Disclaimer: World and characters belong to JKR; I'm just borrowing them, yet again.
Chapter 6: Rapport
Before she left Hogwarts, Hermione asked Severus if he was free the next weekend. "Sorry," he said. "I'm on the roster of teachers who are around next weekend."
"Weekend after?" Hermione said plaintively. "Come to London and see me then?"
He bent to kiss her. "I suppose I could manage." The look on his face told her that he was quite happy to "manage."
They kept Severus' owl, Beatrice, busy over the next two weeks, sending letters back and forth. By the time Friday evening arrived, Hermione missed him so much that she was surprised at herself. Never had she been like this about anyone else. He was due at her flat at seven, so when she got home around five-thirty, she set about making supper.
She rarely cooked anything exciting for herself, since she lived alone, and if she fancied something different than her usual fare, she would get a take-away, but she decided that chicken, potatoes, and salad wouldn't be too hard. She typically cooked without magic, since, after using magic all day at work, she was usually tired of it by the end of the day. That was something she had never expected after her years at Hogwarts, but as important as magic was for her, and as often as she did use it at home, she still felt like she needed to remember how to do things without it, too.
Besides, the last time she'd tried to cook a chicken with magic, she'd burnt it.
Severus arrived downstairs, and pushed the buzzer for Hermione's flat, rather than apparating directly there. She let him in, and he rode in the elevator next to a little old lady who decided to chat with him. "Visiting someone?" she asked, nodding towards the overnight bag slung over his shoulder.
"Yes," he said. "My...girlfriend."
"Ah, young love," said the woman. She grinned at him. "Best of luck to you." She got off several floors before Severus did, and he passed the rest of the ride in silence.
When he knocked on Hermione's door, she opened it and drew him in, closing the door behind him before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. All of his anxieties about the weekend dropped away as he let his bag fall to the floor and held her close.
Then the timer went off. Hermione extricated herself, giving him one last, swift kiss, and went to the kitchen. "You can put your bag in the bedroom," she called over her shoulder.
He froze. "I can what?"
She took the chicken out of the oven. "What, did you think I'd be making you sleep on the sofa?"
"I hadn't thought too much about it," he admitted.
"Well, I thought it would be silly to make you sleep on the sofa," she explained, putting the dish of chicken on the table. She looked at him with anxious eyes. "Is that...too much?"
He went to her and embraced her again. "No, it isn't...I was merely surprised."
"That time we fell asleep together on my sofa," she said, "I liked waking up with you."
He smiled at her, and gently stroked her cheek. "I liked it, too. It was...reassuring."
They ate dinner together, and Severus helped Hermione wash up. He washed the dishes, and she dried and put away. Then they settled on the sofa to read to each other and to kiss occasionally. The evening was quiet and peaceful, and it re-established their relationship after the distance of two weeks.
Eventually, they were both yawning. Severus took his pajamas and changed in the bathroom, feeling very uncertain about this. When he slipped back into the bedroom, Hermione had changed into chocolate brown pajama pants and a lime green tank top. She'd quickly braided her hair back, using an elastic that she kept on her nightstand.
She smiled at him. "Do you own anything that isn't black?" she asked, eyeing his black pajamas.
"I have some things that are green," he said defensively. "But black is simple."
"It suits you," she said. "I usually sleep more on the right side. Do you mind sleeping on the left?"
"Not at all," he replied. "That's where I usually sleep." He watched as Hermione pulled the covers back and got in bed.
She looked at him. "Severus. Would you be more comfortable on the couch?"
His mouth twisted. "I doubt it."
"Then come here. Please?"
The note in her voice convinced him, and he went to the bed and got in. Hermione snuggled up to him. "That's better," she said. She rolled over and reached out to switch off the light. Then she rested her head on his chest, wrapping an arm around his waist.
He let his arms wrap around her, holding her close, and bent down to kiss her. She sighed contentedly. "Good night, Severus," she murmured, already drifting off. "Love you."
He woke up several times in the night, startled by the presence of someone else in the bed with him, and each time, when he remembered where he was, and who he was with, he relaxed and went back to contented sleep.
When Hermione woke the next morning, she rolled over and looked up at Severus. He was already awake.
"Morning," she said. "How'd you sleep?"
"Very well." He gently ran a finger down her nose. She smiled at him and kissed his fingertip as it met her lips.
His gaze became even more tender. She reached up to pull him down for a kiss. A moment later, she pulled away and said, "I should brush my teeth."
He laughed. "I agree. Haven't you heard of magic-based toothpaste?"
Hermione dragged herself out of bed. "My parents fuss about it, and give me toothpaste and toothbrushes and floss by the bagful. So I do my teeth the Muggle way."
She went to the loo, brushed her teeth, put her hair in some order, and wandered back to her bedroom to find her dressing gown. It was chilly outside, and her building didn't have the best of heating systems.
"I'll get breakfast started," said Hermione. "Hurry up and I'll show you how the toaster works."
When he came out of the bathroom, he was holding a bottle. "Why are you taking this?" he asked.
Hermione looked up from slicing bread. "Oh, that. Did I leave the cupboard open?"
"Yes," he said. "I wasn't prying, but I was surprised. Were you expecting something to happen this weekend?"
She smiled uncertainly at him. "Severus, I'm not trying to rush us, but I didn't know when we'd feel ready, so I thought I should be prepared. I actually started taking the potion before Halloween."
His eyebrows went up. "Really?"
There was a slightly wicked glint in her eye. "Yes, really. This way we can just let it happen. Isn't that easier?"
"It is, I suppose." He still looked troubled. Hermione put the bread knife down and went to him.
"It's fine," she said, taking the bottle from his hand and setting it aside. "I'm not in a hurry to get you into bed."
"But?" he asked suspiciously.
"But it had better not take forever, either," she told him. "I want to be with you." She kissed him firmly, trying to reassure him of her feelings.
"And I with you," he murmured when she'd pulled back. "But, love, this matters so much that I don't want to get it wrong."
She kissed him one more time, then pulled him over to the kitchen. "I want to get this right, too," she said, dropping two slices of bread in the toaster and pressing the lever down.
"That's it?" he asked, side-tracked momentarily by the device.
"Yes. If you wanted to make a working toaster from scratch, it'd be a lot harder," she said. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Severus, I should probably tell you. The year after Ron died, I did some stupid things. I went out clubbing a few times, and, well, I really regret what I did those nights."
"I have done similar things," he said, remembering how much he had hated himself afterward. "I've never been with someone I love, someone I want to spend my life with. And with you, I want it to be important, for it to really mean something."
A thrill went through her at his words. "Me, too." She kissed him again, passionately, and was startled out of the kiss a moment later when the toast popped up.
Later that day, Hermione suggested going to see a movie. Severus hadn't seen one since he was quite young, and agreed. There was a theatre in Hermione's neighborhood that showed old movies. She usually went there several times a month because the theatre was cheap, and she liked old movies.
"And they have fantastic pizza, and they're licensed," she said as they walked over, wrapped in Muggle-style overcoats against the November weather. "So they offer wine and beer. It's way better than the typical movie theatre. I've seen a lot of older movies there over the years, and sometimes they get newer ones after the main theatres have shown them."
"I must admit to being curious," he said. "I grew up in the Muggle world, but I could barely figure out your toaster. It has so many buttons compared to the one my mum had."
"That's just to adjust how long the bread's in there," she said. "It's not that hard. But I do get that learning things like the computer or watching television is pretty weird. I was so used to not having that at Hogwarts that it was quite the adjustment after the war, when I first moved out on my own."
"We couldn't really afford to go see films when I was a boy, so I only saw a few, and I don't remember much," he said.
"Well, this should be fun, then," said Hermione. "Here it is." She stepped up to ticket window. "Two adults for whatever you're showing today," she said.
"Hi, Hermione," said the girl at the counter, printing out two tickets and taking the money Hermione handed her. "Who's this?"
"This is Severus," said Hermione. "He's my-uh-um..." She trailed off.
"Boyfriend?" the girl filled in. "You know, I've never seen you here with a guy before. New boyfriend?"
"Sort of," said Hermione. She grinned. "You know I'm just picky. Severus, this is Melinda."
"Hello," said Severus stiffly, uncomfortable with the way Melinda was eyeing him up.
"Well, I can see why!" Melinda said. "Evidently being picky is worth it. Enjoy the show!" She winked at them.
Hermione laughed as she pulled Severus over to the concessions counter. "Stop it. Be flattered. She's always asking me why I never bring a date, and I tell her I'm waiting for the right man to show up."
"Fine," said Severus. "But I'm not exactly the most attractive man in the world. Why would she think I was worth it?"
Hermione sighed. "One of these days I'll have to find a way to show you yourself. You're really quite attractive now that you're not working yourself to death." She stood on tip-toe and kissed his cheek. "Now, this is a long movie. What do you want to get? They have a really good vegetarian pizza."
"That means you want vegetarian pizza, doesn't it?" he said.
"Well, only if you want it," she told him. "If you're not going to like it, then we can get something with meat on it."
Severus rolled his eyes, resigned. "I'll try the vegetarian pizza."
He insisted on paying for their food, since she had bought the tickets, grumbling about how he was the man, he was supposed to be allowed to pay for their dates, that was the way it had been when he was growing up, and Hermione just laughed and thanked him for the food. "I don't mind paying for our tickets," she said. "These days it's okay to take turns paying for things. Now let's go find seats."
They walked through the old, shabby lobby and into the equally shabby theatre. There were a few other people already there, but there were some good seats near the centre of the theatre. There were tables in front of each row of seats, so the theatre held fewer people than one at a multiplex would.
They settled into their seats with the pizza and the beers they'd ordered. Hermione took a sip of her beer and sighed happily. "Butterbeer just isn't the same as this," she said.]
"May I?" Severus asked. Hermione handed her glass to him and his eyebrows went up as he sipped.
"What on earth is this?"
"The darkest stout they have on tap," said Hermione. "It's delicious."
"Apparently you like beer that you can chew," said Severus.
She picked up his glass and sipped. "Well, at least this doesn't taste like piss," she said. "But it is lighter than I usually prefer."
"It has subtler citrus notes in it," he pointed out.
They were still bickering amiably about the relative merits of their chosen beverages when the house lights dimmed. "What was this movie called?" Severus asked, abandoning the discussion and gingerly lifting a slice of the pizza and examining it.
"Spartacus. It's based on a slave uprising which occurred during the early Roman Empire," said Hermione. "Just bite into the slice, Severus. It's not going to attack you."
"Didn't the Romans brutally slaughter everyone?" He took a cautious bite and was forced to admit that it was not half-bad.
"They did, but it's still a good movie. Now, shush, the credits are starting."
Hermione leaned her head against Severus' shoulder and lost herself in the story. Severus settled in. They shared the pizza they'd ordered together, Hermione wryly observing that he was enjoying the food more than he'd thought he would.
When they emerged from the theatre that evening, they wandered around the neighbourhood for a while until the rain got to be too much, and then headed back to Hermione's flat.
"I'm not too hungry after the pizza," said Hermione. "You?"
"Same here," he said. "I could do with some tea."
"Sounds good. You want to get the kettle started while I go change?" she asked.
"Sure," he said. "Tea's in the cupboard above the sink, right?"
"As usual, Professor," she teased, heading into the bedroom for dry clothing.
Once they were both dry and had hot tea, they settled onto the couch and Hermione pulled out a new book. "Someone recommended this to me. It's fantasy, and sort of young adult fiction, but I've read some things by the author before, and she's generally a good writer. Read to me?"
"Wanting to hear more of my melodious voice, witch?" Severus asked, taking the book and opening it.
"Of course," she said. "Plus, I can knit while you read."
He cleared his throat and turned to the title page. "Fire and Hemlock, part one, chapter one."
Author's Note: The movie theatre is based on my favourite theatre in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. I live in British Columbia now and the theatres in my town are not nearly as much fun. Last time I was there, I saw Deathly Hallows, Part One while eating awesome veggie pizza and drinking a beer called "The Terminator" that was so dark it was practically coal black. The comment about "beer you can chew" comes from my husband, who prefers lighter beers.
The book Hermione and Severus are reading at the end of the chapter is Fire and Hemlock, by the late Diana Wynne Jones, one of my all-time favourite writers. The couple in Fire and Hemlock have an age gap not unlike Severus and Hermione, and meet when the girl is nine or ten (possibly eleven, I'm not sure). Crazy magic ensues. Well worth the read.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who's reading this, and thanks to the people leaving reviews. I squee every time I find out there's a new review—it's awesome to find out that people (other than professors from university and the few people who get drafts of my original work) are reading my writing and offering positive feedback and constructive criticism. Thanks!
