Chapter 2
Hermione's eyes slowly opened. Her location was made known by what felt like a book underneath her back and the water stains she could see on the ceiling. Somehow, she went from looking at a bookcase to looking at the ceiling. A small cloud of dust was slowly settling around her, shimmering in the sunlight streaming through a nearby window.
'Are you alright, Hermione? You should know better than to touch books you aren't familiar with. My ancestral home doesn't care for Muggleborns," said an alarmed Sirius.
"As your mother reminds me daily."
She stood up, brushing herself off and flexing her spine. There would be a bruise there in the morning where she landed on the book, but no lasting damage. Funny though. She didn't remember even touching a book. Still, she stepped back from the shelf. "I'll endeavor to be more careful. Which book did you want me to look at?"
Sirius grabbed a dusty tome from a bottom shelf and handed it to her. Showing her the relevant section, he offered to make tea while she read which she happily accepted, settling herself into a nearby overstuffed armchair.
Downstairs, a hasty Floo call was made.
"Harry! My favorite godson! Are you free this afternoon?"
Harry put down the report he was finishing and looked to his fireplace. "I suppose so. Just finishing up some loose ends here. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, your lovely friend Hermione is here helping me with a curse, and I thought we could all meet for lunch. I'm sure you don't get to see each other near as often as you'd like."
"That'd be great! Thanks for asking. We haven't had lunch since a few weeks ago. Would you mind asking Kreacher to make his French onion soup? It's one of the few things I miss about living there…besides you, of course," Harry hastily added.
"Not at all." Sirius looked Harry over. "You not going to be wearing that are you?"
Harry looked down at his work robes. "What's wrong with these?"
Sirius released a dramatic sigh. "Move over. I'm coming through."
Hermione slammed the book shut. How prejudiced could one society be? There was so much work and research put into shunning Muggleborns when being pure-blood was so poorly defined in the first place. Harry was born of a witch and a wizard but the witch was Muggleborn, so what was he considered? Half-blood? Some wizarding equivalent of mulatto? Or was one generation all it took to be considered pure? Ridiculous.
The book, however, did contain a possible spell to remove the portrait of Mrs. Black. Since Sirius was now the rightful owner of the house, he had certain power over it. Magic was funny that way. Some things, it just knew. The target of a spell, the owner of an object, and sometimes even your heart's desire.
Right now, Hermione would be happy if she could just find magical Goo Gone.
Thoughts and theories began formulating in her mind as she heard feet heading back up the stairs. She had completely forgotten about tea, one of the reasons she was happy Sirius suggested it. She often got so wrapped up in her current project that she forgot about silly things like sustenance. Her brain currently felt like it was on overdrive and her fingers itched to grab her wand and start some preliminary casting.
Her face registered surprised as not one, but two people came into the room. "Harry! I didn't know you'd be needed on this as well."
"I wasn't," said Harry. "But Sirius thought it'd be nice for the three of us to have lunch together."
"Probably just you two, I'm afraid," said Sirius. "I have a few things to attend to but you both make yourselves right at home."
Hermione stared at the empty space Sirius left behind. Something felt off. She looked up at Harry.
Hair combed. Fresh robes. And what was that smell? She sniffed the air. Cologne? No, Harry didn't wear cologne unless he was going to see Ginny. Odd. Maybe he was heading to the Burrow after lunch.
The two friends headed into the kitchen where lunch was already being served. The soup looked grand and Hermione couldn't help but bend down and draw in a long whiff of the aromatic broth. The tang of onion touched her nose as she deeply breathed. She couldn't remember a meal ever smelling so divine.
Sitting at the table, she caught a whiff of another scent. She picked up her spoon slowly before setting it down. Then she picked up her cup of tea, took a drink, and replaced the cup. No, that wasn't it. She leaned over a bit to Harry, breathed deep, and sat back in her chair, garnering a strange look from her friend.
Something here just wasn't right. Hermione was distinctly unsettled. Her nose was itchy, her skin was tingly and something was definitely off. Was it from the curse on the portrait? It was true that Mrs. Black had evaded her best efforts at removal. It wasn't often Hermione was foiled by a magical object. Perhaps she was getting too worked up about it, taking the insults too personally.
Perhaps she just needed to get the damn thing off the wall.
Unable to sit in her seat another minute, Hermione begged off the rest of the meal with the excuse of needing to grab a curse breaking compendium from Flourish and Blotts. Harry nodded, confusing but realizing there was no point in arguing, and Hermione was soon out the door.
Odd, thought Sirius from where he was watching in another room. He thought for sure the girl would have a reaction as soon as she saw Harry. Well, she did appear to be having a reaction but not the one he hoped for. Maybe she just needed more exposure.
Unsurprisingly, Hermione found herself actually in Flourish and Blotts. The endless rows of books in the musty smelling shop never ceased to enthrall her.
Her head was bent low, fingers ghosting over each spine as she breathed in the fragrance of each tome before coming to an abrupt halt, hitting what felt to be a fabric covered wall. She looked up, alarmed. "Oh! Hello, Professor."
"Miss Granger, we've been partners now for months. You don't have to keep calling me Professor."
"You still call me Miss Granger," Hermione responded and he gave no reply.
She watched the tall, enigmatic man as he gave her a curt nod before stepping around her and into a different aisle. There was another magical object that defied explanation.
But what was that tantalizing scent in the air? It smelled like parchment…and fresh herbs…and something she couldn't define. Something masculine. Something strong.
Something amazing and she simply had to smell it again.
Peering around the corner, she realized it had to be Snape that she smelled. She crept along the bookshelf, sniffing one aisle over and watched as he made a book selection. Why was she being so sneaky? She could just walk up to him and talk to him about any number of things if she felt like it but her brain was feeling strangely muddled, almost as though she were heading toward intoxicated.
Snape paused near the end of the aisle and Hermione took her opportunity. She craned her neck around the end cap and took a deep whiff of ex-Professor. He was brilliant, her mind mused. He was tangy and rich and heady. He was dark chocolate and wine and a new novel. He smelled delicious. Before she knew it, her nose was buried in the side of his wool jacket.
"Miss Granger, please kindly explain what the hell you think you are doing?"
Shocked mid sniff, Hermione's dilated brown eyes snapped up to less than impressed black.
"I've bathed recently, I assure you, if that's your query."
It didn't take the brightest witch of any age to realize that Snape not amused by her overwhelming need to breath in his luxurious smell. Thinking fast, she responded, "Oh no, sir, that wasn't it at all. I had just dropped a contact, you see. And my eyes were closed because they were irritated and they couldn't see anyway so I figured what was the bother? I hadn't even realized you were so near. Sorry if I bothered you," she spat out as quick as the Hogwarts Express before quickly leaving the store with her purchase, trying to figure out what in the name of wizardry was wrong with her.
Snape watched her go with one brow raised. Hermione Granger had been a bit of an odd duck since the first day he saw her but she had been fairly normal as his sometimes partner in freelance curse breaking. They had met again working for the Ministry and found they worked well together. They also found out they had no use for the Ministry. Both were independently wealthy, public figures and damn fine curse breakers. They had no need for "The System." Both despised the hierarchy and routine calls they were sent on. It wasn't long before both Snape and Granger left to try their hand at working on their own, calling on each other when another head or wand was needed. It had served them well so far.
Things had, in fact, worked out very well for one Severus Snape. He had steady employment with no boss, a decent home, and privacy. And free time. The only thing he was missing…was Hermione.
He wasn't sure when he had started falling for the little minx, but the fact still remained. Now, however, something seemed off with her. But if there was something Severus knew how to do, it was get to the bottom of things. And so he would.
