Thanks to everyone for sticking with this story...

Chapter 10

~x~

Stretched out on a brown leather sofa, with a book in one hand and cup of tea in the other, Hermione sighed contentedly. This was how life should be. School had finished for half-term two days ago, and Hermione had wasted little time in flooing to her London townhouse. Few in the wizarding world knew she owned it and she intended to keep it that way.

A muggle home, in a muggle neighbourhood – it was her sanctuary.

Tomorrow, though, she and Severus would take a taxi to her parents' home in Chelsea. Hermione thought it more polite to arrive on their doorstep the muggle way, rather than apparate right into the middle of their living room. Severus had readily agreed with her reasoning. She chuckled now as she recalled his dry tone: "Giving your parents heart attacks on our first meeting would hardly make a good impression, would it?"

Of course, Ron had always made a scene whenever she suggested they take a taxi to visit her parents. Given his own way, he would have rather swooped in on his broom. Hermione snorted, grinning evilly. Perhaps she should have let him – the Ministry would have grounded him for life.

Her parents, her dad especially, had never seemed particularly keen on Ron. One evening, he'd even asked Ron outright what his intentions were. At the time, she'd been mortified, wishing that the ground would have opened up and swallowed her. But as she looked back on their relationship now, she realised how blind she'd been. Ron had never seen beyond her looks, had never appreciated her for what she was.

Sipping her tea, she let her thoughts drift back to Severus. They'd spent the whole of yesterday in bed, a guilty pleasure she would more than willingly indulge in again. With him, life seemed less complicated. He took her seriously, instead of telling her that there were more important things to life than her silly experiments.

Hermione was drawn from her thoughts after hearing a light tap on her front door. She frowned, since she wasn't expecting any visitors. Setting her book onto the small, round table beside the sofa, she instinctively felt for her wand. But she quickly scolded herself for overreacting – it was probably the little boy next door wanting his ball back.

Through the front door's frosted glass, she saw the outline of a man. She paused mid-step, her body tensing. It certainly wasn't Severus. He was shorter, but there was something familiar about his stance. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, so she hurried to open the door.

"Harry!"

"Hi Hermione," he said with a lopsided grin. "Merry Christmas."

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, surprised yet thrilled to see her best friend.

"I owled your mum; she said you were staying at your house in Knightsbridge. So here I am."

Hermione pulled him into a warm embrace. "It's so good to see you."

"You too, 'Mione," he said, hugging her tightly.

Drawing back from him, she shivered in the cold air. "Do you have time to come in for tea?"

"I'm free all afternoon. Ginny said she's sorry she couldn't make it, but she's not feeling well."

"Oh?" Hermione said, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Nothing too serious I hope?"

His eyes narrowed in slight annoyance. "She's told you already, hasn't she?"

"Told me what?" she asked innocently.

Harry sighed. Ginny and Hermione were impossible at times - he'd have an easier job breaking into Gringotts than getting any information from those two. After knocking his shoes against the doorstep to shake off the snow, he followed her inside. The festive smell of cinnamon and spice filled his nostrils as he walked along the hallway. And, unlike his own house, Harry did not have to weave his way through a barrage of toys, bags and brooms.

A roaring fire greeted him in the parlour, as he quickly shed his coat, gloves and scarf.

"Make yourself comfortable." She motioned towards the sofa, then took out her wand and with a flick, she re-heated the tea in the pot.

As he sank down onto the sofa, he let his gaze wander about the room. Nothing much had changed. The bookshelves still groaned under the weight of Hermione's extensive book collection, which he knew would soon contain more books. The same abstract paintings still hung on the walls and the photo of them, minus Ron, taken in their last year at school still sat on the mantelpiece. His eyes widened somewhat though when he saw a black overcoat, much too large for Hermione, hanging on a hat stand in the corner of the room.

"He's not here, Harry, so you can take that worried look of your face."

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't mean to…"

"It's all right, Harry." Hermione handed him a cup of tea as she sat down beside him, then said, "I guess you saw the papers, then?"

Deep down, she knew this day would come; when she would have to face Harry. He was her closest friend and she loved him dearly. Apart from Severus', his was the opinion she respected most. Naturally, she didn't expect him to welcome her relationship with Severus with open arms, since few had. But it would crush her if he decided to turn his back on her now.

Harry was silent for a long moment. "I have to be honest, Hermione. I didn't know what to make of it all at first…about you and Snape, I mean."

Hermione stared into her tea as she swirled it about in the cup. "What do you make of us now?"

At least Harry would let her down gently, not like Ron.

"Does he make you happy?"

She lifted her gaze to his, surprise filling her face. "Yes, very happy."

Harry placed his hand over hers. "Then that's all that matters."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she said quietly, "You don't how much it means to hear you say that. Severus isn't the cold hearted git everyone thinks he is. He's caring and brilliant and…" Hermione laughed softly. "…and he's the only other person I know who has read every book I have."

"You really love him, don't you?"

"He means everything to me, Harry."

Squeezing her hand reassuringly, he said, "Then never let anyone tell you otherwise."

Afraid she would cry if tried to answer him, she simply nodded. Words could not convey her relief in knowing that Harry and Ginny would stand by her. Yet, she felt ashamed for having doubted Harry's loyalty to her. She should have known that, unlike Ron, who was little more than a spoiled brat, Harry had grown up.

"How are things at Hogwarts?" he asked, not wanting to pry any further into her relationship with Snape.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed for letting her emotions get the better of her, she swiftly composed herself. "Just the same, although I wish Professor Flitwick hadn't taken early retirement."

Concern flashed in Harry's eyes. "Is Ambrose Froggate giving you bother?"

"Albus has told you about him, hmm?" she said, then reached for a plate of biscuits sitting on the coffee table.

Harry took a chocolate hobnob and dunked it into his tea. "The Ministry has had a file on Froggate for years."

"What?"

"His family remained neutral during the war; they were waiting it out to see which side won," A bitter taste rose in Harry's throat. "Of course, the Ministry can't prove that."

Hermione swallowed the last of her custard cream. "But the war ended twelve years ago. Surely it would be obvious by now if he had been linked with Voldemort."

"We don't believe his family had any loyalties to Voldemort." Harry said. "Froggate's father died three years after the war and, from what we can tell, he left his son with debts that ran into the millions."

"Why would the Ministry care about Froggate's debts?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's not the debts we're concerned about, but how Froggate has been repaying them."

Hermione felt a cold chill rake down her spine. "What do you mean?"

"We don't have enough concrete evidence to convict him, but we suspect he's willing to do just about anything to clear his debts. Even…" Harry caught himself before he said too much.

"Don't you have aurors watching him?" she said, shifting uncomfortably on the sofa. She didn't even want to think about what Harry had meant by anything.

Harry fixed his gaze squarely on Hermione. "We do, but not at Hogwarts. We can't get anyone close enough…"

"No, Harry." She knew that look. "I'm a teacher for Merlin's sake. Ask someone else or better yet, ask Severus."

Harry shook his head. "I'm not even supposed to be telling you this." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Hermione, you don't even have to get close to Froggate. All I need is for you to send me an owl any time he leaves Hogwarts."

Hermione chewed on her lip pensively. "All right Harry, I'll do it, but only because it's you asking me."

"Thank you Hermione," he said, in obvious relief.

At that moment, a loud crack echoed along the hallway. Severus had returned. A warm smile spread across Hermione's face as his tall, dark frame filled the doorway. He appeared chilled to the bone and his skin, paler than normal, stood in stark contrast to his raven hair. She knew the moment he recognised it was Harry sitting beside her. Severus' eyes narrowed, his lips grew taut, and he glowered openly at him.

Harry, unnerved, quickly set his teacup down and rose from the sofa. "Good afternoon, Professor."

"Potter," Severus said flatly.

"Well, Hermione, I should get going here." Harry said, dreading the thought of having to engage in small talk with Snape. "I need to call into the Ministry before I head home. But it was really good to see you."

"You too, Harry."

Harry felt Snape's eyes boring into him as he hugged Hermione goodbye. Swiftly gathering up his coat, gloves and scarf, he smiled once more at Hermione, then left.

Severus watched him leave silently, his lips almost curling in a sneer.

Once he'd heard the door click shut, he asked cynically, "What was he doing here?"

"He didn't come here to try and convince me to leave you, if that's what you're thinking," Hermione said, draining the last of her tea. "Harry's my friend; he's happy for us."

Severus grunted, muttering under his breath. If Potter had dared to upset her, he would have done more than merely hex the Boy Who Lived. He removed his cloak, then hung it next to the muggle coat Hermione had insisted on buying him. His trip to Diagon Alley that morning had been entirely successful. After rooting around in the dark corners of Flourish and Blotts for an hour, he finally managed to find several books that she hadn't read before. He'd also taken Lucius' advice and bought her perfume and hoped for Merlin's sake he'd picked the right one.

"Are you going to stand there brooding all evening?" Hermione said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Severus snapped from his thoughts, then kicked off his shoes to join her on the sofa. As she nestled closer to rest her head on his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tight against him. Sighing happily, she circled her arm about his waist, with the warmth of her body soon taking the chill from his.

"What time are your parents expecting us at tomorrow?" he asked. Met with silence, he glanced down at her. "Hermione?"

He felt her flinch.

"Sorry, my love, what did you say?"

Frowning, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

"No, I'm fine. Really," she assured him.

Unconvinced, Severus drew back from her, gently tipping her chin up. "I know you better than that, Hermione. What's wrong?"

She lowered her gaze. "I can't tell you."

Severus bristled slightly. "Can't or won't?"

"Harry said…"

"Oh, so you can tell Potter but not me," he said huffily, removing his hand from her face as clouds of doubt gathered in his mind.

"It's not like that, Severus." She placed a gentle hand on his forearm. "Harry told me certain things about Professor Froggate. He told me not to tell anyone, but I'm frightened, Severus. There was something in his eyes…something he wasn't telling me."

Shame rose within him at the alarm in her cinnamon eyes. A moment later, his arms engulfed her in a protective embrace. He silently cursed himself for doubting her love for him. He felt like a bloody fool. However, unease quickly overtook his self-reproach.

"What did Potter say?" he asked gently.

Trying her best to keep her voice steady, Hermione repeated everything Harry had told her. She knew he would be angry with her, but she just couldn't lie to Severus. He would have known something was amiss. Hermione was not willing to risk losing his trust, not over something which Harry was not at the liberty to share with her in the first place.

For a long moment, Severus sat in silence digesting what she'd just told him. She could sense his anger at Harry for dragging her into this mess. If it wasn't for the fact he was her friend, she was sure Severus would have already apparated to Grimmauld Place. Nevertheless, she half suspected he was pleased that Harry had shed some light on Froggate's dubious character.

Drawing a deep breath, Severus finally spoke. "If Potter comes to you again and asks you do more than simply watch Froggate, I want you wash your hands of this matter entirely."

Severus' loathing of Ambrose Froggate had risen to a new level. Potter's revelation confirmed what he had suspected all along: Froggate was after Hermione's fortune. Froggate's desperation made him much more dangerous than had it been simply a matter of greed. As soon as he could, Severus planned to visit Lucius. The blond wizard's extensive connections to the underbelly of the wizarding world would no doubt prove useful.

Hermione felt a great weight lift from her, knowing she did not have to bear this alone. "You needn't worry, my love. All the galleons in Britain couldn't tempt me to get within fifty feet of that slimy toad."

With a noncommittal grunt, Severus said, "He's fortunate I haven't already turned him into a toad."

"Now, I would pay to see that," she giggled.

Severus arched an eyebrow, his expression deadpan. "You may get your chance."

Combing his fingers through her chestnut hair, he caressed the strands, savouring their softness, before tugging her towards him. He took possession of her mouth, his kisses at first soft and then deeper, hungrier, using his tongue to part her lips. He moaned with raw need as he experienced her familiar taste.

Drawing back to catch her breath, her eyes smouldered with desire. "Why don't we continue this upstairs, Professor."

Severus caught her chin in his hand. "You, my dear, are truly shocking." She laughed as he scooped her up, carrying her from the parlour

Hours later, Hermione reached out for Severus, only to be met with cold sheets. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and switched on a lamp. She groaned as she looked at the time; it was three o'clock; still the middle of the night. Too tired to move, she flopped back down on the mattress. When a half hour had passed and he still hadn't returned, she grew concerned.

Sliding from the bed, she shivered slightly as the cold air touched her warm skin. She found her pyjamas on the floor, where they'd been flung the previous night. Slipping on a pair of fleece lined slippers, she sighed in relief as they took the chill off her feet. Out of habit, she tucked her wand into her waistband, then left the bedroom.

The whole house lay shrouded in darkness. But as she padded along the hallway, she saw light leaking out from the gap beneath the kitchen door. Slowly opening the door, she saw Severus sitting at the table, with an opened bottle of Bushmills Whiskey on the table beside him.

"Severus, it's three a.m. What are you doing down here?"

He raised his head, his black gaze meeting hers. "This is good. Where did you get it from?"

"My dad brought it back from Ireland." She crossed her arms. "Now what are you doing down here?"

"We should visit Ireland sometime…"

"Don't try to change the subject, Severus."

Severus slammed the glass down. "What if they don't accept me. What will happen to us then?"

"Who are they, Severus?" she asked, somewhat exasperated.

"Your parents, damn it," he said, his voice strained with emotion. "I don't want to lose you, Hermione, but I won't make you choose between me and your parents."

Hermione's tone softened as she said, "My love, I've told you before you have nothing to worry about. And even if they didn't approve, they'll just have to live with the fact that it's you I've fallen in love with."

He opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, she cut him off.

"What's more, Severus, you respect me, unlike others I could mention. That means more to my parents than charm or cheap talk."

Severus clenched his fist. "I would never hurt you like he did."

She crossed over to where he sat, nudging herself in between the chair and table, then settled herself on his lap. Framing his face with her hands, she stared into his fathomless black eyes. "Severus, listen to me. Stop tormenting yourself. I love you, and I know you would never hurt me."

"I swear, Hermione, I will never let any harm come to you," he said hoarsely.

"I know." She kissed him softly.