A Chance Not Taken

Author's note & Disclaimer: All hail the great JKR... I own nothing, but play with her characters for fun. This is my humble attempt responding to WIKTT's Thou Shall Not challenge issued by Andrian. I would love feedback, especially constructive ones. Thanks.

Chapter 1

Severus Snape was drowning himself with Firewhiskey again, and another empty bottle joined its brethren on the floor for the house elves to pick up in the morning. As he threw the shot glass against the wall, he wondered how one woman had crept into his heart and hurt him than even the Dark Lord could. He was truly one bitter man.

True, he had always been a bitter man, but since the fall of Voldemort, he has finally received the accolades long overdue - including the prestigious Order of Merlin - 1st class. And, finally, after many years of waiting, the DADA position was also now his. The general consensus of the wizarding population now treated this man as the silent hero, the valiant spy, the man of mystery, and to witches within marriageable age, a man who needed the love and care of a good woman. Despite all this, that doesn't make a man not bitter either.

And yet, at the end of the day as he sat in private chambers in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and thought about the love he could have had, and lost. He didn't realize the irritating Know-It-All had broken through the impenetrable walls to his heart, the cleverly placed remarks of disdain, and sarcastic temper, and placed him thus - both loving and hating her. Loving her enough to let her pursue her goals and dreams at the expense of any possible future together, and hating her when she chose him, of all people, to bestow her hand in marriage. Of course, she was not simply just a know-it-all now, but a lovely woman, a brilliant mediwitch, one of the brightest witches known in the wizarding world, and now, wedded to the bane of his existence, a close second to Voldemort himself.

Hermione was department head of Potion and Plant Poisoning at St. Mungo's, stifled a yawn as she wrapped up her work for the evening. Today was her son's birthday, and she did not want to be late getting home. James would be 5 this year, and the gang had been frantically preparing for her son's birthday party. Hagrid had hinted days earlier that he would bring a "surprise", and while he always has good intentions, things just never turn out the way things planned. Knowing Harry and Ron, little James would certainly not be bereft of his first toy broom this year, the Little Broom Deluxe with cushioning charm released earlier this year by the makers of professional brooms like the Firebolt XP owned by Harry, seeker of the England National Quidditch team. Since Harry and Ron was in all but blood the closest thing she had to a wizarding family, Jame’s birthdays has always been full of redhead Weasleys and a growing continent of Potters, ever since the surprise marriage between Harry and Lavender Brown, when everyone had thought he would eventually marry Ginny. Ginny, in the meanwhile had caught one former werewolf Remus Lupin as her husband, and from the way her pregnancy is going, very soon, James will have yet another “cousin” to play with.

*At the way things are going, we’ll have enough Potters and Weasleys for a Quidditch teams in a few years.*

A ruffling of feathers startled her, as a barn owl carrying a package hooted in front of her. Giving the owl a treat, she untied the package, signed the receipt, and the owl went on its way. The package was already wrapped, and as she smiled to herself, she wondered how her son would react to such a gift. She had ordered a beginner’s set of potion making for her son from the Magical Tykes Company, and given his hours of attention watching her brew potions at home, she hopes he would love the gift. It seemed typical for a woman like Hermione to buy something like that for her child, and yet James’s father would hardly approve, as he had expressed his opinion earlier.

*’Mione, our child is only five. Surely he should have some time for fun, not inside reading and thinking about making potions. He should be playing Quidditch instead, or maybe bond with a few magical creatures.*

Her husband just doesn’t understand. Despite the fact they love each other dearly, they have very different expectations for their son. While she wanted him to be learned and happy, she didn’t appreciate all those wild stunts her husband keeps pulling, often bringing their son along. For one second, her mind drifted to a possible alternative timeline, where if her son’s father was Severus, how different life would be for him. Or, for her.

Over the years, these thought would creep into her mind, and she would banish them with thoughts of her husband and family. Her relationship with Severus was a short one, yet in her mind, she had been with him for a lifetime. As she put up the wards to her office for the evening with her son's birthday present and walk towards St. Mungo's apparition area, she let her mind wander to the far corners where her memory.

It was my seventh year at Hogwarts, and despite all expectations, I wasn't made head girl. I just just a little bit disappointed, but I hadn't minded much once the reason was explained to me. Madam Pomfrey had graciously allowed me to apprentice with her for extra credit this year, since I have finally decided after long and careful thought to be a mediwitch, and with both the internship and my studies, I would not have been able to perform all the duties of the Head Girl at the same time. Thus, soothed that the problem was not my incompetence, I was relieved. The idea of doing research and helping people appealed to me, and while I studied for my N.E.W.Ts, I periodically spent most of my spare time in the Hospital Wing observing Madam Pomfrey treating her patients. Once in a while, I would be asked to stay overnight to watch over patients who needed overnight care, and thus, on a dark and stormy night, sat on a bed reading a copy of Hogwarts: A History.

Sometime shortly after midnight, the chime outside Madam Pomfrey's office began to rang. Periodically, the residents of Hogsmeade would come to the castle seeking emergency aid, and as I flooed Madam Pomfrey's fireplace to inform her of an incoming patient, I immediately shrunk my bag of supplies and proceeded down to the front gates of the castle, in case any extra help was needed. When I got there, I couldn't believe what I saw.

I've heard of Professor's Snape's contribution to the Order, yet I've never seen him in physical pain. He was convulsing on the ground in extreme pain, and I could see his hand tremor under all this stress. Yet, all this time, he did not make a sound, and as he looked at me without his usual glare and snarl, as if he was too tired to even act the way he was. As I tried to lift him up, he tried to shrug me off so he could stand on his own, and when that didn't work, he collapsed, and fell into my arms.

Hermione apparated, and with a soft in front of her current residence and her husband's family home. As she thought about the address of 12 Grimmauld Place, the house appeared before her eyes. A clean and tidy home, that's the main changes she had remedied over the years. Over the years, the family replaced Kreacher with another house elf, with the agreement that he be paid and have time off regularly, a firm stipulation from the mistress of the household.

As she walked through the foyer after greeting the house elf and handing the package to him, Sirius Black swept her in his arms, kissed her soundly, and greeted her.

"Hermione. You look exhausted. Long Day?"

"Yes Sirius. It's been hectic. But I'm just glad I'm home."