AN: Okay, so this is a rather important author's note. My life has recently become quite hectic and I have found that my muse has been far and few between. DON'T PANIC! I will be finishing this story. It's nowhere near done and I do have a plan of sorts. I just wanted to let you all know that I will probably only be updating about once a week. Please keep me on author's alert so that you can be the first to know when I've updated. Thanks! As always, read and review.

The usual disclaimers apply.

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Chapter 10: Common Ground

Hermione stared at Severus, her mind working overtime to connect all of her past impressions of him with the very new present one. To be completely fair and unbiased, Hermione had always been one of Severus' staunch supporters, never failing to come to his defense when her wonderful, but admittedly immature friends would see fit to joke, poke fun at, or outright insult their potions master in her presence. During the war it had been hard to stay on his side…there were too many confusing elements happening all around her, and to be fair, she'd had a lot on her plate. Those months spent in the tent, she had truthfully not given him-or the rest of her teachers much thought. Her mind and her entire physical and magical being had been solely focused on finding the horcruxes and getting her and her two friends out of the mess that the war had put upon them. She could recall, though, that terrifying moment during the battle when she'd seen him face his evil master though. He'd been in rare form, all strength and sinewy muscle that he had honed for years had set him quite apart from the rest of the students, staff, and lay persons all working towards the same triumphant end. The look in his eyes had been, well, scary. She recalled that she'd thought, at the time, that he had looked almost regal as he worked to defeat the devil Voldemort and crush every single one of the misguided maniac's endeavors, finally getting his due as the wizarding world's equivalent of a double agent. No man had worked harder or sacrificed more for wizarding kind than Severus Tobias Snape. She'd known that all along, and no amount of past grudges or prejudice could counter that plain and simple truth.

She gazed at him now, her eyes shining with awe and amazement at the rare and seemingly simple insight to his personal feelings that he had just gifted her with. Though they had had a lovely friendship-or so she had thought- for the last several years, he had never come close to openly admitting anything resembling emotion with her. Their talks had been restricted to potions, politics, or Hogwarts, and very rarely did the three subjects ever combine. And they had never spoken about the war with each other, aside from an errant reference here and there. This, Hermione realized, was quite important. The words he had said rang in her ears and she thought that she'd never forget the way his voice had sounded…quiet and even, with only a hint of tone. It had almost been a whisper, a decibel above really.

"I'm actually quite shy."

She shook her head slightly, trying to wave away the sentimentality that she felt he'd surely criticize her for, and she realized that it all made sense really. Severus was outwardly snarky, cool, and sometimes downright rude. But it was all a mask. Everything she had experienced in these past few days all made that remarkably clear.

"Oh Severus…" she said softly, and he turned to look at her from underneath the curtain of dark hair that he'd shaken over his features, hiding behind it as was his habit-one that she wasn't entirely sure he was aware of. His face was devoid of emotion, but his eyes held a mirth to them that was unexpected. They were soft, despite the harshness of his features, and she thought that she could see the world in them.

"Don't look so shocked, Hermione," he said ruefully, one of his rare smiles gracing his features finally. "Surely you didn't think that I became this way because of my outgoing and charming personality." His expression belied his sarcastic choice of words and she saw that he was speaking in jest.

"Me too," she responded slightly, deciding that complete and unemotional honesty was her best choice. He quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly.

"You what?"

"I'm also, actually-despite all outward appearances-quite shy." Hermione grinned as the other eyebrow rose to match it's twin and she almost giggled aloud at the sheer disbelief on his face.

"You, shy? Hermione Granger, hand waver, brown nosier, swot extrodinaire? You couldn't possibly think that about yourself," he responded, his voice sounding scathing, but she knew better. He was merely surprised. It appeared that even he could be shocked by something, even if he did appear to know what everyone was thinking at any given time.

"Yes. Me. Shy," she replied, taking a risk and reaching out her hand to place it gently on his own. It stiffened at her touch, but he gradually relaxed it under her fingers. She was shocked at how warm his skin felt under hers. "You are not the only one to have felt like an isolated outcast in your teenage years." She looked at him levelly, almost daring him to contradict her.

"You spent enough time in the company of your bumbling friends. Surely you can't claim to have led a solitary existence." This response was not harsh or sarcastic in any way. He seemed to simply be stating fact. She did notice, however, that he had begun to stroke his index finger against her own pointer digit just under the first knuckle where their two hands met. She wasn't sure if this was an unconscious gesture or not, but knowing Severus, he rarely made movements if they were unnecessary or undesired.

She smiled gently and shrugged. "Yes, it's true that they are two of my closest friends, but I was hardly always 'in' on some of their more pedestrian schemes. In fact, I often felt like a third wheel, and they treated me as such." She smiled wryly as she thought back on all of those years with her boys. They were fond memories, to be sure, but there was darkness in them as well. She found her free hand creeping up to her temples and noted absently that she had begun worrying one of her shortened curls as she thought, a new habit that she didn't think would be easy to break. She was used to pushing her heavy tresses over her shoulder when she was in deep thought. Now it seemed, her body had already adjusted.

"I spent most of my time, in the beginning of our friendship at least, acting like their mother rather than their friend. They were both so hotheaded, in different ways, mind you, and they tended to leap before they looked." Hermione noticed the wry grin that had come over his features and knew exactly what he was thinking about. "That first year they both swore up and down that you were trying to kill Harry. They thought you were the embodiment of evil. Funny, that, because we were all so innocent. Later on, when things had gotten really bad with You-Know-Who, I would think back on those early days of our schooling…when the worst thing we had to fear was running into our fearsome potions master after hours when we were out doing something we ought not to be doing. It was all so simple then. Black and white. And I went along with some of their endeavors, but I was always nagging them to try and see things more clearly, to try to work things out logically before simply galavanting off trying to save the world. At one point I even tried to stop 'helping' them research things, but, I found that being a third wheel has it's benefits. At least I wasn't alone. It took a while for them to stop treating me like their mother and start treating me like a sister, but it eventually happened. I think, somewhere around our fourth year, after the Yule Ball when Ron and I had that awful row that they began to realize…well, we all began to realize what we meant to each other. Thing changed quickly after that, for all of us once the Dark Lord had returned. We all had to grow up quite fast. There were so many times that I wanted to just be normal. Just be sixteen years old. Date boys. Make mistakes. But it was never that easy. I always felt so much pressure to be perfect. And then, when we were out in the wilderness, I had no one to guide me. I think that I would have then, given anything to have heard you call me an insufferable know it all. At least that would have been usual. The boys have always had a closer bond than I have with them. I'm probably closer to Harry, of the two of them, but even he kept his secrets from me. It was hard being the only girl in the boys club. There were many nights I would cry myself to sleep just wishing that I had someone who could understand one iota of what I was feeling. I've been called a bookworm, a mudblood," he flinched when she uttered that word, "frigid bitch… Pick an insult. I've heard it. I know what it feels like to want the world to understand, but hate it all at the same time. We, perhaps, have more in common than you think."

Severus was quiet for a long time, looking off in the distance somewhere, his eyes dark and unfocused. He was seemingly deep in thought, but the finger persisted in it's gentle but constant movements on hers and she let him just be for a while. She felt like she'd been talking for hours, and she flushed, thinking about her runaway mouth when he finally spoke: "You're the first person to ever sit down and have a conversation with me." He looked at her benignly his eyes betraying nothing but honesty. Hermione frowned in response. Surely that is not what he meant.

He shook his head when he saw her open her mouth to question his words and he responded before she could ask. "Don't misunderstand me. I've obviously talked to thousands of witches and wizards in my lifetime, to be sure. Spoken about strategies with Dumbledore, about medicinal healing potions with Poppy, about errant students with Minerva, about plans of action with the Order, and about many things with many students. But no one, not one of those people have ever just simply sat with me and talked about the weather. I remember when you first did that," he smiled and fixed his eyes on her face, seeming to be recalling something very specific. "It was during our first staff meeting with you as a teacher here. You came right over to me where I was sitting in a corner, trying very hard not to be visible. No one had spoken to me yet that day, all of them were busy with their own mundane conversations, wrapped up in their own little worlds. You sat yourself down and began to go on and on about a new Potions theory you had been researching."

Hermione smiled at this reference. She remembered that day quite clearly. She had been nervous as hell and had jumped at the chance to blow off some steam with someone. And when she had seen him there, tucked away, looking as stern and as unapproachable as ever, her Gryffindor sense of bravery had kicked in and sent her off to face her nerves with the least likely individual to want to be in her presence. Or so she had thought at the time. That had been incorrect, she surmised. "I'm sure that I was remarkably annoying."

He chuckled darkly in response. "Only a little bit." He bit back a sneer that didn't even begin to appear threatening anymore, and shifted his position a bit so that his torso was facing her now. The hand didn't move. "At first I was completely gobsmacked that you were talking so much. You weren't letting up your chatter for anything, and it didn't appear as if you wanted me to actually respond to any of the nonsense you were spouting. I kept quiet and let you flap on…and then, I began to listen to you." He smirked and shook an errant strand of hair out of his eyes and continued. "You were…brilliantly infuriating in your blathering on, but I could not stop myself from being completely overwhelmed by what it was that you were doing. Just sitting there, not a care in the world, conversing with me. And so, eventually, I responded. I was having a conversation with someone who had chosen to have a conversation with me. That was…a unique experience for me."

Hermione gazed at him for a moment, surprised at his words. She hadn't really realized it was so significant, but when he put it that way she could understand why it had affected him so, and why he was referencing it now. "I've always talked to you because I wanted to," she said simply. "And…I've always considered you to be a good man. The fact that most other people don't…well, most people don't always see things clearly, do they?" she asked.

He shook his head at her, his lips twitching, whether from amusement or agreement, she couldn't tell. "No. They don't, actually."

…

Hours later found them still on the couch, but positions had shifted quite noticeably. Severus was no longer sitting stiffly on the edge of the furniture, his body was relaxed against the back cushion, and Hermione was no longer actually sitting up. At some point in their conversations she had moved so that she was resting against the arm of the sofa, her legs splayed across his lap. His hands were resting gently on her shins and they were now, and a break in their conversation.

Hermione spoke first. "I didn't intend for the day to go like this, you know." Severus lazily turned his head towards her and responded in a slow drawl that was his "Im comfortably relaxed" pattern of speech.

"Oh? And what pray tell, little one, did you have in mind?"

She smiled at the pet name and cocked her head, "I was going to ambush you the second you woke up and make you tell me what the plan of attack was about the breach of Azkaban." Severus' eyes widened and he looked at her warily.

"We did establish earlier, did we not, that it is very unwise to do anything that involves the word 'ambush' with an ex-spy?"

Hermione swatted him playfully on the arm and then flopped back against the pillow cushioning her head. "You know what I meant you insufferable man." He smirked at her playfully and she sat up a bit then, her face turning serious. "I mean it, though, Severus. I really want to know."

He sighed audibly and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I am assuming that you will not let yourself rest until I tell you.

"You haven't seen anything yet," she retorted. "If you think I was talkative before, just wait. I can always bother you into submitting to me."

Severus raised an eyebrow and scowled at her challengingly. "You think it would be that easy, hmm?"

"I do," she countered back. She was enjoying this side of Severus. She had found that he could be quite the jokester when he wanted to be, and in all seriousness, she had never really realized before that Severus was, in his own strange way, joking most of the time. Mostly to amuse himself. It amazed her that she hadn't caught on before now. He really was the master of biting sarcasm.

He sighed again, but this time it was out of resignation, not out of annoyance. "Fine. But please listen when I tell you that things are not concrete yet. There is still a bit of planning to be done."

"Allright. I'm all ears."

Severus informed her of the tentative plan that was in place. Minerva, and Albus had contacted Harry, Kingsley and Ron who were all in on it, being high level Aurors and able to pull some strings with the Ministry, albeit only just. Ron was on duty undercover now, trying to find out who the mole in the system was, and Harry was working with Kingsley to get word from the Azkaban guards on the real status of the Death Eaters imprisoned in the jail. It was-so far-not proving very productive, but it had only been a few days. One did not simply walk into Azkaban and start asking questions. The overwhelming feeling of the Dementors floating about was enough to distract anyone from their actual point and purpose, and these things took time and were delicate.

"I'm attempting to, through several old and dear friends, to find out the whereabouts of Dolohov and Rookwood, and therefore, find out the location of dear Bellatrix, lousy sod that she is. She would be low enough and mad enough to try and pull something like this. She was always a complete nuttier, but the Dark Lord's demise did not do her any great service. She apparently has a death wish, along with delusions of grandeur. Pity, that."

"What can I do to help?" Hermione asked, once she had digested all of this new information, her mind working had to process it all.

"Right now, Hermione, you getting rest and staying clear of the situation at hand is the most important thing."

"Severus, you know that that isn't going to work…"

"Hermione…please don't argue with me," his tone was terse, his eyes were tight with emotion.

"Why can't I help, I'm not an invalid anymore. I'm perfectly capable…."

"You are still recovering."

"Bollocks Severus! Stop treating me like a child!" She was sitting up straight now, her hackles had well and truly risen.

"Perhaps that is the manner in which you deserve to be treated since you are acting like a petulant school girl wanting to go on a holiday."

"That is not an explanation, Severus. Don't hide behind silly insults that don't actually mean anything," she said furiously, her eyes flashing. She looked for all she was worth, like the lioness she was. Hermione really was quite a sight when she was angry. It reminded Severus of just how powerful she really was. "I am quite capable of looking after myself, despite what may have happened last week, and I don't appreciate you talking to me as if I were a silly little girl. What is the real reason you won't let me help!"

"Because I love you, you bloody, infuriating witch!" He cried, his face was furious, his eyes black with rage…and then he registered what he had said.

TBC….

Ahhhhhh! Review please! Hopefully the next chapter will be up in the coming week. Stay tuned. Promise I won't leave you hanging for too long. :)

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