Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it. It's all for fun.

Mak is of course my beta; who is amazing. I have to give her mucho props for all her help with this chapter. I have no clue about Russia, so everything about Russia is all from her. I loved the idea she gave me and I ran with it so hopefully you guys like it.

If you are wondering, or forgot, this is a response to the fanfiction contest at Third Floor Corridor. If you want to check the site out, the link is on my info page. It's a great place so check it out!

Alright, let's try to break 50 reviews this chapter. It would be awesome and I will give a shout out to the 50th reviewer. Perhaps I might just send them a little paragraph from Chapter 11…Review please, it helps me get motivated to write…

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Chapter Ten

A Feeling of Ease

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Severus knew they had Apparated, but he was a little shaken at being taken away so suddenly. He looked down at bushy haired witch who still had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and wondered where exactly they were. Removing her arms from around him he looked up in wonder at the Kremlin. She brought me here? How did she know? Walking ahead he stared up at the huge structure, a structure that he had visited often during his apprenticeship in Russia. In front of him was a Russian soldier guarding the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Looking back at Hermione he raised one eyebrow, as if silently asking for her to explain.

She cleared her throat before beginning, "Yes, well, I found out you had an apprenticeship in Russia and this really was the only place I could think of."

Severus nodded his head and started to walk around as if he knew every step he was taking was a step he had taken years before…before he was in the service of the Dark Lord. A time when he felt his freest, and oddly enough, it was the happiest time of his life. "I did have an apprenticeship in Russia; though not in Moscow, in St. Petersburg."

"Should we go there?" she questioned.

"I have a small home in St. Petersburg where we can stay. The train will get us there in about seven hours. I suggest we eat and then head to the train station for the eleven o'clock train." With that, he started walking towards the entrance of Manezhe Square, leaving a confused Hermione standing there. She had thought it was a good idea to bring him here, but she wasn't quite sure about it now. Perhaps it was the idea of being in a country she had very little knowledge about, or possibly the idea of being in a foreign country with her ex-Professor.

Hurrying to catch up with him, she occasionally looked up at the Kremlin as if recording it in her memory. He looked down at her as she looked up at the building in wonder. Idly he thought maybe that was what he looked like when his teacher, Master Karabinarov, brought him to Moscow for the first time. It had been quite an experience and he learned so much history it was fascinating. Of course, once they returned to St. Petersburg he was quizzed on all he had soaked in about the city.

As they were walking, he heard Hermione say breathlessly, "What a funny looking building."

Looking at the building she was talking about, he knew exactly what she meant. It was sometimes hard to tell but if you looked closely you could see one half of the building was built in a different style architecture than the other half. To himself he said quietly, "Yes, those silly architectures were too scared to clarify which of the two architectural designs Lenin preferred."

She heard him and quirked her head in his direction before returning her gaze back to the building. They had finally reached the entrance to the mall beneath Manezhe Square and Severus turned to look at the Gryffindor walking quickly to keep up with him. "I hope you have some money. Unfortunately I didn't have much need for money during my visit in Azkaban."

"Oh, yes sir, I have some right here," she said as she dug into her robes to retrieve her bag of money. "I only have a few p's, so I guess I will need to exchange them for rubbles. Is there any place I can do that?"

"Do you have your passport as well?" he questioned sceptically.

"I certainly do," she said as she pulled out her passport.

Scowling slightly he nodded his head and led the way to the nearest exchange point. Once they had more than enough rubbles for dinner and the train ride, Severus led the way to the restaurant of his choice. They had a small dinner consisting of blini (crapes layered with sour crème in the middle) and winter salad.

After dinner they made their way toward the Moskva Oktiabrskaia train station; though at a slower pace after Hermione practically begged Severus to slow down. Once they were inside the station he walked up to the ticket booth and asked, in Russian, the cost. "For both of us, it will be 3,000 rubbles," he said once he returned to Hermione.

"Ok, here we go." Hermione fished out the correct change and handed it over to Severus, who turned back to purchase the tickets.

She followed him to the correct train and once they were inside they sat down in a pair of seats facing each other, in their overnight compartment. The window was beside them and Hermione could see many people walking around; boarding and disembarking other trains. She couldn't help but watch as some people conversed animatedly or went about their business.

Severus sat down and leaned his head back against the wool green chair. With his eyes closed he thought about his day and how pleasant it felt to be free. Completely free of having to report to anyone or pretend to be someone he wasn't. It was an odd sensation, one he hadn't felt in years. It was as if he could actually feel at ease with his life; like he didn't always have to keep his eyes open or make sure he wasn't being followed. He had missed living like this; even if he had only been free for a few moments. The train had pulled out of the station and they were on their way.

Suddenly, his head snapped forward and he glared at the girl sitting across from him. "You silly little girl, my wand would have been beneficial to us in our predicament," he said tersely.

Hermione simply looked at him, fuming inside, and then rolled her eyes. "Honestly, like I would have taken you this far without claiming your wand first," she declared with an attitude. With that she held out her hand and an ebony wand appeared in her palm. He eyed it suspiciously for a moment before taking in his right hand gently. As soon as he held it he felt a surge of familiar magic flow through his body. It certainly was his wand. Severus realized he had missed his wand and was thankful to have it back in his possession. He felt safer somehow.

Now that he actually had time to sit down and think about a few things he remembered her comment about his apprenticeship. Narrowing his eyes, he asked quietly, "How exactly did you know I had an apprenticeship in Russia?"

He watched as she squirmed in her seat a little and wrung her hands before boldly looking him in the eyes. It was as if she decided to just come out with the whole truth and nothing but the truth…well almost. "I happened to come across a journal of yours that discussed your apprenticeship."

She was just sitting there as if nothing was amiss. As if it was alright for her to have gone through his things. Oh, he was angry alright. How dare she?! Those journals were not just laying about! "And how exactly did you come across said journal?" he questioned almost menacingly.

"Well," she started smartly, "I was trying to find more information about why I was sent to your rooms. I was hoping there would be pertinent information in the journals and there was. Though, really only useful until now," she ended contemplatively.

The nerve! What the…that little…I should just hex her and get it over with. He was struggling internally about what to do to her for invading his privacy. He was so angry he didn't know how to react. "Meddling Gryffindor," was all he could choke out under his breath. It wasn't quiet enough because Hermione heard him and she scowled at him darkly.

"Well, this is just such a pleasant thank you!" she said sarcastically.

"This is certainly no joking matter, Miss Granger. I don't take kindly to people rummaging around my personal affects. Anything you could have needed would not have been locked up in a cabinet."

"Oh, they were hardly locked," she argued before being cut off.

"They were closed, and the journals were out of plain sight…" before Severus continued Hermione butted in.

"Besides! If I hadn't looked at your journals I wouldn't have known you were working on a counterproductive replenishing potion for Voldemort."

He hissed at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. "Do NOT say his name!" he seethed.

Rolling her eyes she started again. "He is dead! He can't do anything to you!"

"That is beside the point!" He continued angrily, "The point is you going through my personal journals! Those were completely private and there was no need for you to go through them like that!"

"What do you want an apology!" she yelled back. If he wanted a fight she could certainly oblige.

"I knew I shouldn't have allowed Albus to give you the information to my rooms!" They were both leaning over staring at each other angrily and Severus was about to continue his tirade when two very tall, very large and hairy Russian gentlemen walked into the compartment. They looked at each other and shrugged before sitting down, one beside Hermione and one beside Severus. The two sat there seething, glaring daggers at each other. Simultaneously they acted; Severus sat back and crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl plastered on his face while Hermione crossed her legs and gazed out the window as if nothing in the world was wrong.

An hour later, they still weren't talking or even looking at each other. The two Russians had decided to go to bed and had pulled down the cots adjoining the left side of the compartment. As soon as the two were settled in and practically asleep Severus stood up and pulled down the bottom cot on the right side of the compartment. Hermione watched him and said, "Why do you get the bottom cot?"

"Quite simply because I'm pulling the cot down," he said sarcastically. He added a few moments later once he lay down, "And because I'm currently occupying the cot. Unless you would like to join me, the top cot is awaiting your arrival."

Hermione stood with a huff and pulled down the top cot with as much force as she could muster. Severus wanted to laugh at her attempt to try to break the damned thing. She climbed atop and he could hear her moving around trying to find a comfortable position. He almost smiled that she was having so much difficulty, but he knew soon enough things would get worse. Putting his hands behind his head he closed his eyes and started to fall into a deep sleep. Before he did however, he saw her head poke down from her cot to look at him. He heard her huff before she settled back down on her cot. The corner's of Severus' lips twitched for a second before going stoic again. She must be having difficultly sleeping with the Russians locked in a snoring battle. Too bad for her; the meddling chit, it's the least she deserves for poking around where she shouldn't have. With that final thought, he slowly sunk into the sleep he so desperately needed.

Severus was awakened by the slowing down of the train. He knew they were arriving so he got up and stretched. Their two hairy friends were gone, which he was thankful for. There was more room for him to move around and stretch. Once he stood up and cracked his back he turned around to see Hermione staring red eyed at him, as if she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. "I had a wonderful sleep. Didn't you Miss Granger?" he asked sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes and before she could retort he said, "You might want to get up, we will be arriving soon and I don't want to spend all day getting to my home." As an afterthought he added rather meanly. "You might want to do something with that rat's nest."

Hermione looked like she was going to kill him or maybe try to rip his head off. Either way he found it rather comical. The two left the train station in silence; not speaking one word, or looking at one another. It seemed they were at a standoff again and neither one cared to break it.

They jumped on the Metro and took the line until the Lesnaya stop. From there they crammed into Bus # 80 return onto the Metro at Ploschad Muzhestva until Akademichiskaya, Severus's neighbourhood. When they stepped off the bus Severus muttered "We shall return to the Lesnaya wizarding market later to collect supplies." Hermione nodded and started looking around again, memorizing everything while Severus led them past the main street, and deeper into the neighbourhood. Since St Petersbury is so far north, at times it doesn't get a lot of sunlight. To combat the dreariness, Russians paint their houses in cheery colours. They walked toward the end of the street and there were two houses left, a pink house and a yellow house. Severus walked right up to the yellow house, unlocked the door and walked in.