Word count: 1270

Written for:

Cards Against Humanity - Armani suit: $1,000. Dinner for two at that swanky restaurant: $300. The look on her face when you surprise her with the end of days: priceless.

The Game Is On Challenge - The Crooked Man: We've seen that people are not always what they appear to be... Write about somebody who has a secret.

Hogwarts Alchemy Assignment - This week's task is to write about a secret.

Birthday Fic Exchange - Written for Slytherin Buttercat. I couldn't fit in the dark!character prompt, but I hope you like my attempt at your favorite pairing. :)

Gringotts Wizarding Prompt Bank: (muggle occupations) Waiter, (household objects) Clock, Mobile Phone, (character pairings) Hermione x Severus Snape, (genre specific prompts - romance) Love, Boyfriend, Date, (homophones/homographs) Act, Brush, Hair, I, In, Know, To, You, Your, (celestial/nautical/weather) Star, Humid, Air, (single word descriptors) Asked, Whispered, (colors) Red, (words instead of said) Breathed, Murmured, (verbs) Wait, Fold, Care, Meet, See, Carry, Slip, Leave, Thank, Cry, Roll

-there were definitely more Gringotts prompts I could have claimed but I got tired and stopped looking for more that I used-

Anything For You

Hermione waited, folding and refolding the napkin on her lap nervously. She didn't care that she was sitting alone at a table for two, because it wasn't the kind of restaurant where people tended to stare. But she had already eaten the entire basket of rolls, and half the butter, despite not being hungry. Her water glass was empty too. She would have called a waiter, but she didn't want the attention drawn her way.

He had promised to meet her at eight. Hermione couldn't see the clock from where she was sitting, so she leapt up and walked purposefully towards the ladies' room. There, she dug out her purse to apply a fresh coat of lipstick. Looking in the mirror, she could see that her dress was disheveled and her hair frizzy from the humid air.

Hermione sighed. It wasn't like Sev to stand her up - in fact, now that she thought about it, he was nearly always early. This was troubling. Where was he?

The lavatory door slammed open, warning Hermione to the presence of a large woman carrying her protesting toddler. She slipped out as soon as they were inside, hoping to avoid other people. It would be better out in the open, where everyone was occupied. She would give it ten more minutes, then she would leave.

Back at her seat, someone had refilled the water glasses and stuck a menu onto her chair meaningfully. They wanted her to order. Hermione obliged. It was a Friday, and a table making no money for hours would be disastrous for any restaurant.

"Can I have a red wine? Any red wine?"

Hermione took the bottle that was given to her, poured a shallow glass, then drank it in a few hesitant gulps.

She began to worry. A glance at her phone revealed no missed calls, no texts, nothing. He never would have forgotten about their special date - something had to have gone wrong. Hermione had resolved to thank the waiter profusely, then head to her car and call him again.

But he appeared from behind, brushing against her side. Hermione jumped.

"Sev," she began. "Where have you-"

"Hermione," he breathed, and when he sat down across from her, she leaned towards him in the hope of pulling them closer together.

"I missed you."

"I wanted to come."

Hermione was full of questions, like always - wanting to know what happened? and why? and are you alright Sev? because you look more pale than usual-

He must have seen her anguish, because he took her hand and put a thin finger to his lips. "Let's order, hmm?"

"You can't just act like everything is all right, Severus, I've been waiting for some time, without even a word from you, mind you-"

"Hermione-"

And with this she was silent, looking deeply at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong? There had better not be someone else..."

"What?" he said, altogether too loudly. Severus set down the menu, looking squarely at her. The harsh overhead light cast shadows on his face, making him seem severe, or more severe than usual, with all his angles and planes. But his voice was steady and low. "No, never - only you - surely you know that?"

Hermione breathed, relieved. "I had to be sure."

He was solemn again. "I'm sorry for being late. It wasn't my intention. I would blame it on the traffic, yet I did make another stop that cost me quite a bit of time."

"How late did you get out of work?" asked Hermione, puzzled.

"I didn't go to work today. I took a sick day."

"What - why? What's wrong? You look fine, absolutely fi-"

Severus was laughing, a slow chuckle that usually made her heart thump, but now it worried her further. "Hermione, I may look fine, but you should know better than anyone that what's on your outside doesn't always reflect what's going on inside."

It was true. Hermione had studied pre-med for four years before switching to teaching. After a failed attempt at passing the final exam, she had decided it wasn't for her. This was a regret of hers still, as it cost her some of the 'best years of her life,' and she did like the field. But from these years of constant study she knew that problems could show up in the healthiest-looking of people. With this in her head, Hermione felt sick.

"You've been having headaches..."

"That's just my awful health cropping up. My head is fine, I promise you."

"Don't make this a game of guess the fatal illness. Just tell me what's wrong, Sev, or I swear to God..."

His thin smile faded, and Hermione knew that it was a ruse intended to keep her happy. Happy and calm. Severus never wanted to see her upset, but this was a problem when it stopped her from knowing the truth. She had to know the truth.

"We're leaving," she announced quietly. Sweeping her coat off the back of her chair, she grabbed his hand and left some cash on the table. Hermione wasn't even sure if the restaurant accepted cash, but she wasn't about to go digging around for a credit card when her boyfriend was mysteriously ill.

"Promise you won't worry too much," Severus said as they reached the car. Hermione said nothing, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Hmm, is it your turn to drive?" he asked.

"I'm not promising anything. Now quit stalling and tell me, now."

Her voice trembled in spite of her. He bowed his head.

"I did a scan. Gastric, maybe."

"But that sounds like..."

Hermione was shaking her head, faster and faster. "It's not possible - not so suddenly."

"Apparently these things aren't detected until later on. You knew my stomach had been bothering me," he said, still in his flat emotionless tone. "I-"

"Severus," Hermione said helplessly.

"I'm going in again tomorrow, and you can come with me."

"Why didn't you tell me you were going?!"

He sighed. "I thought it was nothing."

They were silent. Hermione wasn't the type to cry, and she didn't. She couldn't have if she wanted to. But that almost made the pain worse, because she knew it was terrible but didn't know how to react. All she could think of was cancer, cancer, cancer...

"I'm sorry."

She broke.

"It's not your fault," she murmured, sobbing into his shoulder. Hermione wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I love you," she whispered.

He let her lean into him, where the reassuring rise and fall of his chest reminded her to breathe.

"It might not be malignant," he said, once they had calmed down a bit. Severus kept stroking her hair, but eventually she pushed him away, wanting to prove that she was strong. It wasn't her that was sick, after all.

"Severus, I don't want to be all optimistic if the truth is th-"

"We can't know," he said with a tone of finality. "Not yet."

"Let's go home." Hermione wiped her face roughly with a tissue. "We still need to eat, and you don't eat enough as it is. I'll make pasta."

"Are you positive that you can successfully cook pasta?" he asked, with the old gleam in his eye. It signaled a challenge, and she took it.

"Anything for you," she said. He rolled his eyes dramatically. She raised her eyebrows severely. "Especially now, Sev."

He nodded. "Of course."

She turned the key, and the car rumbled back to life. They drove out of the parking lot, turning onto the road. The stars had just begun to shine again.