AN: Excuse me for the delay, but here it is, chapter 3. There's not so much Hermione - Snape interaction just yet, but next chapter I will inevitably write about them. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

"Er... I mean... not Hermione, but Mrs... Miss Granger?" Snape stammered, looking as though he'd seen a ghost. "You... and..." The words were stuck in his throat.

The woman didn't gave him any sign of recognition, but looked him as if he were a perfect stranger. "Sir, how do you know me exactly? Have we met before?" she asked him, while racking her brains for any memory of him.

Snape's eyes narrowed. Had he mixed her up with someone who looked a lot like her? Or was it just a projection of his own imagination and desire? Because if there was one person he had missed an awful lot the past 20 years, it was her. After the War, he'd been found at the very last moment by one of his fellow Death Eaters who'd got the order to get rid of his corpse. He'd never expected that person to feel the least compassionate, but somehow he woke up in a wizarding hospital in Slovenia. When he got out of hospital a year had passed by and he didn't feel the urge to return to Hogwarts and everybody he knew. That way, loads of people hadn't a clue that he was still alive. Hermione was the only person he'd tried to contact, but it had been in vain.

"Excuse me, I... um... I must have mistaken you for someone else, the resemblance is just so striking," Snape said, finding his composure again.

The woman looked at him with a gleam of interest in her eyes. "No, I am Hermione Granger. It's just that I don't think that I've ever met you before. Surely, I would recall?"

Snape was confused for a moment and just stood there, dumbfounded and rendered speechless. Robert, who'd kept silent all this time, decided to intervene here. "'Mione, love, this is Severus Snape. We used to go to Hogwarts together, well I was in my first year, and he in his fifth, but we found each other through our love for Potions."

"Yes, you've told me that. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," said Hermione, extending her hand. Snape shook it and by standing closer to her, he could perceive the subtle smell of her perfume. It was a familiar smell, from long ago. "Come on, let me carry your bag inside."

"No, don't. It's really heavy!" Snape grumbled.

Hermione laughed, "Don't be silly! Are you a wizard or not? I'll use the locomotor spell, obviously." And as she said it, she took out her wand from the back pocket of her jeans and flicked it lightly. She lifted the bag off the ground with ease and made her way inside, the bag floating behind her.

Robert gave Snape a little pat on the shoulder and laughed as well. He followed Hermione into the bungalow and beckoned Snape to come too. Reluctantly, Severus moved his feet, pondering over what had just happened.

The bungalow was rather cosy, but not the type of cosy that Snape preferred. In general, it was too light, too airy, too happy, and above all too cliché for Snape to be enamoured by it.

In the living room there was a big hearth and around it a set of soft, brown chairs. The table and window sills were decorated with candles and photo frames, which showed moving pictures of the happy couple. And even though it was meant to look minimalistic and simple, Snape couldn't help but notice the perfectly polished parquet and technological gadgets everywhere.

Above the dining room, an antique chandelier gave off a dim glow, which was reflected on the wooden walls. On one of the walls, there was a huge mirror and Snape was taken aback for a second when he saw his own reflection. His cheeks were a bit sunken, his hair was stickier than ever. The years hadn't gone easy on him either.

Walking on, he entered the kitchen, which was also in the same country-like style. Dark wooden cupboards, light wooden floor, large windows... The natural colours were more represented here, and of all the rooms, Snape thought this one seemed the most peaceful.

Robert came to stand next to him. "D'you like it? Hermione furnished it all by herself. I said to myself: that girl knows about this stuff, let her do her thing, and this is the result," said Robert, waving animatedly around him. "The minute I stepped into this bungalow, I was hooked, Sev."

"I'm not blown away by it, Robert. But I can see why you would be fond of it," said Snape dryly.

"Oh Sev, within two weeks, when you'll have to leave again, this place will be in your heart too, I promise. And come look," Robert crossed the room to the large windows in the back," this is our garden."

Looking through the glass, shimmering in the afternoon sunlight, Severus saw a magnificent view. The house was standing at the foot of a steep slope and everywhere he looked, large trees and shrubs adorned the hill. On both sides of the slope, two slim and tall mountains arose, throwing shadow over it all. In between the tops of the mountains, the blue sky shone brightly.

"That's something else, isn't it?" said Robert wit a silly grin on his face. "Hermione and I, we come here every summer. We never get tired of it. And see these forests over there? That's where we're going to hike a bit... that is, if you want? I mean, you weren't too keen on hiking today?"

"I just need a little bit of rest, that is all," said Snape. "I'll better get some sleep now, and put my luggage away."

"Your luggage is already taken care of, Sev... Hey, now that I think of it, it seemed like you knew Hermione well? Not that it would surprise me, given that she probably went to Hogwarts while you were a member of staff there."

"Yes, she was a student and..." Snape hesitated, debating what to tell Robert. He took a breath and continued: "I don't know her as well as you think. I know that she was one of the Golden Trio, as Potter, Weasley and she were called back in the day, but other than that I didn't socialise with her nor did I think she was astoundingly proficient in Potion brewing or any subject for that matter. A know-it-all, yes, but she definitely lacked great talent. Consequently, I've always wondered what happened with her after the Battle, to be honest. My best guess was some smaller post at the Ministry of Magic, but apparently that didn't work out."

Robert looked incredulously at him and shook his head. He walked up to a cupboard in the living-room that was chock-a-block with all kinds of brandy and he gestured Snape to sit down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace.

"Sev," said Robert seriously, while handing Snape a glass, "she did work at the Ministry. And she wasn't mediocre, not at all. In fact, she was well on her way to become the greatest Minister of Magic Britain had ever seen. That's also when and where our paths crossed. I was this British ambassador from the US and I had several meetings with Shacklebolt. At the time she was his assistant at the Department of Magical Law, so naturally we met. Nothing happened however, not until she was hit -"

Snape's eyes flashed a second and he interrupted worryingly: "She was hit? When? Where? In what circumstances?"

Snape's reaction was quite surprising to Robert and he looked curiously at him. "She was... hit... yes, in a small riot organised by adversaries of the new legislations. It was a Forgetfulness Charm unfortunately. At St-Mungo's they were able to restore quite a lot of her memory, but she lost too much to serve as a Ministry magistrate. She was so down in the dumps that I offered her to come with me to the US, and she acquiesced pretty fast. It didn't take long for us to get together, really, and we moved to Canada. And look where she is now, one of the most eminent judges in the area."

At this point in his story, Robert was blushing and gesticulating lively. Snape on the other hand was fairly flustered, clutching the arm rests of the chair and feeling his stomach turn. That was the reason she'd forgotten about him and why the few letters he'd tried to send her always came back to him. All these years of waiting and longing, it was all waisted.

"Why did you never tell me anything? Isn't having a partner quite relevant news?" Snape asked gruffly.

"I didn't know you cared... and quite frankly, in the past years we didn't talk very much now did we? Besides, is it that special?" Robert asked.

"Well... With a young woman like Miss Granger..." Snape mumbled, crossing his arms. "I may not be very acquainted with her, but she was still one of my students."

"Yeah, those things happen, the world is smaller than you think. But hey, that's no reason to sulk, is it?' Robert remarked, when he saw Snape's frown. "We're going to have a wonderful two weeks together. Forget the past! You'll see, she's a great cook and an entertainer and all that," said Robert, in his usual chirpy way again.

Snape pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Yes... I have no doubt that she is... I think I'll go and have a little nap now. Anything on the programme this evening that I should know of?"

"Er... Well, I suggest maybe having a nice welcoming dinner? And surveying the area a bit. Just a little walk around the bungalow, so that you'll know your way around and won't get lost."

Snape nodded, before turning around. On his way to the stairs, he nearly bumped into Hermione. "Oh, er... Severus was it? I'm sorry, I'm bad with names. I've put your bag in the guest room, but I'm afraid I broke one of your phials" Hermione gave a guilty smile.

"How on earth did you manage to do just that?" Snape asked, scowling at her.

"I'm so, so sorry, it just rolled out of your bag, and I wanted to put it back, but I didn't grasp it tightly enough and it slipped out of my fingers and it fell to the ground... I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to-" Hermione rambled, feeling her cheeks go red.

"Are you aware that you could have easily repaired it with Reparo? I may not have noticed even," said Snape in annoyance. "Never mind, it is too late now. Don't touch my tools and personal belongings ever again, is that understood?"

Hermione nodded fervently. She was thrown off balance by his snarky response, but somehow she wanted to make it right. This was weird, because she'd never felt that way with any man before. She'd never sought for approval, she'd always been self-confident enough, but Snape could seemingly single-handedly eradicate all of that confidence with a snap of his fingers.

In his bedroom, Snape locked the door and sunk down on the white coverlet on the bed. His bag was leaning against the wardrobe and some other phials were scattered around it. He rolled his eyes and took out his wand to clean up the mess. When he crossed Hermione on the stairs, a memory flashed through his mind. Just a very small memory, nothing noteworthy, but it moved him more than he wanted to admit.

In her fifth year, he'd given her detention once, because earlier that week she'd dropped a few of his jars with precious ingredients. It was her first detention ever for Potions, and she was quite disgruntled from the very first to the very last minute of it. Especially because he'd slightly threatened that if she didn't do well in detention, he would meddle with her OWLs. For one and a half hour on end she had to repair vases and cups and cauldrons and phials, and afterwards she'd had cramps in her wand arm for the rest of the evening.

All the while, Snape had had the opportunity to watch her carefully, but without her noticing. Not in a creepy way, but with a genuine fascination for the young witch. Yes, she was clumsy, aggravatingly so, but she was exceptional on so many other levels that he couldn't help but appreciate her just a little bit. And every now and then, she furtively looked up to steal a glance, and when he looked back, she quickly turned away.

Snape closed his eyes to keep that shy smile in his mind, but it slipped away out of his grasp. It was too long ago, and the edges of that memory had faded too much to hold on to it any longer.

"And don't forget, Severus, she is someone else's now," said Snape wistfully. "She's with Robert now... She doesn't remember you, nor what you had. Forget the past, Sev," he said, imitating Robert.

After a few minutes, Snape's eyelids became heavy and he let himself drift off into a dreamless sleep. Somewhere in the back of his mind, images of Hermione still simmered and wavered. Images of a time when he felt more alive than ever.