Snape's demeanor changed very little in the next few days. Consequently, his four charges made certain to follow his rules and kept as quiet as possible while they did research in the library. At least, that's what they thought they were doing. Boredom was a constant irritant. The longer they remained caught in 1898, the harder it was, for the boys, at least. Snape wished he could assign detention, but essays were his only weapon for now and every night it seemed there was one handed in by someone. Even the usually obedient Hermione Granger had been assigned an essay addressing her bossy attitude. Technically, Snape rather appreciated having Hermione in his corner to help keep the boys in place, but even she managed to step over her bounds by tattling. Something Snape really couldn't abide.

Hermione had finished her essay an hour ago and now had her nose, along with her stinging pride, deep within the comforting pages of a book. She was seated at the end of the long table which had become her usual place to sit and work. Snape took the middle and Harry, Ron and Draco were perched on the second floor balcony.

"Psst, Malfoy." Potter was between two rows of books in the restricted section and trying to get Draco's attention on the other side. "Malfoy!" He whispered harshly.

"I heard you, Potter," Draco sneered through the stacks. "What is it?"

"Is he like that in your house?" asked Harry.

"Is who like what?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Him." Harry pointed in the direction where Snape was below them, quietly taking notes.

Draco was silent a moment, deciding whether or not to throw the snide remark on his tongue at Potter. "Yeah, he is." Draco whispered back. "You think he's scary in class? You don't even get half of it."

Harry scowled. "I didn't know..." he mumbled.

Draco came round to Harry's aisle a large book clutched in both arms. "Believe me, Potter, there are times we'd like to exchange our head of house for McGonagall. At least with her you can get a smile now and then."

Harry snorted. "That perpetual frown must give him migraines."

Draco laughed and Harry joined in. Snape's gaze rose up from his notes. Ron, who caught the professor's warning gaze, shushed the other two boys. Their laughter was abruptly cut off as they went back to search for books the professor had asked for. Snape shook his head and went back to his notes.

As the afternoon drifted on into the evening, Draco and Harry were now deep into their books at the table. Both blessedly quiet for once, with the exception of their quills scratching down notes.

Up on the second floor of the restricted section of the library, Hermione and Ron were arguing in hushed whispers. They were both seated on the floor with large books open in their laps. "... well if you think it's important, 'Mione, then you need to say so." Ron said with exasperation.

"But it's a Muggle book." Hermione had said this several times and Ron rolled his eyes, finally tired of it. Leaning toward the railing, he looked down upon Snape's head. "Oy! Professor!"

"What is it, Mr. Weasley?" Snape's voice drawled without looking up.

"Hermione has an idea she wants to... ouch!" Hermione had just punched Ron smartly in the upper arm. Ron flashed a dark look her way and continued, "She has an idea, Professor!"

This time Snape ceased his note taking and looked upward. "Miss Granger!" Her pale face and bushy hair peeked through the railing at him. "Come down here and tell me about your idea."

"Yes, sir." Rising to her feet, Hermione gave Ron a look that could kill and then she flounced angrily down the spiral staircase. Her righteous indignation fled at the sight of Snape eyeing her critically with those dark, glinting eyes of his.

"Spit it out, Miss Granger. We've a half hour before dinner and I want all of you to get some exercise before bedtime." He sat in the chair, turned slightly toward her and waited expectantly.

"Go on!" hissed Ron. Draco and Harry had put down their quills and were listening.

Hermione coughed and composed herself, "Professor, there is a book that I think might help us, but it isn't in this library." Hermione's throat felt like it suddenly went dry and she was certain the Potions Master's look had gotten even darker.

"Continue, Miss Granger."

"The book isn't available to us here, but the subject is one I think might help us. It's about wormholes."

"Ah." Snape tried to find some patience before letting the girl finish. He couldn't allow his temper to discount any possibility. "Wormholes. This is a Muggle invention, is it not, Miss Granger?"

"It's a theory proposed by a Muggle scientist, sir. A wormhole is a hypothetical "tunnel" connecting two different points in spacetime in such a way that a trip through the wormhole could take much less time than a journey between the same starting and ending points in normal space."

Snape's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Miss Granger, who is this 20th century scientist?"

Hermione hesitated. "Uhm, Stephen Hawking, sir. He's considered one of the..."

"He's a squib," Snape said flatly. Hermione blinked and her jaw dropped. "Both of Stephen Hawking's parents were wizards. Several years after Hawking became debilitated and required the use of a wheelchair, he turned his back upon the wizarding world. Not before leaving behind his one most significant work, The Practical Mechanics of Apparating. In his book, Hawking describes apparating in almost the exact same words as he describes your wormholes. The only difference is that apparating is through space, only, not Time. It is a pity we do not have access to it."

Hermione smiled, "I haven't read that book, but I have read his Muggle book, professor. Physics is rather above me, but I believe I can make notes on the gist of his theory which regards wormholes and time travel."

"I still don't understand what a wormhole is." declared Harry.

"Very basically, it's a way to open up a controlled hole in space and time so that you can travel from point A to point B. Wizards apparate in space, from point A to point B, but Hawking theorized that you can apply the same principle to time as well.

Snape gave Hermione the barest hint of a smile. "Work on recovering all that you can about... wormholes, Miss Granger.

Hermione smiled broadly up at Ron and he grinned back. Taking a seat at the other end of the table, Hermione began to write down everything she could think of.

Draco shrugged and whispered to Harry, "I still don't get it."

Harry watched as Hermione wrote. He shook his head. "Neither do I, but maybe we don't have to get it."

"Miss Granger? Miss Hermione Granger," Snape's voice was a timbre louder and Hermione looked up sharply. She felt slightly disoriented after having buried herself so deeply in what she was writing down. "Has your memory cast a spell over you?"

Hermione looked at Snape and then at the three boys that stared at her. She felt a blush rise to her face and she quickly put down her quill. "Time for dinner?" she asked simply.

Snape ushered her out of the restricted section and all five were summarily ushered out by the librarian who had wanted to lock things up five minutes ago. They were quiet as they made their way to Gryffindor tower and to Snape's room. They found the door open and the house elf assigned to them was setting a larger table. Seated at the fireplace was the headmistress. She arose when she heard them and extended a greeting.

"Good evening, Master Snape, children. I thought I might join my guests for dinner and see how your research has progressed."

"I wish that we had some progress, Professor Arcahnum," he pulled out a chair for her and Draco quickly knocked Ron out of the way in order to emulate his professor as he pulled out a chair for Hermione. Hermione seemed oblivious to the gesture as she seated herself. Snape continued, "Our research hasn't given us much toward finding a way back to our time, I'm afraid."

"That is..." began Lyrica.

Hermione interrupted, "No, we have found something." Realizing that her outburst had interrupted the conversation between the adults, she quickly apologized.

"Tell me what you've discovered, Hermione," encouraged the headmistress.

While everyone helped themselves to the generous feast, Hermione enlightened them. "Apparating. I've never apparated, since we don't get to learn it until 7th year, but the way Professor Snape described it, it sounds just like what the Muggles call a wormhole." Suddenly the girl launched into a litany of theoretical science until Snape finally stopped her.

"Get to the point, Miss Granger. How does this apply to our predicament?" Inwardly Snape admired the girl's enthusiasm, but he wasn't about to let her know it. If, when they got back home, he had a class to teach and she would be in it. It was too early, yet, to relax in this time period.

"There's a reason that apparating isn't taught until seventh year, Professor. Apparating is 'intent' magic. I mean, to a certain extent, all magic is based in intent, but apparating is also wandless. It requires fine-tuned concentration not only on where you are, but where you will be. As far as magical energy goes, one must not only draw on the power within, but one must draw on the magic around themselves. The very act of apparition is the opening of a wormhole, or more precisely, a portal between two points in the fabric of space." She caught Snape's steady glare. "I'm getting to the point, sir, I promise. Professor Snape, of the five of us, you're the only one that can apparate and I remember Professor McGonagall telling us that of all the teachers, your skill at apparation was incomparable. She told us that you were the only student to ever side-apparate up to four people at once without splinching any of them. Professor Dumbledore is only able to apparate two people."

Lyrica raised a delicate eyebrow at that revelation. Snape sighed. "It's not something I practice on a routine basis." He returned his glance to Hermione. "What is your conclusion regarding apparition and our situation, Miss Granger?"

She finished chewing a bite of roast and then continued, "The wizard Hawking that I told you about? His theory is that a portal can be created not just from this space to the next space, but from this time to another time. A portal in space and time. I think it is possible for us to do this, I'm just not... well, I'm not sure of how."

Snape leaned back in his chair and eyed Hermione, catching her gaze in his own. Hermione tried to pull away from the intense gaze, but she couldn't. It was Snape who finally withdrew his glittering gaze and he drew in a deep breath. "Fifty points to Gryffindor if we get back, Miss Granger."

Draco, Harry and Ron stared at Hermione who beamed with her accomplishment. The triumph was short-lived, though as Ron blurted, "I don't get it!"

"Doesn't make a bit of sense to me," muttered Draco, who was more peeved over the points for Gryffindor.

"I don't see how this helps us," Ron spoke up. "I sure don't know everything about apparating, but I've never heard anyone use it for time travel!"

"It isn't, Ron," said Hermione as she stared glumly at her dinner.

"Well then?" Ron's glare was full of frustration. "What's the point?"

"Mr. Weasely, the point that you are so blithely overlooking is that this is merely a theory. It is likely we shall be exploring more such theories until we are able to discover a way back home. As skilled as I am at apparition I cannot, in all honesty, say that I would begin to know how to use the skill for sending us home. Merlin forbid if even one of us were splinched between 1898 and 1994!"

Draco and Harry chuckled at the absurd thought of being splinched between two time periods. Snape shot them a dark look.

Ron huffed, crossed his arms over his chest for a moment and then relaxed. He smiled at the girl. "I'm sorry, Hermione. Really I am. You have a good... theory there."

Hermione's brown eyes lifted and she smiled back at Ron. "It's all right."

There was a brief quiet as they continued to eat and then Harry spoke up. He was addressing Snape, but he kept his gaze on his half empty plate. "You apparated us, didn't you, sir?"

Snape blanched visibly. That was a fact he'd intended to keep to himself. He realized the mistake of keeping quiet on that score as Hermione's expression was one of betrayal; he'd allowed her to think the situation was all her fault. Throwing down her fork, she left the table and flopped into the chair by the fireplace. Snape pushed slightly away from the table, cast Harry a dark look and then crossed his arms over his chest.

"I did make the attempt to side-apparate, Mr. Potter."

Harry looked up at him, aghast. "We weren't even close to you! I side-apparated a couple of times with Ron's father and he held me so tight I thought I was in stranglehold. How could you apparate 5 people when they weren't even close to you?"

His eyes narrowed. "As Miss Granger pointed out, I'm very skilled at side-apparating."

"Oh well, if Miss Granger said so..." said Harry as his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Before Snape could strangle Harry, it was Lyrica who intervened, "Miss Granger also pointed out that learning apparating is a seventh year skill, Mr. Potter. Thus, none of you would know of Involunatary Survival Apparation. It follows the same principle of a man who can raise a stone three times his weight with his bare hands off of someone injured. Adrenaline is behind that man's actions. In Involuntary Survival Apparation, a skilled wizard receives a survival burst of magical energy. This means that if normally Master Snape is able to side-apparate up to four, then under an ISA he could easily transport anyone not close to him."

"So what happened? Why are we here?" The angry question came from Hermione. Her brown-eyed gaze was directly upon Snape.

"Vohlfayr, a mis-cast Dispercio spell, a defensive ward, my side-apparation, wards on this time's Forbidden Forest and further wards around Hogwarts." Snape said simply, without any defensiveness.

Hermione rose from the chair, faced Snape, and mimicked his crossed arms. "I'd like a foot long essay on why you consider cruelty to be an acceptable educational tool!" Hermione spun on her heel, stomped out and a few seconds later her door slammed shut.

Snape's jaw had dropped slightly. Ron and Draco were absolutely horrified. Harry, though, had caught Lyrica just as she covered the smile that broke across her features. Her green eyes were filled with laughter. She quickly rose to her feet as she caught the look that was simmering in his eyes.

"Draco, Ron, Harry, why don't we take a short walk outside?" The three boys quickly scrambled away from the table and headed to the door. "I believe, Master Snape, you ought to begin work on that essay?" Lyrica turned away so she did not have to face the shocked expression on Snape's face.

An hour later Snape heard the three boys return. Their doors closed in quick succession. He rose from the chair he'd been sitting in and snatched a parchment off the table. At Hermione's door, he knocked once. There was no reply and he knocked again.

The door opened and the little spit-fire Gryffindor looked up at her professor. She'd been crying, but the redness was nearly gone, as was the puffiness. She stiffened at seeing him, but didn't back down. Hermione was still very angry at him for making her think their travelling back in time was all her fault.

Snape held out the parchment to her. "As you requested, Miss Granger. My essay."

For a moment Hermione stared incredulously at what she was seeing. Then she took the scroll. "Thank you, professor."

"Good night, Miss Granger." He spun away and Hermione closed the door quietly. There was a tiny smile upon her face before the lock snicked into place.