Severus Snape couldn't believe he was nervous about eating dinner with Hermione Granger. He wasn't some adolescent fool, this shouldn't affect him this way at all. It did though and that fact unnerved him even more.

He cursed to himself as he snatched at the white sleeves of his dress shirt pulling them out to just peep out of his black jacket. The need to change how he dressed wasn't felt by him. To be fair though, his robes were dressy in their own way, changing how he dressed now would just make him look foolish. It was just dinner.

This thought was repeated in his head over and over as he silently thanked Merlin he had been a spy in the war. At least it wouldn't be apparent how nervous he felt to her. Not that it was eating with her that was making him nervous, it had to be the fact he was taking a huge risk pursuing anything with the girl and they could easily get caught.

That's what he told himself even though as he took another glance in the mirror cursing his nose his mind told him that wasn't it all. A janitor wouldn't scare him and it's not like they could get him to confess anything. He lied to the Dark Lord on a daily basis, no Ministry fool was going to get past his shields.

You bloody fool. Nervous over dinner with a girl, if anyone learned of this he'd lose his reputation for being fearless for sure. Bugger.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a small knock at the door and swiftly stopped his fidgeting, allowing the mask that allowed him to constantly portray himself as emotionless fall into place. He would not allow her to know he was nervous over a simple dinner.

With a quick glance to make sure everything was in place, he left his quarters exiting into his office and jerked the door open.

"Good evening, Miss Granger."

"Good evening."

As he stepped back she walked into his office and allowed the cloak she was wearing to slide off. His breathing stopped. She looked… beautiful. That wasn't even the word. He had never seen her this exquisitely dressed, even at the Yule Ball, and he found he didn't mind at all. In fact he quite liked the change.

He noticed her watching his eyes raking over her and quickly snapped his head up looking at her silently. How could he keep his cool during a bloody war, but loose it the minute a girl in a dress and heels walked in his office?

"Are we eating at our desks?" Hermione was looking around questioningly noticing the lack of a table or any type of chairs besides what was at their desks.

"This isn't work, I planned for us to eat in my quarters. Unless, of course, that is a problem?"

Hermione shook her head no, her eyes widening a little. He laughed to himself figuring the shock that he would allow her in his private quarters was more the reason of her reaction than actually dining in them.

It was well known he never allowed anyone in there, not even Draco. It had been the one place during the war he could go and allow his walls to crumble down and he was adamant not to share it with anyone. It wasn't the war any longer though and something about Hermione made him want to show her the side of him nobody else got even a glimpse of.

"Better than eating next to a bubbling potion, anyway." His eyes darted around before landing back on her figure. "You look nice tonight."

It was all he could bring himself to tell her and he was almost angered that that was all he could manage. She looked far better than nice. Surely, after years of being around him she would understand the significance of even that small of a compliment. It appeared she did.

Her eyes lit up and she flashed him a smile causing his stomach to jolt. She really had grown into an attractive woman. Which he realized is what she was.

No longer was she some young girl running around on adventures with her friends. No, she was a fully grown woman and she acted that way too. It was a fact that he appreciated. Now, if only he could manage to keep his eyes from traveling to her chest during dinner, this could work out great.

Flicking his robes out with his wrist he turned abruptly and opened the door leading to his rooms for her. He watched as she smiled uncertainly and walked past him. Good Merlin, had she put on some sort of perfume? She smelt divine.

Shaking the thought out of his mind he followed her closing the door behind them causing her to jump a little. Good, he wasn't the only one nervous then. It seemed her attention was soon on something else though, because her mouth had slightly opened as she took in the room that he had turned into a sort of private library.

He smirked smugly as she walked swiftly over to run her eyes over the books. It had taken years, but he had managed to build up his collection immensely since he had graduated. It now held many first editions and ancient books that he held the only surviving copy of. He should have known it would catch her interest.

"All these books, how on earth did you find them all? These are priceless!"

She whipped around gently paging though a book on Arithmancy he had acquired in his late twenties. "This is wonderful."

"It took several years and dealing with some people that I'd rather not go on to describe."

"Oh! Well, at least you have them now. I forgot that you enjoyed reading also."

There she went flashing him that wonderful smile again. He dared to let his eyes fall on her lips before going back to her eyes.

"Yes, you aren't the only one with a love of books, although one must realize that books do not answer everything." He folded his arms behind his back and peered at her to gauge her reaction.

"Of course not. They are helpful though aren't they?"

He allowed a smirk at her while he watched her gaze go across the rest of the room. His quarters weren't what one would call inviting but he had managed to make them cozy.

The sitting room they were in now was dimly lit, much like the rest of the dungeons, with a small fire burning adding warmth to the normally cold air. He had lined the stone walls with bookshelves that were completely packed with all the books he had collected.

The furniture was sparse but fairly comfortable. There was an emerald winged-back chair tucked in the corner with a small table beside that he normally read at in the evenings when he finished his work. Beside the chair on against the wall was a matching couch.

Finally, he watched as Hermione's eyes finally took in the scene beside the fireplace. He had set up a table with two chairs facing each other on top of an emerald rug to match the rest of the furniture. On the table were two red roses in a vase.

He normally wasn't one for flowers, but then again he wasn't normally one for dates either. Something earlier that day pulled him to put the flowers on the table thinking he should do something a little special to show her he did truly care like he said he did.

"Severus, it's lovely," she breathed not taking her eyes off the table.

"Not near as much as you."

Where the heck had that come from? He wasn't one to give out cliché phrases and there he was sounding like some love struck hormonal fool. A grimace spread on his face as the pure idiocy of what he said sunk in. He had lost his bloody mind. That was it. All the stress of the war and he had just plain lost it.

He ignored her looking at him strangely and motioned for her to sit down, pulling the chair out for her. No matter how much he thought he was losing his mind, it wouldn't cause him to lose his manners. That much could at least stay intact.

When he sat down he muttered his house elf's name under his breath, knowing he was about to get an ear full from Hermione. Amazingly, she didn't say anything when Bipsby popped loudly in the room with their food. Must be the nerves he thought silently. He would probably get a lecture later when they were working.

In front of them was roast duck with port-garlic sauce, roasted asparagus, whipped potatoes, and a sliced French baguette. Beside the food was a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon red wine. He hadn't thought to ask her what kind of food she liked so he ordered what he enjoyed and assumed was a pretty neutral menu, ok maybe not. He could only hope she liked it all.

She answered his thoughts before he could voice them, smiling at the food in front of them. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, smiling. He quite enjoyed her smile.

"This looks absolutely wonderful! I love duck and is that red wine? Oh, this is imported from Bordeaux, France! Is this from your stores or the school's?"

"The wine is from mine, the food from the school's. I hope you enjoy it, I didn't know quite what to ask for since we hadn't discussed what kind of food you liked."

"Well, quite honestly, I was wondering if you had used Legilimens on me without me noticing. This is perfect."

He smirked at her, feeling his nerves relax a small fraction at the fact she did in fact like what he had chosen for them to eat. He carved them both off a piece of duck and then allowed each of them to respectively serve themselves the rest of the food.

After both their plates were full, he wordlessly made the cork in the wine disappear to avoid the risk of the cork popping off and landing in their food, or worse hitting them in the face.

Hermione leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and sighing as she sipped the wine he had poured her. "I haven't had wine since Bill and Fleur's wedding before the war. This is divine."

"I'm glad you enjoy it. I didn't know if you favored wine or not, but seeing as I do and it complements the meal I decided to get it."

"I'm glad."

The rest of the dinner went by in companionable conversation and Severus was shocked at how easy it was to actually talk to her. They discussed potions, students, and what sort of books they both enjoyed and which ones they hated; Hermione loathed books about Xylomancy and Severus found Berdette Bashook's books on Alchemy nothing short of a joke.

The rest of the conversation flowed on in the same pattern until Hermione got quiet and absentmindedly started rubbing the rim of her goblet with her finger tip. When she started chewing on her lip Severus grew concerned, thinking just possibly she was having second thoughts about the whole thing.

Hell, he couldn't blame her if she did. He had had some thoughts of his about whether this was right and if it would be worth it in the end. It was hard to deny the fact she made him more comfortable than he had been in years around people. He banished all his second thoughts though when the one thing he feared most came to his mind.

Without her he would go on existing. Not living, just existing, watching other people live their happy lives, while he died old and alone. The thought of being alone for forever as he had his whole life when finding someone to share things with was so close to him gave him a chill. No he would not give up on this, unless of course she voiced that she wanted to. Then he would respect her wishes and grow even bitterer than he already was.

The fork he was holding almost clattered onto his plate when she finally spoke up and he was shocked to hear what came out of her mouth.

"Severus, what if we are found out?"

He eyed her warily, looking for some sign without probing her mind, that she was using this as an excuse to end things. Seeing nothing but genuine concern in her eyes though, he decided she was just being her normal rule abiding self and slowly answered her.

"We will deal with that if it happens. They will not find anything out from me though I assure you."

Seeing the hurt look in her face he realized what he had meant as reassurance came off as him accusing her of being the reason they would possibly be caught.

Bugger, finally have a nice date with a beautiful woman and he was already screwing it up by insulting her unintentionally. Ah well, he could probably thank years of being hateful towards her and his cold outward appearance for that assumption. He couldn't blame her. He still couldn't grasp why she even cared for him in the first place.

His hand gently rested on top of hers as he looked into her eyes. She tensed up at the unexpected contact and then just as quickly he felt her relax. Hopefully, that was a good sign so he decided to continue with what he was trying to say.

"I did not mean to imply us being discovered would be your fault. I only meant that you do not know the art of Occlumency so they could easily penetrate your mind to find out the truth if it was brought to that."

Her eyes moved down to look at their hands and rested there for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions. I should have known that's what you meant. Of course they'd use me to get the truth. They know they can't penetrate your shields."

She paused and met his eyes again. She had such lovely eyes and the fire caused the normal cinnamon brown to look even more thoughtful and mysterious than he already found them. How was she able to entrance him so easily?

"Do you think, what I mean to say is, would it be possible for you to instruct me in that art? It might be beneficial to get practice just in case they try something before I finish my apprenticing."

She looked up at him apprehensively and started chewing on her lip again drawing his attention to her mouth. The urge to kiss her suddenly became overwhelming and he had to force his eyes to look away from her abusing her lips to answer what she had asked of him. It wouldn't do to give her the idea he was more about a physical relationship than an emotional one, even if he had told her he wouldn't sleep with her right away.

"If you are up to it, I see no problem. Be warned though, it takes a great deal of energy at first to block someone out of your mind so you are more than likely going to be exhausted after practicing."

"I know, I remember when Harry was trying to learn. He would barely make it to his room before passing out."

"You will do much better than Potter. For one you actually see the reason to learn how and two you aren't foolish enough to want to display your emotions anytime a whim overtakes you."

He let a sneer take over his face at the memory of having to instruct Potter on Occlumency. It was a lost cause from the beginning and he was honestly glad Potter had refused to learn it after a few sessions. The fool saved him the trouble of having to argue with Dumbledore to quit wasting his time.

There was a small squeeze of his hand before Hermione returned to eating and they finished the meal both lost in their own thoughts.

Severus couldn't believe his luck. Not only was Hermione smart but she was sensible too. He was glad that she had apparently grown out of thinking that being smart gave her the right to do however she pleased and that it would automatically ensure her success in all of her endeavors. It was a faulty trait that too many people with high intelligence allowed themselves to get caught up in.

Once both their plates were cleaned they vanished and dessert plates with chocolate molten cake appeared in front of them. Severus was about to start eating his cake and had his fork posed over it when Hermione looked at him amazed.

"Severus Snape eats chocolate? Who would have ever guessed you would have a sweet tooth?" she teased him lightly letting him know it was all in fun by flirtatiously resting her chin on the back of her hand and giving him a coy smile.

Her reward was an eye roll. It slipped his memory that he normally skipped out on dessert in the Great Hall so she wouldn't have been aware of his love of chocolate. It was the one indulgence in sweets he allowed himself, normally not taking time to get to dessert much less eat it.

"Is that a problem?" he said dryly stabbing his fork into the cake and sweeping up some of the melted chocolate before putting it in his mouth.

"No, but the fact you have chocolate on your face now is." She rose from her chair as she was talking and made her way around the table. He looked up at her questioningly but didn't make to move even when she was standing above him with her legs pressed against his.

"I assure you, I am not Weasley and can manage to eat without smearing food on my face. There is no chocolate on me."

She smiled at him before taking her finger and running it down both of his lips then licking the remaining chocolate off her finger. When had she dipped her finger in his cake? Oh good Merlin she was about to kiss him. With that all thought was gone from Severus' mind.

All he could focus on was the feel of her lips on his and how sweet she tasted. Good Merlin, she tasted like chocolate. She deepened the kiss raking her tongue over his lips and reaching to put her hands into his hair. He heard himself groan and moved his hands to rest them on her hips.

As he explored her mouth the thought that he would never get bored kissing her ran through his mind.

Just as he finished that one coherent thought, Hermione pulled away and grinning looked down at him.

"All better." She was almost laughing she was so amused by what she had caused. He couldn't believe it. He would have never guessed in a million years that Hermione Granger would ever have the nerve to be teasing him. Yet, there she was moving to sit down again, grinning over her shoulder like she had just accomplished the impossible.

And in a way she had. She had left Severus wanting more and caused the controlled walls to break for that moment. Before he knew what he was doing he grabbed her hand and let out a low growl. "Get back here, woman."

With that he pulled her onto his lap, enjoying the squeal she emitted from the shock of him pulling her back that quickly turned into a moan as he kissed her moving from her mouth, to her neck, to her ear. He smoothly ran one hand up to cup her face.

"You didn't think you'd get away that easily did you?" he whispered huskily.

The feeling of her shivering from what he asked her and leaning her head back moaning made him forget all thoughts of food. Hermione moved to straddle his lap and he let out a low hiss as she brushed up against him.

"Are you sure you want to protect my honor?"

He knew his eyes were dark with want and he thanked Merlin a thousand times over his robes were so thick. Maybe she wouldn't feel his desire at least, even if she could see it on his face.

"I'm quite sure about protecting your honor, that didn't mean I wouldn't wish to change my mind at times."

She bent her head letting her teeth graze against his neck and it took all he could do not to allow a sound to escape his lips. He grasped her waist closing his eyes, feeling her warm breath on his skin. She was going to drive him absolutely insane.

"Are you sure you can't change your mind?"

Part of him screamed to give in, he was grown it wasn't like they were foolish teenagers, but he wouldn't allow it. This was their first date and no matter how damn much he wanted to just rip the dress she had on off he would not allow it. As he reached to pull her to face him, he decided he must have gotten used to torture when spying on Voldemort and now had to inflict it on himself.

"I don't want you thinking that is all I'm after. We barely know each other beyond a professional relationship still." His thumb brushed across her face and she looked at him with a small smile forming.

"So why out of all people do you want to have a relationship with me? No offense Severus but you do come off as someone that would welcome a quick shag and run from a relationship."

He grimaced knowing what she said was right. That was how he normally was. Something quick to relieve the stress, but nothing long to add to it. He was so glad she had changed all of that.

He looked at her seriously suddenly and kissed her gently. "You have an intelligence to rival my own. You genuinely care about the people you are around. You don't do anything merely for personal gain. Most importantly, you took the time to notice me for me when everyone else saw me how they wanted to or used me to benefit whatever cause they supported."

He finished and noticed she looked shocked and her eyes were clouding up. Worry spread across his face, thinking maybe he upset her and said too much but was comforted when she gave a shaky laugh.

"I'm sorry I don't normally get sentimental. I just never expected you to be so open. I would never use you and quite frankly a part of me will always hold the fact Dumbledore did over his good name. You are wonderful in more ways than I can even say. Just getting to know you is more than I ever hoped for. You are brave, strong, powerful, intelligent, and now I know, underneath the façade you portray to everyone, a truly caring man who puts everyone else's needs before his own."

"Do you truly want to know me, Hermione?"

"Yes, everything."

"I hope one day you will."

This time they met each other and kissed slowly. Hermione laid her head on his shoulder and at the moment he felt like the happiest man in the world. Something he couldn't say he had ever felt his whole life. This was something he could look forward to having the rest of his life.

He hugged her close breathing in the scent from her shampoo and closed his eyes enjoying the moment. They sat like that for how long neither of them knew. It could have been mere seconds or several minutes.

All Severus knew was he could have held her the whole night but decided if they were to build this relationship to last it would require building up their friendship also. Something that as a professor and a student they had never had.

"Would you like to read some of my books that you were looking at?"

Her head snatched up with a look of excitement apparent on her face. He chuckled knowing that would grab her attention.

"You would let me read those? They are all priceless, are you sure?"

He let his hand toy with one of the curls framing her face.

"I didn't buy them to look at, love, I bought them to read. It will be nice to have someone to discuss them with."

A huge smile spread across her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck giving him a huge hug. Maybe he wouldn't suffocate before she let go.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me! I know how protective you are of your things." She gave him a quick kiss, still looking absolutely giddy at the thought of reading all the books he had.

"You have to read them in here though. Some are extremely rare and old. I don't want to chance them leaving this room and something happening."

"That is fine! I would love to spend more time with you here anyway. And maybe we can practice Occlumency in here as well?"

"If you would like."

"Of course, oh come on! I wonder what I should read first?" She jumped out of his lap and practically ran over to his bookshelves looking over what all he had again.

He almost let out a real laugh at her excitement. Yes, he could definitely get used to this. He refilled his wine glass and made his way over to the couch intending on letting her have the chair to read in.

She surprised him though by coming over after she selected three books off the shelf and laying her head down in his lap.

"You really are perfect, Severus."

He didn't get a chance to reply because she had already opened the first book and was devouring the page. He chuckled and took a sip of his wine, playing with her curls again and watching her face as she read. Oh yes, Hermione Granger was going to be someone he would thank Merlin every night for sending into his life.

A/N: Ok, so took longer to type than intended but I got blocked on how to play out the meal and didn't want to force anything out so I took my time instead. I hope you enjoy this chapter seeing as it entirely focused on their date. Sorry to those who wanted it in Hermione's view but most people wanted it in Severus' and I actually felt like since it was in his quarters it would be better portrayed from him. Review, review, review! I will update quickly.