Disclamer: I don't own the Harry Potter Saga, unfortunately. Moreover, the story title comes from a movie called Casablanca.

Aren't I supposed to work on Becoming One? Well, maybe. But this little tale is stuck into my head since a long time, and I wanted to give it a try. Do not expect a long story this time. 3 or 4 chapters will be enough, I guess.

And now, the first chapter (which is un-beta'ed)...

We'll Always Have Paris

At 25-year-old, Hermione Granger is a successful Potions Mistress. When she travels to Paris to attend a conference, she runs into someone she used to know: Severus Snape. Things quickly heat up between them, but can they share more than a one-night stand or will their affair only remain a pleasurable memory?

I

Among all people, Severus Snape was the last person that Hermione Granger expected to see on this bright day of June. Everyone; she had thought about every Potions Master when she had learned that a "special guest" had been invited at the conference. Tilden Toots had been one of her guesses, since he was quite a celebrity in the Potions microcosm, thanks to his radio broadcast. But it wasn't him; it was Severus Snape.

When she had arrived to Paris in the morning, Hermione had got a room in a luxurious and beautiful town house next to the Seine. The view was stunning, and, for a few hours, she had almost forgotten about the conference. Almost. The two-days conference promised to be as boring as usual, with its eternal parade of Potions Masters and Mistresses of all kind. Some of them always tried to be funny, when the others were serious and tongue-in-cheek. More than that, it was the fact to spend two nights in Paris on her own that was depressing; to be alone in this amazing city was not something that the young woman was fond of.

Seated in the lounge of the hotel, Hermione continued to stare at the tall man who had just made an apparition. He was not that far from her, but Hermione had to do her best to hear the sound of his shoes on the wooden floor, the characteristic noise of Severus Snape's footsteps that she used to hear during her schooling; it had always been her signal to know that the Potions Master was about to enter into the classroom. Not every student had payed attention to this sound, but Hermione had since her first year at Hogwarts. But now, almost thirteen years later, this talent wasn't useful at all: Severus Snape was already in front of her, looking around the lounge as if he was searching for someone. For a second, Hermione thought about standing up and talking to him. But what kind of discussion could she have with her former professor? The only thing that they had shared in the past was a couple of hours every week, always in a classroom in the dungeons of Hogwarts, surrounded by twenty other students. He had given her grades, avoiding the Optimal mark as much as possible, even if her work was sometime close to perfect. Hermione had been annoyed by this at first, thinking that she wasn't that good in the Potions field, but now, years later, she knew that it was just because of Severus Snape, not because she was a bad student.

She couldn't help but look at him, and she noticed his face, slightly different from the last time that she had had the occasion to see him. His nose was still protuberant, of course, but his cheeks were... more round, as if he had taken some weight since his years at Hogwarts. It suited him well, Hermione thought with a hollow of a smile on her lips: she had always thought that her professor was too slender, too thin for his height. Awkwardly enough, she thought that his black robes, a must-have for a man for a Potions conference, were surely hiding a very pleasant body to everybody's eyes –including hers.

Not a single grey hair could be seen from where Hermione was, but she noticed that his hair was slightly shorter than before and as dark as ever. Her inspection was almost done when she looked at his eyes. In her memory, they were black, so black that it was hard to distinguish his pupil. She crossed her legs, and it seemed to be enough for Severus to turn his attention to her. Of all the people who were in the lounge at this exact moment, she must have been the last person that he had put his dark eyes on, Hermione thought, with an involuntary smile on her face.

Did she have to raise from her comfortable armchair in order to greet him? Or would a simple nod be enough? Hermione weighted the pros and the cons of both decisions, but eventually, Severus Snape didn't let her the occasion to choose: he greeted her with a curt nod and left the lounge without uttering a single word. Her right eyebrow raised, Hermione stayed in this position during a few seconds. She pursed her lips, annoyed by this unexpected encounter and Severus Snape's reaction. What she thought would be a simple conference in Paris would be worse than this, obviously.

XxX

Once in her room, Hermione sighed and closed the door behind her. It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and she needed to get ready for the dinner. She needed to be at the hotel restaurant at seven, in order to meet the other Potions Masters and Mistresses invited at the conference. It was always something that she loathed: being surrounded by people who thought that they were the best in their area, who looked at her as if she wasn't welcome in their little microcosm... Being the youngest Potions Mistress invited to this kind of conference was flattering, but at the same time, it was hard not to notice the disdainful looks of the others.

Hermione ran herself a bath before getting rid of her black robe, naked as the first day. The water was lukewarm, perfect compared to the hot sun that was still burning outside at this time of the afternoon. Once relaxed, she headed to her suitcase and took a solid ten minutes to decide which dress would be better for the dinner. The red and figure-hugging one was beautiful, but the deep blue one was more adapted to the situation, with its knee-high length. Eventually, Hermione chose the first one and matched it with her Louboutins. She pulled her hair up in a loose bun, quickly put some make-up on, and left her hotel room at the stroke of seven.

When she arrived at the restaurant, she wore her most beautiful smile, and took place at the central table, not so far from the middle. On her right, there was an old Potions Master named Edward Stevens, while on her left were Adenora Hopkins, one of the most loathsome person that Hermione knew. She always used to say how terrible the new generation of Potions Masters was, and she wasn't ashamed to say such a thing in front of Hermione herself.

"Oh, dear. Miss Granger," Adenora greeted her with a fake smile. "I didn't expect you tonight. I thought that the conference's organizers decided to invite the best of us this time."

Hermione smiled back, not intimidated by such an insult. "Well, Mrs. Hopkins, you would not have been here if it was the case, don't you think?"

Adenora pursed her lips in a comical way and turned her attention to the person on her left, to Hermione's great relief. If there was something that she didn't want tonight, it was to talk to people like Adenora Hopkins–or Severus Snape, for that matter.

Everyone was at the table, but Hermione noticed that the seat in front of her was empty. She crossed her fingers, hoping to be in front of someone nice this time, someone to whom she could talk to, Stevens and Hopkins not being her favourite persons, far from it.

"We are waiting for him to begin the dinner," Edward Stevens said to her, noticing that she was looking at the empty chair.

"Oh. And do you know who he is?," Hermione asked.

"Severus Snape, of course."

Severus Snape. Of all people, the person who would be seated in front of her during the dinner had to be him, of course. Hermione thanked Edward for his precision and started to play nervously with her fork. Edward Stevens on her right, Adenora Hopkins on her left, and Severus Snape in front of her. Brilliant, she said inwardly, thinking about going back to her room. To spend the evening alone was not the worst option to her eyes. She could order something to eat, or she could spend the evening outside in order to discover Paris.

Just when she was considering this option, Severus Snape made his apparition. He was wearing his usual black robe and didn't even take the time to greet the two persons next to him. Hermione looked at him, surprisingly amused by her former professor's reaction: he hadn't changed a bit. The other Potions Masters were looking at him, whispering things as if he wasn't even there. It was the first time in years that Severus Snape came to a Potions conference, and his presence among them was definitely surprising. Right after the War, he had decided to leave London and to stay in Paris, which was surely the main reason of his presence here.

The starters arrived shortly after Severus, and Hermione started to eat in silence, looking at him from time to time. On his left, a Potions Mistress was trying to catch his attention, talking to him with a bright smile. Sometime, she put her hand onto his forearm, in a gesture full of confidence. Hermione frowned, and noticed that the Potions Mistress wasn't really older than her. She was in her early thirties, and her long blond hair was moving with every movement of her head. Hermione refrained a smile: if she wanted to seduce a man like Severus Snape, it was a bad idea to talk that much in his presence. From her experience, Severus Snape wasn't a really talkative man, and she didn't think that he was looking for a woman who couldn't remain silent for a minute–moreover, she didn't even think that he was looking for a woman, period.

After putting up with the woman's incessant babbling, Severus cleared his throat, visibly irritated by her.

"I am sorry to interrupt you, Miss," he said in a low voice, "but you have to understand that I am not interested in the slightest by your conversation."

The Potions Mistress didn't utter a word in answer, and she looked at her plate, clearly embarrassed. Hermione couldn't help but laugh, hiding it behind a cough. It wasn't enough for Severus not to hear it, and he looked up at her, his eyebrow raised.

"May I know what is amusing, Miss Granger?"

She looked straight at him, stunned to hear him talk to her. "I don't think that you'd like my answer," she said back.

"The only way to know it is to talk about it."

Hermione saw his thin lips forming a smile, and she thought that the man in front of her was more attractive than he used to be, all things considered. There was a spark of amusement in the bottom of his dark eyes, and she had to slightly shake her head to come to her senses.

"Well, I prefer to keep my thoughts for myself, if you don't mind."

"When did you become so secretive, Miss?," Severus insisted, bending over as if he wanted to give them some intimacy between all these people.

Hermione put her fork back into her plate. "What makes you think that I wasn't secretive before?"

"You are a Gryffindor, as far as I know," he explained with a smirk.

"You are a Slytherin, and yet, you are talking to me right now. Our house doesn't make everything; we are both human beings, after all. Everybody is different."

Severus tilted his head to the side, but eventually nodded. It was the moment when the waiters cleared the table.

"What are you doing here, Professor? I assume that you are the special guest that everybody was talking about earlier," Hermione went on, unconsciously straightening her back.

"I am," he drawled. "I tried to refuse, but a Potions Master has some duties, as you may know since you are a Potions Mistress yourself."

"I do. How unexpected, isn't it?"

"Unexpected?," Severus repeated.

"Knowing that I am a Potions Mistress now," she explained. "Given the grades that you gave me back in Hogwarts, I guess that it is quite surprising, don't you think?"

"I do not find it surprising, to be honest. You were one of the best students that I have ever had, even if you did not have so many Optimal under my teaching."

"And it's quite a shame," Hermione said, smiling. "But what is done is done. It didn't prevent me from doing what I really want."

"What is really surprising is to know that you decided to become a Potions Mistress. I thought that you would follow your two friends and become an Auror."

"I can make my own decisions, thank you very much," Hermione said, not liking the tone that Severus took.

"I do not doubt that," he whispered, while the waiters were serving the main course.

They continued to eat, breaking the silence from time to time to talk about the conference itself and the topics that would be tackled the day after. The woman right next to Severus sometime looked at Hermione with a burning gaze, as if the former Gryffindor had stolen her most wanted prize. Hermione did her best to act casually, not wanted to be intimidated by Severus or the blonde Potions Mistress. They tried to avoid talking about their private lives, even if Hermione wanted to know more about him, oddly enough. The man in front of him was highly troubling, and for a second, she understood the woman next to her former Professor: she understood why she had tried to talk to him, to seduce him. He wasn't the most handsome man alive, far from it, but there was something that glowed within him, something disturbing and attractive at the same time. The way he talked, the way he moved, even the way he ate: everything was made with sensuality, a think that Hermione hadn't had the opportunity to notice when she was young. But now that she was a grown woman, she could see it, and, truth to be told, it was almost exciting.

Once the dinner over, Hermione looked at him, wondering what he was about to do. She stood up and tidied up her dress, waiting for him to stand up as well. The Potions Masters and Mistresses headed to the lounge to spend the rest of the night chatting and smiling at each other, but Hermione knew that Severus didn't want to join them. Soon, they were the two last persons in the hotel restaurant.

Hermione gathered all her courage. "What do you plan to do?," she asked, her hand clenched around her dress handkerchief.

"I plan to go to my room, since I do not want to spend superfluous time with these people," he said with a smirk, walking toward her. "What about you?"

"I... I guess that I'll do the same."

"Then may I accompany you?"

"Sure," Hermione said with a smile.

They left the restaurant, and while they were heading to their rooms, they took advantage of this moment to talk.

"I decided to come to Paris six years ago," Severus explained. "I wanted to start anew, to have some time to myself without the pressure of the media."

"Rita Skeeter can be annoying, I second that," Hermione smiled.

"Mrs. Skeeter, of course, among the others. But I have to admit that she is the worst."

"And are you happy with your life here?"

Severus gave her a side-glance. "I am, I think. I am happier than before, and it is something enjoyable to live without the threat of an imminent death upon my head."

"The Wizarding World changed," Hermione agreed. "And what about Paris?"

They were close to Hermione's room, and she decided to slow down: she didn't want to be alone anytime soon.

"Paris is an amazing city. People can be bad-tempered, but you know... It suits me," Severus smirked.

"I don't doubt it. I've never had the opportunity to visit this city. Working as a Potions Mistress takes me much more time than I thought years ago."

"What about tomorrow night?," he asked when they arrived in front of her room.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The conference should end around five o'clock tomorrow. If you agree, I can show you the city. But I can understand if you are not interested..."

"I am," Hermione interrupted him. "Let us meet right after the conference then."

Severus nodded, and took her hand into his, kissing it slowly. He looked straight at her the whole time, and Hermione couldn't help but blush.

"Good night, Miss Granger," he whispered before leaving her in front of her room, her head full of shameful thoughts.

In the next chapter, Severus and Hermione are going to discover Paris together. Chapter two is almost done, and if you are enthousiast enough, I guess that I'll post it tomorrow. :D

Have a nice day.