Hermione sighed as she replaced the old picture she had taken with Ron at their graduation, the last reminder of the life she and Ron had lived once. Once, before he left with his best friend to eliminate Voldemort forever and had never returned.

She had known he might never come back that night, but the news still hit her hard and left scars that had never truly healed. For the world, she stayed strong. The hundreds of others who had lost loved ones in the war had already moved on, but every night she felt the pulse of her heart and cursed it for continuing to beat alone when her soul may as well have already left her in search of a better place.

I didn't know that it was so cold




And you needed someone to show you the way

In the year or so after Harry had been named the Savior, Hermione had tried to fill the gaping hole in her heart. Mrs. Weasley had set her up on maybe a dozen or so dates, but nothing had really worked out for her, and so after a few more weeks, she began to read the singles section. Inevitably, she started to fall back into disrepair, looking bitterly at the past through her blurry vision.

For a while, she could just settle down with her work and forget, but that never worked anymore. Her tears just stained the paperwork, and she ended up remembering anyway, alone in the world all over again.

One more, she thought again as she readied herself for one last attempt at a new beginning, one more. She stood, reviewed her appearance again, and left from the fireplace for Diagon Alley to meet yet another mystery man.

So I took your hand and we figured out




That when the tide comes I'd take you away

Hermione smiled as well as she could and walked over to the only other person still alone in the restaurant.

"Hello," she said softly, sitting across from him without taking her eyes off his ruddy blonde hair that she barely remembered from her years at Hogwarts and his obsession with photograhy.

Colin looked up at her, his bright eyes wide with surprise. "Hello, Hermione. You look fantastic tonight," he said.

She smiled at the comment, but then bit her tongue to keep from sobbing. That was exactly what Ron had told her the first time they had actually gone out as adults. Inwardly she thought, why can't I get over him? I'm here on a date, with someone who deserves my attention, so why won't it go away?

"Thanks Colin. You do too," she replied with false cheeriness.

She swallowed, letting go of her memories for the time being, and attempted to focus on the conversation with Colin.

"How have you been? I haven't seen you in ages," he said without any real enthusiasm.

"I'm fine. How are you lately?" It was a meaningless question and they both knew it. Even though he was always nice and friendly around her, it was obvious he had been expecting someone else and her heart sank. After having risen almost instantly from his first job within the ministry, he was now famous for his appointment as the old minister's successor, and his new life left no time for acquaintances from his school days. She had probably just ruined what little private time he had to spend, and she hated herself for it.

"Oh, you know, I've been busy," he said indifferently. The rest of the conversation was just as detached, and so when they bade each other goodbye a few minutes later, neither of them thought twice about it.

Sighing, Hermione stepped outside onto the dark streets and walked down to the local pub for a butterbeer. She never drank as a matter of choice, but she did order butterbeer regularly just to drown in her thoughts for long enough that she didn't have to face them while she slept as well.

As fate would have it, her usual spot was occupied by someone already, so she sat down next to him and decided that if she couldn't have her seat, she could at least wait for him to finish his firewhiskey. After all, that wasn't illegal.

He was dressed in long sleeved black robes and seemed to be at least twice as old as she was, but he was leaning down, so she couldn't really see his face. Even though it was almost summer, he was comfortable still and sipped his drink coolly next to her.

Hermione ordered her usual and waited for a few minutes while the bartender got her refreshment and watched him.

"Hello," she said quietly to him. She had nothing else to do, so she decided to try and at least talk to her seat thief despite his withdrawn appearance.

"Hello," he replied in a low voice, wondering why she was talking to him of all people.

"How's you're drink?" she inquired carefully. In all truth, she had never been very good with icebreakers.

He was interested despite his caution. Normally no one spoke to him these days, and with good reason. She obviously didn't know him, or she just didn't recognize him. Either way, he thought, I might as well talk to her. How could it hurt?

"Good, actually," he responded as the bartender handed Hermione her drink and she took a sip. "Yours?"

"Nice. Just butterbeer, but it's nice. Amazing after the thousands I've had before, but it is." She took another sip and smiled at the stranger. She knew he'd never believe it, but the simplicity of the conversation was perking her up a little, keeping her distracted.

"Funny how things can do that to you. Sometimes something will surprise you, and no matter how many times it comes along, you just never get used to it," the man said thoughtfully. He remembered the cruelties of his old life and winced.

Sometime later she realized just how long they had been talking and sighed. Her job was one of the few reasons she could still live in her home, and she really couldn't afford to lose it.

"I have to go, it's late. Do you want to meet again sometime though?" she said hopefully.

He agreed and they planned to meet the next week. Hermione paid their tabs and left, happier than she had been in a fair time. She apparated to her home and it occurred to her that she had actually planned a date. Smiling, she fell asleep dreamlessly.

If you want to




I can save you




I can take you away from here




So lonely inside




So busy out there




And all you wanted was somebody who cares

She woke up early the next morning and flooed to her office in the Department of Muggle Relations where she knew that nothing would be able to stop her from remembering Ron and his old job as an auror.

As she filled out the countless papers she got in her desk job, she suddenly thought of how Ron had once told her how dull it had to be to stay inside all day and write. She took a deep breath. As she tried to leave those memories behind, she remembered the stranger and relaxed, replaying the conversation over in her head again and again until she was ready to get back to work and finish her day off.

Days went by faster than usual lately, and she was grateful for it. She looked forward to her next meeting with the man, and soon she was putting up her hair again. She didn't feel like she really needed to dress up, but she did want to look decent.

He showed up about fifteen minutes later and took her seat again, although this time she had left it for him. He ordered his usual and she had another butterbeer. He looked curiously at her.

"I really didn't expect you to show up, Miss Granger. You used to avoid me if at all possible, I remember," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione looked over at him and her face echoed his as she replied, "I also never had the honor of meeting you when you weren't scowling at me every time you saw me. You're different outside of school, Severus."

He nodded, and they tasted their drinks quietly, each thinking of the other with surprise. Neither of them had really expected the other to be who they were, but neither of them were particularly upset either.

"Where have you been all this time Severus? No one's seen you since before seventh year," she asked, forgetting how they usually spoke to one another without regret. After all, he had suffered enough in his lifetime.

"Hiding, Miss Granger. Both sides would have killed me despite Potter's vindication, so I disappeared for a while," he replied painfully, "What have you been doing?"

"Fighting Voldemort, getting engaged, getting a job, losing my fiance, and working. What else?" she said bluntly. She hid her emotions from him, but she knew that if he choose to use legilimency, it would be useless. "And you can call me Hermione, Severus. I'm not a student anymore."

He smirked. "I was just asking, Hermione. I didn't know you had such strong emotions on such simple topics. After all, at least now you can worry about yourself instead of everyone else. You're always too stressed," Severus commented, realizing too late what he had just said.

She glanced at him and grinned with surprise for the first time in months. "Of all the people I've met, you're probably the last person I'd expect to say that."

"You're the last person I'd expect to call me 'Severus' after knowing me as a Professor for so long," he retorted, then, after a moment, "Although I will admit that I'm glad of someone still referring to me by my real name."

"Really? Do you just walk down the street and everyone still calls you 'Professor'? That must be terrible," Hermione said with an unexpected burst of compassion.

"Actually," he corrected darkly, "Professor is one of the nicer things they call me. The public still doesn't believe I wasn't really a Death Eater, and it shows."

While they discussed this, the world and its worries flew by them silently. They began to mold a friendship after they had finally downed three drinks apiece. Too soon, Hermione was forced to leave and Severus paid the tab. Both of them anticipated their next meetings, but neither knew what they held for them.

I'm sinking slowly




So hurry hold me




Your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on

In the few weeks that they had been meeting, Hermione had become more active and happier. They both understood what it was like to lose a loved one, even if he refused to tell who. As he helped to pull her out of her depression, she grew closer to her old teacher than either of them realized, and he unknowingly did likewise. No one mentioned anything about them, however, until a day near the end of July when they ordered the regular pair of butterbeers.

"Two butterbeers, paid for by the fellow in the red," the barkeeper said. Hermione and Severus looked at each other, and then down at the man who had picked up their tab.

After they drank the gifts, they stood wordlessly and walked over to the obviously drunken man to thank and question him.

"Hey man," he hiccuped, "nice girl... you've gotta fine eye, man, this one's-"

Before he could finish, though, Severus and Hermione had used a few choice curses to ensure that nothing even remotely similar to the incident would ever occur again before they allowed him to drop to the floor. He looked up, disoriented and barely conscious from his spot on the floor.

"You might want to leave now," Severus growled,"We have extremely short tempers, and they're about to snap."

The man stumbled out of the pub as fast his legs would carry him through the thick crowd that now surrounded them.

"That lucky bugger! I almost blew his head off, and there wouldn't have been remains," she said venomously. Hermione was evidently affected in an extreme way that outdid even his rages, and her grip on her wand almost broke it into bits before he extracted it from her palm.

"Hermione, calm down, please," he whispered, and a moment later he had a better idea. "Hold on tight."

A sharp crack split the air and they appeared in front of the door on Spinner's End, and Hermione landed on her knees. She jumped up and tried to apparate back to go finish off the intoxicated man, but Severus froze her before she could leave. After being levitated inside, Hermione sat in an empty chair and attempted to glare at him as he settled himself calmly across from her and spoke.

"Even though I can't say that the imbecile wouldn't have earned it, Hermione, try to remember that not only was he inebriated, but also that neither of us really wants you to live your life in Azkaban for killing the bloke, so just think about that for a few minutes while I check one of my experimental potions." He walked out of the parlor, leaving Hermione to cool off.

For about two minutes, Hermione sat fuming at her thoughts of the man in the pub. At last she began to mentally let it go, and her bonds became less restricted, at least until her plans of revenge returned. After a few more minutes, she finally forgave the drunk completely. Realizing that Severus wasn't coming back anytime soon, she ran off into the main labyrinth of the house find him.

After checking every door she could find, including a cupboard holding four dead rats and a jarvey, she spotted him reading an old potions text in a cobwebbed room near the back of the house. She ran forward and hugged him abruptly, and, even though he was standing against a wall, he was so surprised that he almost fell over.

"You tricked me! You made me calm down, you tricked me!" she cried, grinning. She pulled back. "Thank you, though. I really don't think I would have liked Azkaban either." She somehow wanted to embrace him again, knowing completely that he was why she hadn't just changed her mind and gone back to destroy the drunk.

"You're right, I did. You never were one to hold a grudge," he replied smiling and drawing her back into him. He felt the life pulsing through her veins, wanting to feel her emotions in himself, and realized that the beat was shared between them. "And you're welcome."

A moment later they separated, and Hermione wished him a good night before apparating euphorically back to her home and the dreams she now looked forward to.

Please can you tell me




So I can finally see




Where you go when you're gone

After that, they began to rendezvous in other places, often just randomly meeting in Diagon Alley and going from there, all the while growing closer than anyone expected. After going into hiding for three years and then meeting Hermione immediatly afterward, it seemed that Severus's hard exterior had almost disappeared. When Hermione had convinced him to reapply for his old job as potions master, the previously unseen facet of his personality helped to put him back in favor of Headmistress McGonagall, who gave him his old job again.

Both of them knew they wouldn't see each other nearly as often now, with the start of term approaching, and they began to spend more time together. Hermione practically forgot her times with Ron; instead she let her feelings go toward someone who could still care for her as well: Severus. Very few people knew about them, aside from themselves and the barkeeper, and none of them could guess just how deep it went. Severus finally had a solid reason to not want to go to the school, despite the fact that he knew that she would be waiting for him every weekend she could get off.

The last day they had together they spent at, of all places, Honeydukes. Severus bought them each a block of dark chocolate, and he carefully noted each one of her favorite candies as they wandered the store. When they finally finished browsing, they sat out near the edge of the village and ate their chocolate next to each other for a few minutes before he broke the silence.

"Hermione," he told her quietly, "I'll miss you every day. You do know that, right? We've been together for so long, and now we'll be so far apart. I know from experience how long a week can be."

"Don't worry Severus. I'll always be there, because I love you, and that won't change. Ever," she said the last bit rather quickly, but they both knew that she had never been more honest. He felt like the happiest man in the world, alone with the only person ever to know him wholly.

If you want to




I can save you




I can take you away from here




So lonely inside




So busy out there




And all you wanted was somebody who cares

As the last flecks of sunlight faded across the horizon, Hermione wrapped her arms around him and willed the world to slow down, to give her more time before she had to leave and let her enjoy the presence of her companion forever.

"I have to go," she said, choking on her own words.

Severus smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Just before she let herself be caught up in his touch, he whispered, "I love you too, Hermione." With his lips still tingling from her caress, he heard the loud pop as she disapparated from his arms a moment later.

All you wanted was somebody who cares




If you need me you know I'll be there




Oh, yeah

The weekend following the start of term feast, Severus woke up early and, after dressing and taking a small parcel from his trunk, almost sprinted up to the Great Hall with one thing on his mind, something no one would ever have expected out of Severus Snape.

Once he had eaten a quick breakfast and a goblet of pumpkin juice, he checked the package one last time before rising swiftly and exiting the Hall.

As he strode through the streets of Hogsmeade, he forced himself to slow down while he carefully unwrapped the box and hid it in his pocket with the entirety of his heart. He turned sharply toward the edge of the small town and then slowed to almost a halt behind Hermione. He would dearly have loved to have seen her face when he came up behind her and planted a kiss on her warm cheek, startling her before she spun and returned his affection with her now infinite vitality.

Several moments later they broke apart, laughing at the spontaneity of it all, before Severus turned her around again and took her hands, putting in them something from his pocket. She turned around just a second later and gasped at the sparkling gold band he had placed in her palm.

"Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?" he asked on one knee, every fiber in his body praying for a yes.

Hermione nearly fainted from shock. Her heart evacuated her body and flew over to her kneeling ex-professor, or at least it tried. The result was Hermione practically jumping into Severus's arms as she cried out with unmatchable euphoria.

"Yes!"

If you want to




I can save you




I can take you away from here




So lonely inside




So busy out there




And all you wanted was somebody who cares

Two weeks later, Hermione was still amazed that she was engaged to him. After all of the times they had fought, all of the things they'd said about each other, they were getting married.

When Ron had died, she thought she would never recover, let alone find somebody who cared. Now that she had both, she got ready to shock her family, both real and adoptive, at the Burrow where they had gathered together at her request this Saturday.

All of the Weasleys, minus Ron, Percy, Charley and Arthur, along with Harry and her parents, looked up at her expectantly from their seats. She had only told them that she had a reason for having cheered up the past several months, although she had mentioned to Molly that did involve a man, so she wasn't really surprised at their curiosity. She took a deep breath and looked again at the glittering band she had never taken off since that morning in Hogsmeade before she began.

"Alright, everyone. You all remember how I lost Ron in the war, and how I was depressed for almost a year and a half afterward. Lately, everyone, at one point or another, has asked me how I've managed to come out of it. That's why we're here, of course. Anyway, just to make sure you know, I haven't gone crazy.

"I'm going to get married this winter, and I hope you all approve, because nothing is going to change my mind. You see, back in June I had just walked away from a rather horrid blind date, and I walked into the pub nearby. That was when I first met the man I'm in love with now. Alright, I had known him before, but not in the same way I do now," she continued before turning and looking around the wall behind her. He nodded and she pulled him out.

"This is Severus Snape, my fiance."

At that, most of the rooms occupants lost control of their jaws. A minute later, Harry began the incredulous comments.

"Snape- Hermione- what- oh, wow, this was unexpected," he stuttered.

"Dear, this is great! Why didn't you tell us?" came from Hermione's parents, obviously the only people in the room never to have met the man.

"Have I gone crazy? Or are you really standing there with your arm around the greas- er, Professor Snape's waist?" Ginny questioned disbelievingly.

Dozens of other remarks filled the room and Severus shook his head, smiling. Hermione quieted them all with answers while he sat down next to the fireplace, and was soon joined by her.

Finally, Mrs. Weasley spoke up, silencing the rooms occupants. "Well, you have my approval. Severus, you are an exceptionally lucky man to have Hermione; treat her well. Now when exactly is this wedding? I need to start the planning!"

Hermione could have burst with joy as the rest of the room seconded her opinion on the matter. Severus was taken into the hallway for a few minutes with Mr. Granger, and when they returned, lunch was served. The toast of course, went to a happy life for the couple, which warmed Severus up considerably. Not only did he have Hermione, but he had the approval of everyone close to her, and that was all he needed from life.

Please can you tell me




So I can finally see




Where you go when you're gone.

Almost four months later, a simple wedding took place in the Weasley's backyard for them, followed by a honeymoon of exploring Hogsmeade for a weekend. The month after that, Hermione sold her old home and bought a flat to share with her husband. Severus continued to teach at Hogwarts, and eventually became Deputy Headmaster. Hermione's job at the ministry was soon deserted for the job of arithmancy professor, and the couple always laughed at their pupils confusion about the two Professor Snapes. Their relationship puzzled their friends and family sometimes, but all they had wanted was somebody who cared.