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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
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25. Held to the past too aware of the pending.

Hermione stared down at the empty parchment that she held as she sat on her bed in her dormitory, her quill sat next to an unopened inkwell on the side table. The lights were dimmed and the other beds all had their curtains drawn around them, though none of this registered with Hermione as her thoughts were too occupied with the never-ending loop of questions that overwhelmed her.

She had retired to bed early hoping to organize her mind and logically look at the situation with Severus; there had to be something she could do.

Hermione never made it past unrolling a bit of parchment before her mind froze in fear. There was nothing; Severus Snape would have to join the Death Eaters and he would live out his life toeing the line of light and dark. No matter how much Hermione did not want his life to come to that there were just too many variables of which she did not know.

She shuddered with hopelessness. Hermione had come to care for Severus deeply, and the thought of her possibly leaving here, leaving him to a life where he would spend the majority of it doing the biding of one master or the other, tore at her.

Hermione buried her head into her hands. There had to be another way she was supposed to be the brightest witch of her age. Hermione halted; Voldemort, if they killed Voldemort now, then Severus could not join. Almost instantly Hermione�s face went slack, realizing even that was not an option. They needed to wait until he heard the prophecy, (from Severus no less) marking Harry as his enemy and enabling him to actually kill Voldemort. If that did not happen�Hermione sighed; Severus was just too important a figure in the war. He had engrained himself so far into the whole affair there was no way to pull him out without damaging hundreds if not thousands of lives.

Hermione let herself fall back against the sheets; she had lied to him again. She could not save him, just as she could not have saved Ron.

~~~~~~~

�Could I speak with you a moment?� Harry asked.

Severus nodded to Hermione, �I�ll meet you in class,� he said turning from them.

�Actually, I�d like to talk with you, Snape.� said Harry.

Both Hermione and Severus� eyebrows rose high in question.

Hermione squeezed Severus� hand, �I�ll meet you in class, then,� she said giving him a small smile.

Severus and Harry watched her go, both thinking it might have served them better if she had stayed on as a mediator.

Harry gave Snape a deep look as if sizing him up, or perhaps, Severus thought, gathering his courage. �Hermione means a great deal to me, and if I want to remain dear to her then I need to own up to my mistakes. Mainly the ones concerning you.� said Harry petulantly.

Severus crossed his arms over his chest, doing his best to look unmoved.

�Right, so I apologize. It was unfair of me to attack you after the Quidditch match. I had no right. I also owe you my gratitude. Had you not been there in Hogsmeade�� Harry winced, �well, I�m not sure what might have happened, but it most certainly wouldn�t have been good.�

Severus viewed Harry as if he were a particularly easy potion to brew.

�I know I cannot speak for the rest of them,� Harry continued quickly, �but I want you to know I think what they�re doing is wrong. I may not like you, but that�s no reason to be cruel.�

Severus uncrossed his arms in agitation, �Lovely sentiments. Now, excuse me, I have a class.� he moved pass Harry quickly, though Harry�s fingers tightened around the hem of his robe.

�Are you involved with her?� he asked quickly meeting Severus eyes defiantly.

Severus smirked, �As much pleasure I would garner out of answering that� you would do well to ask her instead.� looking pointedly at his cloak where Harry�s fingers still gripped it.

Harry let his hand fall away, his face flushed angrily as Severus swept out of sight.
Severus took his seat next to Hermione in Potions. She wore an eager expression on her face.

�Five points from Slytherin for tardiness, Mr. Snape.� said Slughorn, who gave Severus a piercing look.

Severus nodded, reaching for his bag.

Hermione ignored Slughorn instead she whispered to Severus, �How did it go?�

�He has seen fit to apologize for his behaviour,� he said, setting his book, quills and parchments out neatly before him.

�Oh, Severus, that�s wonderful.� she said enthusiastically, giving his leg a quick squeeze under the table.

Severus found his annoyance with Granger became less potent the moment she touched him.

�I do not want conflict between the two of you and if my acceptance of his woeful apology rectifies that, then it is a small price to pay,� he said, looking at her levelly.

Hermione�s eyes began to water, which made Severus feel highly uncomfortable.

�I,� her voice was cut off as a dragon heart hit Severus squarely upside the head.

Hermione stood up from the table furiously. �Professor!� she called.

Slughorn turned to see Severus wiping his face clean.

�Who is responsible for this,� he asked his eyes already going to James, Sirius and Peter who were sitting at a workstation adjacent to Severus.

James was turning a violent blue, from suppressed laughter.

�I�m afraid I don�t know what you�re talking about, Professor,� said Black smoothly. Peter chortled next to him.

�No doubt. Perhaps a detention will help jog your memories,� said Slughorn. James sobered up quickly. �And ten points from Gryffindor, for wasting my stores. My classroom is not the Quidditch pitch boys. You�ll do well to remember that,� he said, raising his wand and vanishing the slippery heart that sat on the table in front of Severus.

Hermione chanced a look at Severus, his eyes were narrowed and there was a darkness clouding his features.

�Severus, do not think on it. You�re worth ten of them,� she said tenderly.

He looked at her sharply before his face relaxed, �My voice of reason.� he said with a smirk turned back to his work.

The air vanished from Hermione�s lungs and a feeling of dread filled her instead. She could not possibly be the reason he joined-

�You look like you�re going to be ill,� he said, noticing the loss of colour to her face and tight fists she had balled her hands into.

Hermione swallowed in deep breaths and tried to keep her face passive. �Just wool-gathering I suppose.� She said, her voice falsely animated.

He gave her an odd look, nodded and stooped back over his notes.

Hermione watched him, deciding right then she would go to Harry. If he were sensible enough to apologize, he would be sensible enough to hear her out; she hoped.
She caught Harry just before he entered the dinning hall for dinner.

�I need to talk to you,� she said before nodding to Remus, who had stopped to wait for him.

�What about?� he asked.

�Back home.� she said cryptically.

Harry�s reaction was instantaneous. His eyes widened and he turned quickly to Remus, �I�ll catch up with you in a bit.�

Hermione, all but, dragged Harry away from the Great Hall and out the front doors.

�Where on Earth are we going?� he said.

�I don�t want to be overheard,� she said by way of explanation before stopping just outside the doors and sitting down on the steps pulling Harry down with her.

�Harry, I need you to promise me that no matter how angry you get you wont blow up until after I�ve said my fill.� she said her eyes pleading with him.

�Hermione, of course.�

�I�ve told Severus-� she started.

�YOU WHAT!� he interrupted, his voice booming.

�You promised, Harry,� she said quietly looking around her to see if anyone had heard them.

Harry took five very deep breaths trying to calm himself down.

�To be fair, he figured it out on his own. He had noticed the time-turner in the Headmaster�s office and then the rest clicked in place.�

�How much does he know?� he asked through gritted teeth.

�That we�re from a Hogwarts twenty years in the future and we accidentally ended up here. He knows about the war, not all of it, but I�ve told him that we�re trying to destroy a weapon here in hopes of fighting the war on even ground.�

Harry shook his head quickly as if trying to dispel her words from his ears.

�He knows you�re not my brother and that Ron died.� she said her voice trembling slightly.

�Hermione what are we going to do? All the talk about how we couldn�t let anyone know� it�s all for nothing now.�

�Not necessarily, Harry. That�s what I want to talk to you about.� she said looking down at the steps.

�Go on then.� he said in a voice that said �do your worst.�

�Well, I want to know what you think about telling him everything: his role in the war, in our lives. I do not want him to become what he is, Harry. I know you�re not going to like it, but I care very deeply for him.� she finished half-expecting Harry to explode.

He sat quietly for moment. �It�s a double edged sword. If you were to tell him, and he didn�t become a Death Eater then he wouldn�t overhear the prophecy, wouldn�t get my parents killed,� he grounded out, �wouldn�t turn spy for Dumbledore and really who knows what information he brought back for the Order. Hermione, if Voldemort doesn�t come after me, as a baby, then he will not be stopped as he was for the eleven years. Who knows what he�d do in that time,� said Harry ignoring the comment of how she cared for Snape.

Hermione wilted, �That�s what I thought.�

�I won�t tell you what to do, Hermione. I might not understand what you�re going through, but sacrificing loads of people�s lives for one seems wrong and not just because of what he�s done.�

Hermione looked at Harry regretfully, �I know. I knew before I even asked you. I just didn�t want to believe it.�

They sat quietly next to each other watching owls swoop in and out of the clouds taking out the evening mail.

�Are you two together?� he asked, giving her a sidelong look.

She nodded, �I know it complicates matters, but like I said-�

�You care for him deeply,� finished Harry a sour expression fixed to his face.

�Harry, I think I�m half the reason he joins Voldemort in the first place.�

�How could you possibly believe that?� he asked his mouth gaping.

�I don�t know for sure. It�s just something he said today that made me think of it.�

�Hermione,� he said shaking his head.

�No, Harry, listen. Severus isn�t like the professor we know. He isn�t cruel or callous. He�s very intelligent and�-�

�Spare me the details if you�d please.� choked Harry.

�I�m not saying I�m the only reason he turns to them, and you�re right maybe I�m not a cause of it at all. But something has to turn him towards it Harry and today when he said I was his voice of reason,� she blushed, �It just made me think that somehow I helped push him towards it.�

�Hermione, he doesn�t join the Death Eaters until after he graduates. There could be loads of reasons why he does it. Sirius said to me once that he hung with a group of wizards that nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters. You most likely have nothing to do with it.�

�He doesn�t hang around anyone besides me. Well, he knows Malfoy, but there isn�t anyone here who talks to him, let alone invites him to secret meetings for future Death Eaters.� Hermione said huffily.

�How do you know he doesn�t start hanging out with them by the end of his seventh year?�

Hermione didn�t answer.

�You�ll never know why he does it, until you ask Snape in our own time.�

Hermione snorted, �Somehow I doubt he�ll be pleased to see me if we return.�

�When we return,� Harry corrected her.

�Thank you for apologizing to him.� she said quietly after a moment of silence had passed between them.

�I didn�t do it for him, �mione.� He said bitterly. �I�ve missed you. This,� he waved his hand out over the grounds, �it all seems like a bad dream, and it�s been even worse not having you around.�

Hermione leaned into his shoulder, �We�ll find the cup and then it will all end.� she said feeling the weight of her words sink in.

�I didn�t think you�d go back,� said Harry honestly. �When I first thought you two were together, I thought for sure you�d stay behind with him and I�d have to go back without you.�

Hermione shook her head, �Harry, I�ll always be there for you. We�re in this war together. I�ve had plenty of chances to turn back, and this time is no different,� she said sadly.

�Even if he�s here?� he asked his voice just above a whisper.

�There isn�t anything I can do for him,� she said miserably. �No matter how much I want to.�

Harry starred down at the top of her curls resting against his arm.

�You�re a good person, Hermione Granger. Snape will most likely treasure the time he did have with you,� he said.

Hermione sat up, �Then I�ll have to hope that it�s enough.� she said wiping at her face and standing up.

�Dinner?� she asked reaching out a hand to help him up.

He nodded, �Dinner.� letting her tug him up off the stairs.
Harry parted ways with Hermione as they entered the Dinning Hall, Harry heading for Remus at the Gryffindor table, and Hermione towards Severus where he sat, his body arched over a book and his plate pushed to the side still covered in food.

She slipped in next to him, �Must be a good book, you�ve hardly touched your dinner.� she whispered giving him a broad smile.

He looked at her, bleary eyed from starring at the tiny lettering in his text.

�I was waiting for you,� he said.

�You didn�t have to do that, what if I had been ages?� she asked heaping some potatoes onto her plate.

�Had you not shown up within the hour I would have sought you out, seeing how Potter and Black are not in attendance,� he said glancing pointedly at the Gryffindor table.

�Probably serving out their detentions,� she said not feeling sorry for them in the least.

�I don�t think so. They�ve been disappearing quite often,� he said pulling his plate towards him and scooping a fork full of mince into his mouth.

�What do you think they�re up to?� she asked curiously.

�I am not sure, but I intend to find out. How is your brother, incidentally.� giving her a small smirk.

�Better, he�s none too impressed with those two either.� she said pointing her fork at James and Sirius as they entered the hall.

Severus fell silent as James gave the students sitting nearby, an exaggerated re-enactment of Severus being hit with the Dragon heart.

�What an idiot.� Hermione said.

Severus pushed his plate away again; Hermione noticed he had barely eaten a third of it.

Hermione pushed hers back as well, making a big show of being full, �It�s still early, you want to head out to the lake?� she asked.

�I have to finish my essay,� he said picking up his bag.

�Then to the library, or would you rather the common room?� she asked picking up her own satchel.

�I�d rather do it alone.� he said his eyes shifting from James to Sirius as they laughed loudly with the other snickering Gryffindors looking his way. Severus marched out with disgust almost trailing behind him.

Hermione caught up with him quickly just after he turned out into the hall.

�Severus, don�t let them get to you. They�re not worth the effort,� she said softly, leaning into him and brushing her lips against his. �I�ll be in the common room if you need me.�

Severus watched her disappear into the depths of the dungeons, before turning and heading up towards the library, alone.
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This Is The Way The World Ends.