They departed the train and Hermione recognized her parents right away. She dropped her carry-on at Snape's feet and leaped into her father's outstretched arms. Snape was surprised to see that he was a rather tall man. His hair which had been dark brown once was mostly grey. He had big muscular arms and lifted up Hermione as if she didn't weigh anything. The Minister relayed that the Aurors had altered her parent's memories to include their traveling to Australia for the year, while Hermione was away at Hogwarts. They didn't know much about the war, except that a battle had taken place and the Order had won. McGonagall had warned that the last school year would have to be repeated. McGonagall had accepted the position as Headmaster, since Snape resigned the day after the battle. He was honored that McGonagall offered to let him resume his position as Potions Master and gladly accepted. He was tired of battling the Dark Arts.

Hermione's Mother had walked over and was rubbing her daughter's back as her father still held her. Snape looked at them and thought; yeah she seemed like a Daddy's girl.

Snape realized Hermione's mother was staring at him and quickly wiped the sneer off his face. But she gave him a knowing look, like she had him pegged. Damn it, he wanted to make a good impression on them. He'd planned to have them eating out of his hand. She wasn't paying attention to him now and he was able to really look at her. She was a petite woman like her daughter and Snape saw right away where Hermione got her good looks from. There was something odd about them that Snape couldn't put his finger on at first, and then it hit him. Hermione's father was much older than her mother. He suddenly remembered that there was 20 years difference between the two. No wonder they didn't have any qualms about him being older than Hermione. Well that was one thing in his favor, if he did decide to choose Hermione as his wife. He had no doubt Hermione would chose him in a heartbeat...if the way she had attacked him in the Chamber was any indication. Yes, if he decided he wanted Hermione Granger, he could have her eating out of the palm of his hand…if he wanted to of course. Hermione was hugging her mom now and still no one had acknowledged him. The old familiar feeling of not being wanted started to surface and he forced it back down.

Suddenly, Hermione pulled out of their embraces and said, "Oh my goodness, where are my manners?" Then flippantly added, "My parents raised me better than this..." Her parents laughed at her cheekiness as she ran over to Snape who was holding both their bags and fairly dragged him over to meet them. "Mom & Dad, this is my Professor from school."

Snape looked at her quickly. He thought surely she would introduce him as her Finance. Maybe she misunderstood him when he gave the speech about not marrying her...he hadn't meant that he wouldn't consider marrying her, just for her to not assume anything.

He opened his mouth to correct her introduction but she rushed on, "Thank you so much for giving us a place to lay low for a little while." She'd said this in a conspirators tone, looking around as if to ensure no one had overheard her.

Her father leaned in and said, "They'll never take us alive." Hermione threw her head back and laughed with abandon. Her father was a James Bond fanatic and loved anything that had to do with spying. Hermione knew that would be one thing in Snape's favor.

Professor Snape could only watch in mild amazement...who were these people? Her father stepped forward and gave him a firm handshake while taking in his appearance, not seeming very impressed. Snape tried not to wince at the grip her father had on his hand. He squeezed Snape's bicep and declared, "Son, we're going to have to work on those muscles...no son-in-law of mine is going to be a scrawny..."

Snape pulled his hand back, flexing his fingers, but secretly gloated that her Dad was already calling him son-in-law…that is until Hermione opened her big mouth and spoiled it.

"Dad," She chastised, "Professor Snape and I don't even know if we like each other. It's too early to be talking marriage. This vacation is a chance for us to get to know each other." She looped her arm through Snape's arm and looked at her Dad defiantly.

"Well is that getting to know each other business," her Dad said snatching the bags out of Snape's hands, "going to require you to share the same bedroom? Your mom seems to think so." Her Dad winked at him over Hermione's head before turning and leading them towards the parking lot.

For some unknown reason, Snape felt a thrill up and down his spine at the thought of sleeping next to Granger every night. This vacation might be a little fun...

"Geez Dad, I'm not sleeping with him, are you crazy? We are hiding out and becoming better acquainted. Isn't that right professor?"

...and maybe not so fun, Snape thought, a little peeved that her mother's sigh of relief made it seem as if she were relieved that her daughter wasn't sleeping with him. He knew he wasn't what you'd call a handsome man, and Granger wasn't the first person to tell him that his hair looked greasy…but come on…she could do a lot worse than him.

Hermione was now walking backwards next to her father to look back at Snape, a smug little look on her face; satisfied that Snape knew she was in control.

Snape waited until they reached the car before he added, "No Sir, Hermione and I are not having sexual relations...except for that one time, of course." He looked over and saw that Hermione was seething. He smiled sweetly at her as she slid in the backseat of the car. Snape's smile faded when he heard Hermione's mom, who had already slid into the front seat, yell back to her daughter. "Oh God, Hermione, what were you thinking? Please tell me you used protection."

"Mom! I don't want to talk about this here." Hermione gritted out.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? What was she thinking? Snape wondered. He might not be Harry Potter, in the looks department, but he wasn't an ogre either. He caught his reflection in the car window, a sneer on his lip and thought, who am I kidding? He realized Hermione's father was standing next to him and braced himself, but her dad was actually smiling. He smacked Snape on the back roughly and said, "Was worried for a moment you weren't a real man. I mean Hermione's beautiful like her mother. Any young man who can look at her and not want to be with her is not worth his salt...a healthy sexual relationship is the glue that holds a relationship together...don't let anybody tell you differently."

Who are these people? Snape thought again as he slid into the backseat next to Hermione. She slid over closer to her door when their legs touched. Snape turned to apologize but she was glaring at him. He glared back thinking, I can out glare anyone, sweetheart, but he had to drop his glaze first. He had never seenher so angry. Granted he hadn't spent much time around her before the past two weeks when he constantly shadowed her to keep her from telling anyone they had been intimate. He felt like an ass when he realized he'd just revealed something to her mom that she may not have wanted her to know.

Hermione's hand was on her knee and he slowly reached out and clasped her hand. He held his breath thinking that if she were anything like Lily, she would snatch her hand away and tell him to go to hell.

Hermione looked down at his hand holding hers. She just sighed and entwined her hand in his and gave it a warm squeeze. He held his breath for a moment, thinking it was a trick but relaxed when he realized she wasn't angry anymore.

Truth was…Hermione had been trying to think of a way to broach the subject. She knew her parents were open-minded and she wanted to talk to her mom about her first time. She had to fight to keep from laughing when she thought her mom might as well have yelled, "ewww," when she heard Hermione had slept with Professor Snape. She had seen the look on Snape's face...he deserved it. She knew her mom was thinking more along the lines of diseases and not his appearance. Unbeknownst to Snape she had sent a picture of him to her Mom, during her sixth year. She had gone through a brief infatuation phase over the dark wizard. The way he carried himself during Defense of the Dark Arts, the way his voice sent chills up and down her spine, when he would instruct them on the dangers of dark spells, had given her dreams that would cause her to awaken so aroused, she had to masturbate to find relief. She would pretend it was his hand touching her in her most intimate of places, and cry out in pleasure as her orgasm seized her...thank Merlin for silencing charms. She had included the caption, 'Tall, Dark, Handsome, and Grumpy' on the back of the picture. Her mother had looked at Snape when he got off the train and thought he looked just like his picture.

Hermione squeezed his hand again and Snape was amazed that she seemed so forgiving. But then he remembered all of Harry's memories of her. He remembered wishing that he had a friend like her, when he had been a student at Hogwarts. Sitting in the back of her parent's car, while her Dad was speeding along, Snape realized Hermione was his friend, now. Hell, she had done more for him than anyone else had. Sadly he realized he never really had any true friends. Dumbledore was like a friend but Snape always felt that he would only be his friend as long as Snape was doing things for the Order.

He chanced a glance over at Hermione. She had never asked him for anything, she just kept giving. He thought again about sharing the same bedroom and mentally kicked himself for saying he didn't want to owe her anything and not wanting to marry her. Maybe she would be his friend first and then he could convince her he wanted more. Yes, she would be begging him to please marry her. He cleared his throat and said, "Has Miss Gr...Hermione told you how she saved my life, why if it wasn't for her..."

Suddenly, Hermione pulled away from him to look out the window. Damn it, she was remembering his stupid speech about finding someone else his own age.

"Oh we look forward to hearing all about your grand adventures...Oh, speaking of grand… I almost forgot. You received a large bouquet of flowers, Hermione. They were delivered this morning by a local florist.

Snape perked up immediately, flowers? Who would be sending her flowers? Snape wondered. He looked over at Hermione but he couldn't see her face in the darkness. He could tell, however, that she had just stiffened...she must know who had sent her the flowers and didn't seem to be too happy about it.

"Was there a card, Mum? Did it say who they were from?"

"Yes, Mione, the card read, oh wait, I brought it with me." She handed it back to Hermione and her Dad turned on the dome light so Hermione could read it. The light also allowed Snape to look at Hermione. Her hair was a little mussed up from their trip, but he had to admit to himself that didn't distract from her loveliness...only added to it. The inquisitive smile fell off her face as she read it and he could tell it upset her. Was she upset because of the message he could barely see scrawled or the signature at the bottom. He couldn't read the card clearly because of the angle in which she held the card.

"Read it aloud Mione, I'm sure your young man would like to know who's sending his girl flowers...trying to steal his girl right from under his nose." Her father said cheerily.

"It's not like that Daddy...Draco is just a friend."

Draco! His mind was screaming, since when was Draco one of her friends?

"Prove it...read the card." Her Dad goaded.

Hermione took a nervous glance at the Professor and looked away quickly when she saw the look on his face. He was mad that she had received flowers from Draco. She opened her mouth to explain but then she thought…why should she? She didn't owe him anything. He was the one who said he wasn't interested in marrying her. There was an innocent explanation to the flowers and card attached which she would tell her Mom about when they were alone, but she didn't owe her dad or Professor Snape an explanation.

"I can't stop thinking about you and look forward to seeing you again. Your Faithful Servant, Draco Malfoy." She couldn't help but giggle at the last part. That part had been her idea. Why shouldn't he call himself Veronica's Faithful Servant? He'd be lucky to have her.

She placed the card in her shoulder bag that he was sure must be charmed because she had already stuffed several things in there.

"It's nothing...it means nothing..." Snape could feel the nervous waves coming off of Hermione and his heart ached. Was Draco really a contender for Hermione's affections? He felt as if he were back in school and was helplessly watching James Potter steal Lily away from him all over again. No, he would not let that happen again. He would just have to think of something...but what? Confront Draco and threaten him to stay away from her, maybe? No, that wouldn't work; he was here and Draco was back at the Manor. How could he get a message to Draco to lay off, if no one was supposed to know that he was here? He looked over at Hermione; she was staring out her window, much like she had done on the train. She would be livid if she knew he warned off another suitor...another suitor...as if he were already a suitor. Well, why shouldn't he court Hermione? Her parents didn't seem to have a problem with it and he wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for her. He thought again about death by Nagini and shuddered. Hermione felt him shudder and reached out to squeeze his hand. He surprised her by bringing her hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on the back of her hand. She really did seem to care about his welfare; perhaps he still had a chance. Hermione placed her head on his shoulder and they rode in silence the rest of the way to her parent's home.