It was early the next morning when she heard the persistent tapping on her door. Surprised, she opened it quickly and allowed a flustered and confused Errol. She ushered him in and allowed him to rest on her desk for a while. Upon seeing her smiling face, the owl dutifully held out his leg and allowed Hermione to take the missive from him.

Unwinding the scroll, Hermione was unsurprised to find a letter written in Ron's messy penmanship. It seemed that the boys would be in Hogsmeade later that day.

Hermione smirked. That would work perfectly.

Hermione was sitting in their shared sitting room enjoying a hot cup of tea and a piece of toast when Professor Snape finally decided to enter the land of the living. He was dressed for the day, but he still seemed sleepy, his hair somewhat tousled. Hermione had to stop herself from staring, but he just seemed...carefree - when compared to his usual alert self. "Good morning, Professor." She called quietly.

Severus noticeably jumped, finally seeing the petite witch sitting on the couch with that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet. "Miss Granger...I was expecting that you would already be at breakfast."

Hermione smiled at him. She had caught him unawares and it made him flustered. "I wasn't terribly hungry, so Sunny just brought me some toast." She returned her attention to the paper, but continued to speak to him. "I was actually planning on heading into Hogsmeade this morning to visit the apothecary before the school year started. We are quite low on several ingredients."

Severus felt a warmth spread across his cheeks when she used the word we. Was he blushing? Oh, he'd forgotten how tiresome it was to be a young adult. And why shouldn't she use the word we? They were sharing the ingredient supply anyway. It's not as though she meant anything...well it wasn't as if it were come joint asset as if they were an item. "I...yes, that would be a good plan."

"Alright, well, shall I meet you back here in, say, one hour?"

He watched as she brought her lips to the rim of the cup. Clearing his throat, he responded in the affirmative. He then walked back into his own room. What the hell was he going to wear?

He spent almost all of his time after his shower trying to pick out something to wear. He finally settled on a pair of blue jeans with a white button up shirt and a black blazer. It was infuriating though. He hadn't put this much thought into his clothes in...decades. And why did he even care what Hermione thought of his outfit?

When he came back into the sitting room, he found Hermione, standing there, waiting for him. She was reading through the Popular Potions magazine that had arrived yesterday. She was wearing tight jeans that clung to her arse perfectly. In addition, she was wearing a soft looking, white, cashmere sweater. He bet it was as soft as she was. Suddenly, he remembered that he wasn't wearing a robe, and had to actively try to will down his erection. Wow, he really needed to see some other women if he was reacting this strongly to Hermione.

She turned to look at him, her brown eyes looking him up and down. "Uh, Professor. I think you might need to buy some new clothes." She said biting her lip in nervousness.

Severus blushed instantly. He felt so awkward. Of course he couldn't even do something as simple as dress for a day out in Hogsmeade. Like a wounded animal, he snarled at her. "And just why is that?"

"Well...your clothes seem much too big on you at this point. Did you even try to transfigure them?" She asked.

Severus blushed even redder. He had noticed that his jeans didn't quite stay on his hips. He didn't think he'd gained that much weight in his years after school, but he supposed he did. He suddenly felt the tingling touch of magic being performed on his person.

Hermione was putting her wand away. "There, that should be good for now, but we should probably stop at Madame Malkins as well. Just think of how big your teaching robes will be! Well, shall we go?"

Severus nodded and allowed her to lead the way up out of the dungeon. His frowned when the continued up past the first floor, puzzled when they passed the second floor and was downright irritated when they stopped in front of the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor. "Where are you taking me, witch?" He asked, clearly annoyed.

Hermione whispered something unintelligible to the statue and it moved slowly to the side to reveal a dusty old passageway. "You Slytherins aren't the only ones who can be sneaky." She replied with a cheeky grin.

Severus pondered a minute before following her. Since the war was over, he wasn't worried as much, and he definitely didn't feel any alarm bells going off in his head. "What is this?"

"It's a secret passageway, to Honeyduke's cellar." Hermione replied flippantly.

"Oh and I suppose this is how Potter snuck out on Hogsmeade weekends?"

Hermione spun around so fast to look at him that he hair flew around her. She looked nervous. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

Severus pondered it for a little bit. What harm could it do? Only she knew about it and it wasn't as if she were a student anymore. "I suppose I could keep your secret. Just so long as you don't tell any students about it."

Hermione broke out in a grin. "Thank you! I promise I won't!" Severus was drawn to her when she smiled. It really highlighted how pretty she was, with freckles dancing across her nose and cheeks. Her eyes lit up. Her smile faltered. "Something on my face?" Her nose crinkled in somewhat embarrassed fashion.

He realized he was staring. "No. Let's keep going."

They continued the trip through the passage in a comfortable silence. It wasn't long, until they made it to the trap door that opened into the cellar of the sweet shop. When they made it to out onto the street, Hermione turned to face him. "So, Professor, where to first? The Apothecary, Madame Malkins, or Tomes and Scrolls?"

Severus was momentarily panicked. He hadn't planned on doing his clothing shopping with Hermione. Although he supposed that he would like a woman's opinion. It was no good spending money on something that didn't look good. When did he begin thinking of her as Hermione? "We should probably save the apothecary for last. There could be some ingredients that need to remain cold. Madame Malkins?"

Hermione nodded. "Good point, lead the way."

They made their way to the shop and as soon as Madame Malkin set eyes on Severus she turned chalk white and put a hand over her heart. "Merlin's Beard! It's like seeing a ghost! Are you related to Professor Snape?" She asked, once she had regained her composure.

"No, Madam, I am afraid that I am Professor Snape." He replied, without any malice or snark that Hermione had expected. "Potions accident." He said sheepishly to the older, plump woman.

"Well, I must say Severus, you could have had a worse accident. Imagine if you'd ended up horribly disfigured." Hermione found herself agreeing. It wasn't that Professor Snape wasn't attractive before, it was just that...seeing him as a young man gave her a new appreciation of him. "What can I help you with?"

"My clothes are a bit too big now." He reversed the transfiguration on his clothing and Madame Malkin clucked in agreement. She ushered him away behind the curtain, leaving Hermione to look around the shop until he was finished.

It wasn't too long until he came back out to the main area, with a bag stuffed to the brim with new clothes. He was blushing when he came out. "Don't ask. So, Tomes and Scrolls next?"

Hermione nodded and followed him out of the shop. "Madam Malkin seemed pretty friendly with you?"

"Well, that's what happens when you have been getting fitted for you robes by someone since you were eleven. She is a little bit of a meddler. I wouldn't be surprised if she and Dumbledore shared a common ancestor."

Hermione giggled. "Meddling with what? I guess they do both have blue eyes."

Before he could respond, the pair was greeted by the two people Severus would never want to see. "Hermione!"

"Ron! Harry! What are you two doing here?" She asked, excited and surprised.

"Didn't you get my owl? We invited you to lunch at the Three Broomsticks." Ron explained casually.

"No, I didn't get it." Hermione seemed to ponder for a minute. "Ron, did you send it with Errol?" She asked in a scolding tone. When the red headed nodded, guilty, Hermione lectured him. "Ronald, you know Errol is too old for such long flights! He is probably hiding up in the owlrey now, just trying to catch a break."

"Well, you are here anyway, so...do you and your new...friend, want to join us for lunch?" Harry asked, intrigued by the man that was standing with Hermione.

"Professor would you care to join us for lunch?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Severus fought to hold back a grimace. "Perhaps not, Miss Granger. I will just head over to the apothecary and then head back to Hogwarts." He replied. He had been enjoying his time with the Gryffindor witch.

Hermione frowned, her mouth making an adorable little pout, though he doubted that it was intentional. "But, please Professor? I wanted to see your method for picking out Haliwinkles. Your specimens were so lovely. And I hate walking up to the castle by myself."

Severus caved. "Oh fine, alright!"

Hermione turned back to her friends. "Boys you remember our potions master, Professor Snape?"

Harry's smile confirmed that he had an inkling of who it was the whole time, whereas Ron's dumbfounded face brought laughter to her lips. It was almost worth it too. "Sir!" Harry addressed him while shaking his hand. The boy had become an annoying nuisance ever since he had seen Severus's memories. Although it was nice to be respected, he could do without the...admiration?

So, while he never expected it, he found himself seated next to Miss Hermione Granger in a booth and looking across from him was Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Weasley's face was so red, obviously trying to hold in a question. Eventually, he just blurted it out. "What happened to your face?"

Severus scoffed at his lack of tact. "Potions accident." He spit out gruffly. Admitting failure to these imbeciles was uncomfortable to say the least.

"Is it like that forever?"

"I imagine so, yes. My cauldron exploded before I could add the component that would make the effects temporary." He replied.

"You created a permanent deaging potions?" The scarred wizard asked, incredulously.

"Yes, now could you not shout it, so that everyone in Hogsmeade hears you?" He snapped.

Everyone at the table was uncomfortable, until Hermione spoke. "Professor Snape has some really original ideas and the guts to try them out. I know that with just a few more iterations, he will have a very successful potion. I am glad that I have a Potions Master that will be able to pass on some really cutting edge techniques."

Severus felt his face become hot, hearing the words of her praise and just prayed to Merlin that he wasn't actually blushing.

After that, conversation seemed to flow much smoother. Severus didn't really contribute a lot, but it was nice to just be a part of such a lively group. When their food was cleared away, Hermione stood to hug the boys and he thought about what it might be like to hug her. To have her breasts pressed against his chest, and to smell her hair. Snapping out of his musings, he saw that Harry had again extended his hand to shake his own. Severus accepted. Weasley made no attempt, to which Severus decided, he was certainly not disappointed.

Hermione then lead them to the apothecary where they purchased ingredients to last them a while. When they were on their way back to Honeyduke's, Hermione referenced the lunch. "Thanks for having lunch. I owe you one." It was nice to do something for someone else, Severus decided. At the sweet shop, Hermione bought some chocolates. It wasn't until a bag of the fudge was placed in his hand that he noticed what she had gotten and that it was for him.

"Oh, Honeyduke's fudge. That's my -"

"Your favorite? I know."