Professor Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin First Class, had to arrive to class an hour early. Not because of any travel issues, but because invariably, she had autograph hounds to dispatch. Since she was not in London (or the UK for that matter) very frequently, Granger sightings were well attended, even after all this time. She tried to smile, but she was still thinking ahead to when class started. Another Chocolate Frogs trading card was shoved into her hand. She looked up and reflexively asked, "Name?" as she uncapped her Sharpie. A familiar baritone voice replied, "However you like…" Her breath caught and she scribbled something on the card and handed it back. He smirked as he told her, "See you later." Hermione did not remember signing anything else from that hour.
Severus Snape looked down at his card as he walked away. His eyes narrowed. She had written a rather quick missive. "Thanks for everything. – Hermione" She even drew a happy face next to her name. He'd have to get another autograph for Scorpius, he was keeping this one.
Somehow, she managed to start at 9:30 as scheduled. An agenda for the two days was given to the students and she started the first module of the lecture. As she spoke, Severus noticed she had the same hand waving habit as always, but now it was punctuating sentences, emphasizing thoughts almost like poetry. He blinked hard and pulled the Chocolate Frog card out of his pocket. He traced his finger around the circle of her impromptu happy face and wondered at the incredible hubris of this action. 'Bloody Gryffindors,' he thought as he glanced up. As she spoke about her experiences at Durmstrang, she seemed so enthusiastic about what she did. Introducing Muggle students to Durmstrang was no small task, but she related to the class that she had made some progress over her past five years there. He listened to her voice, and she was definitely talking, but nothing she said registered with him, only that she was not the girl that left Hogwarts with seven NEWTs. She had definitely grown up, and was amazingly still single. Looking her up and down, he decided it wasn't her looks holding her back. He tuned back in to what she was saying long enough to register her dismissing them for a lunch break. He looked up and their eyes locked. She timidly smiled and looked down to the floor. Was she blushing? Very curious, this was. He watched her turn on her heel and leave the conference room. He silently beseeched Merlin not to be tested on the material in this class.
"I'm about to do something incredibly Gryffindor…" He glanced up and saw Hermione Granger speaking to him as she leaned over his desk. 'Eye contact, eye contact,' he reminded himself. She continued, "If you haven't any plans for dinner, I'd like to take you to this nice Asian restaurant and catch up."
"No vindaloo and you have a bargain." He cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.
Hermione grabbed and then straddled a chair from another conference room table. She softly spoke, almost confidentially. "Class ends at five but dinner doesn't really get going around there until seven. I actually picked this location for the conference because it's so close to Brick Lane." Severus shrugged. "Brick Lane has all the curry houses," she explained. "If you meet me back here at 7, I can see which one we want to go to as we walk around. Good curry improves nearly every conversation. See you back here after lunch." Then she bounced away.
'How strange,' he thought. He wondered about the note on the Chocolate Frog card, and about the dinner invite. He wondered why she blushed. He knew what it usually meant, but what on earth would she possibly want to 'catch up' about? With him? For the rest of the class, he tried to be more attentive to make conversation later. At five he went back to his hotel room and changed into something more suitable for Muggle curry, conversation and walking around London. A date with a former student was not on the original agenda for this trip. But as he considered it, Hermione Granger was a sight better than those vapid women he had seen in summers past. A woman who could not hold a conversation did not hold his interest long. She obviously had the same issues with Weasley, who didn't even bother to finish his NEWTs. His loss. Any man would be lucky to have her. And she asked him out. How odd. He pulled on a black jumper and left to walk back and meet Hermione for their Brick Lane excursion into the land of Decent Curry.