AN: The story takes place in Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts, there will be seven chapters that will be posted soon. If someone would like to beta the other six chapters please email me. Thank you.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended, I only own the plot.

---

"Always in My Mind"

"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change;

at such moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready.

The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.

A week is more that enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny"

Paulo Coelho

1. The spell gone awry.

She had agreed to go along with the silly incantation because she did not trust any of the people involved in the spell. They had told her that they were able to perform it. She had snorted, a binding spell was no easy thing and to complicate the matter Ron, Harry and Ginny were all very sloppy in their charm classes.

She sighed, she was Head Girl and she should have stopped them but as usual, she was torn between loyalty to the school and to her friends. The decision had been easy to make when Ron had made his puppy eyes and pleaded with her to –please-please-please- not turn them in and to come along.

She had been –in like- with Ron for a long time and she knew deep down that he felt the same, only that he was too shy to even invite her out for a date. So, she was waiting patiently for him to declare himself and to make all her dreams come true.

Love. She was not sure what it meant yet but she had always thought a lot about it. She knew that she liked Ron but she did not know passion and desire. She had to admit that she had always been too busy with books and homework.

She mused, it was strange that she was thinking about love at that moment while she was going to perform an obviously not functioning spell. She came out of her reverie when they arrived at the spot chosen for the spell.

They were near the Forbidden Forest, they wanted to make a binding spell that would let each of them to be able to track down the other everywhere. Harry had worked out the idea because after losing Sirius he was very concerned about the safety of his friends.

She knew she should have researched it before agreeing, but she had been so busy and she decided to trust her friends. Hermione was as well very sure that nothing was going to come out of it.

She would have time to contemplate her stupidity after the event that occurred that night.

They were in a circle and they started to chant and to repeat an old formula which they had before memorized. Harry had told Hermione that she was going to be the last to repeat the chant. After that they had to take out their wand and to connect them.

Hermione had just finished repeating the words of the spell, she took her wand out and when she tried to connect with the others she was pushed back by a sudden ‘pop’.

Her wand had connected with another one and had made an eerie white light.

When she opened her eyes she watched in horror to whom the wand belonged.

Severus Snape had just Apparated in the centre of their circle and Hermione’s wand had just connected with his one.

He looked at her curiously with a mixture of annoyance, shock, anger and pain. He tried to say something but he just fainted on the hard ground.

Hermione did not lose precious time, she shouted at Ron to go and fetch the Headmaster and to Harry to get Madam Pomfrey.

She swiftly took her Professor’s head on her lap and waited for the help to come.

Ginny was white as chalk and tried to say something, ‘Hermione. Do you think…?’

But Hermione whispered, ‘Not now Ginny.’ On her pretty face was evident a slight feeling of fear for her Professor’s health and anger at her stupidity for having followed her friends in this madness.

Ginny tried again, ‘But Hermione, do you think the spell…?’

Hermione shushed her and looked down at her greasy Professor who was now connected to her in a way that she still did not know. The spell had provoked something but she was not going to know the extent of it until much later.

Professor Snape suddenly opened his eyes and tried to move away from her, but she firmly held his head and said, ‘Sir, you should not move. I have called the Headmaster and he is coming. Please, we are trying to help you.’

He was weak and the tone of her voice was very serious. He knew that all this little Gryffindors were aware of his job as a spy and the aftermath of the Cruciatus curse left him with no energy. He fainted again with the memory of the face of a worried Hermione Granger.

The Headmaster, together with the mediwitch took the Potion Professor straight to the infirmary. He told the four of them to see him after breakfast the next day, he was very curious to know what they were doing out there.

Hermione was worried sick about the whole incident, but Harry reassured her by saying that the Headmaster’s eyes were twinkling.

Hermione felt even worse, it was not a good sign.

…The consequences of the spell…

Hermione could not sleep that night, every time she tried to close her eyes the scene of Professor Snape Apparating into the circle, their wands connecting and making a white light, made her open her eyes quickly.

She was angry with her friends for risking her Head Girl badge, she felt dumb for not knowing what the spell was about and finally, she was terrified to talk with her Potion Professor about it all.

In the infirmary a very weak Severus Snape opened his eyes and met the worried look of Albus.

‘Severus, how do you feel? You gave us quite a scare yesterday night.’ Albus whispered.

Severus tried to reply but came out a very hoarse sound, ‘I am alive and it is enough for me.’

Albus was saddened by his answer, Severus did not have any hope for is life and Albus wondered many time how could he have failed this child so gravely. Then, a ray of hope shone through, yesterday night the spell had connected Hermione Granger and Severus Snape and if he played well the cards, it would result in a wonderful chance to save Severus.

Severus saw the twinkling in Albus’ eyes and asked, ‘Why are your eyes twinkling old friend?’ And then he remembered the night before and sneered, ‘What were the four brats doing in the Forest?’

Albus sat near the black haired man who was like a son to him and sighed, ‘Apparently, Harry took his friends out to create a kind of tracking spell, but you apparated in the middle of the incantation and your wand collided with Miss Granger’s one.’

Severus’ face showed a mask of indifference and asked, ‘So, what happened? Did you dissolve the spell?’ Anyone who did not know Severus Snape would think that he was uninterested but by the twitch under his left eye, Albus could see that he was starting to get concerned and angry at the whole situation.

Albus smiled, ‘Not yet, I will have to discover which spell it is and what are the effects of it. After that, we will be able to study the possible solutions.’

‘Possible solutions?’ snarled Severus, ‘I will tell you what the solution should be, kick the four demented children out of this school and erase this spell!’ and then started to cough.

Madame Pomfrey run to his side and gave him a potion, Severus did not want to take it, but after another bout of cough and at the appearance of a searing pain through his body, he reluctantly took the Dreamless Sleep potion with the addition of a calming drought.

Albus rose from the chair and before leaving replied, ‘Sleep now, my child. I will talk to you when you will feel better. I will take care of everything. Do not worry.’

Severus, seeing the twinkling, got even more worried. He had always known that his friend was a meddling wizard, therefore, he had to be very careful.

Both Severus and Hermione did not know what was awaiting them.

2. Which spell did they perform?

As soon as dawn came, Hermione rose, quickly left her dormitory and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. Since she had been appointed Head Girl she had her own living quarters and she was really glad of her solitude but at the moment she had a pressing matter to attend to.

Now, she was quickly approaching the common room. She entered and went straight up to the boys’ dormitory. The boys were still sleeping but Hermione didn’t care at all. She sat on Harry’s bed and shook the sleeping boy.

Harry opened his eyes and whispered, ‘Hermione? What are you doing here at this time of the day?’

Hermione was tired and angry but she tried to keep calm, ‘I want to know which spell we used last night. I thought about the words but I don’t recall any spell with it.’

She had actually laughed when she first read the words, but they didn’t mean anything and so she had gone along, sure that nothing would come of it. But her wand had sparkled in contact with Professor Snape’s.

Harry looked at her guiltily. ‘Well, you see Hermione, I did some research and I found a few spells that looked good so I combined them together and I guess I made a new one.’

Hermione turned white. ‘Did you use part of a Permanent Sticking Charm?’ Harry nodded. She went on, ‘Fidelius Charm and Binding Spell?’ he nodded again. She remained silent for a while and Harry, clearing his throat, added, ‘And part of a Repelling Spell, too.’

Hermione stood up and quickly left the room, Harry tried to say something but she was already gone. He looked at the time and then, sighing, he jumped out of bed, quickly put on his uniform and tried to catch Hermione.

He found her almost at the door of the Headmaster’s office. The gargoyles were looking at her and waiting for the password. She stated clearly, ‘Ice Mice’ and the gargoyles opened the door.

The two students quickly went up the stairs and met a smiling Headmaster, ‘Welcome, Miss Granger and Mr Potter. What can I do for you?’

Hermione sat on the left chair and Harry on the right one and while she told Albus Dumbledore which mixed spell linked her to Severus Snape, Harry napped.

Albus looked at the scared Head Girl. ‘Miss Granger you know that the Repelling Spell together with the Permanent Sticking Charm is almost impossible to break. We now have to discover what the Binding Spell and the Fidelius Charm will do when they are combined.’

He smiled at her, trying to comfort the poor girl. ‘Do not worry, Hermione. We will find a solution, as soon as Severus gets better you and he will work to discover the effects and the cure for this spell. I believe that you have been punished enough for the little mistake, while your three friends will serve detention with Argus Filch for two months.’

Harry looked horror-struck at the Headmaster’s words but he knew that they had caused quite a stir and did not dare to contest the punishment.

Hermione was totally dismayed to discover that she had to work with Professor Snape to solve a problem that she had caused with her own stupidity. She thought about the man who had been the bane of her existence at Hogwarts and she was sure he would be enraged.

Harry and Hermione left after a while, both with heavy hearts. Harry tried to talk to Hermione, ‘Mione, I am so sorry about all this mess.’

Hermione looked at the boy and even though she knew that she had been responsible as well, she sneered at him, ‘And what will I do with your apologies Harry? I am stuck with Professor Snape for Merlin knows how long, trying to solve the mess that you and our brilliant friend Ron made! And you know how much Severus Snape loves me! And on top of it all I don’t even know which bloody spell binds me with the man!’

She paused her rant to take a breath and then she went on, ‘Next time you have a brilliant idea such as this one, please do not come and share it with me. Keep away from me for a while because at the moment I could hex you, Ron and Ginny into oblivion!’

Harry couldn’t find any words to comfort his friend, so they parted. She was stuck with Snape and she didn’t even know how. He had made a mess once again and one of his dearest friends was now linked with a Death Eater.

…Severus meets Hermione…

After one day, Severus was up again scaring most of the students to death. Five days after the accident, Gryffindors had Double Potion and it was the first time the culprits would see him. He was in the worst possible mood.

Albus had not been able to find what linked him and Miss insufferable-know-it-all and on top of that, the Headmaster had kindly ordered him to find a solution with Granger’s help.

He was seething and he intended to let the brats that put him into this mess know about it.

When the lesson started, he noticed that the bushy-haired girl had entered without the two side-kicks. Potter and Weasley entered last, and after eyeing with sorrow the seats near Granger, they went to sit at the back of the class.

Snape sneered suddenly, ‘Potter and Weasley, ten points from Gryffindor for your tardiness!’

Both students knew they were not late but after seeing the face of the Potions Professor did not dare utter a single word of complaint.

Hermione looked at her teacher and he was surprised to note her amused look in her eyes.

Could it be possible that he was avenging her too?

The lesson proceeded in its usual fashion with Severus taking points Gryffindor every time that the two boys dared to breathe. Hermione at first had found the idea of punishing them very comforting, but now she was starting to worry that she would not be able to earn back all the lost points.

When the bell rang, everybody stood up and ran for the door, but Hermione was stopped by the strong and silky voice of Severus Snape, ‘Miss Granger, stay!’

She took a calming breath and approached his desk.

He studied the girl, she was very thin and pale. Obviously she spent her days in the library rather than outside and she did not look like she was eating enough.

He sighed. The girl reminded too much of himself at that age, but for the fact he never put a professor in such a mess.

‘So, we are stuck,’ he started. ‘I have done some reading but I could not find anything on this spell. Did you have more luck?’

Hermione watched him. He was trying to be nice but she was detecting a lot of resentment in his voice. He was probably keeping his shouting for later, hoping that first she had some precious information about their predicament.

‘I searched for the effects of the two spells together and I found an article.’ She had researched a lot and she was dreading having to explain the exact nature of the problem they were facing.

She cleared her throat, ‘Well, the Fidelius Charm is used to conceal a secret inside someone’s soul while the Binding Charm should bind a person to an object. In our case it was used in a spell concocted to link people who cared with each other. The article was saying that in 879 BC, a witch wanted to protect her husband from his enemies and she performed this spell. The result was to link the two of them, to unite their souls. While one of them was alive the other could not die and they could not be separated for more than a day, else the spell would take the two back to the last place they had been together.’

He posed the next question very carefully, because he knew he wouldn’t like the answer. ‘Why did this not happen with us? Why we were not taken back to the Forest after a day?’

She replied, ‘Well, to answer your first question, I believe that there is a certain distance we can be from each other before the spell comes into effect. We see each other at every meal so possibly that is enough to satisfy the magic.’

She took a calming breath. ‘There is a very serious side effect if the spell is not used correctly. The problem is that the two people have to love and respect each other deeply, otherwise after a year living with the spell they will both die. That is what happened to the couple I mentioned, because he did not love her enough.’

Severus paled. ‘Love? That we should love and respect each other? Have you got any idea of the danger you have put us in? We are going to die in a years time!’

‘Sir, it’s not only my fault! You Apparated in the middle of the circle!’ she retorted, and then she put her hands over her mouth. She had never been that disrespectful to any teacher.

‘Ten points from Gryffindor for your lack of respect, and detention with Filch tonight.’ He approached her and when he saw her taking a step backward, he smirked.

He moved near enough to whisper in a deadly cold voice, ‘Do not ever dare using that tone of voice with me. You and your little friends should not have been outside after curfew. Now leave, before I change my mind and take away more points.’

He was still smirking when she disappeared as fast as her feet could carry her.

Hermione was hurt by his words and she was scared to death. They were bound to each other and she was going to have to learn how to love him. He was a Death Eater, and a spy. He had always been ruthless; what could he possibly do to make her love him?

She had been hopeful that together they could find a solution, but if they couldn’t even stand each other’s company for more than a few minutes, how were they going to survive?

He despised her and she disliked him as well, and now she had to try to love him!

Love and Snape in the same phrase made her shudder with disgust at the present moment, but at least she was willing to consider. He had been rude and had made it clear that they were going to die.

She sighed. She had been right in neglecting to mention the other minor side effect. Their soul was now one and therefore they were connected in a mental way. After a week under the spell she would be able to feel his emotion and vice versa.

And the week ended tonight.