Disclaimer: I own nothing…I just got out of college; do you really think I have anything?

A/N: Okay guys, this is not the first HP fanfic I've written, but it was the first one to reach completion. Yay me! Concrit is welcome…I'm a total review slut. Mucho thanks to my heart and soul (who doubles as my beta), Lone Butterfly.

Encounter

He found her in one of Hogwarts many towers. As this was a little-used part of the castle he hadn't been counting on anyone else inhabiting the location he sought out for a moment of solace.

Severus Snape, universally feared and reviled in equal measure by the dunderheads he was charged to teach, had just finished his nightly rounds. It had been a good night, presenting him with the opportunity to take House Points from a few wayward Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Furthermore, there were only two weeks of the school year remaining, when he would finally be rid of the Boy-Who-Miraculously-Still-Lived and his annoying sidekicks. He had been making his way back to the dungeons, but decided a slight detour was in order. Reaching the top of the winding staircase, he froze.

He wasn't alone.

As he automatically faded back into the shadows, his eyes took in the small form on the bench. Silhouetted by the moonlight, it was difficult to see many distinguishing features. Then a gust of wind swept by, and her hair gave her away. Granger.

"And what do we have here?" he sneered, stepping out into the open. "A little Gryffindor out of bed after curfew?"

He expected her to jump at the sound of his voice, or at least whirl around with a gasp. In the years he'd been teaching, he'd come to enjoy those little moments. So it came as somewhat of a shock when she did neither. In fact, she merely sat there calmly. When she acknowledged him, her voice was flat and unemotional, and completely out of character.

"I apologize, Professor; I just came up to speak with the stars for a moment. I didn't know I was intruding."

She rose from the bench, gathering the folds of her cloak around her as she stood and turned to face him.

"I'll just be on my way. Good evening, Professor," she said as she moved to walk by him.

She didn't move fast enough, for his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. As she had turned, the moonlight lit up her face, illuminating her red-rimmed eyes and making the tears on her cheeks glitter like diamonds.

Though most people doubted he had ever possessed enough compassion to fill the smallest potions vial in his labs, Snape found that he didn't want her to leave before he found out what, or who, had driven her to this state.

He released her arm, brushing past her as he moved to the railing.

"Tell me, Miss Granger," he drawled. "Did the stars have anything to say this evening?"

The out of character question shook her out of her stupor; he could feel it. And then…

"Ron asked me to marry him tonight," she said quietly.

The stairs must have winded him more than he thought, for he was suddenly short of breath. He opened his mouth to let fly a trademark snide comment, but found his throat too dry to let the words pass.

'What the hell is this,' he silently railed at himself. 'You're getting all choked up about that bloody little know-it-all and her recent conquest! Like you care!' And then he had one of those startling self-realizations that blasts merrily through your brain and leaves a trail of sparks and clarity in its wake. 'Oh. Oh shite.'

She had walked up to lean against the railing beside him, and took his lack of response as an invitation to continue. "I turned him down," she said, then scowled. "He didn't really want me anyway. He wanted someone who was going to stay at home and raise a passel of children, just like his mother did. Not that Molly's not wonderful, it's just not…."

"Miss Granger," he cut her off, finding his voice. He took a deep breath. "Hermione. If Mister Weasley is too much of an idiot to appreciate you for who you are, and to provide you with an environment in which you can find happiness, then he doesn't deserve you."

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him, trying to find any hidden insult in his statement. For the first time in seven years, she found none.

"I suppose not," she acknowledged slowly. "But I'd still like to spend a bit of time feeling sorry for myself, if that's acceptable."

He actually looked perplexed. "Whatever for?"

She looked up at the stars, a wistful expression crossing her face. "Because I'm still young enough to be looking for that perfect love. And it hurts, every time you realize that you haven't found it yet."

Snape felt something inside him twist at her words, a yearning that he had ruthlessly stomped for far too long. Ever since she had broken his heart, more than twenty years ago.

He sighed. "I once read something, many years ago, explaining the effects of love…it tears you into pieces and breaks everything strong about you. It makes you susceptible to losing someone to tragedy or time or just life itself. In the author's words, 'Love was a fucked-up deal.'"

Hermione's eyes widened both from the actual words that came from his mouth and from the pain they attempted to hide.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" she asked shrewdly.

He said nothing, merely glancing in her direction for a moment before returning to his contemplation of the grounds. They stood there, side by side in silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

After what could have been minutes or hours, Snape sighed and pushed himself away from the railing.

"I trust you can find your way back to Gryffindor tower?"

"Yes sir," she replied. "I'll be all right."

"Miss Granger…I hope I don't need to remind you that if word gets out about this…encounter…you will be serving detentions for the rest of your natural life."

"I wouldn't say anything, Sir," she said honestly. Then, feeling somewhat emboldened she added, "Besides, who would believe me?"

She looked up in time to see a slight smirk cross his features as he turned to leave. He was almost to the stairs when she called out.

"Professor?"

He halted his steps, but didn't turn around.

"What you said earlier?" she pressed on, "I don't believe it either."

A/N#2 I am TOTALLY a bad elf...that quote from Sev was actually part of another author's fic...I dutifly wrote down who it was in order to credit, and the paper was eaten by Thestrals. If the author was you, I bow down before your awesome prowess for coming up with it. Let me know if I should iron my hands.