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This Is The Way The World Ends.	By : tulipsaside Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 7312 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Chapter 17. I Would Promise But It Would Be a Lie.

Hermione sat starring out the window at the rain falling down on the grounds. She had her books opened on the library table, and her essay for Arithmancy out before her, but was having a hard time concentrating. Instead, she kept dwelling on what had happened earlier.

After returning to the school that morning, she had crept down to the Slytherin dormitories hoping to sneak into her room and get a few hours of sleep before class. However, when she arrived, she was surprised to see a sleeping Severus in the armchair before the fire, his head leaning to the side and his arms folded around himself.

At first Hermione thought, he had been locked out of his dormitory and anger welled up inside her exhausted body. She had moved closer to him taking the blanket off the trunk to cover him, determined to speak to Professor Slughorn first thing about this ridiculous behaviour his house mates were engaging in. When she had leaned in closer to him, bringing the blanket up to drape over his shoulders, he startled quickly his hands shooting out to her wrist.

Hermione bit back a scream. "Severus, it�s Hermione, it�s all right, you�ve fallen asleep," she said soothingly, watching as his head thrashed around trying to take in his surroundings.

His gaze fell on her and he let his grip fall away, sitting straighter in the chair. "Are you just getting in?" he asked softly, his voice thick with sleep, his hair falling away from his face.

"Severus what happened to your eye?" she shouted.

Severus swung his lank hair back over his face, hiding the bruise that tinted his pale skin.

"It is irrelevant," he said.

"They�ve done it again, haven�t they?" she said her arms crossing indignantly across her chest.

He seemed to let out a growl of impatience, "I had gone to look for you when you hadn�t returned before curfew. I was," he paused, "concerned that Potter and Black had confronted you again."

Hermione felt her breath hitch. "You went looking for me?" she asked softly.

Severus looked uncomfortable, as if he had wished, and not for the first time that night, to have kept to his own affairs.

"I did." he said, standing to his full height and putting the chair in between himself and Hermione. He noticed that she was very dirty; she had bits of leaves and twigs stuck in her hair and a great streak of mud running down her cheek.

"What happened to your face then?" she asked.

"It was my unfortunate pleasure to be caught unawares by Potter and Black. They were out of bed slinking around the school again, no doubt trying to find you, since I caught them near the library."

Hermione put her hand to her mouth, "Severus, I�m sorry. This is all my fault. I had a meeting with Dumbledore and Harry. Time got away from us, had I knew you were waiting�" she let her voice fade, not sure what she would have done if she had known he had been worried about her.

He smoothed his rumpled shirt down, looking ill at ease.

"I would say it is enough that you are unharmed, but seeing the state you�re in," he swallowed tightly his eyes not quite meeting hers.

Hermione looked down at her cloak and vest becoming aware of the mud and filth that covered her. What could she say, �Sorry, I�ve been running around London with the Headmaster, destroying Horcruxes, and fighting Voldemort�s Inferi, you�ll know all about them though, seeing how you�ll join in a few years.� She could just imagine the complete mayhem the future would be in if she mentioned even a tenth of what she had done tonight.

"I am a mess, aren�t I?" she said softly, "We were in the forbidden forest, serving detention." she lied.

"Detention for what?" he asked his eyebrows high on his forehead.

"Dumbledore walked in on me talking to Harry about punching James," she said offhandedly.

He was silent for a long time, making her uncomfortable as he watched her.

"I don�t believe you." he said his eyes narrowing.

Hermione tore her eyes from his, "I am sorry for what happened tonight," she said trying to change the subject.

Severus, however, was not to be deterred, "In fact, I think this all has something to do with the time turner I saw sitting on Dumbledore�s desk that night McGonagall brought me in with Potter and Black." said Severus, very quietly his eyes hard and cold.

"Severus." Hermione choked out, her mind working swiftly trying to recall that night, she had not even seen the time turner, though to be fair she was angry at the idea of Severus being punished for something he had not done.

"I am not as stupid as you believe me to be, Hermione, and while I understand you are not allowed to tell me anything, I would ask that you not lie to me." he said, coming to stand nearer to her.

"Severus, you don�t understand. I," she started to say, but stopped.

"I never meant to lie, if there were any other way for me to explain. Severus, I had no choice, you know the rules.." She looked wildly at him, willing him to understand.

He nodded slowly turning from her.

"Severus, wait!" she reached for him, her hand seizing his arm. Her mind heaving with all the things she should say to him, of apologies and promises. Unfortunately all she could manage to say was, "Do Potter and Black know?"

Severus gritted his teeth and wrenched his arm from her grasp.

"No," he said stiffly before heading towards the dormitory; he stopped but did not turn to her as he softly spoke, " I was foolish to think you were any different." And with that he moved up the stairs, as the other students could be heard waking up for the day.
Hermione dropped her head on her hands letting them rest against the cool surface of the table in the library. She felt vile, shameful. Severus had yet to speak with her, since that morning. He ignored her in all their classes and at lunch, instead keeping his head down or otherwise hiding it in a book.

This was the last thing she had wanted; he must feel so betrayed. The resentment in his voice when he had told her she was just like everyone else that had lied to him, deceived him was so raw that even now Hermione felt her heart clench remembering it. What could she have done though? It wasn�t like they knew each other very well, granted they had been getting close, but not the kind of close where you casually slip in, �Oh by the way, I�m from the future,� into any of their conversations.

She let out a groan, which earned an angry Shh, from Madame Pince.

Her mind was worrying frantically, there had to be some way to fix this. Hermione gazed out of the window again, thinking that maybe it was for the better that Severus wanted nothing to do with her. She let her thoughts drift before angrily snapping up her bag, �No,� she thought, �It wasn�t better this way.�

She needed to find Severus.

Hermione took the stairs as quickly as possible. She felt a frantic need to find Severus immediately, as if there was not a minute to waste. She had left it unresolved for too long. He had been right, she need not have lied to him, he had always been respectful of her secrets excepting that there were things she would not discuss with him. Had she been forthright with him, it would have saved her the humiliation of causing him so much grief.

She sprinted quickly around the second floor corner before colliding head first into a very solid chest.

"Oomph." she grunted.

"I apologize." said a warm and friendly voice.

Hermione�s head snapped up to stare at Remus standing above her a shy smile playing about his mouth.

"I�m sorry I wasn�t watching where I was going," she said hurriedly, anxious to locate Severus, dinner had just started she was sure she could find him in the Great Hall.

"Right, well I wouldn�t take this Hallway," said Remus glancing over his shoulder warily at the hallway behind him.

"Why ever not?" Hermione had asked.

"Peeves," said Remus, a little too loudly, "Yes, Peeves, he�s at the other end flinging dung bombs at students as they walk by."

Hermione gave him a disbelieving glance, "Right, I�ll take the next hallway down then." eager to keep moving.

"Good idea," said Remus smiling at her.

Hermione turned quickly making her way down the corridor towards the first floor. She kept her head long enough not to jump the last two steps into the Great Hall, instead she took a calming breath before making her way to the table where she could see Severus. He was sitting at the very end of the dinning table by himself. Normally this would have been no different from any other night he ate in the hall, only generally he had a book or parchment stretched out in front of him. Now, however, he sat head bent over his plate, one hand pushing food around with his fork.

Hermione sat next to him cautiously, he had stilled his movements but did not look up.

"Severus, could we talk?" she asked glancing at him out the corner of her eye.

He nodded once, very quickly.

"I know I have lost your trust, and it might be too late to regain it," she said softly watching his body tense and his hands form fists next to his plate.

"But I would like to make the effort. I will try to explain and answer any questions you have but there are many things I cannot tell you. " His mouth seemed to tighten but she barrelled on convinced that if she let him stop her now, she�d never get the chance to tell him again.

"I apologize, you were right, I didn�t have to lie. You�ve always been respectful to my privacy and considerate of what I was comfortable with telling you, I should have put more trust in you," said Hermione, her voice delicate with worry.

Severus had yet to look up from his plate, making Hermione feel that she had already lost him.

She took a quick deep breath, "Your friendship means a great deal to me, and I should have taken better care of it. I understand if you want nothing more to do with me, it is no less than I deserve." she said, waiting for his reaction.

"I would appreciate an explanation of your situation," he said steadily letting his head turn slightly towards her.

Relief flooded through Hermione, she opened her mouth but stopped when Severus held up a hand.

He withdrew his wand and surreptitiously cast "Muffiato" on a young Slytherin sitting five seats down from them.

"You were saying," he said, stowing his wand back up his sleeve.

"Well, what do you already know?" she asked pulling a glass of pumpkin juice toward herself.

"That you�ve came here by way of a time-turner, and you�ve been sneaking off with Dumbledore." he said, sneaking as if it were a filthy word making Hermione wince.

"I have travelled here, but it was by accident, we, that is to say, Harry and I, were not meaning to go so far back, only a few hours. However, we were knocked into, the three of us..."

"Three?" asked Severus.

Hermione swallowed, "Yes, three. A boy named Ron was with us, he was my, he was my best friend, but he died." She swallowed again trying to clear the lump that had formed in her throat.

"You see, there is a war going on in my time, a terrible war. That is why we had wanted to use the time-turner, to take us back to the morning of that day, to give us more time. We were losing badly. We were knocked into by someone after I had started the time turner and it threw the little orb from my hand sending it spinning much faster than I had wanted. We ended up here."

Severus watched her guardedly for a moment.

"And what of Dumbledore, can you tell me anything about your meetings?"

"Not much," she said, giving him a small smile. "Only that he�s helping us get rid of some of the weapons the other side was using."

"And once these weapons are destroyed?" he asked.

"Then we will return to the fight." she said shrugging.

He was silent for a long while, Hermione was convinced that at any moment he would jump up from the table, telling her she was mad.

She started to stand, but stopped when she felt a gentle brush on her arm.

"Hermione?" he asked as she sat back down on the bench.

She looked at him, his forehead was furrowed and he seemed to be searching for the words.

"Do you know me, in your own time?" he asked, looking at her so explicitly that she was hit with the thought that he was a man of unwavering intensity.

"We have met," she said vaguely. Noticing a searching expression on his young face. "Please Severus, I cannot say more than that."

He nodded, "I don�t want any details, I know you can give me none," he said almost silently. His face was pained as if asking this was immensely difficult. "Just a simple answer," his voice going even quieter, as if his mouth was begging him not to speak the words.

"Will I be..." he paused, gritted his teeth, then said, "am I a good man?"

The words left his mouth in nothing more than a breath, but Hermione heard them as if they had been shouted in her ear.

She looked at him sincerely, feeling as if all the weight of the world had fallen onto her. "I believe that you are."
- 17
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- 19
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This Is The Way The World Ends.