managed to give something back to the young woman he loved and who loved him back unconditionally. His eyes bore into hers again with the same intensity they had shared together at the Shrieking Shack, and Severus fought with every ounce of his being to speak, his mouth quivering and his breathing quickening as he tried to formulate an important message.

"Her...mi...one..." he rasped, as the lovely woman with wide eyes stared back at him, clinging to every utterance.

"Yes?" Hermione pleaded, the tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm here, Severus. I'm here!"

"Dra - draughts..." he mumbled, his throat gurgling with fresh blood that dripped from his stained cravat.

Hermione's eyes grew more excited, knowing Severus had actually heard her pleas for his assistance, and she lovingly stroked his cheek, which was turning blue and felt disturbingly cold to the touch. "Yes? Where is it, Severus? Where?"

"A - Ant - ti...d - dote..." Severus wheezed, his stark eyelashes fluttering several times. "Be - Be - zoar... Blo - Blood...Re - Replesh..."

A flicker of realization danced across Hermione's frantic eyes, followed by horror at her grave errors. Her mind had truly run away from her when faced with watching Severus's death, and her normally logical brain had been wiped, replaced by nothing but sorrow at the potentiality of losing him. She should have known!

Of course! Hermione, you stupid fool! she screamed silently.

Hermione shook her head emphatically at Severus in understanding, but he seemed so far away, though he was still attempting to reach out beyond the darkness. His eyes grew lifeless again, overtaken by the poison running through him at a terrible speed. Severus jerked unexpectedly and flinched, shutting his eyes against the unspeakable pain.

"All right," Hermione whimpered, biting her lip. "All right. Just relax. I'll get them. Hang on!"

Hermione stumbled to her feet and whisked her body around, extending her arm into the air and flicking her wand with her wrist. "Accio antidote!"

A phial of the potion instantly flew down from the second shelf across from her, and Hermione seized it, watching the rest of the supply jolt subtly at her command. She knew that if Severus were conscious and fully himself, he would be far from pleased at any student meddling with his supplies, including her.

"Accio bezoar!"

One of them, a stone rather than a phial, shot at her from a cupboard to her right. She grabbed it as the cupboard shook for a moment before settling and becoming still once more.

"Accio Blood-Replenishing Potion!"

It sprung down to her from a shelf several feet up, which she would never have found on her own or without magic, and Hermione jumped to catch it. Her hands now contained the three objects she required, and she made a mad dash to Severus and threw them down beside him. She was unsure why Severus requested both the antidote and the bezoar, since normally one or the other would have sufficed, but the answer came to her as soon as the question entered her mind. This was, as she already knew, much worse than any regular poison.

Hermione uncorked the antidote and lifted Severus's head towards her. The weight of his head against her palm felt dense, and she moaned quietly at the horrific sight of her strong professor, now no longer able to lift or shift any part of himself. He was completely helpless and dependent upon her.

"Here, take this," she demanded softly, propping the phial against Severus's mouth.

Severus's bluish lips parted, allowing Hermione to pour the liquid down his throat. He reacted instantly, his coughs violent and disturbing to Hermione's ears. She forced some composure and grabbed the bezoar off the floor, bringing it to Severus's mouth. She waited for his harsh coughs to subside.

"Here, Severus."

The Potions professor obeyed his student and swallowed the goat stone, but struggled to get it down. The holes in his neck made doing so difficult, and the venom had already been inflaming his throat for some time. Hermione panicked, watching Severus choke as the bezoar lodged in his throat. Without thinking, she reached two fingers into the back of his mouth to try to ease it down, praying he would not gag. Luckily, he did not, though his eyes shot open momentarily at the unfamiliar movement in his mouth. When it was finally down his throat, Hermione withdrew her fingers and waited for some kind of sign, but nothing happened immediately as she had hoped.

Merlin, please. Hermione pleaded, her mind reaching the point of hysteria. Please! This has to work!

Hermione took the last phial and forced Severus to drink it. He winced in agony and closed his eyes, weakly turning his head away from the beautiful Gryffindor hunched over him.

"Let...me...die..." Severus suddenly begged, clenching his jaw and breathing hard. Hermione drew back in fright at his words. "NO!" she shrieked, taking his face in her bloody palms again. "Don't talk like that, Severus! Hang on! Do you hear me?"

Severus tried to lift his hand to take Hermione's arm, but he simply could not do so. The venom had left him virtually paralyzed. Hermione noticed his failed attempt to touch her and removed one of her palms from his face. She snatched Severus's hand in her grasp and clutched it to her chest.

His hand is so cold, she thought frantically as she locked eyes with him, bewildered and more afraid than she had ever felt in her life.

"Herm...i...one..." Severus murmured, his voice very hoarse and unlike its usual forceful tone.

"Yes, Severus?" she whispered back, holding back her tears as best she could but failing miserably. "What do you need? What can I do?"

"Wa - wand... sweet...heart... My - my w - wand..."

Hermione eyed the fatigued, dark man curiously but did as he asked. She searched the front pockets of his robes when she heard him give a slight tug and grunt. She turned to him for guidance.

"No... Coat... pock - et..."

Hermione threw back Severus's robes and traced the lines of his coat, which conformed to every part of his upper body, normally so firm and robust, but now looking crumpled and feeble. It was offset by a pool of wet blood soaking the front of the fabric, including the countless attractive buttons that trailed down his chest. She loved those buttons.

Hermione's fingers suddenly wrapped around Severus's wand, which felt elusively strong and mighty in her grasp, but she managed to suppress the inviting tingles that pulsated through her fingers and pulled it from his pocket. She had no clue what Severus wanted her to do with it, and she swallowed hard at the prospect of using the powerful instrument that was not her own.

Then, to Hermione's surprise, Severus took his hand out of hers. His arm collapsed onto his lap. Hermione glanced down to find Severus's hand face-up and outstretched to her, his fingers shaking uncontrollably, asking for the instrument Hermione was holding. She hesitated, not wanting to hand it over to the ailing man at her side. What on earth did Severus expect to do with it when he could hardly catch his breath, let alone talk?

Hermione reluctantly placed the wand in Severus's trembling hand, enveloping both of her palms around his to help him maintain a grip on it, and Severus gave a slight stir, acknowledging the familiar wood that was now clasped in his hand with Hermione's aid. Severus gradually inched his hand upward and directed the wand towards his neck. Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she watched Severus on the verge of uttering some broken incantation, one that would surely backfire as all spells did if not spoken properly, and she reached for the wand, grabbing it in one fell swoop.

"Severus!" she implored frantically. "What are you doing? You can't possibly—"

"Then...y - you...ha - have...t - to..." he rasped, straining to form each word. Hermione nodded several times in response, letting the tortured wizard before her know that she would follow his lead.

"What healing spell, Severus?" Hermione asked, stuffing Severus's wand back into his pocket and taking hers out again. She aimed it at him, just as he had tried to moments before, and gave his right shoulder a gentle rub, coaxing him to try and speak, though it pained her greatly to hear him struggling so hard to breathe.

"Vul - Vulnera...San - en - tur..."

"Of course," Hermione whispered, her eyes turning away from Severus's dim eyes to his blood-soaked neck and torso.

The notion that Severus required such an incantation in addition to all of the medicine she had just given him increased her concerns, but she tried to put her worry out of her mind. Hermione knew such a powerful spell would require all of her concentration, and she was already quite emotionally vulnerable.

"P - please... H - Hermi...one... Pl - please—"

Hermione hushed him with her hand delicately placed over his still trembling lips. "It's all right, Severus. Hang on. I'll do it."

Severus gave a low groan and Hermione bit her lip, her brow furrowed. She had never done this spell before, though she naturally knew about it. Severus had used it on her at one point, and Draco, and she tried to empty her mind of the countless emotional disturbances she was experiencing.

When she felt her self-control was entirely her own again, Hermione opened her pretty eyes and leaned into Severus with her wand aimed at the open gashes on his neck. She began reciting the spell in counts of threes, almost like a song, and was stunned at the results it produced. The puncture wounds on Severus's neck began to close up, so Hermione moved down to his chest, which was still heaving in an unsteady, rapid motion.

"Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur."

A few additional snake bites that had punctured Severus's lungs began to shrink. She could hear some sort of slinking or shifting underneath his clothes and took it as a positive omen that the spell was working effectively.

Severus let out another small cry as Hermione tucked her wand away. Though the various potions as well as the spell were starting to show evidence of their success, he was still hardly out of danger, only just, and Hermione settled in beside him, anxiously awaiting and praying that the medicines and incantation would start to do their work. She leaned against the wall beside him and gently pulled Severus toward her, folding her arms carefully around his waist. Severus grumbled in a hushed, meaningful tone that Hermione recognized. She felt the top of his head lean into her left shoulder and press against her chin, wanting to feel that she was, in fact, there.

"It's all right," Hermione murmured, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to ward off fresh tears. "It's all right, Severus. I'm here. I won't leave you."

"You must," Severus growled, his voice a little stronger than before.

Hermione's body tensed up, recognizing the slight improvement in his afflictions, but also in response to the words he had said. She stared down at the weak, extremely pale wizard in her arms and the tears in her eyes fell again.

All of the blood that had soaked his robes was practically gone and his breathing, though still quite labored, was not nearly as bad or life-threatening as it had been before. Severus's eyes were shut, but she could sense that he was growing increasingly more conscious. The relief at seeing a change in Severus's condition brought such alleviation to Hermione's nerves that her response poured out in waves, tears of relief. She kissed Severus's forehead and felt him rouse at her contact ever so slightly. When she was able to compose her sobs, she finally responded.

"Are you crazy, Severus? I'm not leaving you now, not with the current state you're in. I won't. I can't!"

"Hermione," Severus whispered softly, his silky voice cracked but returning, "you ha - have done all you can f - for me... Now leave me be. P - Potter and Weasley need you now..."

Flashes of her two friends flickered through Hermione's mind, and instant panic returned to her already heightened nerves. Were they all right? Had they destroyed the snake yet?

The young Gryffindor moaned, her mind and body torn. Though she was terribly concerned for Harry and Ron, the man in her arms was the one she loved above all others, and there was still the very real chance he might die. She could not possibly leave Severus. She had to stay.

"I - I can't leave you," she whimpered, sniveling and squeezing him tighter. She heard him moan, but was unsure if it was in acceptance or protest, until he spoke again.

"You aren't le - leaving me... You're going to do - do what is right... P - Potter and the others n - need you, Hermione. There is too much at stake..."

"But Sev—"

"Please," he implored, letting out another intense coughing fit that shook his entire frame. Hermione braced herself against him, not letting go, and instead seized him tighter against the threatening ailment that was attacking his body. "Please, Hermione... The Hor - Horcruxes...V - Voldemort... It will all end tonight. You have to - to go... You have to do what you can...f - for Harry..."

Hermione had never heard Severus say her best friend's first name before, and when he did, there was none of the former animosity or spitefulness she had come to expect. Rather, there was a respectfulness that bordered on affection, or was that her imagination?

She gulped, afraid to ask a pressing question that had been on her worried mind for months, something she had wanted to ask Severus a long time ago, when the idea first entered her head. "Harry," she breathed faintly. "Is he...?"

"Yes," Severus whispered, reading the bright witch's mind. "He is...the last one..."

Hermione could not get air, and her body tensed up around Severus. Though he was still quite ill, Severus picked up on the rigidness in Hermione's embrace. When she did not say anything for a few more moments, Severus fought to speak again to offer the only comforting words he could muster.

"I'm...so sorry, Hermione... Go to him...be with him...before he – he's gone... Go..."

Hermione's heart lodged in her throat again. She was hardly in the right frame of mind at the present, and her tears continued to flow down her cheeks. They were growing worse at the prospect of leaving Severus behind to join her friends, to help Harry, her best friend, whom she was about to lose forever. She knew Severus was right, she had to go, but her guilt was overpowering her will to move.

Hermione's voice broke amidst her sobs. "But...but what about you?"

To her surprise, Severus's head shifted and she peered down to find him looking up at her. His raven eyes were weary, drained of the little color they had, still fighting the poison ravaging his body.

"If I am correct," he breathed, "the t - tonics, the spell, and the trails of ant - anti-venom I've taken for the pa - past few months should do the trick..."

Hermione's watery eyes expanded, her mouth dropping in a gasp. "You mean— Anti-venom? It's in your system? Severus, you knew this would happen?"

To her even greater astonishment, Severus managed a very feeble smile, although it shifted into a grimace of pain before long. Hermione reacted and tightened her arms around him.

"I ha - had my suspicions... I thought it best to be - be prepared for the possibility..."

Hermione surveyed Severus's condition, which was relatively the same as a few minutes prior, though much improved from when he had first taken the draughts she forced down his throat. She still was not entirely convinced though, by the incessant wheezing coming from his lungs, nor the small jolts his body made every so often, reacting to the combination of venom versus medicine battling within, its outcome unknown.

Hermione continued to cry quietly, tormented over her growing dilemma. If she left now and returned to find Severus dead, she would never, ever forgive herself. And yet, Harry was going to die for sure. She had to say goodbye. He was her best friend in the whole world. It was all so unfair. Why could she not be there for both of them? Why did being with one mean sacrificing the other?

"I'll be fine, Herm - Hermione," Severus whispered comfortingly, mindful of her tortured thoughts again, for he could not help himself. "Go on..."

Hermione hesitated, and then, as if some gravitational force were pulling her away from the unpopular professor that she knew better than anyone, she withdrew her firm embrace and carefully placed him against the wall again. Hermione eyed Severus attentively, growing more relieved at his slow, steady improvements, but he still looked far too sick to be left alone.

Her wet, caramel eyes bore into his, pleading with him, begging that he withdraw his commands that she walk away, possibly for good. The notion was killing her, and she needed some sort of reassurance in order to will herself to move.

"Go on," Severus murmured as encouragingly as he could, wincing slightly, "I'll be here wh - when this is all over... I w - won't leave you, Hermione... I promise..."

Hermione whimpered again before kissing Severus passionately. He responded, closing his eyes, trying to enjoy and savor her caress, though the scorching pangs throughout his body were so agonizing that he could barely concentrate. When their lips finally parted, Hermione let out a mournful sob.

"I love you, Severus," she cried, clinging to his black robes, not wanting to let go.

Severus opened his eyes and an unexpected sense of serenity swept over him, his entire being calming at hearing the three simple words Hermione had uttered. "I love you, too...sweetheart... Be care - careful... Please..."

"No... Severus, no... NOOO!"

Hermione moaned sleepily into her damp pillow, before her body suddenly shot up in bed, her eyes opening in alarm with fresh tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. The older, yet still very beautiful and youthful-looking, Hermione glanced about her familiar surroundings, disheveled and disoriented. She wiped her watery eyes and tried to compose herself, but her lower lip was quivering uncontrollably, her emotions ruffled to the core, and she tried to stifle the terrible whimpers that wanted to escape her mouth.

"Mummy?"

Hermione startled, and her eyes darted towards the door where she had heard a delicate voice call her name. It was the middle of the night, and her eyes had not yet adjusted to the overwhelming darkness, so Hermione fumbled for her wand on the nightstand. When she found it, she swooshed it in the air.

"Lumos!"

Her eyes squinted at the bright, bluish light that emerged at the tip of her wand, illuminating the darkened room. Once her eyes could withstand the luminosity, Hermione spotted little Jeannie in front of the doorway. Her wonderfully big curls were unmistakable, and her doll-like features were ogling at her mother with trepidation. She was wearing full-length pajamas and holding some sort of stuffed animal in one arm.

"Jeannie," Hermione whispered, trying to constrain her emotions, "sweetie, what are you doing out of bed?"

Jeannie clasped her stuffed animal to her chest and took a few small steps towards the four-poster bed. "Mummy, you were crying again. Why are you sad?"

Hermione sighed and tried to smile, but was still too visibly shaken over the memory she had just relived in her head. It was a dream, a nightmare, rather, that Hermione rehashed quite frequently when Severus was away, although she never told him. She concluded a long time ago that it would only make her husband unnecessarily worried, well aware that Severus already had more than enough on his plate and did not need to be alarmed further.

"Come here, Jeannie," Hermione called to her youngest daughter, placing her glowing wand on the bed and extending her arms out to the toddler.

Jeannie ran to the bed, the soft pitter-pattering of her feet echoing on the wooden floors. She hopped onto the bed with ease and into her mother's arms. Hermione held the dark-haired child tight to her breast and planted a firm kiss on her head. The two of them rocked in comfortable silence for a few moments before Jeannie interrupted the stillness.

"Don't be sad, Mummy."

"Awww, sweetie," she murmured, trying her best to remain calm, "I'm not sad. I'm so sorry I woke you."

"Is it Daddy?" Jeannie asked, her head turned to one side as she surveyed Hermione curiously.

Hermione brushed her daughter's curls through her fingers, something she enjoyed doing to all her children and to Severus as well, feeling the softness and texture of Jeannie's perfect spirals. She gave the child a forlorn smile before eventually nodding in reply. She was too tired and upset to pretend, even to her littlest one, who was already exceedingly bright and unnaturally attuned to everything around her.

"I miss him, too, Mummy," Jeannie offered in her sweet way, attempting to comfort her saddened mother.

Hermione wrapped her arms around the little girl again, heartened by her small, yet simple, gesture. Unbeknownst to the child, her mother began to cry again, too softly for the girl to notice. Jeannie remained swaddled in Hermione's embrace and quickly fell back asleep, whilst Hermione continued to weep noiselessly into the darkness, all of her mind focused on a past that, after all this time, continued to haunt her present.

A/N #2: Time for other troubles to raise their ugly heads...
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Unquestionable Love