Three years have passed. The trees grew new leaves which blew in the summer breeze, faded to the usual golds and reds as the autumn came, and fell to the cold ground of winter every year. This year was no different. Hermione watched each season come and go through her little flat in Tyler Hill by Canterbury, having chose the bigger city due to her love of the tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The only person that knew where she lived was Harry. He was, in a sense, her secret keeper although the actual ceremony never took place. She trusted Harry enough to know he would never tell where she was. And so, another winter began around her. It was the end of her final year at the University of Kent where she was studying Chemistry and English Lit as part of her Combined Studies Programme. Chemistry, after all, was the closest thing to Potions as she could get.

Samhain had come and gone. But Hermione didn't feel like celebrating this year, regardless of the four invitations Harry sent to her. She didn't want to face his happy existence with Ginny. She was alone and didn't feel the need to be the third wheel. She often felt this way around the holidays. It was the worst time of her life. Her parents had been killed in their "safehouse" a few days before Christmas three years ago by Voldemort's followers. She blamed herself for their deaths. She thought she had done everything she could do to keep them safe. In fact, she had, but it wasn't enough. And when Ron died of his wounds from the battle, her heart couldn't stand it any longer. And so, she found herself in Canterbury, pushing herself into her muggle studies as hard as she could and graduating a year ahead of schedule.

Hermione had just placed the last ornament on the tree. She looked at it solemnly, silently thinking of why she needed a Christmas tree to begin with. However, Harry and Ginny were coming to her house this year. They had something important to talk to her about and insisted. Therefore, she set the tree. She even managed to buy their gifts early rather than rush at the last minute as she had done the past two years. Ginny's was wrapped in silver; Harry's in gold. She set down the box she held in her hand and reached for her spiked cider. She needed something strong right now.

The telephone rang as she set her cup back down. There were very few people who had access to her number, Harry included. She answered.

"Hello?"

There was no reply.

"Hello?" she asked again. And again, nothing. She sat the receiver back down and chalked the call up to a wrong number.

Somewhere across a vast amount of hills and plains, a man stood with a phone in his hand. At least he now knew where she lived. It had taken him months to find her. But he got his proof. And now to wait for the most opportune moment.

Hermione sat down in the living room and watched the lights flicker on her tree. She thought about Ron, her parents, and her lonely future. Soon her thoughts led to that time. The time she met the love of her life years ago, and then how she lost him.

"I'm sure, Professor. I have to do this. I won't try to fix anything. Just the one thing. I know it has to be done. How else does he figure out where to put it?" Hermione said to Minerva McGonagall.

"I understand. But please remember. You cannot be seen or heard but by those you intend to influence. I'm just still worried..." the professor said.

Hermione nodded. "About his true feelings. I understand that, too. I'll be careful."

And so, Hermione turned the knob of the time turner the exact amount of turns to go back eighteen years knowing that if she was successful, she will have successfully assisted in the downfall of the most evil the wizarding world has ever seen. She knew she had to do this. She knew she had to talk to him before the worst happened to him.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing in McGonagall's office. No one was there. That was a relief. Now, she needed to find Severus Snape.

She had found Severus walking in Hogsmeade at dusk...alone. Hermione was careful not to be seen by passing people going about their business. She watched him slowly moving towards Knockturn Alley. She hoped her plan would work.

"Excuse me!" she exclaimed following him just inside. "Excuse me...you're Severus Snape, are you not?"

The young man in front of her turned and scowled. Yep, it was him. "What of it?" he replied.

"My name is Jane," she began as she planned, "and I need your help with something. Is there somewhere we can go in private?"

Severus looked at the young woman with uncertainty. He had never seen her before, and therefore, questioned her motives for getting him alone. "I believe we can speak here in public."

Hermione looked around. There were a few people going into the store on their right, but none of them looked their direction. She realized this was as private as it was going to get. "Fine. As I said, my name is Jane. Professor McGonagall sent me to speak with you about something urgent. The only problem is it happens in the future."

Severus sighed. "Not another blubbering divination student. I don't need this right now." And he began to walk away.

"No, wait!"

He didn't plan on stopping but something told him to hear her out. He turned back around and crossed his arms, his eyebrow peeked. "I don't have all night," he said after a moment of silence from the intruder.

"Alright. But please you have to hear me out. I will explain everything to you, and you have to believe me."

"As I said, I don't have all night."

Hermione took a deep breath and, knowing the professor, decided honesty was the best policy. "I know about your Dark Lord and the mark on your arm," she said softly so no one nearby could hear. Severus jerked her by the arm and led her down a deserted alleyway.

"How dare you!" he growled at her.

This didn't phase Hermione. She continued, "I also know that you probably did things you would prefer you didn't. Don't ask me how I know, just know that I do. I am here to give you a way out. A way of ending the torture you go through and ending the pain of others that you see everyday. The only problem is that it takes time. A long time...seventeen years to be exact."

"You're too late. The Dark Lord has been vanquished. A backfire of a spell, I'm told. Now leave me be." Severus began to walk away, but Hermione pulled on his arm and held him back.

Hermione was hesitant. She looked around again. There was no one else in the vicinity. "He's not dead. He's in a corporeal state hiding. In seventeen years, the Dark Lord will try to return to power. When that happens, there is a young man who will defeat him, but only because you help. There is a sword in the Headmaster's office. It's Gryffindor's sword. It's imperative that we have it at the night the young man defeats him. But the only way it can get to us is if someone in the castle fetches it and brings it to us. We hid in a forest far from here. Here are the coordinates," she said as she passed him a piece of parchment. "There is pool of water nearby. I'm trusting you to put the sword there."

Trust. That was a strange word for someone to use in reference to him. Everyone around him thought him dark and dangerous...no one to be trusted. Severus then thought of something. "What do you mean by we?"

Hermione silently scolded herself. She didn't mean to say it like that. But the cat was out of the bag now. She would have to confess. "We as in the young man, a friend, and myself. You see, I'm from the future. I used a timeturner to come back here to you. This is something that I know you have to do. There is no one else inside the castle at the time to get the sword. You are our only hope. It has to be there."

"And how do you know I won't find the Dark Lord and tell him of this. How do you know I won't go tell him everything you told me in hopes of helping him regain his power?" Severus said, his voice as snarky now as it was in her time.

Hermione eased her grip on his arm and looked into his eyes. She poured all of the emotion she had been holding into that one look. And Severus felt it. He hadn't felt that much compassion, that much caring in years. The look she gave him was warming.

"Because I know you," she said softly. There was something in her voice that told Severus she was telling the truth. He looked at her for a moment. Her hair was lightly swaying the breeze of the alley; curly hair that looked like satin ribbons.

He took a small step closer to her. Hermione could see the night's first stars glittering in his onyx eyes. "How do you know me, Jane?"

"I've watched you," she said helplessly. "For years, I've watched what kind of man you are. You are disciplined and I've strived to obtain that discipline. In watching you, I've gotten to know you. And for what you've done for us...what you are about to do...what you will go through in your life...I admire you."

"There's something you're not telling me," he replied. He could see it in her eyes...in the way she was biting her lower lip while she looked him. There was something else there, but for some reason he knew it wasn't bad. For some reason, he could tell that what she was about to say might actually be something...acceptable.

Hermione looked at him for a moment then looked down the alleyway. She watched many witches and wizards stroll by never peering into the alley. There had been something she wanted to tell him. There was something she wanted to do. However, in her time, it would never happen. It could never happen. And so, she saw this as her only chance. She looked at him one more time. He was scrutinizing her...trying to figure her out. That's when she took her chance and kissed him.

He was stunned at first. No one had ever kissed him before. No one had ever wanted to. Sure he had his occasionally shag with the ladies of the night that frequent Knockturn Alley. In fact, that's where he was headed when the witch in his arms stopped him. But he never would allow them to kiss him knowing where their lips could have been in the previous five minutes. This was Severus Snape's first kiss. And it felt...perfect.

He began to get involved in the kiss, moving one hand to her side and the other tangled into her soft curls. He slowly tested the waters and opened his mouth by the tiniest bit. Hermione responded as she softly touched her tongue to his lips. He followed her lead. Soon, the kiss morphed into a passionate fight over each other's mouths. Their hands groped wildly about each other's bodies. A few minutes passed and Severus broke from her grip.

Hermione then came to full terms with the chance she had taken. "I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Don't be," he said still holding her by her sides.

Hermione felt his hands and then moved them back to his person. "No... I really should not have. I didn't come here for this. I came to ask you to help us. Will you? Will you help us?"

Severus watched her frazzled state. She was really worked up by all this. Now she seemed desperate. Desperate to leave, most likely. Can't believe what she did and now she wants to leave. She probably made herself sick. Severus took a few steps back, put on an indifferent expression, and looked at her.

"On one condition."

"Anything."

"Prove to me that you kissed because you like me. Prove to me you're not selling yourself for your own personal gain but because you genuinely want to be with me."

Hermione squinted her eyes in confusion. "How can I? I have to go home once you promise. I have to return."

"Time will not be effected in your time. You could stay as long as you wanted and when you return, you will pick up where you left off."

Hermione looked at him stunned. He realized how the timeturner was used and worked. But he did have a point. She could stay and prove to him that some part of her wanted to be with him. And so she did.

They had spent five months together. It didn't take long for their relationship to move to more intimate encounters. Hermione kept telling herself that she could just stay here...but then she would remember Harry and Ron and what they were going through. She had to get back to them. And so one night while Severus slept, she left him a note, and twisted the ring of the time turner back the way it was.

He had promised. They were making love and he promised.

"If the sword is there when I return, I'll know you still love me," Hermione had said.

"It will be there. I will always love you."

"There is something else I must tell you. No matter what, always carry a blood replenishing potion and a bezoar with you. Don't ask me why, just do it... for me."

Again he promised.

And when Hermione returned, her timeline had, in fact, stayed the same. He had brought the sword to them in the forest using a doe patronus to attract Harry to the pool. She remembered that night like it was yesterday. Her heart soared as she knew that he had loved her all of his life. She also realized why he was alone all those years.

Hermione wiped a tear off her cheek at the memory of her time with Severus. Then she remembered that she could never acknowledge his sacrifices he had made to wait for the day when she returned to him. To be with him.

She remembered walking past Harry, and looking down into those deep pools of black. They will no longer reflect the stars…for Severus was dead. She remembered the feeling of the room, remembered the curtains blowing lazily with the breeze, remembered the blood stained floor. She remembered it all vividly. Why? Because he was the love of her life…at one time.

She began to cry again when an owl pecked at her window. She dismissed it thinking it was Harry again, but the bloody bird was annoying persistent. She flung the afghan on her legs away and reached for the window. The message it delivered had two words in scribbled cramped handwriting.

"I'm alive."

She recognized the handwriting immediately. But she wondered if it was truly from him. All this time had passed and now he writes to tell her he's alive? After she mourned the death of her love? But she was curious.

She waited for a week by the window for another missive. She waited for him to give her a time and place where they could meet and finally be together. But none came.

Then one night she received a phone call. Like the one before, there was no one on the other end of the line. He was making sure she was home.

And then the knock on the door.

Hermione answered.

He looked well for someone who had been in hiding all this time, waiting for the right moment to resurface. He just looked at her and she at him. And then she spoke.

"Are you back? I mean, for good?"

"I am...if you'll have me."

Hermione then lunged for his neck and kissed him fervently. Severus allowed her a moment to explore his person and then moved her back a space.

"Are you quite sure you want to be a apart of my life after everything that has happened?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "I know the truth about everything and that only made me love you more."

Severus then reached for her and drew her close, kissing her tenderly and then adding all the passion that has built inside of him all these years waiting for her.