Another Story

Chapter Twenty-two

In which Hermione awakens

It was very strange. There were quiet and indistinct voices moving in and out of hearing range. Mumbling, soft voices that she couldn't quite recognize or pin down. It became rather frustrating after a few minutes. It was as though her ears were stuffed with cotton, or like she was half asleep, but couldn't quite wake up. And then there was a low squeaking sound.

"I don't know that sound at all," Hermione told herself as it faded into the distance and then ceased altogether.

Slowly she became aware that she was lying down on a soft surface and that much of her body ached. It felt as though she had the flu or as though something terrible had happened. She couldn't remember falling from the Astronomy Tower, though she imagined it would feel something like this.

Then there was another voice, low and melodic, in her ear that took her mind off the pain and distracted her from the confusion.

"My love?" he whispered. And he repeated those two words as though they were a healing incantation or a song.

Hermione longed to answer him, but could not find her voice.

Warm fingers intertwined themselves between her own, connecting her to the world of the living and of the waking. She relaxed and calmed as she recognized the voice.

"Severus is with me," she thought with relief.

Then her heart seemed to flutter as she realized exactly what that meant: he was alive and he was well. It was more than she could have hoped for, so much more.

Searching for her voice again, she found it and softly spoke his name. Her voice was low and strange in her own ears.

"Love?" he questioned, squeezing her hand as her eyes opened slowly.

The room was very bright, uncomfortably so, and Hermione lowered her eyelids again, surprised by the amount of light and momentary painfulness that it caused.

"Where am I?" she asked in the quietest of whispers.

Something soft and ticklish brushed against her cheek as he leaned down to hear her voice. She opened her eyes again just as Severus brushed a dark lock of hair behind his ear.

"Where?" she repeated.

"The hospital wing," he replied with a small smile.

She blinked at the look on his face, hardly comprehending it. There were tears in his dark eyes that soon spilled down his thin, sallow cheeks. He was pale, but his color was beginning to return. But the smile surprised her most. Seldom had such an unguarded expression come to his face in waking life. Hermione marveled at it and cautiously brought a leaden hand to touch his damp cheek. The smile was as real as the tears.

"Severus," she said with a smile of her own.

"Of course," he replied, placing one hand over hers and closing his eyes for a moment.

"Why are you crying?" she asked.

"I was worried ... that you wouldn't wake up ..." he said as his voice and his smile faltered.

"I'm all right," she assured him as her hand slipped from beneath his. She simply didn't have the strength to keep it there.

"I know that now," he said, leaning away from her and managing another smile.

"Is the battle ... over?" Hermione questioned hesitantly, closing her eyes again. The question came to her lips almost without conscious thought.

"Yes," he answered, "it has been a few days since the battle ended."

"Good," she said, feeling slightly sleepy. If they were together, then there was no need to inquire about the final outcome. They had surely won. "And everyone?" she asked, opening her eyes again with some difficulty.

"Now is not the time for such things. When you are better, then I can tell you of those matters, but certainly not while you are still injured and ill," he said solemnly.

She wanted to protest and vehemently, but Hermione could not find the energy. It simply was not there. She felt incredibly drained and tired.

"I've missed you," he said in low voice, taking her hand again.

"Funny thing to say. I don't think we were ever apart for more than a few hours," she answered with a drowsy chuckle.

"No, I suppose we haven't been," he agreed.

"Inseparable," she whispered.

"As we should be," he said, but Hermione had drifted away, drifted to sleep without hearing him.

He kissed her hand before wiping the tears from his eyes and calling for Madam Pomfrey.

~

Hermione wasn't sure how much time had passed when next she opened her eyes. It felt as though it had been several hours, possibly longer, but thankfully her head was much clearer and the ache had dulled significantly. She opened her eyes and sat up slowly.

It was dark in the hospital wing and rather quiet. Little did Hermione know that they, Severus and herself, were the last two patients in the ward that had been filled to capacity just days earlier. The rest of those injured in the battle had already been discharged. The students had returned to their dormitories, the professors to their chambers, and the rest to their homes. Peace and calm were returning to the school at last.

With thoughts of peace, upon which she did not dare to dwell, Hermione turned and looked at the sleeping figure in the bed next to her own. She smiled as she listened to his soft snore and admired the peaceful expression that touched his features.

"Severus," she whispered, not to rouse him, but merely to say his name, the name of the man she loved and felt as though she always would.

"He's asleep," a crisp voice at her other elbow informed her.

Hermione started and turned. Madam Pomfrey was standing there with a vial of violet potion in one hand and a small cup in the other.

"You startled me," said Hermione as Poppy filled the cup for her.

"Well, you've scared all of us enough for two lifetimes. It only seems fair," said the mediwitch as she gave the potion to Hermione. "For the pain, dear," she said in a softer tone.

"It isn't bad," said Hermione.

"It will be," said Pomfrey. "You may not realize it at the moment, but you were terribly injured. Not to mention that you were severely drained, magically speaking, which was a terrible hindrance in treating you. Your reserves, so to speak, were very low, dangerously low in fact."

Hermione sipped the potion and tried not to pull a face. It was very bitter and tasted more medicinal the most draughts she had been given. Quite a nasty combination.

"From what I remember ... I can well imagine," murmured Hermione into the cup.

"I don't know what exactly protected Severus and you. His magical reflexes, I suppose, but it was a near thing."

Her eyes drifted toward Severus again as she returned the vessel to Madam Pomfrey.

"I spoke to him earlier ..." Hermione hesitated.

"Yes, I know."

"Then ... he will be all right, won't he?"

"He is healing very slowly, thanks to ... well, I imagine you know why. But Severus is on the mend. It could require months ... several months before he is completely healed. And even then ..."

"But to have gone through so much ..."

"He is incredibly lucky. About that there can be no mistake," said Poppy with quiet conviction.

"Severus wouldn't tell me very much about the battle," said Hermione.

"Sometimes he has very good sense," she replied, pursing her lips, "but there's no reason for you not to know now."

"Please," said Hermione, struggling into a more comfortable position. For the first time she noticed that she felt rather weak and sickly, not to mention that her limbs were heavy and mildly uncooperative. "My friends ..." she said in a questioning tone.

"Potter and Weasley pulled through just fine," said Poppy with a slight smile. "Miss Weasley was injured, but discharged the day before yesterday with orders to take it easy. Professor Lupin will probably see to that, although he is still injured himself. I wish that I could ... well, never mind," said Pomfrey, shaking her head.

The potion required to mend injuries such as his contained silver, and as Remus was a werewolf, she could not use the potion on him. He was healing more slowly because of it.

"And Professor McGonagall ... We had an encounter with a very large giant," said Hermione.

"Her arm was broken, but that was easily put right again."

"Excellent," nodded Hermione before taking a deep breath and asking a more difficult question, "Did we lose anyone?"

She knew that it was not an easy question to ask or to answer, but she felt hopeful, knowing that so many of her friends had survived. She had not been there when the gate was stormed nor had she witnessed the heavy fighting on so many fronts. Hermione had only seen an empty hospital wing, not knowing that it was days after the fighting had ended.

"Yes, a number of students and two of our professors," said Pomfrey somberly.

"Any one I would know?" asked Hermione in an unsteady voice.

"Lavender Brown and several students of your year from Ravenclaw. Professor Flitwick and Hagrid," Pomfrey informed her. "Twelve students in all," she added, not including those on the other side nor those taken into custody. "And Mister Moody."

The mediwitch looked away for a moment. Every time she spoke or considered the grim statistics, the 'acceptable losses' as the Ministry of Magic had called them, the grief and sadness seemed to wash over her anew.

"So many," Hermione whispered.

"Yes," Poppy agreed with a small nod, "but that was the price that had to be paid."

They were both quiet for a moment until Severus in the next bed yawned softly and sat up. Poppy smiled as she watched Hermione's eyes brighten.

"You're awake," said Severus in a mildly, but pleasantly surprised voice as he pulled himself into a sitting position with a slight wince.

"I am," said Hermione with a chuckle.

"Don't tire her out talking, Severus," Poppy warned the potions' master before leaving them. She knew that they had things to say to one another that were best said without an audience.

"You look much better, you know," Snape commented, looking at her with a steady and thoughtful expression on his face.

"So do you," Hermione said in return.

"I've been worried," he admitted, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I don't remember a lot of what happened ... just that I needed to find you and that I was very fortunate that I did so," said Severus, taking a deep breath as he remembered watching the battlement crumble and hurtle to earth, toward Hermione.

Hermione knew it wasn't easy for him to speak so candidly about such things and squeezed his hand in return.

He smiled softly and looked into her eyes. The warmth, the love in them left him momentarily speechless.

"You saved my life, Severus," she said quietly.

"And without you ... I would have had nothing to live for, nothing to bring me back from the madness," he replied, leaning toward her and kissing her forehead tenderly.

"We're so lucky," she murmured as she released his hand and put her arms around him.

"Yes," Severus agreed hoarsely, holding her as close as he could manage.

They were silent for a few moments, but words weren't necessary. Severus and Hermione knew how close they had come to losing one another and could not express their thankfulness in any manner other than that heartfelt embrace.

"There were times," Hermione began to say, choosing to be the first to break the comfortable silence that had enveloped them, "when I was sure I was going to lose you."

Severus stroked her curly hair and asked, "When I was ... mad?"

"Yes."

"I knew ... much of the time at least ... that you were there with me too."

"Too?" she questioned.

"That I wasn't alone," he amended, wanting to say no more than that for the moment. To tell her about his delusions of Phaedrus would have been too taxing, for both of them, he feared.

"I'm glad you knew," said Hermione, sensing, intuiting that Severus was hiding something. But she chose not to pursue the matter until later and instead relished his comforting presence.

The sound of someone loudly clearing their throat behind her was the only thing that made Hermione release Severus. She turned to see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall standing there watching them with amused expressions. A faint blush crept into her cheeks. Had she glanced over her shoulder she would have noticed Severus coloring a bit as well.

"It is good to see both you looking well again, at long last, it seems," said Dumbledore with a quiet, disarming chuckle.

"Thank you, professor," said Hermione with a small, almost sheepish smile.

"Albus and Minerva have been visiting us every day since the end of the war," Severus informed her, leaning over to straighten her pillows for her. The slight strain in his voice as he did so did not go unnoticed.

"As have many of your friends," Minerva informed Hermione. "And how are you feeling?" she questioned.

"Better. Thank you," nodded Hermione.

Albus looked at his young colleague with twinkling eyes and said, "But we know that Severus is certainly feeling much better now that Miss Granger has joined us again."

"Indeed. I don't recall ever seeing him look so happy before," commented Professor McGonagall, trying to disguise that smile that was tugging at her lips as she looked at the very pleased expression that Snape wore. Certainly that was something seldom seen.

"Teasing, Minerva? So unlike you," said Severus with a carefully arched eyebrow.

"Not at all. I was merely making an observation," she replied, the smile getting the better of her.

"Now, what brought us here?" Albus asked her.

"Other than visiting our favorite students?" she questioned.

It was obvious to anyone watching them, or more precisely Severus and Hermione, that the two professors were a great deal more familiar than they had seemed previously.

Albus' eyes twinkled even more at Minerva's statement, which was truer than Snape or Hermione would ever know, and he said, "Naturally, my dear."

"Because the two of you were incapacitated and could not attend the ceremony earlier this evening, Minerva and I accepted these on your behalf," said Albus, reaching into his robe and removing two scrolls.

Hermione glanced at Severus and saw him flush slightly and look away as Dumbledore presented them with the scrolls.

"What are they?" asked Hermione.

"A last ditch effort by Cornelius Fudge to stay in the good graces of the wizarding community," answered Dumbledore, becoming suddenly rather somber.

Hermione unrolled the parchment and nearly laughed as she read, "Order of Merlin, Second Class." She looked at Severus who had not bothered to unroll his.

"The things I would have done ..." he began in a quiet voice, but then, he merely shook his head and offered the document back to Dumbledore. "I can't accept it," he said with a sigh, recalling that terrible night in the Shrieking Shack four years earlier. How he had longed for the validation such an honor would have brought him then ...

"That's exactly what Mister Potter and Mister Weasley said," Minerva informed him as Hermione rolled the parchment up again and returned hers too.

"No one has accepted yet, though I imagine Neville Longbottom might have felt somewhat tempted," said Albus.

"I don't understand. Why is the Ministry doing this?" asked Hermione.

"Because we were right," answered Dumbledore simply.

"I see," said Hermione, feeling a flash of anger that the Minister of Magic thought that he could cover up his own negligence and incompetence by handing out a few, or even a lot, of awards. It was despicable.

"Feel free to burn mine," said Severus.

"And mine," said Hermione.

"It will be quite the bonfire," said Minerva. "Three Order Merlin, First Class; more than twenty Second Class; and just as many Third Class," she commented. Hermione could not tell whether the deputy headmistress was angry or simply disappointed, or perhaps a mixture of both.

"I suppose we should take our leave now," said Dumbledore, allowing Minerva to slip her arm neatly into his.

"Thank you," said Hermione with Snape echoing her sentiments.

"Disgusting, wasn't it?" he questioned after they had gone.

"If only things could have been different ... I imagine that most of my classmates earned those awards," said Hermione, nodding in agreement with his opinion.

"Without a doubt," Severus agreed easily.

He had heard enough stories already to know that Hermione's conjecture was true. Many students, professors, and other members of the magical community involved in the battle deserved tremendous praise and heaps of laurels from their fellow wizards and witches for their brave deeds. But such praise would only be tainted and insincere coming from Fudge and his cronies. And it would not bring back those who had died because of their negligence. Not any of the hapless victims nor those who had perished on the battlefields. Not Black. Not Brown. Not Rosier. Not any of them.

"Severus?" questioned Hermione hesitantly as a dark look clouded his eyes. She cautiously reached for his hand again and grasped it tightly.

He tried to smile for her once more, but it would not come.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Ruminating," he answered.

"Grieving?" she suggested in a questioning tone.

He was grateful for the look of understanding in her warm brown eyes. He nodded in response to her suggestion, her softer and kinder word, and squeezed her hand. There was nothing he could say to her.

"There is a time for everything," she said gently, taking a deep breath as she thought of those who were now gone, though she did not yet know all of their names.

"Wise words," commented Severus as he found his voice again.

"I suppose so," she replied, studying him thoughtfully.

They were both quiet for several minutes until Hermione yawned softly.

"You should rest. You should not overexert yourself too soon, and it is becoming very late," Severus told her, glancing at their reflections in the darkened windows across the ward.

"Sound advice," Hermione chuckled, releasing his hand and making herself more comfortable.

"Madam Pomfrey's ... among others," said Snape with a bemused expression.

"Remus?" she guessed.

"Yes," Severus nodded, "he has visited quite often."

Hermione smiled and said, "I imagine you have been surrounded by Gryffindors day in and day out then."

"I survived," he shrugged with a slight smirk. "Now, get some sleep before I have Poppy bring you something," said Severus with a raised eyebrow and a sneer that Hermione could tell was a put-on.

"The same goes for you," she answered primly.

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