Time Heals All Wounds

Chapter Fourteen: The NEWTs.



Hermione opened her eyes, to discover that it was near twelve. She jumped out of the bed and hurriedly dressed. She noticed that Severus was not there, but she thought nothing of it. "He probably had to go to see the Headmaster." she thought aloud.



Grabbing her wand off the side table, she made her way to the headmaster\'s office. Along the way she spotted Remus. She slowed to allow him to join her. "Good afternoon Remus!" she said happily.



"Good afternoon Hermione." Remus said. "I take it you are looking for Severus?"



"Yes…have you seen him?" she asked.



"Not yet, but I am guessing that he went to see the headmaster?"



"Probably." Hermione said. "I am just on my way to the owlery…want to join me?"



"Sure…going to send Severus a letter?"



"Yes. I will tell him to meet us in the library, to do some last minute studying for the newts. They are tomorrow, and after that meeting with Voldemort,"



Remus winced.



"Sorry, You-Know-Who…he has to put his mind to task, to get it off of the meeting. Don\'t you think?" Hermione asked him.



"Yes, in fact, I do." Remus agreed.



Fifteen minutes later found them in the library, pouring over their charms books. They had barely finished, when Severus approached them, bag in hand.



He kissed Hermione on the cheek before sitting down. "What did I miss?"



"Nice of you to show up." Lily grinned. She had already been in the library studying when Remus and Hermione walked in. "Thought you might have forgotten."



"Shove it." Severus said good naturedly. "I have an impeccable memory, and am insulted that you should think otherwise."



"Oh come off it, Severus, you know she is just joking." Remus joked.



"What are we working on?" Severus asked.



"Well, WE are working on DADA right now, but YOU are going to start on your transfiguration. We all know that is your worst subject." Hermione stated, not looking up from her paper. "I think the only subjects you really need to work on at this point, is the Transfiguration, Ancient Ruins, and History of Magic."



"Yeah," Lily said grinning. "So get to work."



Severus grumbled about bossy red heads, and inattentive girlfriends, as he pulled out his Transfiguration notes.



Several hours later, they decided to break for supper, but as soon as it was done, Madam Pince found them again holed up in her library.



Around nine thirty, she ushered them out of her library so she could clean. They walked together up the grand staircases, then at Hermione\'s floor, they stopped to say good night.



"If you guys want, you can stay in my room tonight, we can probably get a bit more studying done before eleven. The NEWTs don\'t start until nine tomorrow anyway." Hermione said to them.



"I can do that, Remus?" Lily said.



"It\'s ok with me. But I can only stay until ten though, James and Sirius are going to need to study too, and if I am not there to make them, I think they will fail." Remus laughed.



"That\'s fine." Hermione said turning and leading the way to her rooms.



They stopped infront of the portrait. "Hello Merlin!" she said smiling at the old wizard in the painting.



"Hello my lovely lass, how has your night been so far?" he asked with a kind smile.



"Very well actually, we are going to have a study group for a while."



"Ah yes, for the NEWTs. I remember when I took my NEWTs…" he drifted off with a dreamy smile on his face.



"Yes, well, I am sorry to rush off, but we will be going in now." Hermione said, "Study, study, study."



"Very well." he swung open.



"Your password is study, study, study?" Lily asked with a grin.



Hermione\'s face was tinged with a bit of red. "Yes well…it is a motivational password."



"Well, lets get some more studying done shall we?"



By and by the time passed. Soon Remus had left, and then Lily. Severus had kissed Hermione good night, as he was going to spend the night in his own rooms, and as such, was going to walk Lily back to her dormitory, so as to make sure she made it alright.



They passed the time chatting about the school year and how it had passed so quickly.



"I think I will do well on the NEWTs tomorrow, you know?" Lily said, confident in her knowledge.



"Yes, myself as well." Severus said, pleased with how the studying had gone.



"So Severus, what will you do after graduation?" Lily asked. "I am going to attend University."



"I am not sure…I know that I have been offered an apprenticeship from Professor Slughorn, but I am not sure if I should take it or not…"



"Take it. Severus trust me, you should take it. You are very gifted at Potions, higher than the rest of us, if Professor Slughorn offered an apprenticeship." Lily argued. "Seriously, you should think about it."



They spent a few more minutes of the walk in silence, before Lily asked, "When we graduate, what is going to happen with you and Hermione?"



"I have asked her to move in with me, as I have a flat, that I have been living in since my parents…well…you know. She has said yes."



"That\'s good. That way it is easier than having to each find a different place and whatnot. It will also make it easier on your relationship." Lily stated.



"…" Severus decided to tell Lily. "Lily…I am thinking of asking Hermione to marry me."



"What! Oh My God! What did she say?" she screeched.



"Nothing, I haven\'t asked her yet." Severus said casually. "But when I do, I am sure you will be the first person she tells."



"Oh! I am so excited for the two of you!" Lily squealed happily hugging Severus.



"What are you saying? She hasn\'t even said yes yet." Severus said.



"Not yet, but she will say yes." Lily predicted. "Oh I am so happy!"



When Severus finally pried Lily from himself, they had reached the Gryffindor portrait hole. They said good night, and Severus returned to his room.



Hermione gripped her letter tightly, as she rushed toward the great sycamore tree in the school gardens. She had gotten a letter from Remus, not to open her NEWTs results, until they were all together under their tree.



When she arrived there, she saw that Severus and Lily were already there. She slowed to a stop and asked, "Where is Remus? He is the one who sent us the letters." Hermione sat down on a patch of soft moss next to Severus.



"He said he would be right back, I think he went to get the boys."



Severus made a face at the mention of James and Sirius. Hermione\'s stern glare sent him into submission.



Not ten minutes later, Remus was seen exiting the castle. He had cast the full body bind on both of his friends, and was happily levitating them toward the group.



Severus snickered. Hermione and Lily both glared at him.



Once Remus had joined them, and used a sticking charm on both James and Sirius, they began to decide who would go first.



They put it to a vote. Sirius lost, so he had to read his results out loud to the group.



"Alright then, E in Potions, O in Herbology, O in DADA, O in Care of Magical Creatures, E in Charms, O in Transfiguration, and a P in Divination."



"Yes well we all know that Divination is a load of hogwash." Hermione said. "That\'s why I did not take it." She grinned. "James, you\'re next."



James calmly read off his scored. "I got an E in Potions, O in Herbology, O in DADA, O in Care of Magical Creatures, O in Charms, an O in Transfiguration, and an O in Muggle Studies."



Remus read his off next. "E in Potions, O in Herbology, O in DADA, O in Care of Magical Creatures, O in Charms, O in Transfiguration, O in Muggle Studies, and an E in Ancient Ruins." Remus said. "Your turn Lily."



"Alright then." Lily said. "Here we go, I\'ve got an O in Potions, O in Herbology, O in DADA, O in Charms, E in Transfiguration, A in Care of Magical Creatures, and an O in Arithmancy." she looked slightly upset at not having straight Outstandings.



"It\'s ok, Lily." James said. "It is impossible to get straight O\'s."



"Your right, what was I thinking, my scores are high anyway." Lily smiled at James in thanks. "Um…Severus, do you want to read yours next?"



"Alright." Severus said. "I have received, and O in Potions, O in Herbology, O in DADA, O in Charms, E in Transfiguration, O in Ancient Ruins, O in History of Magic, and an E in Arithmancy."



"Good job Severus." Hermione smiled and kissed his cheek.



"See Lily, even Snape didn\'t get perfect scores, and he is supposed to be smart." Sirius snickered.



"I also took more classes than she did." Severus said before turning to Hermione. "You want to read yours now?" he asked.



Hermione looked at the folded parchment in her hands. This was it. The moment of truth. This was where all her hard work, and endless studying ended. This is where she would finally see if it was all worth it. Her hands trembled as she unfolded the parchment.



She licked her lips. When had her throat become so dry? She found her voice and she read out loud. "O in Potions, O in Herbology, O in DADA, O in Charms, O in Transfiguration, O in Ancient Ruins, O in Arithmancy, O in History of Magic, O in Muggle Studies, and…an…O in Astronomy…" Hermione finished.



She clutched the results of her Perfect NEWT scores to her chest. "I…I did it…those seven years…of sitting by myself…alone in the library…it all paid off…I actually did it…"



She felt faint, dizzy even. Why was the world spinning? Why was the ground coming at her so fast?



Hermione fainted, still clutching her scores to her chest, she fell to the ground. Severus caught her before she hit the dirt though, and cast enervate on her.



Hermione\'s eyes opened, and she saw a group of worried faces peering down at her. "Hey…" Hermione said to Lily. "I guess…you can get…a perfect…score." she grinned weakly.



Hermione\'s eyes fluttered. "I\'m kind of tired." she said with a small laugh.



"It\'s ok Hermione, you can take a nap." Severus said laying her head against his shoulder.



"m\'kay…night……" she had fallen asleep.



"Wow. That is the first time I have ever seen someone faint from studying so hard." Lily said. "I wonder what time she went to bed last night."



"Knowing her, she probably didn\'t." Severus said. "All that studying then taking the NEWTs with out having slept at all, she was running on pure adrenaline."



Lily stood. "Lets go inside now." she looked pointedly at Severus. "You should get her to bed." she waved at him, as she and the three boys left them alone.



Severus looked at the girl in his arms. So strong, so loving, so beautiful.



"I promise, Hermione, that I will take care of you." he leaned in to kiss her forehead. "And I promise, that I will marry you. And I promise, Hermione, that if time decides to separate us…I will love no other, I will have no other, until I have you in my arms when you reappear on the other side. I love you."





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A/N: Thank you for reading, and as always, please review!



Juerasana