Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling et al. Any characters or locations you recognise are the intellectual property of these individuals and corporations. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Thank you to all the reviewers who so kindly took the time to write. I am so appreciative of each and every one.

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CHAPTER II

Severus finally shook himself from his reverie. He nodded his head politely, "Miss Granger," he stated formally. "How are you this evening?" He knew the barrage of questions would come any second. He only hoped that she would remember where she was—in a Muggle pub. His uncle at the end of the bar was aware of his hidden talents but no one else in the establishment this evening was. With Hermione still standing there in shock, he tried, "Can I get you a drink?"

"A d-drink?" she stuttered. "A DR-" she abruptly cut off the rising volume of her voice and closed her eyes, visibly regaining her control. "What are you doing here?" she asked incredulously.

Severus simply smirked. "Working behind the bar, you?"

"Working behind..." she began to repeat faintly.

"We will be here a long time, Miss Granger, if you continue to repeat everything I say. May I recommend a glass of the local ale?" he enquired politely, grabbing a clean glass from the tray next to the beer taps and holding it up to her. She nodded dumbly and stared at his face as he concentrated on pouring her beer. He placed it on the bar in front of her. To his amusement, she grabbed it and chugged back half the contents before placing the glass back on the bar with a thud. He chuckled when she brought her hand to her mouth to cover a delicate burp.

"Excuse me," she whispered.

"Of course," he replied. "How are your parents?" he asked politely as he began to wipe down the bar.

"You know my parents?" Hermione asked.

"The tone of incredulity you keep using is rather endearing and quite a change from what I am used to hearing in your voice, Miss Granger," he said with amusement. "Yes, I know your parents. This is a small village, I am sure they have told you everyone knows everyone around here."

"Here, here," the two old men agreed from the end of the bar. The commercials were on.

"So they—know—you?" she asked delicately.

Severus gave her an approving look at her discreet questioning. "Yes, they—know—me," he answered with a smile. Hermione blinked at seeing the easy upturn to his lips. Why it was almost like smiling was something he did regularly!

"But, forgive me, Professor, but I am just so shocked to see you here, working behind a bar!" This was a concept Hermione was having a lot of difficulty with.

"Professor?" asked an interested voice at the end of the bar. Peter's father came to stand next to the stool she was sitting on. "I only know of certain people who would refer to Severus as 'Professor'." Hermione could hear the protectiveness in the older man's voice.

"It's all right, Uncle John. Miss Granger is one of my former students," Severus explained.

"From that fancy-pants boarding school up in Scotland?" the other man seated next to the telly asked. He looked at Hermione closely. "Ah yes, dentists would be able to afford that." He turned back to the television, once again immersing himself in the news report. John did not move just yet.

"You're not here to make trouble for him are you?" he asked suspiciously.

Hermione bristled at the very suggestion while Severus simply chuckled and shook his head. "Of course not, that is a ludicrous thing to suggest! Professor Snape chose to distance himself from the Wiz— other world, just as I have, and I respect his decision. Live and let live," she said firmly. Severus raised a quizzical eyebrow at the revelation that Hermione had left the Wizarding world.

"Doctor Snape, not Professor," John said before turning and heading back to his news report. Hermione instinctively knew this meant the older man was happy with her answer. What he actually said permeated her brain. She turned to her former teacher.

"You're a doctor? But... I thought you were a bartender..." she was confused.

Severus reached under the bar for something and came up with a stethoscope which he placed around his neck. "Doctor by day..." he turned dramatically while ripping the stethoscope away and throwing a tea towel over his shoulder, "bartender by night!" Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. Severus rolled his eyes. "Oh come now, Miss Granger. Surely you can stop sitting there emulating that dunderhead you call a best friend and show a modicum of the intelligence you were once well-known for," he snarled at her.

Hermione almost collapsed in her relief. "Oh, there you are! I was beginning to think you had been possessed by one of the pod-people!"

Severus chuckled at her response. "I have most certainly not been possessed, Miss Granger. I am simply a man who is now able to live his life the way he chooses. I answer to no one, I do not have to follow megalomaniacal despots, even well-meaning ones, and the only children I have to deal with are ill ones that are naturally more quiet and well-behaved than healthy ones."

"Does anyone, you know, anyone," Hermione's tone was heavy with innuendo, "know you're here?"

Severus smiled. "Minerva, Kingsley and the Malfoys are aware of my location. Uncle John, Peter and Wendy and your parents are aware," he gave her a pointed look, "and now you. That is all."

"My parents?" Hermione cried in astonishment. Somehow, in all the turmoil, the fact that her parents were aware of Snape's location and talent only just registered in her mind. "They never said a word!"

"Miss Granger, surely you have visited your parents' dental practice," Severus waited while she nodded. "Then you are aware they share premises with the local GP, that's me. Do you really think they would not share anecdotes of their brilliant, only child over morning tea and lunch? It was my second day of working in the same building with them when we realised the connection. How many Hermione Grangers do you think there are in the world?"

"But... but in all that time they never mentioned the 'new' doctor was you!" she said.

Severus bowed his head slightly. "I asked them not to. I knew you were involved with Weasley and I did not want to put you in a position where you had to keep a secret from him. I enjoy my life here, Wiz— people," he gave her another pointed look after cutting himself off, "do not come here and I am left in peace. It is the way I have always wanted to live."

Hermione nodded, she could see his point and told him so. "I am hoping for a little anonymity here as well," she said.

"Excuse me, Doctor Sev, but may we have ice cream now, please?" a little voice piped up from beside Hermione. She looked down in surprise just as Severus leant over the bar.

"Well now, Nicholas, I don't know. Did you eat all your vegetables?" Severus asked. The little boy, Nicholas, nodded emphatically.

"Yes I did, Doctor Sev. Even the green ones," he replied with an upturn of his nose. "So did Chris," Nicholas pointed back to the table at his younger brother. Severus smiled.

"All right, you go back to Mum and Dad and I'll go into the kitchen and get your ice cream. Miss Granger, while I'm going is there anything you would like?" Severus asked as Nicholas ran back to his parents.

Hermione stared at him in shock. She had never seen him so... patient before. The pointed clearing of his throat made her realise he was still waiting for an answer from her. "What is there?" she blurted. Severus gestured to a board behind him. Hermione smiled as she recognised the spiky handwriting that had adorned boards throughout her school years. It was a constant she was able to grab onto to help ground her in this surreal situation.

"It is a set menu tonight," Severus explained as Hermione read the choices.

"The pumpkin soup and bread rolls sound fantastic," she said. Severus disappeared through a door at the side of the bar. Hermione took a moment for a bathroom break. She had been steadily supplied with drinks during their conversation. She smiled when she reached the rest room doors. On one was a picture of Tinkerbell, the other had a picture of Captain Hook. The Peter Pan theme ran throughout.

She returned to a steaming bowl of soup and a basket of bread rolls. A place had been set at the end of the bar for her. She looked over to where Severus was talking to the family at the table. He looked over to her and smiled before turning back to the woman and answering a question. The woman nodded in response, also sending a smile Hermione's way before turning her attention to her youngest child who was having some trouble with his dessert.

Hermione had smiled in response before tucking into her own dinner. She had to suppress a moan of delight when the creamy pumpkin soup hit her tastebuds. She spent the next few minutes devouring her dinner. Severus had busied himself with wiping down some tables and taking dishes into the kitchen. He came back to her just as she was finishing. After taking her dishes back to the kitchen he returned and pulled another beer for her.

"I was thinking while I was eating," Hermione began. She was interrupted by a mock groan coming from her former teacher.

"And here come the questions," he said sarcastically. He waved as the family left the bar. All four of them waved back, the woman nodding politely at Hermione as they went through the door. John and the old man decided to call it a night as well, leaving Severus and Hermione alone.

"How did you manage to become a doctor of all things?" Hermione had a mental list of questions to ask. She was pretty sure they would not get through all of them tonight as one question's answer could lead to more questions she had not yet thought of. She was not going anywhere though and nor did it appear was he. If she had to come back next week, she would. She inwardly preened a little bit; look at her, making plans to leave the house again!

Severus pulled a beer for himself and came around the bar to sit on the stool beside her. "Originally when I had my career counselling at Hogwarts I was interested in becoming a healer. Circumstances obviously changed my career path but the desire remained. Once I recovered from the final battle, I was at a loose end. I did not want to continue teaching, nor did I particularly wish to work with potions full time any longer. I decided I wanted to pursue my original dream. Since I also no longer had a desire to live among Wizards, with the help of Minerva, I was enrolled at St Andrew's University in their medical programme. I had to delay my entry while I fully recovered, to avoid any uncomfortable questions regarding my injuries, but in the end I attended there and earned my degree," he told her.

Hermione bowed her head. "I am so sorry Harry and I left you there. I know I apologised once before and you accepted but please allow me to again," she pleaded.

Severus nodded. He knew what it was to have regrets. It did not seem as if there were enough apologies you could give to make it right. In a former life he would have rebuffed her effort and rebuked her, probably to the point of tears, but he was a completely different man now. He fancied that now he was the man he had always wished he could be if circumstances had gone his way in the first place. Lucius Malfoy commented often that the only reason he visited and allowed Severus to visit in return was to keep some semblance of the man he once was ingrained in his personality. Lucius certainly understood his need to change, but did not want to see his old friend turn completely into a bleeding-heart Muggle.

"As I explained the last time you apologised, that is the purpose of the Draught of Living Death. It is supposed to make others think you have died. Fawkes' tears he had left in the vial plus the anti-venom administered by my elf were more than enough to see me well on the road to recovery before the antidote to the draught was applied," he said softly. "Please don't feel as though you should keep apologising to me, I have forgiven you and Potter for your actions."

Hermione looked up into the sincere, dark brown eyes of her former Professor. There was warmth in them she had never seen before tonight, almost as if the guards he had perpetually maintained in his years as a spy were fully down.

Severus noticed her examination of him, along with the curious tilt of her head, and correctly guessed her thoughts. "Maintaining constant Occlumency shields is extremely draining and detrimental to one's physical well-being. It causes insomnia, lack of appetite, premature aging and, funnily enough, a production of excess natural oils about the head."

Hermione bit her lip to stifle the bubble of laughter that threatened to burst forth. "So the reason you were like a greasy, overgrown bat is because you were constantly Occluding?" she asked.

"Yes, although I preferred the theory that I was in truth a vampire that had somehow worked out how to be in the sun. It meant I had overcome a great challenge," he confided. Hermione could not help herself, and the laughter pealed forth. Severus was delighted to hear it. 'Delighted? Where did that come from?' He took a drink to cover his momentary bout of obvious madness.

"So, if you share premises with my parents, how is it that you were not aware I was staying here?" Hermione asked.

"You are staying? I thought maybe you were just visiting," Severus said in surprise. "Aren't you with Weasley?"

"I was. I'm not now, so I moved home three weeks ago."

"Is that why you have left the Wizarding world?" Severus asked, remembering what she had said to John earlier.

"It's the primary reason, there were others as well. But you have not answered my question, sir," she replied.

"Severus, please. If you are going to be around then we must drop the formalities. May I call you Hermione?" Hermione nodded with a smile, before silently indicating she still required an answer to her original question. "I have been on holiday for the last month. Since I came to the village I have not had any time off. My family rallied the locals and they insisted they had no desire to see my face for four weeks. Even booked me a cruise and a tour around Asia," he said. He had been touched at the effort they had gone to, even graciously handing his money over to his uncle upon demand. "I only returned yesterday and spent today resting. I will return to my practice tomorrow."

"Oh," she replied. "Did you enjoy your holiday?"

"Yes I did, thank you. I relaxed fully for the first time in many years. I am caught up on all the leisure reading I had piled up and even managed to bring some of my knowledge for work up to date with the journals," he replied. "I am ready and raring to go. Now, I answered your questions, my turn?" he asked. Hermione gulped but nodded, that was fair. Severus really wanted to ask her what had happened with Weasley, but refrained from such a direct question. He decided to go with, "So what exactly prompted you to move home with your parents?"

"Since I'm sure they'll tell you anyway, I'd rather you hear it from me. It's twofold—I had been working on legislation to repeal laws against werewolves if they were registered, and safely administered dosages of Wolfsbane each full moon. It took eighteen months of research, interviews, meetings, conferences, you name it and I had finally beaten it into a thirteen hundred page document ready for presentation to the Wizengamot.

"The changes were far-reaching, for example, it abolished discriminatory practices in hiring and housing—if a person suffering lycanthropy was rejected, you had to prove why you thought the person they were passed over for was a better choice. Once a werewolf was hired, they had to be paid equally to a witch or wizard not suffering the condition. It allowed for a refuge centre to be set-up, and a department in St Mungo's dedicated to producing the Wolfsbane potion each month, and researching a long-term cure.

"I presented my final draft to my supervisor. He took it, and presented it to the Wizengamot as his own work. My name was not associated with it anywhere. It was a largely team effort, but I led the team. He made it seem as though none of us had done anything but sit there and pour cold water on his brilliant work, and the Wizengamot ate it up. I was trying to think of a tactful way to address the situation when another of my colleagues, who was also Muggleborn, asked him about recognising all our efforts, particularly mine. He told us that as our supervisor, the work was indirectly his and there would be no recognition given to anyone else. As Muggleborns, we could expect no better.

"I went home early, in a very foul mood, to find the man who I thought I would be spending my life with balls deep in another wizard's you-know-what." Severus choked on his beer at this revelation. "He then proceeded to tell me that it was my place to provide a respectable front for him, producing children and being a good little wife while he screwed anyone he felt like with pecs and a huge, ahem, and as a Muggleborn, I could expect no better. Having had that phrase thrown at me twice in the space of an hour pushed me over the edge, and so I hexed him, gathered a few of my things, and got the hell out.

"Mum and Dad took me in, no questions asked and immediately called for Harry. He came and sorted everything out for me. He arranged for my entitlements to be paid out from the Ministry, along with another bonus for having destroyed Voldemort and then being screwed by the establishment I had worked so faithfully for. I personally believe that it's hush money for me to keep my silence about everything. He retrieved all my belongings from Ronald, as well as delivered a threat to him that if he tried to besmirch my name, he would soon find himself outed on the front page of The Daily Prophet!" Hermione finished her story with a small breath.

Severus was in turns angered, bewildered and amused by her story. He knew what the pure-blood 'establishment' could be like. He was still in semi-regular contact with Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic, and even though his former Order colleague did his best, the centuries-old corruption within the Ministry was extremely difficult to try and eradicate. Severus could easily see Kingsley having to cut Hermione loose with a large payout in order to placate the stuffy old bears in the high echelons of the Ministry.

"What are your plans now?" he asked her.

"Right now, it was actually a bit of a feat for me to get off my arse and come here for dinner," Hermione confessed. "I have been throwing myself a big pity-party for the last three weeks. Dad made me see sense earlier. I don't know what I want to do. I like it here so far, it's quiet and there are no magical people around. Well except you as it turns out." Severus nodded. "I have enough money to live on if I'm careful, but I imagine I'll be in need of a project sooner rather than later."

Severus stood and walked back behind the bar, pulling another beer each for the two of them. He leaned on the back counter. "This village will be a balm for your soul," he said softly. "The people have a way of drawing you out and making you feel at home. As clichéd as it sounds, you will discover your true self here, I did."

Hermione nodded at his candid words. It was certainly true that while the man before her looked a lot like her former professor, he did not sound or act like him. Well the timbre of his voice sounded the same, but the words coming out were different and the little inflections he used to employ were absent. She liked this new, friendlier version. "I think I will too," she replied. For the first time in three weeks, Hermione felt that things might actually be okay for her.

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