I sat down to write and this fell out. its very loosely based on the story of my relationship but I won't tell you which parts. I do hope you enjoy it! I don't own anything you may recognize!
He'd placed the personal ad on a whim. He had no intention to stay in his worn down Cokeworth house now that the war had been over and done for three years. He had no intention of starting a relationship. But he was curious about who might be out there and frankly he was a little lonely.
His ad simply said "I'm not a nice man, but I'm intelligent. Far from good looking but I know a good curry place. Looking for a woman who enjoys curry. ." he never imagined anyone would answer the ad.
She had been dating and failing at making a connection with any of them. Either men wanted a one night stand or they were dull as dish water. She began perusing the personals out of curiosity. One stuck out to her, she wasn't sure why he never attempted to make himself sound appealing. Maybe it was the truth in advertising that made her reach out. Maybe it was her craving for curry in any case she reached out.
"I'm intrigued, and rather fond of curry. - a woman."
He received her answer and didn't quite know how to proceed but he replied a date and time. He had little hope and worried the lackluster messages were a good indicator of a potentially abysmal date but it was something to do.
When her owl returned with a note that only said "friday at 6, star of india.- a man" she was a bit apprehensive, it's possible he could be a rogue death eater. She thought back on her many other poor excuses for dates , and thought: death eater or no at least this one is suggesting a meal and not a hotel.
The morning of the date she sent another missive to the mystery man.
"I look forward to this evening, that is unless you are a serial killer. If that's the case I hope you could be so kind as to tell me a head of time as I'd hate to get murdered in my new dress. - a woman"
He regarded the note with amusement. So she is witty. He thought taking out a quill and crafting a reply.
"An asshole yes. A serial killer no. your dress is indeed safe. - a man"
"That's exactly what a serial killer would say! - a woman"
"Then by all means don't wear the new dress, although I don't imagine your crime scene photos will look quite as good.- a man"
"I hadn't thought of the photos! This changes everything, the new dress it is. - a woman"
"A thought has occurred to me that all this talk may be a clever ruse to distract me from considering you may in fact be the serial killer.- a man"
"well we best play it safe and both dress for crime scene photos.- a woman"
"Indeed this is the only solution. - a man
He arrived early, apparating into the alley beside the restaurant, he walked out front and found a bench to sit on a wait. He wore causal muggle clothes, Black jeans and a simple gray t shirt under a green flannel rolled up to the elbows. His long black hair pulled back at the nape of his neck and a new addition of a neatly groomed beard hid the scowl on his face. He looked down at his dragon hide boots and began to feel nerves.
A pop rang through the air and Severus Snape looked up to see his date looking around for him. She was wearing a very lovely white dress with water colour flowers splashed across it. She was on the short side, and perfectly curvy and under normal circumstances he'd find her quite attractive. But those riotous curls blowing in the wind gave away her identity away even with her face obscured by said curls.
He contemplated just leaving but the reality he had nothing to lose by having dinner with the woman, and at the very least knowing who she was was before she'd even noticed him gave him something of the upper hand.
"Miss Granger." he hissed in his best teachers voice, striding up to her. She tensed from habit and pushed her hair out of her face to get a look at him.
"Professor Snape!" she gasped. When she took in his appearance her cheeks flushed ever so slightly he noted. "How pleasant a surprise to see you here in muggle London! What brings you here?" she seemed genuinely pleased to see him which was in and of itself quite a shock for the man.
Even with his name being cleared and his shiny new Order of Merlin most witched and wizards, especially those he taught gave him a wide berth.
"I do believe I'm here to meet a fellow serial killer." He quipped with a smirk. Her eyes widened and for a second he worried he'd been wrong about her being the mystery woman. Surely now she'd run back to her idiot friends and confirm all the rumors they believed about the evil potions master. Instead she grinned.
"So you're the asshole!" she looked him up and down. "The Beard looks very good on you,
It's very Hans Gruber." He looked at her quizzically. She gave an exaggerated gasp. "You grew up muggle, how can you not know who Hans Gruber is? 1988? Die Hard? The best Christmas movie ever?"
"Ah, I see." he was bemused by antics. "I was working at Hogwarts in the 80's, opportunities for watching films and such were few if not nonexistent. Shall we?" he waved a hand toward the restaurant.
"I have to admit I was so relieved to see the mystery man was you." she said as he opened the door for her, his hand grazing the small of her back. She blushed faintly at his touch. "I know that even if nothing comes of this date at the very least it will be an interesting conversation."
After a little small talk between being seated and placing their orders, he found himself more intrigued by the woman. She was definitely not the swotty little creature that ran around knitting hats for elves and ruining his evenings with excessively long essays.
"Might I ask how you can to be posting vague personal ads in the daily prophet Professor?" she asked taking a sip of her mango lassi.
"I could ask how you came to be answering vague personal ad's Miss Granger." he said raising an eyebrow at her.
"Touche." she said. "I've struggled a bit in the dating department, Ron and Harry are both in long term relationships, and I am perpetually the fifth wheel because every date is either a terrible bore or just trying to weasel their way into my knickers for the night. I saw your add and thought 'well at least he's honest' and quite frankly I really love a good curry." he couldn't help but chuckle. "but I see now you were less than honest."
"How is that?" he furrowed his brow at her final statement. "I thought it was a very accurate summery of myself."
"you said you were far from good looking. I am afraid I must disagree." she stared intently at him from across the table, her pupils dilated slightly and a flush crept up her cheeks. He found he rather liked her hungry gaze. "your turn."
"I suppose I was just curious as to what would happen if I went on a date. I haven't had the freedom to indulge in such things in the last several years and my reputation proceeds me to the point meeting anyone worthwhile is.." he thought for a moment to truly articulate his point "challenging to say the least."
"I can't imagine why? I surely thought my owl would be lost in a sea of women looking to date an asshole with good taste in curry." she smirk causing him to snort.
"How fortuitous it was not." he chuckled, "I wouldn't have had the pleasure," he drawled the word, causing a quickening of her breath. "of this conversation. A conversation I don't want to end incidentally. Would you care to accompany me back home for a night cap."
"That would be lovely." she looked suddenly shy, " but I should warn you it's only going to be a night cap. I've recently make the choice to avoid a physical relationship until I know there's going to be a regular relationship first."
"I am amiable to that stipulation." Severus said. " he threw some muggle bills onto the tray, far more than the sum of the meal and stood, holding out his hand. "shall we?"
They appeared directly in his living room at spinners end. After getting her bearings Hermione was surprised to see it was rather barren, there was only a writing desk and chair in sitting room. He could practically feel her wanting to ask about it.
"I'm working on clearing the place out and ridding myself of it." he swooped his arm around the empty room. "you're standing in my childhood home. You can imagine all the happy memories."
"Honestly I can't even imagine you as a child. I always just preferred to think you sprung into being fully formed and deducting house points." she said still looking around, large dust free zones showed where furniture had once sat and there were holes in the wall that looked as though they had been covered over with picture frames long ago. The wall paper around each jagged hole a bright square or rectangle in an other wise faded room.
She followed him into the kitchen which was just as bare, but he managed two mismatched glasses and a hefty measure of elf made wine each. Standing there in the kitchen leaning against the counters their conversation flowed with ease. Severus found himself drawn to her and during a conversation about healing potions communicable illness he leaned forward and kissed her swiftly.
"I'm sorry, I'm rubbish at timing." he said with a chuckle, "I just couldn't stop thinking about kissing you."
"I'm certainly not complaining," she said with a smile. He kissed her again, slowly this time, taking the glass from her hands and putting in on the counter behind them never breaking the kiss. When their hands were free they snaked around each other his finding her hips and pulling her clothes and hers running through his hair.
When they finally pulled apart they had to take a moment to catch their breath. Their faces were flushed and her lips looked delectably swollen.
"Hermione," he finally broke the silence testing out her name for the first time. "I want to be clear I'm not saying this to get you into bed, but I find myself incredibly attracted to you, not just physically but mentally and I feel we'd be remiss for not seeing where this could go."
"Severus, am I correct in understanding you're in a dalliance?" she felt quite certain she wanted to pursue this feeling as well, but worried they wanted different things.
"More than that my dear." he took her hand and rubbed circles over her knuckles with his thumb. "I find I quite fancy you and a simple rendezvous is not enough. I want to be with you." he worried he wasn't being clear with his intentions and sighed. "I find I hate the word as it sounds utterly juvenile at my age but I want to be your boyfriend." She grinned and he felt his chest fill with such a beautiful warmth at the sight of her.
"I would be delighted to be your girlfriend Severus." she said kissing him again.
"I have a girlfriend!" he said in a slight daze, between kisses. For the first time in his life a happy memory was associated with spinner's end.