SERIOUS AN: This chap comes with a warning. One short scene contains an attempted sexual assault. For those of you sensitive to such things, skip the boggart and move to the next bit of dialogue.

Hermione scrambled out of his arms and grabbed at her clothes, struggling into her knickers and jeans and crawling around on the floor to find the shirt, shoes and socks that had been flung in several different directions.

When she was dressed, she crawled back over to him and just stared. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, so gentle and innocent.

She remembered the youngest Snape she'd seen and wondered if the child was in control when he slept.

Her head felt like she was shaking off the effects of a Stupefy. Obviously their connection had been intensified enough to allow a part of him to gain mastery over the whole, if only for a short time.

She pushed and pulled until she got his trousers back up over his hips and got them closed and his belt rebuckled. He never stirred. She cast a new cushioning charm underneath him and grabbed a pillow off the bed and slid it under his head. When she was done, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. She needed to fix him. She needed to heal him and give him back his soul. She was also apparently going to need to think about birth control. Wouldn't that be fun to explain to the Order? She said a minor prayer to whoever was listening to not have to deal with one more complication in her life, before heading off to grab a shower and try to clear her mind of the sound of her own screaming.

"Eat your lunch, Severus," she said, as she put her plate before him. He reached out and lifted the sandwich with his elegant hand.

"Hey, he smells like shampoo!" said Fred as he came in the room. "I bet that's a first."

"What's it like, having to bathe him, Hermione?" asked George with a leering grin. "Does he put up a fight? Or does he smile a lot?"

Hermione scowled and turned on them, her gut clenching with embarrassment and anger. Snape dropped his food back onto the plate, stood up, and pulled his wand out and into the ready position, all in one motion.

Fred and George stepped back quickly and held up their hands, as Hermione took several quick, calming breaths.

"I've already warned you two about this sort of thing. He not only understands certain words, but he feels my emotions now. Getting my back up intentionally is not the way to live to see old age. If you can't restrain yourselves, then please, for all our sakes, stay the hell away from me."

The tension in the air was thick as Molly, Arthur and her parents walked in. Molly sized up the situation and ordered the twins out of the room. Helen placed a hand on Snape's shoulder and told him to sit and eat.

"We've found a good safe house, dear," her mother said.

"We've rescheduled all of our appointments and taken an indefinite leave from the clinic," added her father. "Russell Menninger and his partner are going to cover our patients." He took a deep breath. "I think it would be best if we move as soon as possible." He gave Snape a long look. "It's just too dangerous for him to stay here with so many people around."

"I'll have to agree," said Arthur. "You would think the boys would be more mature, but the fact is, Severus disturbs them. They're not the only ones, just the most likely to act on it. I think it would be best for you and Severus if you were more insulated against foolishness and random chance."

Hermione looked at Molly, who was smiling sadly.

"We've also done a bit of shopping," she said. "Your mother and I have got you some new things and picked up the new robes you ordered for Severus."

"Thank you, Molly. That's wonderful. One does get tired of casting Freshening Charms."

"Here," said Arthur, handing her a slip of paper with an address.

"You're the secret keeper?"

"Yes."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "I'll gather a few things. We might as well go now."

She rose up from the table and sighed when Severus dropped his sandwich again and stood up as well. "No, Severus. Stay here and eat. Stay with my mother." He didn't look at either her or her mother, just stared at the wall with his dead gaze. She walked to the kitchen door and shook her head when he followed.

"I'll wrap the sandwich up so you can take it with you," said Molly.

Hermione nodded and left to gather her few belongings with Severus following her every step of the way.

He'd been like this ever since she'd stepped out of the shower yesterday afternoon and found him standing there. He wouldn't leave her side. It made going to the bathroom more than a bit embarrassing and garnered a few strange looks.

Whatever had taken place between them yesterday had drawn him closer to her physically in more ways than one.

At bedtime, he'd undressed and laid down in his bed like usual, but when she'd shut out the lights, she'd heard him pushing away his blankets before she'd even reached her bed. He'd sunk down onto the bed next to her and wrapped himself around her like a cat before she'd heard his breathing deepen and felt his weight sag.

There had been no dreams, and when she'd woken, there hadn't been anything else either, a fact that she'd been incredibly relieved about.

She gathered up the few scrolls and one book, as well as the broken pieces of the Elder Wand and stuffed them into a pillow case while Severus loomed over her. She went to the library and took three texts that she thought might have information she could use and left a note to Harry and Ginny in case they went looking for them.

She headed back downstairs and found Ron waiting for them.

"I thought you might want to pack up your flat."

She nodded. "I need all my research notes."

"Exactly," he said, with a smile. "That's why Fred and George went over to take care of it for you. They felt bad for what happened earlier."

"But—"

"No, Hermione. It's not safe. Mum and Dad already took your parents and Crooks to the safe house. You need to go straight there. I'll go over and help Fred and George, just tell me if there's anything particular you want, or I'll just bring it all."

Hermione's temper flared. "Ron, I have to go over. I need—"

He cut her off and turned to Snape. "Do not let Hermione go to her flat. Fletcher told the Dark Lord where it was."

Snape's eyes flared with awareness and he turned his head and looked at her before looking back at Ron. He lifted his hand and wrapped his fingers around her arm, just above the elbow and then his eyes went flat again.

"I can't believe you, Ron!" she snapped.

"Believe it. I'll just go pack everything then, shall I?" He backed away from her and nodded to Snape, who didn't respond. He turned and walked out the front door and Hermione followed with Snape holding firmly to her arm.

She scowled as Ron Disapparated with a crack, and pulled her new address out of her pocket.

"The Granger's live at Oak Court, Brampton," she said with disgust. She went to put the address back into her pocket but Snape yanked on her arm and pulled her into his chest, before spinning them into blackness.

They arrived with a crack at an old millhouse nestled amongst the trees, none of them oak. Hermione snatched her arm away from Snape, who had gone still again, as Molly and her mother appeared in the doorway. The home was a jumble of buildings pasted together with parts ranging from ancient, to merely old as hell. Hermione knew that at any other time, she'd have been enchanted. Right now, she was having too good a sulk to care. She stalked across what had once been a carriage yard and was now an overgrown wilderness, towards the other women. Snape followed, half a step behind.

"Hello dear, you look out of sorts. Everything okay?"

"I'm fine. I just need space," she said this last while looking back over her shoulder to her six foot tall black shadow.

"We picked this place with that in mind, dear. Your father and I will take the west wing and we'll leave you and Severus the east. There are plenty of rooms to get lost in. You should be able to find some privacy. Your father and Arthur are making sure the plumbing is functional. Did you want to come in and finish eating lunch?"

"Sure," she said, knowing she sounded like a petulant child.

Her mother gave her a look that clearly said she needed to stop pushing her luck. As the women headed inside, Hermione felt her medallion grow warm under her shirt, and as she dug under her collar, she saw Molly do the same.

'Trap. Attacked by DEs. Ron down. Hermione's flat.'

She spun around and ran back through the door as she heard Molly cry out and Arthur's feet pounding through the house.

Strong arms snapped around her and pulled her off her feet.

"Let go, Snape! Let go, damn it!"

"What's going on?" cried her mother.

"Get him off of me!"

"The boys have been attacked by Death Eaters," Molly said. She scurried out into the yard and disappeared with a pop. Arthur appeared and raced out into the yard as well, clutching his wand and looking grim.

"We'll be back if we can," he said, before he Disapparated.

Snape didn't bend, as he nearly crushed the air out of her while she struggled. She managed to pull her wand out of her sleeve, but he plucked it out of her hands and threw it at her mother's feet.

"I have to go! I have to help! Get the fuck off of me, you bastard!"

Her parents stood in the doorway, unsure what to do.

"What's going on? What is he doing?" shouted her father.

"He won't let me go after them. They were packing my things in my flat! It's my fault!" She twisted around until she was looking into Snape's blank face. She contemplated kicking him in the stones. "If one of them dies, I will never forgive you! Do you hear me? You're fucking will to live is interfering with my will to help!"

He blinked, and for a moment she saw sadness and thought he was going to relent. Instead, he brought his wand up and stunned her.

Hermione woke up lying on a strange bed with Severus hovering over her, covered in blood. She screamed, and her mother came running into the room.

"He's okay! I checked him over," she said, as she pushed her way around him and hugged her daughter. "Everyone's going to be fine. Ron's going to be fine. Molly said his wife already fixed him up, and he's sleeping."

"But... Are you sure he's okay? Look at him!"

"It's not his blood, Hermione," her mother said with a shudder. "None of the attackers survived. Fred brought all of your things. What made it through the attack, anyway. It looks like most of it though. It's downstairs."

Hermione looked at the way Severus was staring at her and trembling.

"Mum, could you go make some tea? We'll be down after I get him settled."

"Absolutely. Just follow the hallway to the right at the bottom of the stairs and you'll eventually find the kitchen. Take your time, he needs a bath."

"Right," Hermione replied, reaching out and taking his spasming hand.

Her mother had barely closed the door when his hand tightened on hers, painfully.

"The pieces hurt me," he said, in a deep, gravelly voice.

"I know," she answered and tugged him close.

His other hand came up and slid into her hair and clenched and he pulled her face closer to his and kissed her. She felt the now familiar warmth flow through her as the light blinded them both. Unlike the first time, this kiss was more than a simple transference. When the light faded, his tongue slid into her mouth and she moaned and kissed him back as he tugged his hand out of hers and began to pull at her clothes. Hermione trembled, overwhelmed by what was happening as she felt him slide a hand under her shirt and gently grasp her breast with a shaking hand. She pulled him down onto the bed and felt her belly roll with pleasure as his breath escaped in a heavy sigh. Their kiss became more desperate as they tore at each other's clothes in a rush to merge. He yanked her jeans and pants off and fell on her, kissing her as he fumbled with himself to find her entrance. He pushed up on his arms and pressed himself inside. His eyes were alive and on fire as he opened them and looked down on her.

"So beautiful," he said in a rusty voice. "You're so beautiful inside."

"Oh, gods. So are you, Severus…"

There was no reply as he threw his head back and fucked her mercilessly. She was mesmerized by his face, as his blood-smeared features twisted from pleasure, to discovery, to transcendent ecstasy. He opened his eyes and looked down on her and he saw her. He knew what he was doing and he wanted her. She came. The look of desire on his face pushed her over the edge and she blew apart under him, trying desperately not to cry out. His face warped into a rictus and he lifted his head back up and cried, "Hermione, I'm here," as he poured himself into her.

She reached up and pulled him down and cradled him in her arms as he shook and held her tightly. His tremors finally subsided and she twisted her head so she could see his beautiful eyes. They were flat and dead and lifeless.

She bit her lip hard to stifle the scream that tried to tear through her. Her entire body shook from her silent sobs as she pushed him off of her and curled up into a ball.

It was time. She'd woken up early and made sure the two of them had eaten a large breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning reading up on the notes she'd dug out of her belongings.

Her parents were out in the yard, busying themselves with trying to organize nature. Severus had been content to sit and stare at the walls for hours, blinking slowly every few minutes, as she worked through her plan.

She closed her books, tidied her notes, and rose from her chair, hearing him rise smoothly as well. She left the large, open kitchen and headed up the stairs towards their wing, listening to his steady tread on the stairs behind her, as she made her way into the room she'd designated as his, when they'd finished unpacking yesterday.

"Sit down on the bed, Severus." she ordered. He obeyed without hesitation. She pulled off his boots and removed his cloak and asked him to center himself on the large bed. She climbed up and sat cross-legged, facing him, and pulled out her wand. She took a few moments to simply stare at him before raising the wand and saying, "Legilimens."

She felt her mind anchor on his like a magnet and then felt resistance. She focused herself and pushed and with a snapping sensation she was in.

She found herself in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. Surprised, she almost let the spell go, but caught herself before she tumbled away again.

She walked into the castle and heard the clicking of her shoes echo into the distance. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see the five-year-old Severus trailing her, his face caught between worry and joy. She knelt down and opened her arms and he smiled and hurtled into them, almost knocking her down. She rocked him back and forth and kissed him on the forehead before he dissipated in her arms. She felt a pleasant rippling in the warmth that was Severus's soul inside her.

She wandered until she came to the first classroom and she reached out and opened the door. Inside she found the stubborn Severus, wearing his ill-fitting cast-offs and throwing rocks into the stagnant canal.

"It's time," she called.

He looked over his shoulder with a sneer, but smirked when he saw her. He chucked one last rock and walked over to her, angling his head to try and hide the swollen and purpleded cheek and the eye that was crusted shut. She opened her arms, but he hesitated and looked at her with suspicion.

"He needs you," she said.

"No one needs me," he replied with scorn.

"I need you," she said gently.

He looked at her and then nodded before reaching out and clasping her hand. He broke apart as if made of smoke and she again felt the rippling sensation across the soul she carried.

She turned away and closed the door, heading back towards the Entrance Hall and down into the dungeons. She made her way to his old classroom and found him as a first-year student, hiding in the corner and swiping angrily at his tears.

She rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Nobody likes me," he said miserably. "Why?"

"You're different. Come with me and I'll show you why that's a good thing." He looked up at her with eyes full of suspicion and hope.

"You better be right," he said belligerently, as he reached for her hand.

She absorbed him as she had the others, before heading towards his old office. Inside she found a trail of blood and followed it to a tapestry on the wall. She pushed it aside and found Severus as he was when he was her teacher. He was sprawled on the floor, bleeding from the scourging that had taken most of the skin off his back. He clutched a bottle of healing potion to his chest.

She winced, but refused to lose control. She hunkered down and brushed at his face softly, until he opened his eyes.

"It never ends," he rasped. "He calls me night after night."

"Come with me," she said. "We will make it stop."

He looked into her eyes, and her heart twisted to see them swimming with tears.

"Take me. Take me away from this."

He grabbed at her and popped like a soap bubble on his last syllable and she took him inside as well. She felt his soul recoil and roil inside, but then it fell still, and it's warmth once again flowed through her veins.

She turned and walked.

She found nearly twenty aspects of Severus, each one carrying a different part of his personality. She found a randy Severus in a brothel, who made her wait until he'd finished. A studious Severus in the library, who cursed her for not letting him finish a book. The Severus in the kitchens, grinding his teeth while Christmas Music played throughout the castle, had nearly bolted for her when he saw her. A young Severus playing out in the snow and laughing as he was pelted with snowballs from an unseen source turned to her in confusion and then shuffled over to her as if going to his doom. She drew them to her, one by one, and each one in turn let go and joined with her.

In the Room of Requirement, she found the first one that refused. She stood amongst a thousand works of art, each statue, painting or photograph was a rendering of the same green-eyed red-head, with features that were too perfect to be real.

She had her first moral crisis.

He screamed at her and cursed her, flecks of foam flying from his mouth. He insulted her and called her names and denigrated her in a hundred ways, and she wanted to turn away and leave him behind. She didn't think her Severus needed this one—this obsessed stalker—but in the end, she told him if he stayed, the woman in the paintings would be forgotten and he screamed out his rage and flew at her, exploding when he grabbed her hand in his sweaty palm. She grew nauseous as she absorbed him.

She climbed the stairs to the Headmaster's office slowly, she was tiring. She heard the sound before she got there, an animal howl of pain and grief. She opened the door and saw him sitting on the couch, rocking back and forth, clutching his gut. He was a young man of about twenty and his face was a mask of wrenching loss and pain. She kneeled down in front of him.

"Come," she said. "There is a better place."

He looked at her with desperation and cried, "Lily? Is she there?"

"No."

"I killed her!"

"He killed her."

"I can't live with this, I can't! I don't deserve to live."

"Let me show you a better way," she said.

His head darted up and then back down, as if the act had increased his pain. One arm unclenched from his torso and he flung his hand out to her like a claw. She grasped it and felt him melt into her and staggered at his pain, before the ripples subsided again and she was at peace.

She made her way to the Defense classroom and found him in his office. His feet were up on his desk and a glass of what looked like whiskey was in one hand. He held a student's essay in the other. He turned his head and looked at her with distain before sipping his drink and placing it down on the desk.

"Miss Granger, to what do I owe this honor?"

"It's time," she said.

"Time? Time for what?" He dropped his long legs off the desk and started to rummage through the pile of scrolls. "I'm sure yours is in the mess, they're usually easy to spot. You have an irritating tendency to try and suck up with an overabundance of verbiage. I can always spot them from a distance. Ah! Here we are. I love this part." He pulled open the scroll and started to read: "However dangerous it is, if you read Silver Daggers, Golden Rules, by Harvey Oxmix, you will see clearly that in extreme cases the use of Soul Magic could be beneficial if the subject were in danger of their mortal soul becoming irretrievably corrupted."

He let the scroll snap closed and dropped it to his desk with a flick.

"Tell me Miss Granger, what is the single most important fact that you've overlooked. Just tell me, off the top of your head, and I'll give you an Outstanding."

"Well, if one reads Sprague, Windlass and Eiderfold, one will realize that the most important thing involved in Soul Magic is the level of willingness of the persons involved. In order to not corrupt the soul, one must be willing to embrace it in its entirety. Lumps, bumps and all."

He leaped up from his desk and stalked over to her, peering intently into her face.

"Are you willing, Miss Granger?"

"Utterly."

He looked at her for a long time before leaning in closer and whispering, "You were wrong, Miss Granger."

"Sir?" she asked, confused.

"He has fucked you in his dreams before. He always wanted to forget. I wouldn't let him." His face dissolved into pure desire, before he kissed her and vanished.

She tasted whiskey.

She turned to leave the office but heard a rattling in the cupboard. She turned her head and frowned, wondering if a boggart could be in someone's mind. If that person was insane, in was entirely possible. She lifted up her wand and pulled open the cupboard. A Death Eater sprang out.

He was fast, he was strong, and he was terrifying as he grabbed her and cuffed her across the mouth with a gloved hand and flung her to the floor. She struggled, but his strength was incredible, as he pinned her and Vanished her jeans.

She got an arm free and belted him across the face, and his mask flew away. She saw his glittering black eyes under the hood and screamed, until he banged her head against the stone floor and stunned her, so he could claw at her underwear. As soon as she felt his flesh touch hers, he tore apart with a howl that turned out to be her own voice.

She curled up into a ball and sobbed hysterically. The soul she carried boiled inside as this black bit of Snape was absorbed and almost vomited back out. She huddled on the floor for a long time.

"You must get up. You must finish. You cannot leave it undone," he said impatiently. She rocked up onto her knees and aimed her wand at him. He was the Severus that was her age, the one that personified his duty. He looked at her impatiently.

"He didn't enjoy it, if that's what you're worried about. He never had a choice. He just did what he had to. Everything you see here is a byproduct of that same ethos. He compartmentalized, Miss Granger. You see rooms. He saw boxes. Carefully labeled and organized boxes that were destroyed that night. The thing you saw was something he created to survive and then locked away twenty years ago.

"If you want to know the other side of that face, you need to finish. It's almost done. There are only two more."

She pushed herself up off the floor, noting absently that her clothes were, in fact, intact, since none of this was real. He turned on his heel and walked away. She tried to pull herself together, as she followed him through the castle and up towards the Astronomy tower. She wrestled to get her thoughts back in order and her emotions under control.

Another Snape was waiting for her in the hallway. The way he moved, the way he held himself, she knew this was her Snape. The one she met most often in her dreams, the one who openly loved her. She looked back to the other, but he was gone.

"There are more," her Snape said, "but they are still bound to the center. He lost the best of himself first. Other things he had long hidden away slipped free unnoticed. What he holds tight is what he needs to survive. It is not pretty, what he clings to, Hermione, but there is good left as well. You must free him."

"I will free him now."

"Then I will be no more."

"You said you would be inside!"

"I will be a part of him again. Know that whatever happens, a part of him loves you." He opened his arms to her and she hesitated, knowing that she might not come out of this situation with her own little dream intact, then she ran forward and flung her arms around him. He held her tightly, the two of them just being with each other in this moment.

"You give him strength, and you give him purpose. He needs love, needs it desperately, but he will have no way of understanding what you offer. Love him anyway, Hermione, as I love you."

He bent his head and kissed her and she felt the warmth flood her as he nestled deep inside.

She lifted her head and saw the younger Snape waiting for her at the stairs leading up to the Astronomy Tower.

She started forward and he turned away and ascended.

When she threw open the door at the top of the tower she was more than tired, she was utterly spent. The young man was gone, but in his place was yet another Snape. He paced in a circle aiming his wand at his head and trying to kill himself, over and over and over. Blood ran freely from his face and neck as the wand endlessly exploded in his hand.

"Severus, come," she called.

He looked at her and his arm movement faltered. His face was a mass of tics and twitches and his body constantly jerked and convulsed. He held out his broken wand to her and cried. Great, wracking hiccupping sobs tore from him and she opened her arms.

"I did wrong. I always do wrong. I'm always forced to do the wrong thing! I don't want to anymore! I DON'T WANT TO ANYMORE!" He shrieked as he lifted his restored wand back up to his head.

"No!" she cried, as she ran to him and threw her arms around him. She held him tightly, just as she had a few moments ago in the hallway downstairs. The expected Unforgivable didn't leave his bloodied lips. He just looked down on her.

"Why on earth not?" he asked in a voice full of devastation. "I have destroyed everything I have touched."

If the aspect downstairs had been his will to survive, this was, without a doubt, his wish to die. What could she offer this one?

"Because you need to understand the meaning of it all first," she said finally.

"There is no meaning. There is no purpose. I am but a plaything of a dark and cruel god and I don't want to play anymore."

"Come with me and we can have our revenge on this god," she said. "He doesn't want you to be loved, but I already love you."

She lifted up on her toes and kissed his bloody face and he looked at her in confusion. She stepped back and waited, and before long, he lifted a hand and rubbed his ragged knuckles against her cheek. He leaned closer to her and said, "Do you swear to this?"

"I do."

He closed his eyes and leaned his head down slowly until his forehead touched hers and he slid away into the air. Hermione bucked under the weight he added to the soul she carried.

She straightened up and turned toward the sneering young man who looked at her with distrust.

"Is that all of them?" she asked.

"Yes. All the ones that came unanchored."

"How has he lasted without his will to survive?"

"By feeding on his need for revenge."

"How can he have made it this long without his sense of duty?" she asked.

"He hasn't. I will never fail him."

"But you're here."

"I am not unanchored, Miss Granger. He sent me. I am here to make sure you do what needs to be done."

She looked out at the dark night beyond the tower's parapets.

"Is he ready?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Does he understand what he will be facing."

"In a limited way."

"Does he know he has people that care about him still?"

"That is of no consequence."

Hermione stared at the unpleasant young Snape before her.

"You don't like me very much, do you?"

"That is also of no consequence."

"Nevertheless, I want to know why."

His face crinkled into a disgusted sneer.

"You are another burden," he spat.

"But I was a useful tool, wasn't I?"

His chin lifted in challenge.

"Of course. But your use will soon be over, and all that will be left is the debt."

She felt her anger build and struggled to keep it restrained.

"Go back to him. Go back to the center, and tell him I am coming."

"As you wish," he said. He turned and headed towards the door of the tower but faded away before he reached it.

Hermione looked around one more time and then let go of her control, and felt herself ejected from his mind.

Oooo... I loved writing this chapter.

Also, did you know if you type pieces enough times it starts to look really stupid?

Let me know what you think! Use big words, I might need them later...