You are My Home

Chapter 10

Severus Snape with Madeline were inside Dumbledore's chamber. The potion was ready and they were giving him the treatments. Sirius, Remus and Minerva were waiting outside the door in a narrow hallway, anxious whether the headmaster could awake from his induced coma or not. 

Hermione was cradling her son in her bedroom, he was being cranky that very day, and she couldn't understand why. She wanted to help Severus, but he asked her not to. So many people were helping already, he said. Although they had made up, they were still not seeing eye to eye about Hermione's participation in the upcoming battle.

"He's not awake yet," Harry said coming inside to her room. He paced for awhile in front of her and then sat down at the bed's edge and laid down while his feet were still on the floor. 

"Give it time, Madeline said, it could take days until he's awake."

"But if Lucius said was...."

"It's been a week, Harry. And according to Sirius, Draco still didn't know the exact date." She reasoned with him, "That means, Lucius probably was wrong. We may have enough time."

"If only, Snape was still..." he held his tongue immediately, knowing the words that would come from his mouth could hurt his bestfriend's heart.

"I know all of you think it was stupid to ask for his return, and I know you all agreed to it because of me."

He got up and sat nearer to her that he held her hand, "Nothing is more important than our own happiness, Mione. Same thing I told Ginny, why she should go and stay with Charlie. What is the purpose of fighting, if in the end, we have no one left. He is everything for you. And you needed him."

"But we all need to pay the price," she whispered.

Changing the subject that Harry thought they desperately needed, he slapped his own leg and asked, "So, how come that old bat dungeon hasn't propose to you yet?"

Right after the words came out of him, he knew that he did the wrong thing. Again, he made his conversation with his bestfriend became awkward again.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm such an idiot."

She chuckled looking at her bestfriend. 

"It's fine, Harry. I don't let myself to hope that, so I won't get disappointed. At least I'm sure, he loves me. And that is good enough for me," she then looked at her son, "and for Nicholas."

Severus was standing outside the door, and heard her last comment. He had a ring with him for few years already. Ever since they first slept together, he knew that she was the one, the only one. His love to her frightened him, as it was deeper, much deeper that he could control, even deeper than his feelings to Lily. And he was ready to die for Lily or her son. For Hermione, it was more, much more.

Suddenly the ring was heavier in his pocket but he needed to find the right time to ask her. And now was not the right time. They just got back together, they just got their first fight after a long separation. And again, he just wasn't sure that he was the right man for her. He always knew about Oliver Wood's feeling. Somehow, he always thought that Hermione deserved someone like him, loving and caring, bright future ahead of him. Unlike him. An ex-death eater, with gloomy past and criminal records. 

"Professor," called Cho, "He's awake."

"What?" he asked again, couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Professor Dumbledore, he's awake, sir." she sighed, a relieve that seemed he also felt.

He walked passed her and climbed the stairs and headed to the headmaster's room. There were Madeline and Minerva standing on one side and Sirius and Remus in the other side.