Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine. I just play with them.

Accidental Affection
Part Two

On Tuesday, Minerva McGonagall had asked how he had managed to avoid all of the silly ministry celebrations for the war heroes. She had never asked why. As Severus sat alone in the private parlor of Malfoy Manor, carefully sipping a glass of firewhiskey, he was reminded precisely why he always avoided parties at all costs.

He hated parties because he hated socializing. He could not make small talk for the life of him; he could not pay attention when people asked him pointless silly questions; he could not help but to scowl and glower at everyone in the room. Which often left him quite alone in such situations, and that always left him feeling quite put out as well. He hated going to parties, for he hated being the loner at a party even more.

This one had not been as bad as some. People had greeted him when he'd come into the room. Arthur Weasley had pestered him for a few moments, but he had always sort of liked Arthur Weasley and had not minded it much. Draco had thanked him for coming and had spoken to him for a few moments, but he had to make his rounds and excused himself after only a few seconds of conversation.

So Severus had found the bar set up in the large, entertaining parlor, taken a glass of firewhiskey, and had fled the room. He had slipped out into the hallway and nearly ran down to the private parlor which he knew would be deserted.

It was as empty as he'd expected it to be, and he had taken a seat before the fire. Nursing his firewhiskey, he let his mind drift.

He had been sitting there for a good while when he heard the door to the room open quickly and close again a few seconds later. Severus had chosen the chair before the fire that hid his presence completely and therefore knew that his present company had no idea that he was there. He waited quietly for a moment, deciding whether or not to make himself known. He supposed he should on the chance that Draco and Ginny Weasley had slipped into the room for a quick snog or grope or something equally horrible that he had no desire to see.

Severus stood from his seat and cleared his throat. Turning to look at the door, he was fairly surprise to see Hermione Granger leaning against it, her eyes closed and a very pained look on her face.

"Miss Granger," he began, trying to ignore the twinge in his tone that almost resembled concern, "are you quite well?"

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. "Oh! Severus!" she smiled at him and brought a hand to her chest. "You absolutely scared me to death."

He raised an eyebrow. "Apparently not, Miss Granger, as you certainly appear to still be breathing."

She grinned again as she took another step into the room. "Hermione," she corrected. "What are you doing in here?"

He shrugged. "Much of what you appear to be doing, I'm sure."

"Ah," she said, nodding. "So, what are you hiding from?" she asked as she walked over to the chairs before the fire and took the one next to the chair he'd vacated.

He shrugged as he resumed his seat. "Usually in such situations I am relegated to the role of loner. And accordingly, I end up feeling quite foolish. Thus, I hide." He could not for the life of him decide why he had just given her so much personal information; people who had known him for years did not know so much about him.

She continued to grin at him. "I see," she said. "I'm afraid I must confess that my motivation was nothing so reasonable."

He snorted.

"Really," she said earnestly, "I was just hiding from Molly Weasley."

He raised an eyebrow and sneered at her. "Why?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "'Oh, Hermione dear,'" she began in a frighteningly good impression of the Weasley matriarch, "'when are you and Ronald going to be announcing your engagement? Almost all my children are married, you know, darling. Arthur and I are just waiting for the day when Ron announces you'll be his forever.' Honestly, Severus, it's enough to drive a girl completely mad."

He smirked. "And when will you and young Mr. Weasley be announcing your engagement?"

"Never!" she exclaimed. "You see, that's just the thing. Everyone assumes Ron and I will end up together forever with the two kids, the puppy, and the lovely cottage, but it's just not going to happen. I mean, we're not even dating!"

"Ah," he said, "and what does Mr. Weasley think about all of this?"

"Ron's just as opposed to the idea of us becoming more than friends as well," she paused and looked up at him with a wicked smile on her face. "Can I tell you a secret?"

He frowned. "I suppose."

She leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially. "Ron doesn't like women."

He nodded. "I can certainly relate to that, Miss Granger. Women are bothersome creatures. No means yes and yes means no, and it's impossible for men-"

"No!" said Hermione, grinning as she interrupted him. "Ron doesn't like women, Severus, because he prefers the company of men."

Severus felt his jaw drop. "Ron Weasley is a homosexual?"

Hermione winked as she sat back in her seat. "You didn't hear it from me."

Severus furrowed his brow. It made no sense; the Weasley boy had done plenty of dating during his time at Hogwarts. Dating people of the female persuasion, even. Why, in fact…

"Miss Granger," he said, "didn't you date Weasley when the two of you were in school?"

"Yes," she replied. "We did."

"But..." Severus began, waving his glass of whiskey in the air when the words didn't come.

She smiled. "We didn't have the most exciting relationship, Severus, if that's what you're after. I think we ended up dating then because everyone expected it of us."

"I see," he said.

"Good," she replied.

The pair of them proceeded to sit in silence for the next few minutes. Severus was very surprised that it did not feel awkward at all and that he was able to enjoy the fact that he had someone to sit with while he watched the fire. And while he did not find the silence discomforting, he found the idea that he was enjoying the quiet presence of Hermione Granger to be very disconcerting.

After a good few minutes, Severus heard Hermione clear her throat. "We should probably head back to the party," she suggested softly.

He looked at her and frowned. "You go ahead, Miss Granger. I'll stay here where I can be alone in peace."

He was surprised when she smiled at his words, and standing from her chair, moved to stand before his. "Don't worry, Severus," she said as she reached out and plucked his hand from where it rested on his thigh. He was astonished when she simply held onto his hand, and squeezed it gently. "I won't leave you alone," she finished, in a tone that was soft and reeked of something akin to affection.

Severus gaped at her as she tugged on his hand, urging him to stand. "Come on," she said softly, and for some reason, he found himself complying. He stood from his seat and allowed her to lead him by the hand out of the private parlor, down the hall, and into the entertaining parlor.

Nobody noticed the two of them walk into the room, as Draco and Ginny had just seated themselves on the loveseat and were beginning to open the gifts everyone had brought. Hermione led Severus to one of the empty corners of the room, and when she stopped there to stand and watch the couple, he fully expected her to release his hand.

When she didn't, he had no idea how to react. His instinct was to pull his hand from hers immediately and chastise her for again having the nerve to touch him, but another part of him wanted to hold out a bit longer if only to see what would happen next.

He stared down at her for a few moments, until she finally looked up at him. She gave him a smile and squeezed his hand gently before releasing it and once again turning her attention to Draco and Ginny. Severus, though completely bewildered by her actions, followed suit.

Ginny had apparently just pulled his box from the pile and was tearing at the wrappings. Severus thought that this was rather a pity as the house elf he had asked to wrap the gift for him had truly done a stellar job of it.

"Ooh!" Ginny squealed when she'd taken the paper off of the box and opened the lid, pulling the glass unicorn out. "Oh it's adorable! Oh, Professor Snape!" she exclaimed as she searched the gathered crowd for him, her smile growing when her eyes finally landed on him. "Professor, thank you so much! It's too lovely!"

He smirked. "Certainly, Miss Weasley. Just a small token to wish you both the best."

"Oh, look at it, Draco. Isn't it lovely?" Ginny said.

"Yes, darling," Draco replied. "It's very beautiful. Thank you, Severus," he added as he looked to his godfather.

Severus nodded in reply, feeling, for some reason, quite pleased with himself for making Ginny Weasley so happy.

---

It was midnight by the time Ginny and Draco had opened all of their gifts, the guests had stuffed themselves to their satisfaction with finger foods, and Severus had managed to drag a rather tipsy Minerva McGonagall back to her private quarters at Hogwarts with the help of Hermione Granger.

"Goodness," Hermione said to him as they left Minerva's rooms and closed the door as quietly as possible behind them. "It has been a terribly long day."

"Indeed," Severus remarked as he began walking back to his quarters. He was slightly unnerved by the fact that Hermione Granger seemed to be following him quite contently.

"Severus," she began, and he could hear the hesitance in her tone.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I was wondering if I might floo from your rooms to my flat. I just don't feel comfortable walking back to Hogsmeade to apparate."

Severus looked down at her, and saw that she was peering up at him earnestly. "Of course, Miss Granger. You're welcome to use my fireplace."

"Thank you," she replied, "and it's Hermione."

"Right," he said, and tried to ignore the smile she gave him. Severus picked up his pace and stalked more purposefully in the direction of his dungeons, barely noticing the sound of her hurried footsteps behind him.

He really wished she would stop smiling at him like that. Those silly little smiles bordered on affectionate and were not good for him. Not at all. Cold, cruel, cynical men did not do well when they were suddenly introduced to the affection of another. He didn't know how to react to such a thing. Those little smiles were starting to make his heart race and his stomach do that horrible fluttering it had refrained from doing since he was a teenager.

He came to his doors and waited for Hermione to catch up with him as she was a few paces behind. She grinned up at him again when she stood next to him, and he frowned when his stomach gave a jump of appreciation.

"Pickled slugs," he said to the bit of tapestry that hid his doorway. The tapestry swung to the right, revealing his doorway. He opened it and gestured for Hermione to enter. She did so, and Severus followed her in.

"Oh, Severus," she said as she walked into his sitting room. "This is lovely."

"Erm," he replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable as it had been quite a while since he'd brought a woman back to his place. "Thank you. It's not much, but it serves its purpose."

"It's lovely," she said, and he watched as she walked across the room and seated herself on his couch. "Won't you join me?"

"Um," he said, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly nervous and out of practice. Was she making a move on him? And if she was, would it be wrong to accept it and not fight back? Or was this some kind of unstated invitation for him to make a move on her? "Didn't you want to get back to your flat?"

She shrugged and grinned at him. "There's nothing there for me, really. Save Crookshanks, but I think he values his time alone. But here," she said, as she patted the spot next to her on the couch, "here, at least, I have a friend who can talk back when I ask him a question."

He gulped. Friend. She said he was a friend. She said nothing about his being a prospective boyfriend, lover, or husband. There was, therefore, no reason to be nervous, and no reason why he couldn't sit down next to her on the couch. None.

"Right," said Severus as he took a tentative step towards the couch. "Right, so. Right," he said, and somehow managed to get all the way over to the couch and sit himself next to her in a reasonably short amount of time.

She smiled at him when he looked at her as he wiped his palms on his thighs, hoping it would rid them of his sweat. He managed to give her a weak smirk in response while wondering why, why, why as a full grown, forty three year old wizard, he was reduced to a fit of nerves worthy of a teenaged boy in the presence of Hermione Granger.

"Severus," she said as she tucked her legs beneath her and moved so that she could sit facing him.

"Um," he said, "yes?

She smiled at him, and leaning forward, kissed his cheek. He nearly gasped when she did so, though he was unsure whether it was with the surprise from her actions or the lurch his stomach gave at the contact. He noticed, however, that her lips lingered on his cheek longer than was absolutely necessary and that they felt terribly nice against his skin.

"I don't know why you don't have more friends, Severus," she said softly as she pulled away and traced his jaw line with her index finger.

"Umm," he said, gulping again and hating the way such a simple touch could drive him absolutely mad.

She giggled. "I suppose you don't know either then?"

"I'm cruel," he managed to croak. "Cold. Cynical. People don't like me. I'm mean." He tried to ignore the fact that his speech was incredibly disjointed, but her finger was tracing a line very close to his bottom lip and it was distracting. Really, very distracting.

"And?" she asked, as her finger brushed against his lip.

"And," he managed, though just barely. "People don't like that."

She giggled again as she pulled her hand away from his face and kissed his cheek once more. "I do," she whispered. And Severus sat, stunned, as Hermione Granger stood from the couch, walked over to his fireplace, grabbed down some powder from the jar, and threw it into the fireplace. "Goodnight, Severus," she said as she stepped into the flames and called out her destination.

"Good night," he whispered in reply, but she had already vanished.

---

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing. Next bit should be up very soon.