Disclaimer: Anything that is the recognizable property of JK Rowling or Warner Brothers, Inc. or Schoolastic does not belong to me. The plot and other unrecognizable (to you anyway) things belong to me, but I'm willing to share if you ask nicely :)

Chapter Three

As good as everything had gone earlier in the week, by the time the end arrived, Hermione was ready to tear her hair out. Severus had slowly become colder toward her and was distancing himself away from her. It took everything in her not to lash out at him and her patience was wearing thin. Several of her housemates were giving her a wide berth and were just waiting for the fireworks to happen.

Today was another Potions class and Hermione had decided to just ignore him. If she didn't, she knew she'd be snapping at him and telling him to quit the hot and cold routine. She quietly sat in her assigned seat and slowly got things out of her bag. She kept her eyes either trained to her book or to the blackboard, making sure to avoid eye contact with Severus. She ignored him as she grabbed ingredients from the storage room and as she prepared her potion in silence. She was still his friend, but sick and tired of the silent treatment.

Severus was puzzled by Hermione's behavior in Potions. When he tried talking to her, she became absorbed in something else, and seemed to tune him out. He had pulled back from her a little, but it was a self-preservation thing. The only other person he had been remotely open with was Lily and she had spurned his advances. He had always known Hermione to be open and honest with him; so when she seemed to close herself off to him, he automatically thought one of the Marauders had gotten to her and poisoned her mind toward him. After class, he watched her pack up her things and leave the room in silence. He quietly followed her, nearly losing her after she Disillusioned herself, surprised when she stopped in an out-of-the-way alcove and softly began to cry. He crept up to the alcove and whispered, "Hermione?"

He heard the crying turn to sniffles as she said, "Go away, Severus." He kept watching where she had been sitting and could make out the tell-tale shimmer that accompanied the spell. He laid a hand on what he assumed was her knee, only to hear a little noise of surprise before Hermione said, "I'm going to assume you don't know where you are putting your hand and that's why I'm not going to smack you at this moment." He could feel her pick his hand up and place it on her knee this time. She said, "I don't know what you call friendship, but I wouldn't call giving someone the silent treatment conducive to that friendship."

He let out a breath, something that sounded like a mix between a groan and a sigh, and said, "I'm sorry, Hermione. I don't trust easily and I see plots within plots. I've earned my paranoia."

She dried her eyes before cancelling her spell. She knew her eyes would be puffy, but she felt that he needed to see what his actions had done to her. She looked at him and said, "I can accept that, but that doesn't mean that it will always be a good excuse to be an arse to me." She stood and said, "There's something I need to find out. See you at dinner?" Seeing Severus nod, she quickly made her way to her common room and entered the room she shared with Lily. She flung open her trunk and dug toward the bottom, frantically looking for the letter Snape had written her in her time. She made a small sound of triumph when she found it and she sat on her bed to read it.

There were only a few sentences on nearly foot-long parchment, but the reason for that was spelled out fairly quickly.

Hermione,
Since I cannot be sure this will eventually fall into the wrong hands, I've spelled this parchment to only show what I've written on it to you as well as myself. I also placed a time-release component upon what I've written so as not to give many clues away. First, I must tell you that you need to have patience with my younger self. I'm sure he has explained his paranoia to you, but it will be hard on him to explain exactly what he needs from you. Be sure to find anything on the Fidelity Charm you can. Fidelity, not Fidelius Charm.

After that, the remainder of the page was blank. Hermione let out a small sound of frustration. First, she had Severus telling her to be patient, then she had Snape bossing her around from the future! If it weren't for the fact she had a feeling that the things Snape would be telling her in the letter would help stop Voldemort once and for all, she would be telling both of them to go bugger themselves. She left the letter out and put her things back; she would be needing to keep that close at hand so she could see when any new instructions would come up. She carefully packed her rucksack full of things she might need before heading down to dinner. She smiled to see Severus standing there, waiting to take her into dinner. As she came up to him, she told him to meet her in the library after dinner because she had something to show him. He gave her a strange look, but decided to say nothing.

Hermione felt that she broke a speed record when it came to eating her dinner; something that would have done Ron proud. She stood up only a few moments after she had sat down and looked at the Slytherin table for Severus. She spotted him talking with a few of his housemates. She was certain that she didn't want to know what it was they were asking him, so she left for the library, hoping that he would follow shortly. She found a table to set her things and began browsing the shelves in the Charms section. She found a few she thought might contain the information she might need before she headed back to the table.

Severus was waiting for her by the time she was done. "What was so important that you felt compelled to inhale your dinner?"

Hermione blushed at the image he painted before she handed him the letter Snape had written. When he was done, she said, "I think this is why I was even sent back here in the first place." She cast a Mufflato before saying, "I think this will tell us how to defeat the enemy we're facing in my time."

Severus rolled his eyes at what he thought was her melodramatic antics. He was able to glean information in the letter, just by reading it. He knew Hermione was familiar with the Fidelius Charm in a way she wouldn't known from school; there was only a small mention in their textbooks about it. He also knew that his future self was aware of his slowly growing feelings for the Gryffindor. He had a feeling that the only reason he was being shown this letter in the first place was to get his cooperation. He grabbed one of the books and asked, "What do we do with the information once we find it?"

Hermione shrugged as she opened the book she had grabbed from the pile. After she scanned the index, she looked up at him and said, "I guess we wait for more of the writing to appear."

Severus held back a sigh of frustration. Who knew how long it would take to get the information that was needed?

It took a few more trips to the library before they finally found the passage Hermione had been looking for. She spoke to Severus in low tones, revealing that the Fidelity Charm was used in archaic marriage rights and usually only cast on the female in the union. Severus snickered when she went on about how unfair it was to demand that the woman remain faithful and not expect the same from the man. Hermione began searching some of the marriage texts and quickly saw why the practice was nearly unheard of.

"The caster as well as the recipient of the Charm have to be virgins, otherwise it doesn't work." She slumped back in her chair and stared at a random spot on the ceiling. She should have known it wouldn't have been easy, but she felt a little tricked. She leaned forward and asked, "Why make us go through this trouble when there is nothing we can do about it?"

Severus cleared his throat and said, "Maybe it's not supposed to be used for your mission. Maybe it's supposed to be used for something else."

Hermione glared at him and said, "Thank you, Captain Obvious." When she saw the flash of hurt cross his features, she quickly began to apologize. "I'm sorry, Severus. I didn't mean to take it out on you. It just frustrates me that he can't trust us enough to give us the whole story instead of leading us around in circles." She reached for the parchment that had been laying on the table in-between them throughout their research and was surprised to see another line on the page.

Although it will be frustrating at first to only have part of the information, the answers will come to you in time. I'm sure the young man has figured out why it is this charm and not any others. Steps need to be taken to hinder the madman's plans; this is just the first step. Now, you need to find out about the uses of snake venom.

Hermione handed the parchment to Severus and grumbled to herself about her studies and how a certain Slytherin was driving her mad.

Severus quickly read the newest lines and sat back in his chair. He kept his facial features blank, but knew what was contained within those lines more assuredly that Hermione was. He assessed the brunette witch and found that while the revelation was startling, it made sense.

Before she left to return to her time, he was going to be bound to this witch and it was going to save his life.

AN: Another short chapter, but it's slowly getting to where it needs to be :) The next chapter or two will probably be filler, but will be interesting to see nonetheless.