AN: two updates in one week, it's like summer again! Thank you all for reading and those of you who have reviewed. If you didn't read Chapter 13, please read that first or this one will seem a huge jump from Chap. 12. Thanks again and please let me know what you think!

Chapter 14

They arrived in Romania after lunch the following after a tearful, for Hermione, goodbye with the Potters. Hermione was surprised Severus had accompanied her at all after the events of the previous evening, but he had, shrinking his luggage into a briefcase and hers into her trusty potions box.

"Severus! Hermione! Welcome, this is Patrick, my grandson. Patrick, carry these up to the east room." Patrick shook both of their hands and took their luggage up the stairs to the room where they'd be staying while in Romania. Hermione immediately loved Stieg's home; it reminded her of the stone homes of the countryside, covered in plants and almost alive on it's own.

"I hope the port was pleasant?" He asked, leading them to the sitting room.

"It was tolerable." Severus replied, fidgeting awkwardly with his frock coat.

"Thank you for having us, though Severus will be leaving tomorrow afternoon."

"That's too bad, you'll be back though?" Pushing his hair behind his ears, Severus nodded in affirmation.

"Good, Patrick is curious about you; his father left him some interesting artifacts from your tenure here, old journals and books."

"I'm sure Sean Patrick did, knowing him."

"My son was the same age as Severus, Hermione, though they were never quite friends. Sean Patrick was far less interested in the dark arts, my dear wife had a hand in that thank goodness." Hermione looked to the wall, pictures of Stieg's wife and son were hanging near their icons. Sean Patrick looked like he could've been related to Harry with disheveled hair and glasses, and his wife was positively gorgeous, a true beauty. Seeing images of Sean Patrick also made her imagine Severus in his late teens and early twenties, working as a potions apprentice in Romania and most likely committing terrible atrocities in the name of Lord Voldemort. When Patrick returned to the room, it made Hermione imagine Severus with a son so old, but Stieg's voice broke her train of thought.

"My Daniella died last year."

"I'm so sorry, she was beautiful." Hermione couldn't help but stare, the woman was like no one else she'd ever seen. Her heart ached for him, he'd lost his wife and son in less than two years.

"I have tea ready, join me." They walked through the long hallway and then into his formal dining room where Patrick was already sitting and waiting. An elf appeared and brought them each a cup and small plate for tea cakes. Hermione was having a hard time reconciling the man Severus continued to describe and the one who was currently sipping his tea with his pinky raised and giving them mini sandwiches and scones.

"We will go into my archives tomorrow, I'm sure you'd like some rest and to get acclimated. There are three shops up the road and a couple restaurants, if you find you need space while you're reading. I often walk to a pond, I'll show you where when you're up to it; it's a great spot for thinking. Aside from that, we are at your disposal, my home is completely open to you."

"Thank you, I cannot wait to get started. I've brought all my research thus far, would you like to see my updates since the conference?"

"You've already made updates?"

"Yes, I added about thirty pages, well of new information and I've corrected about one hundred." Stieg's eyebrows raised sharply.

"If only you hadn't been born twenty years earlier, Professor…" "Please call me Hermione." She smiled at him, feeling as comfortable with him as she always had with Dumbledore.

"And you must call me Stieg...as I was saying, you would've made an excellent apprentice, no doubt you would've surpassed my skills in no time. How do you keep up with her, Severus?" Hermione felt his leg tense next to hers.

"As well as any mortal would." He sniped.

"Bury the hatchet, Severus, please. I am an old man and I do not wish you continuously spar with you when you come to visit this lovely young woman, because goodness knows you aren't coming to visit me." She heard Severus breathe deeply and felt his eyes on her.

"We'll see, Stieg." He bit back.

"Good, good. Now, Hermione, tomorrow I will take you to the archives just down the road, but I have some things here. Once you have been given access, you'll have free reign." Patrick hadn't said a word, though he looked intrigued by the two professors. Hermione tried to gauge his age, but couldn't decide if he was younger or older than she.

"Get settled in and I'll have dinner ready around 6."

"Thank you, Stieg." She stuck her hand out again, which he shook with both of his, and then they went upstairs. She instantly loved the room; it smelled of fresh birch and was luxuriously decorated with honey-colored accents. Before trying out the bed, she took of her shoes and dress, folding it over her bag, feeling Severus's arm encircle her waist.

"You were nicer than I thought you'd be."

"I don't want to upset you." Hermione mentioned nothing else about Stieg, instead she pulled Severus to the bed and lay against him, snuggled up tightly at his side, his hand in her hair. They rested until they heard a bell downstairs from the house elf. Dinner passed pleasantly but Hermione was ready for a walk. When Severus looked like he was too tired to join her, she asked Patrick if he would walk her to the archives and perhaps to a store or two, catching an odd look from Severus as they went out the front door.

"Your grandfather seems very kind." She said after they'd passed a large field.

"He is, just eccentric." Patrick laughed, running his hand awkwardly through his disheveled hair, reminding her of Harry when they'd been in school.

"So what do you do for a living?"

"I teach in a primary school for magical children, it feeds into Durmstrang, history and potions, when they cannot find a suitable candidate." Hermione's eyes lit up, he was a teacher as well.

"How interesting. I was trying to gauge how old you were, you look rather young."

"Oh, I'm twenty-four, and the students say that all the time. My grandfather is convinced my grandmother was something special, like a veela but more exotic because we look young for so long, but I think it's just that I have always been late at everything."

"Me too, I mean I am not twenty-four, I'm almost twenty-seven! I was a late bloomer, it took me years to look like a girl." They both laughed and Hermione thought for a moment that Patrick did look like he was part veela or something exotic, as he said. They made it to the archive in no time, placating Hermione and helping her see that it would take no time to get their regularly. As the sun set completely, they made their way back to Stieg's house. When they walked through the door, Hermione saw lights on in the kitchen and then up the stairs, hushed voices echoed through the stone home, but she couldn't figure out where they were coming from. She said goodnight to Patrick and then climbed the stairs to her guestroom, finally recognizing the sound was coming from the other side of the door. When she turned the knob, she found a sight she couldn't have anticipated if she'd been given a thousand guesses.

"Severus?" She saw him, completely wrapped in the embrace of a woman, her arms around his neck pulling it down to her mouth, they'd obviously just kissed and were kissing again, his shirt was unbuttoned and hanging weirdly between their arms, and then she noticed his pants were unbuckled as well. His arms were wrapped as tightly as hers, and that made Hermione's breath hitch. The woman's face was red and shocked as well, the heat of arousal settled mostly in her cheeks, her lovely face made only brighter in the shock of being caught. Hermione tried not to see how pretty the woman before her was, long brown hair, dazzling blue eyes, curvy in all the rights places. Without saying a word, Hermione walked into the room and passed them to retrieve her writing materials and then went down the stairs. She just didn't have the patience or energy to discuss what she'd seen. Finding a quiet spot to write in Stieg's office, Hermione charmed the door to lock and warded it shut, trying to think of all the possible reasons Severus would have been kissing the woman a floor above her, but she didn't dwell on it, instead she wrote about her initial experiences in Romania and the size of the archives, which seemed far more extensive than she had first anticipated. Hours later, when she was calm enough to go back up the stairs, Hermione found the woman sitting in the den.

"I'm so sorry, I'm Anastasia, Patrick's mother...I had no idea Severus was attached...I would never…"Hermione stuck out her hand, shook hers, and then went up the stairs. Even if it had been a misunderstanding, Hermione was still angry. The image of him completely entangled with her made her stomach flip, almost causing bile to rise in her mouth. She paused for a minute before opening the door, knocking lightly before going through. Severus was sitting in the desk chair, his thumb and index finger pinched at the bridge of his nose, not looking at her as she came through. Placing her materials on the dresser, she unzipped her dress and removed her shoes, and finally braided her hair tightly, before pulling the covers back and trying not to let herself cry in anger. It was a kiss, nothing more, he hadn't slept with another woman and he had probably not wanted to kiss her at all...but Hermione couldn't forget Anastasia's own words or rather the words she hadn't said; obviously, at some point, they'd been intimate before or Anastasia wouldn't have presumed to kiss him in the first place. His long sigh caught her attention.

"I don't want to fight, Severus." She finally said, looking over to him.

"I was getting ready for bed and she came in, I thought she was you." He finally came to the bed, his face pale but expressionless. He looked completely broken.

"It makes no difference now, it's done." Hermione didn't want him to say another word but kept her tone light but clear.

"Hermione, I would never do something like this intentionally, I had no idea she'd even be here."

"She is Patrick's mother, Severus, why wouldn't she be here?" Hermione folded her arms, still adamant that she didn't want to fight but felt her ire rising.

"Anastasia was barely married to Sean Patrick; I didn't even think Stieg allowed her near these premises most of the time. We never dated, I never gave her any attention when I was here before, I don't know why she launched herself at me." Their eyes met briefly, Hermione's determined not to cry and his remaining expressionless.

"You don't know why you were just as entangled as her?" Hermione lashed out, but then took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "Like I said, it's done. I don't want to talk about it further." Hermione pushed herself down on the bed, stretching her legs out and turned away from him, almost crying but stopping herself. It had been a misunderstanding and it should've be bothering her as much as it did, but she couldn't help but feel inadequate and silly.

"Hermione, please…"

"It. Is. Done. Severus, I don't want to talk or think about it a moment longer." His hand came to rest on her shoulder, but she flinched as soon as he touched her; it had never occurred to her that when she returned to the house that she'd find Severus in the arms of another woman. But, he hadn't done anything scandalous, not really. They'd kissed; she'd kissed many men in her time. She couldn't punish him for something that happened spontaneously, but she hated that he had seemed to be enjoying it as much as Anastasia was.

"Goodnight, Severus." She whispered, pulling the covers over her shoulders and letting herself relax, trying to hold her tears back before falling asleep. She felt his weight shift and his breathing soften; she wanted to wrap her arms around him, to claim him as her own, but she didn't. Instead, Hermione slept at the edge of the bed all night and woke before him, showered and went down the stairs for coffee. Stieg was awake and looked as glum as she did.

"Anastasia has told me about last night. Please, do not hold this indiscretion against us, Hermione,I have sent her away for your duration."

"That was unnecessary, I promise." Hermione tried to smile, but she was sure it looked insincere.

"All the same, I am sure it will make it easier if she's not here, for you and for her." Hermione tried a smile again and still failed. Taking a muffin from the basket on the table, she ate her feelings as Patrick and Severus walked through, both looking as tired as she and Stieg. No one else brought up the situation from the previous night, but breakfast talk remained stilted. When it was time for Hermione and Stieg to tour the archives, Hermione knew she had to say goodbye to Severus. He was packed and ready in Stieg's garden, but she felt shy and awkward walking up to him. They hadn't talked that morning and now the idea of him leaving made her quite sad, but she knew he had to go.

"Be safe and owl when you get to Hogwarts." Her voice quivered, making her feel foolish again as she reached to touch his forearm.

"I know you are loathe to discuss what happened…"

"You're right, I am."

"Obstinate woman, you won't let me explain."

"Everything has been explained, what else is there to say? She surprised you and you were equally surprised to enjoy it. I don't want to discuss you enjoying the ministrations of another woman, Severus."

"I did not enjoy it."

"You weren't pushing her away, were you? See, this is helping nothing, in fact I feel worse just thinking about it again and I wanted you to leave on a note of understanding, if nothing else, but now…" She couldn't look him in the eye, was she being obstinate and stubborn? Was a kiss really that bad? "This is why I didn't want to talk about it, at all. I am not one for sweeping things under a rug, but what can conversation serve to improve here?"

"I don't know what else to say, Hermione."

"Then don't say anything. Owl me when you get to Hogwarts, I'll worry otherwise." Reaching for his hand, she held it tightly and then pulled him close, finally letting her tears fall, shaking against him lightly before pulling away and walking quickly back inside Stieg's house, unable to watch him leave. All of her emotions boiled over, making her cry harder than she thought possible, so she excused herself to the washroom and tried to stop. Part of her had wanted him to stay, to tell her how much he loved her, to admit that he'd never want another woman for the rest of his life. She felt naive and simple, a foolish girl.

When she felt presentable enough, Stieg offered his arm and they walked quietly to the archive; upon seeing the amount of material, Hermione knew she'd have enough to keep her busy and preoccupied. An hour into combing through Stieg's early research, Hermione received an owl with a simple note: I have made it safely to Hogwarts, Yours, SS She put the note in her pocket and continued, she didn't want to think about him anymore that day, so she continued working, finding that Stieg had devoted the majority of his life to curing a disease that seemed impossible to cure. He was brilliant, no doubt, but even with their combined notes and research, she didn't know if it would be possible to cure lycanthropy and that made her far more distressed than Severus having been kissed by a beautiful woman.

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A week passed before Hermione felt like she'd had any real breakthrough; it was a Sunday when she came across a particularly obscure amount of research from China, the translations taking so long she almost gave up. Most days, she woke early, before the rest of the house, and made it to the archives with coffee and snacks before tackling as much of the reading as she could. Sometimes Stieg walked down for lunch, sometimes Patrick did, either way she went back to the house for dinner and writing. In the evenings she wrote about her findings and theorized how the information could help her finish her research. She didn't write to Severus and he didn't write to her; the moment in the garden when he'd left often flashed in her mind, but she couldn't focus on him; instead, Hermione became obsessed with her research and learning as much from Stieg Davenport as she could. He'd not even raised his voice to her the entire time she'd been there nor called her anything close to cruel. In fact, he was one of the kindest people she'd ever been around, likened to Albus Dumbledore minus the manipulation, though she did wonder if perhaps this was the manipulation, to have her believe he was kind and amiable. He felt more like a father figure than she ever imagined he would, and the feeling was both welcome and intriguing. In what seemed like no time, she felt akin to Stieg Davenport, as though she'd known him all her life.

"You know Severus had me believe you and I wouldn't get along." Hermione mused as they shared two half way through her second week in Romania.

"He would; as I said before, our time together was bleak and I was undoubtedly cruel and demonstrative towards him, when he needed someone to give him leadership and guidance, not the acerbic tongue of an angry man. I'm certain Severus would never venture here again if it were not for you; terrible things happened here when he was my apprentice." Intrigued, Hermione folded her hands and hoped he would continue, but could see he was troubled.

"I've learned with Severus that there is much he will not discuss, in our two years together we've never discussed his time before he became a spy for Albus Dumbledore. I think it shames him, though I am not entirely convinced he would've gone to Dumbledore without the prophecy targeting the Potters." Surprised by her candor, Stieg poured her a shot of vodka and tossed one of his own back.

"Lonely people will do much to end their confinement; even here, when it was clear he was going down a path he might never return from, he showed signs that he wasn't entirely happy with his choices. But, I must say, Hermione, that Severus is a different man now, the things we did, he did, when he was here, those aren't my stories to tell...all I will say is this; if Severus told you to be cautious of me, he did so with the knowledge that I was a terrible man when he knew me before and I did things for which I will never have absolution. I can only hope that by giving you this research and aiding you in any way possible, I can redeem myself, at least for Patrick." The anguish in his voice was so reminiscent of Severus, it made her heart ache immediately. It had always been easy for Hermione to find the good in people, to try and forget any transgressions she knew which might sway her feelings, and looking at him just then made her eye mist. She didn't care that she was a professional, that she was tenderhearted and gentle natured, he was obviously hurting.

"Did he tell you that I am muggleborn?" Hermione asked, fidgeting with her napkin.

"No and it doesn't matter to me, though I have to admit it does make me selfishly happy to know that a muggleborn witch will cure a disease pureblood wizards have not for centuries."

"Maybe they didn't really want to." His sharp brow reminded her of her love, the same look on his face so often. She didn't know why she'd said it exactly, but knew after reading his research that Stieg had been so very close to finding the answer and had stopped suddenly.

"Perhaps, you are right, the old prejudices die hard." He poured her another shot and they toasted to Severus, forcing Hermione to admit to herself how much she missed him, even if the room was silent, his presence gave her comfort she hadn't realized she needed. Later that evening she wrote to him and asked him to come visit; his reply was quick and by the morning he was there, at breakfast with Patrick and Stieg, sharing some syrniki and honey. It was as though years had passed when they finally made eye contact.

"Good morning, Hermione." Patrick said, pouring her coffee. She took the seat across from Severus and next to Stieg, who looked far happier that morning.

"It's late one today, the sun's already up." Stieg teased, passing the syrniki over to her.

"I couldn't sleep after I read about Constantinople, it gave me terrible dreams. I suppose when you researched there it was quite dangerous, I had no idea there were so many werewolves in Turkey." A shudder passed through everyone except Patrick, making the room feel suddenly cool.

"It was, in fact, more dangerous than anywhere I've ever lived. I would not go back there for all the gold in the world."

"I'll be going through the research in England today and if I get it finished early enough, I'd like to take us all to dinner, are you both free tonight?" Hermione cut her syrniki in half and drizzled the honey over it before plopping it in her mouth, the delectable treat making her wish the elves made them at Hogwarts.

"I have a date tonight, actually." Patrick responded, the entire table looking to the consummate shy man.

"Good for you…. Stieg?"

"I'm an old man and always free. Come back from the archives around seven and I'll make sure we have a table." Hermione took her plate to the kitchen and grabbed her thermos, filling it with coffee and took tea bags for later, finding Severus ready to walk with her to the archives. His muggle clothes made him look younger, as though somehow he was transported back to the time when he'd been in the village before. Grabbing her bag, she patted Stieg on the shoulder and walked out the door, Severus trailing her.

"I'm glad you came."

"I wasn't expecting an owl." His tone was pleasant enough, almost solemn towards the end. Walking next to him, she kept her face on the mixed cobblestone and dirt path, trying not trip.

"I missed you and I didn't like the way we left things." Several more steps, their shoes hitting the ground in a steady cadence marking the space between them.

"Nor I." He reached for her thermos so he could take her arm and found she was perfectly agreeable. She wanted to bury the image of him with Anastasia deep in her mind.

"Would you have left things until I returned to Hogwarts?" Her question surprised even her, but she knew it had been weighing on her.

"No, I planned to come next week if I hadn't heard from you; you may feel at ease here, but my own experience makes me...protective of you." His hand grasped hers for a moment, as they rounded the corner to the door of the archives.

" Stieg is keeping something from me and I cannot figure it out. I've poured over this research, decades of papers, letters, maps, and books...he's found an answer and hidden it carefully here."

"I warned you he was cunning."

"He has been nothing but kind, but I think he's ashamed of whatever it is that he isn't telling me, he has been remorseful and open with me about everything else, so it leads me to believe that I cannot fathom what it is he isn't telling me." He took her bag as she used her wand to enter the archives, warding it shut behind them.

"He told you about his life as a Death Eater?"

"Not in so many words and certainly not everything he did, but he was been forthcoming. He would not talk about you and I didn't pry, he truly wants to make amends." Immediately opening two boxes labeled 'England', Hermione opened her thermos and poured another cup of coffee.

"He won't tell you the worst of it because he doesn't want you to leave, and I am trying, though he knows the magnitude of what he's asking me." Hermione finally connected with him again, meeting his eyes for a long while, wishing they were in Scotland and lounging on their sofa. Changing the subject, she offered him coffee.

"How is Minka?"

"A disaster, she misses you and was awfully miffed when I came home without you." Taking a few steps, she curled around him, finally embracing him for the first time since she'd discovered him in the dining room. It took only seconds before she instantly felt better, his arms tightened desperately wrapped around her.

"If you would like to help, I've been putting these in numerical order." Stepping up, she brushed his lips with hers and then released him, going back to her work. He immediately went to work helping, reading bits and pieces as he went, trying to help her figure out the missing piece of the puzzle, surprised by her affections but thankful for them.

"Batty old man!" Severus said randomly hours later when he came across from research so impossibly scribbled he couldn't even see the date.

"October, 1981." She said, looking over to him. "I can read his scribble now." Immediately, Hermione laughed, but found him looking despondent and remembered that was the month and year Lily and James were murdered. Leaving him to his feelings, she didn't realize they'd worked through lunch until Patrick dropped by with sandwiches and cookies from Stieg. Hours later, when they'd exhausted the England files, Hermione and Severus walked back to the house and met Stieg at the end of the walk. He looked ragged and tired, as tired as she felt. It took him a while to walk to the restaurant and Hermione knew she would apparate him back when they were finished.

"Will you be staying longer this time, Severus?" Stieg asked as the vodka was brought to the table.

"Unless I get urgent news from Hogwarts or you remind why I should never have come back." Hermione was surprised by the vile tone of Severus' words, but found that it washed over Stieg Davenport instantly.

"Good, good. They'll be none of that, I hope. Hermione, did you find anything in the England files?" It took her a minute to register that he was talking to her, her mind tired and barely processing thought.

"Not really, but we have another box or two before I can say anything definitively. Although, I am working towards a new theory, I just don't know enough about it yet...an inkling in my brain, a curiosity." They both looked to her, so unlike their nature and full of wonderment.

"You are truly a wonder, Hermione, your professors must've loved having you in their classroom." Stieg's compliment made her blush.

"Not always." Stieg caught the side eye she'd given Severus.

"Severus? Really?"

"She was an adequate student, but too eager; I had a role to play…"

"He motivated me, even if it hurt at the time, I'm the better for it now. My skin is certainly thicker." Hermione folded her menu, deciding on the mushroom and beef stew as Stieg and Severus exchanged another look.

"Masters have a way of doing that to their students, unfortunately. At least it worked in your favor, my dear." Stieg tipped his glass at them and then swallowed his vodka as though it were water and she followed him in kind, eating a soft pretzel directly afterwards, the salt cutting the bitter taste of the vodka.

"It does seem odd to be doing this mastery program without an official master; I wonder how differently my talents and outlook would be had I done this directly after school." Severus and Stieg made eye contact for a moment, both looking rather surly.

"You don't need a master at your skill level, though I am sure having Severus in the building makes things easier if you are stuck. My master was a horrid old codger from the Crimean region who practically boiled my fingers once a week to improve my tolerance for heat. Even I didn't go so far as that, Severus." Hermione immediately blanched, looking over to Stieg's hands, noticing for the first time that he didn't have fingerprints.

"How terrible!"

"Don't fret, Hermione, he met a tragic end on his own. As you said, it made my skin thicker, though it also made me an impossible arsehole for twenty years." Hermione raised her shot glass to him and they toasted, finished their meal in polite conversation, Severus quiet as usual and returned to his home taking a break at the picnic table behind his home in the garden. Patrick returned from his date about an hour into their drinking and talking about failed experiments, travels, and students. From the kitchen, he brought them cheese and crackers and delectable figs she'd never tasted before.

"So how was your date?" Hermione asked, inebriated but blissful.

"It was fine."

"Fine? That doesn't sound good." Pouring him a shot, Hermione slide it over to him and watched as he didn't hesitate but threw it back.

"Don't let him fool you with his vocabulary, fine means exquisite to him." Stieg joked, breaking his pretzels in two and stuffing one in his mouth, reminding her for a second of Ron and Harry.

"Well, good, life's too short to have dates that are simply 'fine'. So, what is she like?" Severus watched them all, so easy in conversation and jovial. He wondered how Hermione found it so effortless to ingratiate herself with her host.

"Her name is Diana, she's a liaison for the bank in Bucharest; she works with my colleague's wife...she's beautiful." Blushing, Patrick drank another shot and then some lemonade, knowing how much his grandfather would pry if he allowed himself to get drunk.

"Wonderful! My good friend Charlie works in Bucharest, I was planning to see him while I'm here but he's been pretty busy and my time seems so consumed. So, did you invite her out again?" Hermione's words sloshed a bit as sipped her own glass of lemonade realizing how fuzzy her brain was becoming.

"No, should I have?"

"Of course, I mean, as a girl I would much rather know that a fellow wants to see me again." Severus folded his arms, continuing to watch their exchange, thinking back to the beginning of their relationship, all he'd wanted to say and do but held himself back Of course, she'd wanted something more concrete from him and he hadn't given it, he still didn't give it often enough.

"Owl her! It'll be so sweet and I'm sure she'll go out with you again." Hermione jumped up and went into the house, grabbing some parchment, a quill, and ink, forcing them into Patrick's hand. His quick message was sent, Stieg's snowy owl flying off so quickly Hermione almost missed him against the night sky.

"Who knew you were such a romantic, Hermione." Stieg laughed, pouring them all another shot and snapping for his elf to bring more lemonade.

"Romantic is an understatement, Stieg." They all turned to Severus in his apparent joke; he'd been so quiet, Stieg had almost forgotten he was even there.

"I'm no lovesick girl, but I do find myself optimistic more often than not...I guess that's why I cannot stop researching or trying to find this cure. Remus could've had a better life; no one should have to live with that pain and seclusion."

"A pure heart, it's no wonder you've tipped your hat at this one." Stieg pointed to Severus who was sneering at him, the alcohol shifting his mood again from something relatively pleasant to his normal surly mood.

"Severus has redeemable qualities, which I'm sure you noticed or you wouldn't have taken him on."

"Unfortunately, it was his other assets I noticed first, but you are correct, he eventually surprised me, as obstinate and dundering as he was." Hermione stifled a laugh, no wonder Severus had always talked about his students so cruelly; all that vocabulary had come from his potions master, Stieg Davenport. Without thinking she leaned over to Severus and pulled him over to her, finding his lips beneath hers but only briefly.

"Poor Severus…" She licked her lips as they parted, the lemon on his tasting quite nicely with the salt and vodka on hers. Stieg couldn't imagine a happier look on his former apprentice's face than the one that flashed momentarily after their kiss.

"I think I'm done for, gentlemen, so I will bid you goodnight." Rubbing her eyes, Hermione thanked Stieg for the snacks and vodka, then went into the house, climbing the stairs slowly, one at a time. When she finally made it to the washroom, she splashed her face and braided her hair, knowing it would be impossible to tame after sitting in the humidity for hours. Upon leaving the washroom, she collided with Patrick who was wearing only flannel pajama pants and looking far more inebriated than she.

"Sorry!" She shouted, helping him stand, noticing a rather large scar on his chest and another on his shoulder, covering his entire shoulder blade onto his back. Immediately, she recognized the marks- he'd been bitten by a werewolf. "Patrick, when did this happen?" He tensed up as she touched his scars, noting that they weren't new.

"Two years ago." He replied sheepishly, but with a look of determination in his eyes.

"Do you change? How is this possible?"

"I don't, I never have. My dad got loose during the experiment, he bit me and my grandfather…"

"Killed him." Patrick tensed and Hermione could tell she was right in her assumption, at least she was convinced she was. She finished, making a mental memory of the scars. Instantly, as though she finally understood what Stieg had been hiding, Hermione ran into her room, Severus sitting on the edge of the bed in mild shock at her sudden appearance. Hurriedly, she went through her notes about Stieg's research and found the information about the experiment- each ingredient, each step...something was missing. Running back into the hallway, she saw Patrick and Stieg outside the washroom.

"Why didn't you tell me? This is the answer, or could be...if something during that experiment neutralized Sean Patrick's active lycanthropic disease, we can at least use it to make people immune and with Patrick's…" Her brain kept turning...they all watched as she used her wand to make figures in the air, recalling data over and over. Severus had come to the door, finally seeing Patrick and his scars.

"I wanted to tell you, but the embarrassment of putting my own grandchild in harm's way and knowing that my experiment failed so abysmally, forgive an old man his pride."

"Pride! This is ignorance and cowardice...if you'd presented this to me on the first day, I could've started sequencing it...can you recreate the experiment? Wait...you're still not telling me something; Stieg, what is it?" Patrick's hand went to Stieg's arm, steadying him.

"I was bitten as well, but I am a werewolf, it's the main reason I chose the dates for your time here...I didn't want you to know if I could avoid it."

"Bravo, as usual, Stieg, no surprise that you've brought her all the way from Britain to cure you." Severus barked, angry and also trying to hide his own remorse that his mentor was suffering.

"I didn't intend for her to ever know, Severus, so how could this possibly be a selfish endeavor for me?"

"Then it wasn't the potion you gave him, that saved Patrick…"Hermione's tiny voice broke the tension, she was still writing in the air with her wand, stopping only momentarily to try and push Severus back into the bedroom.

"Patrick, can I take a sample of your blood?" He nodded as Severus went to her travel case and found an empty vial. Casting several spells to clean and sanitize his arms, Hermione immediately extracted the blood and sealed the wound, taking the blood to her desk and finding instruments in her travel case to look at it more carefully.

"Go to bed, we'll deal with everything else in the morning." She called out to Patrick and Stieg, who both looked flummoxed and not at all tired. They reluctantly went to their rooms leaving Severus as the door, seething.

"I told you he was conniving; I told you he was not to be trusted."

"You aren't helping matters, Severus." She barked in a voice so eerily like his own, he was shocked into silence. "If you want to be useful, look through my notes on the research from Egypt." Using her wand, she sent the journals over to him as he slumped against the back of the sofa, his fingers moving through the information quickly, not entirely sure what she was looking for.

"Look for information regarding blood transfusions." She finally said, cutting her eye to him and seeing him finally calmed down, almost subdued completely. Hours passed before either of them shared information, but Hermione knew exactly what needed to be done. Her trip in Romania would be cut short because she knew, now, that she could produce a cure if she could get to her lab.

"You've had me look through all of this and I found nothing on blood transfusions." His hand came to her shoulder, laying the journals next to her.

"Sorry, it's there just not worded so specifically...I need to go to Hogwarts, I cannot produce what I need to here. Will you wake Stieg, please." He scowled, the last thing he wanted to do was wake Stieg, but he did.

"I need to be in my labs, sorry to cut this short, but I cannot do everything I need here. I will be back as soon as I can." He reached for her hands and she noted the sadness in his eyes.

"I can only apologize for my selfishness and fear, Hermione…" She stopped him and pulled him close.

"No one deserves to live with this disease and I understand your motives, please think no more of it...I'll be back and we'll fix you." Kissing both his cheeks, she went back into the room and packed everything up, everything fitting nicely into her travel case. Severus simply watched her work, moving effortlessly between tasks as though motivated by some invisible force, and found himself enamored with her, far more than he had been willing to admit when everything had first started with them. He let himself think about to their first flirtations, years before, when he didn't even know how much she would weave herself into his life. His curiosity reached its breaking point, so he turned to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Care to tell me what it is you've discovered?"

"Not until I know for sure...I don't want to sound foolish or naive." They stood together in the garden as Hermione transfigured a flower pot into a portkey and they grabbed it together at the same time. When they landed outside the gate of Hogwarts, she started immediately to the gates, driven by her desire to start the real research and potions she needed. The alcohol she'd consumed the night before made her mind fuzzy, but she knew if she could take her concentration potion, she'd be fine. Tripping twice on the way, she stopped momentarily and sighed.

"Maybe you should sleep first." He admonished, but Hermione did not have the wherewithal to spar with him, so she kept going. Once they reached the lab, she immediately took her potion and let it take effect before unpacking and pulling her journals out. Grabbing the vials of blood she'd taken from Greyback's victims, she put them all in her enchanted centrifuge, watching them spin and then combined some of Patrick's blood with the Wolfsbane she had been working on for several years, adding some of test patient A's blood to a new vial and then the treated Wolfsbane, seeing little result at first, but slowly, the blood from TPA was gone, completely dissolved into the connection. Without considering her exhaustion, as her magical potion had taken over, she began brewing a new Wolfsbane except this time using a small amount of Patrick's blood as a binder, stronger she believed than any other. She knew it would take more than twenty four hours, so she also began brewing another concentration potion and snapped her fingers for Winky, hoping she wasn't asleep. She ordered food and tea, wondering how she'd possibly make it through the time having already been awake for over twenty-four hours.

"I wish you could help me." Suddenly, she turned to Severus was who sitting at the table, making her a cup of tea that Winky had just brought in.

"You wouldn't be able to use this as your final project if I helped, though I would if I could." She came to his side and sat momentarily on his lap, her arms around his neck, and simply held him. A wave of alertness and euphoria swept through her again, so she took her hands and turned his face to hers and found his mouth, running her fingers through his hair. They had kissed since his return to Romania, but real intimacy had been lost since the night she found Anastasia kissing him; in that moment, she wanted to show him just how much she missed him.

"Ward the door." She demanded, coming to straddle him, undoing the buttons of his frock coat and then unbuckling his pants, refusing to slow down or take her time. It wasn't meant to be intimate, to prove how much she loved him, only that she wanted him, needed him- so she took him. In her frantic desire, she barely registered her tears, instead she simply moved above him, making herself feel better, feel something aside from the pressure to work. Her alarm caught both of them off guard. Silencing it with her finger, using wandless magic for the first time in ages, she returned to Severus, kissing him so fiercely she felt her lip tear under her own tooth. She felt him go rigid, his body so tight she thought he was petrified, and then still, his hands holding her so tightly against him she could barely breathe.

"I...I'm sorry." He whispered against her neck, finally meeting her eyes and wiping blood from her lip. Licking her lip and removing the remaining blood, Hermione contemplated his apology, wondering if he was apologizing for her lip, which was completely her fault, or for Anastasia. Legs tense, Hermione stood and stretched out a bit, smoothing her dress and putting her knickers back in place, knowing at some point she'd have to visit the loo and take care of the mess. Without a word, she walked over to the potion and stirred twenty times before adding Patrick's blood, and stirring a further twenty times before setting her alarm for the next step.

"Thank you for my tea." She kissed his cheek and sat next to him, enjoying the sight of him completely disheveled and euphoric. Extending her hand to him, she found his warmed and soft against hers.

"Let's move to the sofa." The bass of his voice made her tingle as she helped button him back up, his shirt still slightly askew as she rested against him. She didn't want to move from her spot, not to read or write, not to stir or pour; her potion was having difficulty working against her extreme exhaustion. Remaining for twenty or so more minutes, Hermione finally heard him fall asleep, so she removed herself and found her notes, writing about her initial ideas about the experiment Stieg had done and the modifications he'd made, plus the ones she was making. She knew she would need a test case, someone who physically came to the lab to receive treatment once she synthesized the possible cure. When she finally hit her next stride, she took a quick walk to their quarters and fed Minka before finding "Far from the Madding Crowd" and three other books, and returning to the lab. Without being able to stop, she read and walked around the room, practically pacing, reading, and checking the potion. She knew if she stopped, she'd fall asleep, so she kept moving.

"Hermione, how long was I asleep?" Severus croaked, noting that she'd used a cushioning charm to keep his neck from becoming stiff.

"Nine hours, I had to make sure you were still alive a few times." He looked over to the table where she was lazily eating a bowl of soup and a sandwich, her stack of books piling up quite high.

"Let me call Pomona or Filius, you need to rest." But the death stare he received told him not to mention it again, so he rose and kissed her cheek. "I'm going to wash, I feel rotten."

"You smell rotten." Her laugh filled the lab, making it impossible for him to keep a sour look on his face.

When he returned an hour later, he found her looking at blood under a magical telescope.

"Can you tell me now what you've discovered?" She hadn't realized that he'd come back in, so she jumped when she heard his voice, breaking the sounds of bubbling and steaming.

"Patrick's blood is unique, he carries many natural immunities, to Dragon pox, to spattergroit, and to the lycanthropic disease, just the few I've discovered so far...if I can recreate the properties of his immunity, to synthesize it and perhaps make more, I can cure it…" She paused, her quill teasing her mouth. Severus was shocked by her admission, unable to process the implications that she might be able to cure more than one disease with the blood of a random wizard.

"Did you meet Daniella Davenport?" Hermione asked out of the blue.

"She was present throughout my entire experience, so yes." He moved to her left, where her hand was moving so quickly he could barely make out what she was writing.

"I don't think she was a typical witch...her genetics were dampened by Stieg's, but Anastasia must've come from the same village or they must be from the same line, hers made Patrick able to fight this disease. We need to test Anastasia as well and everyone from their village...if there are more people, it will make the synthesis easier, I don't want to have to bleed Patrick every month until I have it right."

"I will write to Stieg." Severus disappeared, leaving Hermione to work in quiet, but she was returning to mania, her mind so overworked she was seeing things in the lab that weren't there, like Remus Lupin lounging on the couch; she knew her brain was making her see his image, but it was oddly comforting as she worked. With only six more hours to brew, Hermione finally stopped long enough to shower and change, feeling disgusting and so incredibly tired. When she returned to the lab, she found Severus on the sofa and the asphodel stewing.

"Severus?"

"I asked Pomona to start the asphodel, I didn't touch anything." Hermione kissed him softly and curled next to him, wishing she could sleep so desperately. Wrapping her arms around his waist, Hermione tried not to read his correspondence in front of her, but as it was from Stieg, she didn't feel too badly about it. Closing her eyes for a moment, she didn't realize any time had passed until her alarm went off.

"I will sleep for days when this is over."

"I am inclined to join you."

"Is Stieg coming?" She asked, stirring the potion and adding the remaining ingredients and turning down the heat, taking a cushion and putting it on Severus' lap and lying across the sofa, facing him. He read to her from an article about lemongrass and each time she almost fell asleep, he tickled her side or leaned down to kiss her, making her eyes open with a sweet smile. When her final alarm went off, she stood with wobbly legs and walked over in full zombie mode, turning off the burning and transferring all of the liquid into vials, stoppering each and putting them on the counter, sending the materials to the sink and casting a few spells, knowing she could clean everything when she was more coherent. Before leaving, she took Patrick's blood and put it in the warded storage closet and then found Severus' hand, bringing him with her to their quarters warding the lab again before leaving. Although she was starving, she took another shower and crawled into their bed, finding Severus staring at her as she situated herself next to him.

"When this works, you'll set the wizarding world on fire, Hermione." He whispered against her cheek as he spooned her, pulling her as tightly as he could.

"We will; you couldn't help with brewing but you've helped with everything else and I want you to get the credit your deserve."

"Hermione, I had nothing to do with your breakthrough." He argued, though his voice was calm and even soothing.

"But you did, without you I might never have met Stieg or Patrick, I wouldn't have even attempted my mastery if it weren't for you and now, I couldn't have done this without you. I plan on making you and Stieg both contributors when I publish, so there's nothing you can do about it, Severus." Fingers in her hair, he twirled her ringlets and pecked her cheek, breathing her in as he did. When she finally fell asleep, he watched for as long as he could trying to imagine what his life had been like before she was his, and found that his happiness had never been matched at any other point in his life, nor did he think he would ever top the feeling.