Chapter 10

Have You Heard, There's a Rumor in St. Petersburg

Disclaimer: I am but a lowly steward of J.K's fantastical kingdom.

Hermione~~

Hermione woke up to find herself surprisingly well rested for the first time in months. She must have slept in rather late. Squinting one eye open, Hermione did not see the blaring light she expected but dark cloth instead. Her heart jumped to her throat as she realized that she had slept in Severus' bed, and that it was he whom she was curled around. Goodness sake, she must have slept half-way on top of him. While she awaited the inevitable flood of mortification, her half-conscious mind took in the details of the situation. She was still in her clothes, thank goodness. Severus' head was turned away from hers, so she felt safe to observe him for a moment. He was wearing black linen sleep clothes, no surprise there, and he smelled of…laundry detergent? Since when did a wizard use laundry detergent on his clothes? She had to admit the smell was much better than a simple Scourgify. It was a smell that made her feel at home.

Goodness me, listen to myself? I sound mad talking about him this way. I really should go back to my room so I don't disturb him any more than I already have. Oh, but I'm just so comfortable, even if it is with Snape.

Hermione gently lifted her head off of his chest and moved carefully to extract herself from him without disrupting his sleep. Unfortunately, her role as teddy bear seemed necessary in Severus' dream at the moment because he pulled her back to him and turned on his side facing her to hold her to his front. At first Hermione almost let out a laugh in light of the ridiculous situation she was in, but soon after she was just embarrassed at their closeness. This was different than crying on the man's shoulder. She was literally being held captive with her entire body glued to his. The warmth of his body was pleasant, but his unintentional attraction to her was unmistakable.

Severus~~

Before Severus opened his eyes, he recognized three things. One, that it was light out and he had slept in horridly long. Two, that there was a woman in his arms, and three…that he felt an unavoidable stirring of his male instincts at her presence there. He ran his hand along the bare section of her waist. It took him the span of ten seconds to recall last night's events, and realize who the woman must be. He opened his eyes to see an almost awake Hermione nuzzled into the crook of his neck. The moment they realized the other was awake, they came to their senses and leaped out of the bed onto opposite sides. Neither said a thing for a good minute. Then a deep blush came over Hermione's cheeks,

"Good morning..." She said, smiling sheepishly. It is indeed, Severus thought to himself.

"Good morning..." He replied instead. Hermione fidgeted, but kept her eyes locked on his. There was no mistaking that something had happened between them just then, but neither would likely own up to it.

Well, it's certainly not going to be me. She probably already thinks I am some perverted old fool for grasping onto her as I did. I believe I had promised her I would not do any such thing.

"I'm sorry about my breakdown. I know that was probably way out of your comfort zone to help me like that, and I tend to be kind of needy and ridiculous when I cry, and I hadn't cried like that in a long time, so it was even worse, and I had no right to even suspect you would be open to comforting me like that, I mean, it's not like we have ever been very friendly with one another at Hogwarts, but I just wanted to apologize and—"

"Miss Granger!" She paused in her rambling to look up in at him.

"Hermione, it is quite alright. Honestly, I feel it is I who should apologize for, well—" How was he going to approach what he meant? Maybe he had imagined the moment of mutual attraction he had felt moments earlier when they were so close, perhaps he was overthinking this entirely.

"For what?" Well, he had to come up with something now.

"For my…fluctuation of temper in our meetings so far. I am a bitter man, and I will not try to deny that in the least. However, I would like to propose a friendly acquaintance between us, at least for the duration of this trip or however many times we accidentally meet." Friendly acquaintance? Well, he could count out any chance of flirtation now. Like there was a chance to begin with.

"I think that would be lovely, Severus. Shall we begin today?" This took him by surprise, what was this about?

"How do you mean?"

"Well, what was on your vacation schedule for today?"

"Vacation schedule?"

"Yes, don't you keep one for all your appointments and reservations?"

He shook his head, figuring he should have guessed Hermione Granger would organize even her vacations. She appeared slightly bewildered that he did not have one. To his dismay, he thought her expression was rather adorable.

"Well, we will just have to follow my schedule then." She declared and then turned on her heel to leave.

"What do you mean?" He called after her. She was already through the connecting door as she called back,

"Get dressed! I will meet you in the lobby at noon!"

He almost shouted back at her that he was not a dunderheaded child to be taken on a field trip but thought the better of it.

"Oh, and bring any alchemy materials you might have! We might get the chance to investigate!" She called through the door.

Well, he wanted some bloody interest in his life. Be careful what you wish for was a time honored truth for good reason.

Hermione~~

Hermione was very excited to be at the world famous Hermitage museum. Though she had seen similar items and rooms in Russia already, the sheer magnitude of rooms, precious antiques, and literal tons of gold molding was mind-boggling. They had already been to the main part of the museum and the top floor that held a fabulous collection of Impressionist art. Snape had been mostly silent in the beginning, but he was warming up to conversation with her. She could tell he was trying not to whip out any of his usual barbs. A life of aggressive self-defense is hard to forget, she supposed, especially when a Gryffindor is involved. Also, he relayed some very interesting insight into the Matisse paintings. His intelligence and cultured nature were very compatible with hers. She hoped they could meet up again after this trip, if only to have someone to talk to about the things that her friends labeled "pretentious" and "out-dated".

Next, they travelled by shared taxi to Katherine's Palace (which really helped her with the price since she was running out of rubles). Like the Hermitage, the palace inspired jaw dropping and expressions of awe. At the end of the tour, they finally stepped into the room she had been waiting for, the Amber Room.

Supposedly this was one of the great wonders of Russia, but Hermione was not particularly struck by it. Maybe it was the combined colors of the various amber shades stacked over and over with each other on every surface, but she could at least appreciate the expense and craftsmanship of the room. Her informational brochure claimed that it took at least $11.5 million to restore the Amber Room. Truly fascinating. The Russians spared no expense for restoring their greatest treasures.

"Severus!" Hermione whispered. She waved for him to come to her. Severus left his examination of the dutch heating ovens to join her by the wall.

"I think this would be a good place to check on some jewels. If there is one example of possible alchemic fraud, it has got to be this place. How else could the Russians have gotten hold of so much amber?"

"That's a very good point, Hermione." Snape said with sincerity. He instantly went to examine the wall closest to them with renewed intrigue. Hermione was glad he had looked away because she was grinning foolishly. Never in all her years of school had he given her such an outright and unveiled compliment. After all this time, it still made her a bit giddy to finally achieve that recognition from him. Severus turned back to her with a storm of thought on his face.

"You were right, Hermione. You were bloody right. How could they have possibly gotten away with this? Someone in the Ministry must have been bribed to let this go. Two of the greatest Russian treasures are counterfeits! This is quite the shock. There must be even more than these, quite possibly a majority, depending on the year of sale..." Severus had begun to pace up and down the room, muttering these things to himself in a scholar's way of not noticing his surroundings. Hermione noticed the security guards shifting their eyes suspiciously in his direction, so she quickly took him by the arm with a smile and led him out the door.

"Come along, we are going to miss our dinner reservations." He followed her blindly, still muttering possibilities.

The second they were outside, she held his shoulders and demanded to know what he had discovered.

"They were counterfeit, Hermione. Nearly half I would say."

"Wow, that is a lot of money that some wizard just tricked from the government. I can't believe half of them are fake!"

"Not fake, counterfeit." He had begun his pacing again, his hands clasped behind his back.

"What's the difference?"

"It means they are truly amber pieces in a certain sense. Not quite as organic or precious as natural amber, but gems nonetheless. Jewels made by way of magical alchemy are technically legitimate in every outward way, but not made up of the same material. It is most likely a mixture between an advanced illusionment charm and a cloning transfiguration with some use of dark Potions. I have seen a few mediocre pieces on the black market from my days on Knockturn Alley, but nothing like this."

"How did you figure all this out while you were in there? You only looked at the amber for five minutes at the most." At this he smirked.

"You did tell me to bring my materials, did you not?"

"I did, but somehow I doubted you would listen." She smiled.

"I am glad I could prove you wrong about my character." He looked at her intently for a moment, but she was lost as to the meaning of his gaze.

"It was a simple magical signature detection spell among a few other examinations that I need not explain in full. There is a definite magical signature about the pieces, and it is the same wizard's signature that was on the Orlov diamond. The architect of such gems hid his signature well, but I have been trained by the best wizards of both the Light and the Dark. I have plenty of tricks to get around such obstacles."

"Well label me impressed and ship me off to Hong Kong."

"Excuse me?"

"It means that I am suitably impressed by your deduction." She giggled at his confusion.

Severus~~

He had made her giggle. Not just smile, but giggle in a girlish fashion. He could hardly remember the last time he had made a girl giggle, unless he counted Bellatrix's awful cackling, which he did not. She was looking up at him with such admiration that he would have considered giggling himself were it not such an absurd notion that he could ever giggle. He allowed himself to enjoy the swelling of pride in his chest as she continued to glance at him with new respect. They walked along the gardens surrounding Katherine's Palace and continued to hash out the details of the mystery. It was one of the best evenings he could remember ever having. They argued over the various classic alchemic debates and the new criminal discoveries while walking through those gorgeous expansive gardens as the sun was only beginning its descent. The golden haze of sunlight hit Hermione's face in the most becoming way. It was at that moment Severus knew he would be lost if he let himself go much further into this acquaintance. But he also knew that he would be at a loss without any companionship at all, now that he had rekindled his desire for it. There was no longer constant political and emotional tension to tie him to life by its unforgiving threads. He needed something more if he was going to continue living a worthwhile life. Could a friend be the answer? A woman? This woman? It was far too much to ponder at the moment. He would have to save that for his solitude when he returned home. What a pity party that will be. Alone again on that forsaken corner of Spinner's End. I may as well enjoy this trip while I can. Especially while she is still a part of it.