Severus Snape had no clue what to even think as he roamed the halls that Saturday morning, watching the house elves and various other occupants of the castle make themselves busy. It was full in a way that didn't involve students, which was fine by him for now, though he could use the distraction of the little nuisances.

He'd needed the time away from his home to breathe and not be anywhere near... his wife. His mind always snapped to cruelty first, it was one of his worst traits, which was why everything he did was so calculated and purposeful. It was why he'd fallen in love with Hermione at all because her constitution and drive had been near identical to his, though she was able to be more free with her emotions than he ever had. At least she didn't have the intrusive thoughts, or so it seemed, until now.

Severus didn't want to be cruel to her. She was still his wife, from what he understood, the only thing different was her memories- as though someone had shifted his wife's soul and replaced hers with it.

Last night he'd flooed into the castle and slept in his stale old room that he'd kept for no other reason than it was attached to his office. The bed at home... well needless to say, he wouldn't be needing it anytime soon anyways.

On Sunday evening, he'd yet to encounter Remus, and this may or may not have been purposeful. It was easy to have a house elf bring him dinner and breakfast, and otherwise he used the map to avoid him. The man would tear him apart, especially because he'd always been their biggest supporter, and he hated to stick his neck out for a cause that wiped his feet from beneath him.

It was only a mere nineteen years, their age difference, he'd heard worse between much older families, and there wasn't a doubt in his mind he'd made the right decision. With his Hermione anyways.

Reminding himself that she wasn't his, he tried to be graceful in his thoughts regardless. This... version of her was still carrying the child he'd made with his wife.

Merlin his mind was a mess and no amount of occlumency was helping.

Distracted by it all, he finally and quite literally, ran into Remus that Sunday evening. He needn't ask the question, but the vocalization gave him a chance to sound less suspicious even if he didn't look it.

"What are you doing here, Sev?"

Envy filled him for Moony's perfect and secure relationship and he batted it away, shutting occlumency over it. The magic was tiring, especially after the past few days, but that didn't mean he needed to be mean to his friends for something out of his control.

"I've been triple-checking that I am prepared for the beginning of term tomorrow. Just some last-minute inventory...."

"Too many words," Lupin sniffed him out instantly. "You always get long-winded and start explaining yourself when you're lying."

Severus sighed. Why he thought he could hide from someone he'd known for over thirty years was a mystery to him. He shouldn't even have to, but he had a feeling this information getting out could hurt more than just him, and so now she was forcing him to lie to his friends. All the occluding was giving him a headache, not to mention what the wear on their bonds was doing.

"Hermione and I have had a row."

"Not the first," Remus told him, fishing for more.

"Possibly the last."

The words had slipped before he could catch them, and to say his friend looked appalled there in his sensible sweater and worn-in loafers would have been an understatement. They made the same amount of money, and Remus had inherited all of his father's ministry dues, why didn't he just buy new shoes?

"Severus," he nearly growled, a half-warning, but mostly a threat.

He was shocked he didn't just turn into a wolf right there and gnaw out his throat.

"That's obviously not what I meant." He tried to escape, but he grabbed his arm and now they were having a row in the middle of the bloody school hallways like it was sixth year.

"You can't leave her, I hope you bloody well realize that, Severus." Here his voice went low and practically dangerous. "She's pregnant. Besides, not only two days ago, everything was brilliant between the two of you. What could you possibly be arguing about that you would even think of leaving her for?"

"She's been lying about something not insignificant."

Remus let go of him. "She slept with someone?" He whispered. They couldn't risk that being a rumor even in the slightest, and the walls at Hogwarts always had ears.

"No," Severus looked at him as though he were crazy and cast a few spells around them, "She wouldn't- It was just a lie."

"What in bloody hell could she have lied about that wasn't an affair to make you stay here and have the elves bring you meals?"

He knew the elves were little rats, but this was a new low. If his wife didn't have the utmost love for the creatures, he'd stop tipping them.

"I can't tell you, but you have to understand that you would do the same if you were in my position."

"You can't tell me? Sev, we've been friends since our first year, I stood for you at your wedding, you can't say she's lying and that you've run here all just not to tell me."

Severus was hurting him, he knew that. Curse Hermione for putting him here, and that thought he didn't occlude. It felt good to feel the hurt, and it felt safe to do so in front of Remus. Merlin, he shouldn't expect it of her, she knew someone else, someone dead, so why would he have her trust? Why wouldn't she want to play it out as if everything were fine?

"I want to, but it would only... hurt her more, and I am trying to bestow grace to the situation, I can say you'd agree how bloody challenging it makes this."

Remus sighed. "Are you sure? I'll take whatever oath you want, but you can't keep it pulled to your chest like that, Severus."

"It wouldn't help. I just... need time away."

"Time away seems uncharacteristic, I suppose it really must be something."

"I was certainly harsh to start all considering... I may have suggested not-so-gently for her to vacate-"

"Do you want me to hex you?"

Severus took heed and didn't finish his sentence.

"This is an unprecedented occurrence, and I would like to talk about whatever else possible to avoid this dourness."

"I'm hurt you won't tell me."

They started to walk again.

"I know," Severus said. "I'll give you a hint... she simply isn't herself right now."

"That could mean a great deal of things."

He dissolved the privacy spells as a way to show the conversation should move on to less important things.

The sorting ceremony that next evening felt like he'd flown to it, he and Remus betting on every student as they always did. He took him for a few extra galleons than usual, but Severus accepted this as his punishment for leaving him in the dark. And even though he was only going back to his rooms for the night, the day had felt somewhat more normal.

One day he'd have a child here for all of this chaos that was Hogwarts, despite the fact it was over eleven years off the horizon. Merlin only knew what the status of his child's parents would be by then. He wanted to love his wife, but that was the thing, she wasn't his wife.

Severus just couldn't help it. He felt as though the entire world had been turned over, and he was the only one who knew the difference. Draco had known from the commencement of this charade, which hit his heart like a stunner might, and he envied him. Transparency was the thing he'd always valued most about Hermione, how she'd told him outright about her fancy and her love and her wish to spend her life bonded magically to his. They'd had to be honest with one-another considering who she was and who he was. The papers had a field day when they'd gotten together, James taking the brunt of it at the beginning of his run as minister having such questionable friends.

They'd persevered through honesty.

Hermione's new story flashed through his mind again, his cruelty, her heroism, the way she'd fought through a war to make the world a better place only to land here where her life had been led so much differently that she'd been married to someone who she knew to be deceased.

Hermione, or this version of her, wasn't his. There were things she didn't know, some she probably never would. Like the way he felt that first time she came back from her summer in the Americas, her skin as deep as it had ever been, face entirely changed from all the movement. How he'd chased after her, upset she was throwing the experience away to date Ronald Weasley after a promise of dedication to her work alone.

She'd never remember how every event he saw her at after that, whether alone or not, would chip slowly at his resolve until he realized he felt more than he should for her.

His wife had fallen for a different man, one a few years removed from that vision of the past.

Blinking out of his reverie, Severus passed a smile at something McGonagall said and turned his attention back to his friend.

Remus was helping Severus' anxiety in the slightest with his jokes through the rest of the welcoming dinner, seemingly haven forgiven him a little bit. He was also determined Ravenclaw was going to win the house cup this year, but Slytherin's seeker was a seventh-year and therefore should have a bigger drive for competition.

It was at the end of the night that the topic was trawled back up from the bottom of the ocean.

"You know the bright side to all this is we can night-cap the rest of the week together, though I wouldn't advise being away from your pregnant wife all that long."

"That isn't making me feel any better."

"I wasn't trying to help you," Remus scoffed. "I can't, in good faith, take advantage of my best-mate being around if I feel all guilty about it."

"I'm still incensed. You'll be lucky if you're done with me when the week is through."

"Merlin, I'll talk to her myself to avoid that... which brings me to the question, have you talked?"

"Moony-"

Lupin seemed unimpressed, his lips pursed in disapproval.

"Sev."

"Your lover has been rubbing off on you," Severus warned him, "The snark is becoming unbearable."

"You can tolerate Sirius, can you not?" Remus asked him, looking classically like himself as he stuck his hands in his pockets, nodding for them to move forward.

"I can tolerate one of him, barely, and that is when he isn't with James."

"You tolerate us all of the time, Severus. Now have you owled her or not? Maybe even a call?"

"No, Remus. What do I even say? I don't know how to navigate this situation with her, everything about it is foreign," he said, gesturing to nothing in particular.

"I can tell you're trying to say something without saying it, and I'll believe you because I want to be in the know. It's delicate, the two of you. You've been steadfast since the beginning, and if something is this different, I think you might need to start from the beginning again."

"What if I don't want to... Yet?"

"Then you have to tell her that, too. I imagine if you're hurting like this, then it will take a while to feel better about it."

Severus nodded, looking down a side hall as they passed it, finding no nosy seventh years attempting to test their limits as he usually did. Maybe the next one then.

They took a turn when they couldn't go straight any longer and were met with the sight of Minerva running. Something was up, and Remus pulled his wand from his pocket as did Severus.

"What's the matter?" He asked, reaching out so she could hold onto him and catch her breath. Her hands were cold.

"Is everything alright?"

"No..." She breathed and looked Remus dead in the eye. "Mister Black is missing. Caelum Black."

A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying! Rewriting this work has of course made me want to rewrite a whole bunch of other things, meaning I have a million works-in-progress, but at least I'm not lacking in things to do! Let me know what you think!