Lips as soft as rose petals brushed his temple. His eyes opened in a blur, and all he could see was the beautiful heart shaped lips with the perfect Cupid's bow. They were getting closer to his own lips, making a trail from his temple to his mouth, where mouths touched and tongues brushed gently. She tasted of red wine and chocolate, with a touch of cherry, which he found was her lip balm.

Severus woke up in a cold sweat, trying to figure out whose lips were featuring in his dream. They were lips that he had seen before… But where? And who in Merlin's name would want to kiss him?

SS/HG

She couldn't believe she had leant up and kissed his cheek. In all her Gryffindor bravery, she had pressed her lips to his surprisingly soft cheek. She could still see the split second of unguarded shock on his face before he covered it up and bade her goodnight.
"Stupid." Hermione muttered to herself, pouring a cup of tea with two lumps of sugar and a dollop of milk.
She couldn't help but admit to herself that dinner was absolutely exquisite, but then again the bushy-haired girl wouldn't have expected any less of her ex professor. Seated at the table, the young woman accio'd some parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. Settling it down on the table, she began to write.

S. Snape

Dinner was marvellous. Thank you for allowing me into your home. I shall not be over today as you need to spend time with your daughter.

Sincerely,
H. Granger.

Once Hermione was happy with the note, she tied it to her owl's leg, whispered Severus' address and watched as the bird took flight. Finally satisfied with everything, she made her way upstairs to her bedroom.

To her horror, her aunt was in there, packing her books and trinkets into cardboard boxes. The once kind older lady turned to sneer nastily at her.
"Oh, so she decides to finally make an appearance! Well done Hermione, you have finally made it home in time to help me pack!"
A little confused at her aunt's outburst, Hermione spoke quietly, "Aunt? What are you doing?"
"Packing your things." She told her niece simply, "You see, you have hardly said a word to me since you found your goddaughter, and I am completely and utterly sick of it! You are leaving tonight."
Finally, Hermione realised what Rose was doing. Dread flooded her entire body.
"Please Rose. Please don't make me go." Hermione's eyes prickled with tears, blinking them away before Rose could see. This was her only real home since the war had ended. She had no parents, no other family apart from Annaliese, and now she had nowhere to live. The look on Rose's face was enough to make Hermione realise that there was no going back, the older woman was serious, and there were no second chances.

Two hours after her aunt's packing commenced, Hermione was shrinking all of the boxes and putting them in her trunk before placing a feather-light charm on it. She wandered through the seemingly warm house and shuddered. Emptiness filled her heart and stomach as she walked into the study, looking over everything to make sure nothing was left behind or forgotten. She had nowhere to go. Harry and Ron had families of their own, Neville worked at Hogwarts and Luna was with Neville. There was only one place, "Severus." Hermione whispered to the empty room.

Lightening flashed and rain pelted down around the bushy-haired woman, drenching her to the bone as she trudged to the apparration point with her trunk following her. With one last look at her old home, she disappeared with the signature 'pop'.

The weather at Spinner's End was worse, thunder crashing and lightening flashing. Her hair plastered to her face with rain as well as tears, Hermione moped to her goddaughter's new home and knocked three times on the door with small, shaking hands.

The dark man answered the door with a sneer, but before he could say anything to the young Gryffindor, she had collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. It was then that he noticed her trunk, the same one from Hogwarts with her name in gold on the top and bottom of it. Severus held her awkwardly in his arms, unsure of what to do and uncomfortable with her outburst of emotion. Not wanting to draw attention to them, he pulled the girl and her trunk inside his warm home.

"Accio towel." He muttered, waiting for one of the large black bath sheets to land in his hand. He wrapped it over the young woman's sobbing, shivering form.
Never before in her life had Hermione been so humiliated, "I-I'm sorry." She hiccoughed, "I d-didn't have anyw-where to go."
With a raise of his eyebrow, Severus spoke in a strong yet gentle voice, "Whatever do you mean?"
"M-my aunt kicked me out." Was all she could muster before hiccoughing and averting her puffy brown eyes from her ex-professor's gaze.
After a slight pause, Severus looked at her. "The bathroom is right ahead of you. Have a shower, clean yourself up. I will be in the kitchen preparing afternoon tea for Annaliese. We can talk properly when you have settled down." He murmured softly, looking into the tear filled eyes of his ex-student. With that, he let go of the woman in his arms and made his way into the kitchen.

SS/HG

Three firm raps on the door broke Severus from his reverie. He was reading a potion's journal while Annaliese had her afternoon nap. Sighing softly, he stood up and stalked down the hall to the front door, ready to give whoever it was a piece of his mind.

Just as he opened the door, he saw a blurry mass of soaking wet curly hair, before he felt someone launch themselves into his arms in sobs. His eyes fell on the trunk, Hermione.
Why on earth would she be here? Not at his house, but here – in his arms, sobbing her heart out. Not wanting to alarm his daughter, he pulled the sobbing girl into the hallway.

She was soaked from head to toe. How long had she been outside? Her tears soaked through his black cashmere sweater, her hair drenching his chest. He needed a towel, and quickly.

Once Hermione had explained what had happened, he immediately felt a pang of guilt. He could have at least let Hermione have Annaliese for a day, but how was he to know? Her aunt sounded like a right bitch to him. The least he could do was offer her a place to stay for a few days, but he wanted the full story first. Before the story though, she needed a shower.

SS/HG

Hermione rummaged around in her trunk for her box of clothes, taking the whole box into the bathroom with her as well as her bag of toiletries. The bath looked so inviting, but Severus told her to shower. She had already overstepped the line by going to his house in the first place, she didn't want to overstep anymore by not doing as she was told.

Turning on the shower, Hermione stepped under the warmth of the water, letting it warm her and clean the grime and tears from her face. Using her specially made no-frizz shampoo and conditioner, and cleaning her body adequately, the Gryffindor Princess stepped from the plain glass shower and dried her body off with a quick spell. Applying a quick coat of moisturiser, Hermione then dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans, a long sleeved top and a cream coloured sweater.

With her hair pulled into a French braid, Hermione took her things out of the bathroom and placed them back into her trunk, carefully shrinking them so that they could fit in neatly with everything else.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione made her way into the kitchen, and was surprised to see a tea cup floating over to her.
"Two lumps of sugar and a dollop of milk?" A deep baritone asked from behind the kitchen bench, watching as Hermione took her tea and had a sip.
"Mmm, thank you sir." She murmured, stepping over to the table to have a seat.

"Miss- Hermione, if you don't mind… Why did your aunt 'kick you out'?" Severus asked after a few silent moments.
"According to her I wasn't home enough. She got tired of it, packed my things and told me to leave." By the end of her sentence, Hermione's voice came out as a broken whisper.
"What about Potter and Weasley?" Snape pressed, not wanting to upset the girl again, but sincerely wondering why she came to him.
"They have families. It's awkward with Ron… Since he and I were together. I couldn't be around him without constantly arguing."

Those are all very valid points Granger. I couldn't puut up with a dunderhead like Weasley either.

Severus merely nodded his head and continued making a toasted tomato sandwich for his daughter.

"I will allow you to stay here for a month. No more than that. I expect that you will find a decent job, or something to fill in your spare time so that you are not annoying me with your constant talking. The room closest to Annaliese's is yours. You can do what you want to it, as long as it is all temporary and will be changed back when you leave. I will give you a list of ground rules after dinner tonight."

A small grateful smile crossed Hermione's features, "Thank you sir."
With a dismissive hand, Severus waved her towards her new bedroom, "Off with you. Before I change my mind." He told her, lacking venom in his tone.

What in Merlin's name have you gotten yourself into?

/ Hello faithful followers and first-timers! If you have any ideas at all, please PM me as I would love to include your ideas. Sincere thanks to all readers.
Much love xx.