AN: This is still rated M, and JKR still owns all things Harry Potter.

Five years later:

Most of the time, Severus walked invisibly through the mortal realm. He rarely allowed himself to be seen. Occasionally, when things were too quiet, he'd allow some dunderhead to snap a blurred picture. He had to admit, the younger generation's obsession with his life and death was slightly amusing. He often reflected that the popular phrase 'Snape Lives' emblazoned robes were not completely correct.

He wasn't dead.

But he wouldn't call being a god really living.

To start with, he'd never been much of a voyeur. And Zeus (the insufferable windbag was worse than Dumbledore) had decreed that gods and mortals should not have…relations of that sort. It was the greatest taboo in the immortal realm. Since Zeus himself had been the most prolific seducer of mortals, Severus doubted that it had mattered much to anyone beside himself and Hera.

But it did matter a bit to Severus. It meant his romantic options were limited to the various goddesses (who tended to look down at their noses at him…as if he hadn't had more than enough of that) and the nymphs (and he drew the line at making love to a tree).

So he was stuck influencing everyone else toward passions of the flesh, and his occasional moments of desire were left unheeded.

Still, there were a few perks…besides being 'not dead'.

Young Draco Malfoy was dancing with Astoria Greengrass. The dark-headed pure-blood girl was not the boy's normal fare. Narcissa was pushing for the match.

Draco looked bored. Severus grinned.

"Try a bit of this then…" The power, so much more responsive than his old magic, swirled around the room.

Severus laughed as the unmistakable signs of attraction began to show up in the couple…he snagged a glass of chilled wine from a house elf that wasn't bothered by his attendance in the least. There was some quiet agreement between the elves (who could of course see even invisible 'gods' and the Olympic pantheon). Severus made a mental note to ask Athena.

A bit of red hair caught his attention.

What in Merlin's name were Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley doing in Malfoy manor? He drifted closer to eavesdrop.

"She cannot be in the wedding Harry. What will the papers say?"

"Ginny….she's my best friend."

The red-head pouted. "And your ex-girlfriend." She cupped her lover's face tenderly, obviously a writhing mass of insecurity in spite of the oversized diamond on her finger.

Potter sighed and ran a hand through his already mussed hair, then kissed her fingers. Damn it, it didn't matter if Severus was consciously using his power or not, everyone reacted like that when he came into the room.

Potter pulled the witch close and kissed his bride to be. "Hermione is going to be in the wedding. I'll tell her to bring a date."

Ginny snorted. "Oh Harry…she never dates."

Severus smirked. Oh really? He could fix that.

He did love a challenge.

SS

Severus put most of his old life under the heading of 'water under the bridge.' He did what he had to do to bring down a madman.

Most.

He did have a few regrets.

One of those was being forced to bully and degrade some of the finest minds that had ever entered his classroom. Dumbledore had insisted, and he knew that it was an important part of his persona. It had been absurdly easy to sneer at most of the students…the little dunderheads hadn't used half the brains they'd been born with.

But there had been a few notable exceptions.

Most of those, he'd been able to subtly help…even Fred and George Weasley had found answers to their potions problems while serving detention.

But Hermione Granger?

She'd been muggle-born and the best friend of Harry Potter.

He had been forced to be absolutely wretched to her. It made him angry every single time he thought about it.

The ignominy of taking points away from a student for being right…for being interested…when the others barely stopped drooling long enough to write down the assignment. It had been a very personal frustration for him.

And so, it pleased him to travel to London and look for her.

SS

She was little changed from what he remembered as he observed her moving through the halls of the Ministry with a pile of books held securely in her arms and a pile of files following in her wake. If anything, she seemed even less aware of the other witches and wizards around her as she went through her day, book firmly in front of her nose, cup of fragrant tea charmed to stay warm and avoid her elbows.

He followed her to her flat. It wasn't so much decorated as covered…in books. It was a bibliophile's wet dream. He waited for her to fall asleep…still with the book in front of her nose, and then perused the titles for the rest of the night. He could sleep, but he didn't need to.

Unfortunately, the amorous undertakings of her neighbors awakened the sleeping Miss Granger at an early hour the next morning.

"Bloody newlyweds."

She growled at the ceiling as she pushed her rampant curls out of her face and stumbled toward the tea pot.

He followed quietly as she followed the age-old rituals of making tea.

She wasn't bad looking…a bit scrawny…there was a good bet she forgot to eat half the time and lived on tea and whatever biscuits were close at hand.

She had the book in front of her open as she sipped. Hmmm….advanced charm-work. Exactly what he would have expected from her.

She pointed her wand at the pantry and a loaf of bread floated out and toast began to assemble itself.

So she did know how to feed herself. That was reassuring.

Now, how to find out which fellow she fancied…a muggle girl would have a phone or a computer (and he'd gotten fairly adept in the past five years breaking into either of them) But despite living in a muggle-style flat, Hermione didn't seem to have many of the muggle appliances. She had a pantry with chilling charms instead of a refrigerator. There was no microwave or stove.

She finished her tea and toast and made her way to her shower.

Severus took the opportunity to look in her bedroom. It was neat, except for the bed, which looked like a giant marshmallow that might eat the occupant with all the down pillows and comforter, and ruffles. Without examining his reason too closely he stopped to sniff the pillow. Mouthwatering.

His sense of smell had become even more sensitive as his power had matured. He could smell the artificial floral scent from her shampoo and soap, but under that were scents hat allowed him to ascertain that she was single, not a virgin but hardly experienced, healthy, and twenty-one days into her cycle. ..ovulating.

He looked around. No pictures. None of her family, none of her friends. Not even one of the battered half-kneezle she'd kept at Hogwarts.

He poked around as she walked into the room. Ah…photographs were in a dusty box under the bed. Painful memories? Perhaps.

He averted his eyes while she dressed, but he noticed her figure. Without robes she was still too skinny. Her hair was in decent shape; she'd done something to make the curls behave and then twisted them up on her head.

He followed her to work and she continued as she had the day before. It was rather dull but the day was broken up by sudden displays of passion in the hallway outside her dingy little closet of an office. Severus smirked.

Hermione was completely unaffected. Perhaps she just didn't find most of the males at the Ministry attractive. Severus had to applaud her taste.

She looked up when someone knocked softly at her office door.

Potter stood there, hair messy, robes open, looking like an ad for a Quidditch calendar. Severus toned down his aura immediately…no need to help the little prig out.

"Hello Harry."

Potter grinned and sat down in one of the chairs. "Hey Mione."

She raised her brows, clearly waiting for him to continue. "So I uh…talked to Ginny and she agreed that you can be my 'Best Man'."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry. You are marring Ron's sister. Just let Ron be your best man."

Potter frowned. "Hermione , you know very well we aren't even close anymore. First, I dated you, and now I'm marrying Ginny…he can barely stand to be in the same room as me for more than five minutes, and that's when he's in the country. George is a better mate than he is. If you don't want to, I can ask Neville…"

She sighed. "Harry, it isn't that I want to hurt you…it's just that Molly and Ginny don't want the papers to talk about you and me on Ginny's wedding day."

"I don't care what the papers say. You are my best friend."

Granger dimpled. "Thanks. But as your best friend, I think that the best thing I can do is sit this one out. Is there any way that Ginny would agree to the idea of neither of you having attendants? That way you skip all the awkwardness and the papers can avoid all the 'former Golden Trio' nastiness."

Potter slumped. "You are the only family I have."

She leaned forward and squeezed his hand lightly.

"I'll always be that. Now run along, I have real work to do."

Potter grinned and walked out the door.

Hermione sighed as she watched him go, a slight sadness in her eyes.

Oh balls. Was the chit in love with Potter?

Author's note: I think I have chapter four ready as well, so I'll post that late tonight or tomorrow, but after that expect updates every other day!