Chapter 6: Lessons From The Master
A/N: Here's Another Update...late post.
My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy S.S.
The Sitting Room, Snape's Estate, Muggle World...
A bright sunny day greeted Hermione Granger as she found herself washing up for breakfast. She had known first hand that Severus and the children had already been awake and gathered in the sitting room. When she reached the bottom of the winding staircase, she noticed that they had all been waiting for her. Hugo's smile had been bright as he tried repeatedly to examine Snape's free hand as the older wizard sat in his armchair with the same novel he had been reading for quite some time in his other hand while Rose sat rather patiently on the sofa flipping through the pages of a cookbook. She had been delighted by all the possible versions of breakfast that could be created.
"Looks like the gang is all here." said Hermione reaching the bottom of the stairs.
Snape looked up from his book. It was the first time she had seen the pair of black smart framed reading glasses that he wore on his face. It has strange to note that after all the years of him being huddled over parchments in Hogwarts this was the first time she had seen him wearing such muggle devices.
He seemed to know all too well where her mind had taken her future line incessant of questions.
"Before you ask, they are mostly for reading." he replied taking them off and skillfully putting them away with flick of his wrist. "And no there is nothing wrong with my vision that would prevent much of my frequent activity. "
Hermione narrowed her amber eyes at him. She had forgotten how adept he was at Legilimency.
"Well, shall we all venture into the kitchen then?" he asked setting his book aside and getting the attention of the children.
"Yes please." said Rose taking care to exercise her manners.
"Yay!" shouted Hugo delighted they were going to finally do some cooking. "Breakfast!"
"Lead on Severus." said Hermione with a mix of nerves and excitement at odds within her.
Snape smirked knowing she had been terrified of having to actually prepare breakfast this morning.
"Not to worry Miss Granger." he said with his obsidian eyes flickering in amusement. "You've managed to get through potions class under my instruction there is no need to think that you will not excel now."
Hermione returned his smirk as if to say: "Would you like to bet?"
This earned a deeply amused chuckle from Snape as he led the small family toward his rather spacious and modernly decorated kitchen.
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The Kitchen, Snape's Estate, Muggle World...
Roaring laughter filled the spacious kitchen of Severus Snape as his obsidian eyes took in the sight of Hermione Granger covered in flour. Rose had chocolate on her face and Hugo's hands were red from the juice of ripe strawberries. The amber eyed witch narrowed her eyes at Snape almost considering throwing a bowl of blueberries at him in a bid to shut him up. She had been red with embarrassment and seething just a bit as Snape continued to laugh at her expense.
"It's not funny git." she said annoyed.
"Of course it's funny." replied Snape still greatly amused. "Have you looked at yourself?"
Hermione didn't see what had been so amusing about having her notoriously unruly hair caked in flour.
"The bat of the dungeons chooses now to finally get a sense of humor." she muttered.
"As I do recalled Miss Granger, I've always had a sense of humor, especially where your faults are concerned." he replied honestly.
"And to think I defended you to Harry and Ron all those years." said the flour coated witch.
"I don't seem to recall asking you to." replied Snape.
Rose and Hugo watched the two adults go back 'n forth with their words.
"Alright Granger, at this rate we should be started on lunch." said Snape coming to his senses.
He waved his wand and suddenly all the mess had vanished and the ingredients had been replenished, shuffling magically into their proper places on the counter. He levitated Rose and Hugo to the small table far from the ingredients but close enough where they could still see and be amused. Hermione folded her arms across her chest. Snape had not missed that she had been pouting.
"I don't see why you can't simply do the cooking, I already told you I'm no good at it." she said.
"If that is the type of attitude you'd had in potions class you'd never have graduated." said Snape with an arched eyebrow.
"Brewing a potion is about following the steps and getting it exactly right." said Hermione. "Cooking is far more complex in nature...besides one very seldom had to ingest their work in potion class."
"That is because I threw the vile things away before each class, do you honestly believe I would entertain the idea of students doing my work for me?" said Snape reflecting a bit. "You'd all would have died from acute poisoning inside a day."
Rose and Hugo giggled in the back ground as they continued to watch their mother and "Uncle Sev."
"Well cooking is still far too difficult." said Hermione not budging an inch in terms of her stance on this matter.
Snape sighed.
"I never thought I'd see the day when challenge relishing Hermione Granger would meet her match." he said. "It's astounding that it took something domestic to reveal your true colors."
"What is that suppose to mean?" asked the amber eyed witch getting into a snit.
"It means that all that Gryffindor bravado was simply an attempt to mask how inferior you truly were in comparison to say...a Slytherin." replied Snape seemingly goading the young witch.
"We are no longer at Hogwarts Severus." she countered. "House merit does not matter here."
"I beg to differ, little lioness." said Snape with a flicker of malice behind his eyes. "But if that's the way you wish to play it in front of your children no less I don't see the point of arguing about it...you never were clever enough to come close to my N.E.W..T scores...it makes one think Minerva simply called in a few favors for you."
Hermione had been boiling with rage as she marched over toward the counter that held the ingredients for breakfast.
"Anything you can do I can do Slytherin." she said in an annoyed tone.
"Is that so Gryffindor?" asked Snape setting up his own station to begin cooking.
"It is indeed." replied Hermione doing the same.
Snape smirked as his obsidian eyes met her amber ones. He could see the old flicker of determination behind her gaze and it pleased him greatly, he was beginning to think married life or at least marriage to Weasley had put out that all to familiar fire and drive she held deep within her. Hermione glared at Snape determined to prove to the Slytherin git that a Gryffindor was just as good as he was in the kitchen and then some.
She had been half way through the ingredients moving in time with the Potions Master as he chopped, sliced, diced, beat, and stirred the ingredients to make his version of this mornings breakfast. The sound of the frying pan and boiling water in stainless steel pots had been the only sound in the wondrous kitchen for a while.
After placing her version of breakfast into the stove, Hermione sat down to rest a bit as Snape moved about the kitchen flipping a few pancakes over the stove. It had been the first time she noticed how truly impressive this spacious room had been.
The amber eyed witch had been quite impressed with the black marble counter tops and the stainless steel appliances that lined Snape's kitchen. The stove had been modern and the same color as the double door refrigerator and what appeared to be a microwave. His coffee pot had been stainless steel as well as his toaster. There had been a rather tasteful island in the center of the spacious room with a black marble counter top and dark wood finished that complimented the rest of the kitchen cabinets and cupboards included.
Before long breakfast had been hot and ready and Snape instructed everyone to wait for him in the dining room.
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The Dining Room, Snape's Estate, Muggle World...
Silence had filled the room as Hermione Granger noted the beautifully prepared breakfast that Snape sat out before her and the children. She could hardly believe she had a hand in creating something so perfect. The mountains of pancakes, topped with maple syrup, strawberries, blueberries and whipped topping, provided that was one's choice had been picture perfect. The eggs had been as appetizing as something one would see advertised in a notorious dining car or restaurant. There was freshly squeezed orange juice and whole milk cold of course and equally welcome. There had been a separate plate for toast lovers with all the little necessities.
Snape had a smirk filed across his face as he watched Hermione stare at her plate amazed.
"Eat up Miss Granger." he said in a sort of guiding tone. "If you are this impressed with your cooking techniques there is always lunch to be made."
Hermione couldn't help but smile at the git. There had been no denying that Severus Snape seemed to bring out the best in her from time to time. Given how hard he had been on her during his classes, it was no wonder she had excelled at her studies when he had been long gone from both Hogwarts and the wizarding world. To her it seemed more like she would have let him down if she had opted to get an honorary degree instead of doing the work and so she kept at it no matter how hard going back to that school had been.
Rose had been pleased to have her chocolate on her pancakes and Hugo made short work of a wayward strawberry.
Snape had been amused as he looked around the breakfast table.
This had been the first time he had really given this room much use and it had been mostly due to Hermione Granger and her children. They ate their respective breakfasts in relative peace with the occasional anecdote told here and there to bring out the cheery mood.
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The Grounds, Snape's Estate, Muggle World...
Rose and Hugo had been down for their respective naps as Hermione wondered aim-lessly through the spacious manor. She had been rather restless when Snape had not been around and recalled feeling worse back home. She hated being alone. Thoughts of her broken marriage were always lurking nearby to put a damper on her parade so to speak. Unable to take much more of the aim-less wondering, she decided that since the children were asleep, now would be a good time to tour the grounds.
Snape had promised to take her when she was feeling better and now was as good a time as any to stretch her legs and got to more than just the garden. Hermione thought briefly about Snape and wondered if he had been in the garden. He had left her and the children to their own devices after breakfast but promised to spend some time with them once his work had been done.
Curiosity seemed to get the better of the witch as she moved further and further from the manor, knowing all too well that Rose and Hugo were safe and their room had been enchanted keep them safe should she or Snape venture outside of the manor for any length of time. She had guessed correctly that it must have been how Snape managed to care for her and the children at the same time. It had been a very clever idea if she said so herself and one she wished she thought of ages ago.
She had not gotten too far away from the manor when she noticed a garage located a good distance across the grounds. Her curiosity now peaked, the Gryffindor alumni made her way over toward the small building. As she got closer, she noticed a muggle vehicle being worked on by seemingly skilled hands.
She watched the man beneath the car as he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and how he was going to do it. He moved with a bit of grace despite his position beneath the vehicle. It had been a complete shock to her when a shirtless Severus Snape emerged from underneath the vehicle with black grease on his hands and a handy wrench in his grasp.
"Severus?" said Hermione drawing his attention in the wake of her shock.
Snape smirked as he towel himself off and lied the oily wrench into his tool box.
"What brings you out here Miss Granger?" he asked with a gruff expression.
She could see the squint in his eyes due to the beaming sun.
"I-I uh..." she fumbled over her words not able to get the surprisingly toned image of her Potions Professor out of her mind.
She had also been privy to the numerous scars that lined his back and chest. She didn't doubt that most of them had come from Voldemort. Snape didn't seem to pay any mind to her stammering. He simply walked over to a metal table and grabbed a white men's tank top from the surface and put it on. He normally only wore it when there had been company but he had not anticipated Hermione venturing out here so soon.
"I didn't know you could fix cars." said Hermione finally able to get her words out not that Snape's pale scar ridden muscled chest had been out of sight.
"I fix all sorts of vehicles Miss Granger." he replied. "It's sort of become a hobby of mine."
"Well I had no idea you had any knowledge about muggle vehicles." she said correcting herself. "Do you mind sharing how that came to be, I mean I always figured potions were your first love...well so to speak."
Snape smirked knowing all too well where she was going with this.
"While it is true that potions are my "first love" as you so cleverly put it." he replied. "I always had a fondness for automobiles...my mother was whom had taught me about potions and magic in my youth but I am sad to say Tobias was the one who had given me my first wrench."
Hermione arched an eyebrow at this.
"T-Tobias?" she said.
"My drunken brute of a father." said Snape surprisingly without bitterness. "He thought learning about cars and how to fix them would toughen me up...make me appear less of a freak when around his drinking buddies...if the ever visited the house that was."
"Oh." said Hermione recalling what Harry had told her about Snape's abusive father. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." replied Snape. "As you can see the lessons were quite useful and came in handy from time to time in my youth."
"Well, that's good to know." replied the young Gryffindor witch. "I'll uh...leave you to it then...I need to check on the children."
Snape simply turned back to his work and slid beneath the vehicle once more with wrench in hand.
As she walked back to the manor, Hermione Granger shook her head in disbelief. It seemed there was no end to how much Severus Snape amazed her. One thing was for certain, despite her and her friends knowing of Snape since they were children...none of them really knew a thing about the former Potions Professor.