CHAPTER TWO

Severus and Hermione had been walking in silence for quite some time before either of them spoke. She was biting at the ice cream cone when he started rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. She knew that meant he wanted to say something, so she looked up in anticipation.

"I apologize for what you had to go through just now," he said quietly. "I suppose I should have mentioned the downside to being in a relationship with me."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, taking another bite of the cone.

"You believe I'm a good person, a fact of which I am always grateful. But not everyone is like you. You can't expect Harry, who probably still thinks of me as a greasy old git with no capacity for good nature, to believe the same way you do. If you wish to continue our…rather intimate situation, be prepared to receive ridicule. "

"Not like I haven't been ridiculed enough in my life," she said, then cleared her throat, "you show know that." She grinned and he averted his eyes. "Anyway, if someone wants to believe you're a soddy git, let them, they're missing out. I know who you are and that's really all that matters, isn't it?"

Severus nodded. "Very well, then." He waited a moment before he spoke again. "There's something else we need to talk about." Hermione raised her eyebrows, telling him to continue. "When are you going to clue Mr. Weasley in about our...relationship?"

Hermione mumbled something about telling him she was "visiting her parents," but Severus just shook his head. "Really, Hermione. As much as I hate him for how he's treated you, I believe he has a right to know."

"Yes, I suppose so…" Hermione replied, sucking ice cream out of the bottom of the cone. "I'll… uh… I… I don't know how."

"Oh, we must remember this occasion. Insufferable little know-it-all doesn't know what to do," the tall, dark man teased. She slapped him on the arm.

"You are no help."

His mouth quirked up into something of a smile, and he inquired, "How about we get some lunch and discuss our situation more comfortably?"

"That sounds suitable," she said, then, looking at her ice cream cone, added, "I always did like eating dessert before a meal."

They walked down a few blocks to Da Genarro, a nice little Italian restaurant with, as Hermione put it, "the best pizza you can imagine."

Hermione and Severus were seated promptly, and ordered their drinks—a Coke for Hermione and mineral water for Severus. When the waitress came back with their drinks, the two were bickering over which pizza to get.

"Sevvy! Trust me, the Gennarino pizza is to die for," Hermione challenged. The pizza she mentioned was topped with tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, onions, peppers, Italian sausage, and fresh egg.

"First of all, never… call me that name again," he threatened.

"What, Sevvy? Sevvy, Sevvy, Sevvy! It's so much happier than Severus."

"Thank you for mocking my name, and you know I'm not a particularly happy person a great deal of the time," he countered, then said, "Now, I don't know what's wrong with a perfect normal Margherita pizza." All this had on it was tomato and mozzarella.

"Honestly, Sevvy, you're so boring," Hermione taunted.

The waitress quickly jumped in before Severus could say anything, asking, "Would you like me to come back in a few minutes?"

"Yes, that would be splendid," Severus replied. She hurried away to help one of her other tables.

"Gennarino," Hermione said quickly.

"Margherita."

"Gennarino."

"No."

"Yes."

"No," he pressed, his voice sinking down to a whisper.

"Can we compromise?"

"And how, perchance, are we going to do that?"

"Um, we could… get it… Sev, why don't you want the Gennarino pizza?"

"It sounds simply dreadful. Who puts that many different foods on a pizza? Simple is better."

"More is tastier!"

"Good things come in small packages," he countered.

"You are so impossible!" she complained.

He smirked. "Are you just figuring that out?"

She glared at him. "Ok, do you like mushrooms?"

"Not particularly."

"Ham?"

"It's… decent, I suppose."

"Onions?"

"Heavens no."

"Peppers," she continued.

"Tolerable."

"Italian sausage."

"If there's no ham."

"Egg. Fresh egg."

"I can't fathom anyone would like egg on a pizza. Dreadful."

"Ok, so can we get a pizza with ham or Italian sausage and peppers?"

"We might as well just get the Margherita pizza," he said stubbornly.

Hermione sighed. "What about… the Quattro Formaggi?" This, as its name suggested, had four cheeses: mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmesan, and cheddar.

Severus looked at his menu to see what was on it, and Hermione smiled at the expression he wore while he was reading. He looked up with his eyes, and asked, "Whatever are you smiling at?"

"Nothing," Hermione said innocently. "Just you."

He shook his head, and closed the menu. "You are a strange girl. But, your new choice of pizza is suitable."

Hermione smiled contentedly and took a sip of Coke. "Good."

Severus stared at the young woman across the table from him. He still found it hard to figure why Hermione liked him, or even loved him. He felt heat rising in his face, so he took a long sip of water.

The waitress came over and asked, "Have you decided yet?"

Severus spoke up. "Yes, we have, we'd like to get the Quattro Formaggi, please."

She nodded and said, "It will be ready in about fifteen or twenty minutes. Would either of you like a refill?"

They both shook their heads, and she continued, "Ok, I'll take your menus, then." She did so, and shuffled off to the kitchen.

Hermione had put her hands on the table, and was now picking at them; it was a habit Severus had recently learned about. He reached across the table and took one of her hands, holding it in the middle of the table. "Don't do that."

"Sorry…"

She took his hand and turned it palm up, rubbing his calluses softly. Her wedding band shone on her finger, and she stared at it guiltily. Hurriedly, she took back her hand, and took it off, putting it in her pocket.

"Sorry," she said again.

He shook his head quickly. "Don't be sorry."

For the third time that day, Hermione's eyes hazed over with tears. Severus reacted quickly. "Hermione, dear, please don't…" he implored, and dried her tears with his napkin.

Through her tears, she smiled. "Did you just call me dear?"

Severus cleared his throat, and tried to cover. "No, I said… cheer…"

She let him off easily, as she figured it was defeat enough to him that he had no good defence. He took a sip of water, and promptly changed the subject. "There was a reason we came here in the first place, which was to discuss your… predicament comfortably. Are you comfortable?"

'I'd be more comfortable with your arms around me, but…' "Yes, I'm quite content."

"Well then. I'll start, since I presume you won't," he began, then took another sip of water before continuing. "You are married to Mr. Weasley. Quite unhappily. You gallivant with me. Quite happily, though I can't suppose why. Mr. Weasley is unaware of the happier part of your life, as he is a right git and too focused on the unlikely goal of becoming a Quidditch player. Correct so far?"

Hermione giggled and nodded. "Correct, Master Snape!"

He shook his head and continued. "Now you are in the lovely situation of having to inform him of this, and you are stuck, for once, without an answer, and without a book to find an answer."

"I hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"Quite aware. But you hate me less times than everyone else hates me, so all is forgiven." His mouth twitched into a half-smile, then he forged on. "At any rate, you need my sage advice. And I will give you two options: You tell him, with no mention of my name, that you don't love him, and he doesn't deserve you. Which he doesn't. Or, you flounce in excitedly, say, 'I'm in love with the teacher you hated most in school, and I'm running away with him.' I personally would suggest the first as a realistic choice, but if you opt to use the second, you must capture an image of his reaction."

Hermione had gone into a laughing fit around the middle of Severus's second suggestion, and was now attempting to breathe and respond. "I tend to agree with the first being more realistic," she said breathlessly.

He loved her laugh, so much that he had developed a pretty decent ability to say humourous things.

"Well, then, problem solved?"

"To an extent, I suppose. It's one thing to figure out what one is going to say. It's a wholly different thing to actually say it."

He was nodding in agreement when the waitress brought their pizza and two plates out. It was steaming, the cheese still gooey, and the crust crispy.

"Mm, this looks delicious, thanks so much," Hermione said.

The waitress smiled and asked, "Is there anything I can get you?"

"I'd like some more water please," Severus said. "Hermione, more soda?"

Hermione shook her head. The waitress nodded. "I'll have your water out in just a moment."

Severus handed Hermione a plate with two slices of pizza on it, then gave himself two slices as well. Hermione stared at her. "I think it's too hot to eat."

"Yes," Severus agreed. They got quiet, both staring at the sizzling pizza.

Finally, Hermione spoke. "How are things at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, you know."

"Except I don't, or I wouldn't have asked."

"Maybe you're just trying to pass the time before the pizza cools down."

"Maybe you're a prat."

"Maybe you're an ear basher."

Hermione glared at him. "How are things at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, you know," he repeated, then, at the continued glare he was receiving, said, "Everyone hates my House, everyone loves your House, and Dumbledore is a nutter. I suppose it's better than when your lot was there, though, no Potters or Weasleys." Ginny, the last of the Weasleys, had finished four years ago, and none of the next generation of Weasleys were old enough yet.

"Mm," Hermione responded elusively. "Anyone like me?"

'No one is like you.' "There is one boy who quite likes to read, but he could never match your… brain capacity."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant to be." Severus picked up a slice of pizza, and bit into it delicately. He decided it was cool enough to eat, and took a larger bite.

"Is the pizza ok now?" Hermione asked, eyeing it cautiously.

"Yes, but it's still rather warm."

She picked up a piece and bit into it. "Ahh, this is delicious. Maybe not as delicious as Gennarino, but, it's pleasant."

He rolled his eyes and said, "You are the only person I know who would call a piece of pizza 'pleasant.'"

"I'm one of a kind, I know," she smirked, taking another bite.

While he ate, Severus watched Hermione from under his eyelids. He never figured he'd think this about anyone, but, she looked so darned cute when she ate. He smiled slightly.

"Whatever are you smiling at?" Hermione asked, glad to turn the tables on him.

"Nothing. Just you," he countered. She grinned widely, then began on her second slice of pizza.

In about ten minutes, the pizza was gone, and Hermione was taking a small sip of Coke.

"How are you able to have just one glass of soda with an entire meal?" Severus asked.

"I'm just that amazing, I guess."

"Yes. You are."

She blushed slightly, and took another sip. When their waitress came back over, Severus said, "Could we get a piece of tiramisu, perhaps?"

"Certainly," the waitress said, picking up the plates. "One plate or two?"

"One is fine."

"It'll be ready in a moment."

"Thank you."

There was a pause, then Hermione said, "What prompted you to do that?"

"Um… a surge of cheeriness?"

"Mm, well then, you need to have those more often. Tiramisu is amazing."

"That it is."

The waitress brought the dessert out, along with the check. "Thank you, you two have a lovely day."

"Thank you," Hermione and Severus said at the same time. The waitress smiled and walked away.

They each picked up a spoon, and took a bite. "Mm, this is fantastic," Hermione approved.

"That it is…"

The two wizards inhaled the rest of the tiramisu until there was only one bite left.

"All for you, Hermione."

"No, no, I insist, you eat it, Sev."

He challenged her with his eyes, and she gave in. "Ok," she sighed, and ate it. She leaned across the table and kissed him. He welcomed it greatly, setting his hand on the back of her head. After a moment, she broke off, and murmured, "To be continued."

She bit her lip, and Severus stared at her for a second before picking up the bill. He set it back down with a 20£ note, and stood up, offering Hermione his hand. She took it, and they walked out into the bright sunshine, not knowing what the day would bring them.


Ron paced around the living room, wondering where Hermione was. He was murmuring to himself. "Where the hell does she always get off to?" he wondered angrily. "Barely tells me where she's going, never tells me if she's coming back. I wish I could call her parents right up and ask if she's there." Then he realized he could. He looked around and spotted their cell phone on the table; Hermione had just taught him how to use it.

Looking through the address book, he found the number for Hermione's parents and called it.

"Hello?" a female voice answered.

"Lynette, hi, it's Ron," he said into the slim, silver phone.

"Oh, hello, Ron, how are you doing?"

"Fine. Is Hermione there?"

"Hermione? We haven't seen her since the time you both came over. Is everything ok?"

"She said she was going to see you today."

"Oh, she probably got caught up in a bookstore or something. You know her. I'll call back if she comes."

"Ok."

" Don't worry too much, Ron, she's pretty self-sufficient."

"Yea, yea. Well, 'bye."

"Goodbye."

He clicked the phone off and wondered where Hermione was.