Hermione waited for the first colleague to leave the party before she asked Severus if he was ready to retire for the evening. When he nodded, they both walked quietly to the dungeons. Over the past couple of weeks, she had found comfort in the cool, dark of the dungeons. She imagined it might feel less inviting in the winter, though.

After they walked into their quarters, Hermione followed him into the bedroom as he changed quietly into pajamas. She followed his lead and changed as well. He went into the bathroom, and she lit the fire in the fireplace and sat on the couch under a blanket. When she realized he'd been gone for a couple of minutes, she glanced over her shoulder. She realized he was standing awkwardly just outside of the bedroom door, that long finger twitching against his leg.

"Will you sit by me?" She asked. He moved around the couch and sat, a cushion between them, on the other end of the couch. "I thought about what you said you need..." He was staring at the stone floor ahead of him, his right foot fidgeting with the area rug under the couch. "I think understand at least part of what you're asking for, but I'm... Not entirely sure. You want to be told what's working for me and what's not working for me?" When he didn't really respond, she said, "There's nothing you're doing that doesn't work for me."

He chewed the inside of his cheek, which was something she'd never really seen him do before. "I have the same fears that Lupin does," He said after several minutes.

"You said that..." She acknowledged. "Severus, you haven't failed me in any way."

"Yet," He added. "Do you know the tale of King Midas?"

"Everything he touched turned to gold?" She said, unsure of his reference.

"Yes," Severus said. He looked over her face briefly and then his eyes moved to the fire. "Everything I touch turns to ashes."

"No, that's absolutely not true," She said immediately. She looked at him. For the first time in such clarity, she could see the neglected, dejected, and rejected boy he'd been so long ago. Whatever she knew of his childhood, of his experiences at Hogwarts, of his life leading up to the second war, it hadn't been stable or happy or secure.

She moved closer to him and he stiffened. She stopped moving. He took a shaky breath. "I am not adept at discussing my emotions when they are emotions I am presently feeling."

"It's okay," She said quietly.

His dark eyes studied the flames for a couple minutes. "I feel overwhelmed."

"About?"

He huffed. "All of this. Do you not feel overwhelmed?"

"Not at the moment," She said. "I felt quite overwhelmed at the beginning of all of this." He nodded, and then he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"You're Occluding," She noticed.

"On some level at all times," He said plainly. She'd assumed he Occluded pretty regularly, but it was still a shock to hear that he was doing it on some level all the time, even when she hadn't noticed.

"You know, that might not actually be helping right now..." She said.

"And you'd have me do...what? Reduce myself to a puddle on the floor?"

She flinched. "Is that what would happen?" She didn't want to put him through that, but she also knew a fair bit about Occlumency as it was part of her Charms mastery. It's not meant to be used on that way for so long.

"The only experience I have was directly after the war," He said. "I was... unstable."

"You've..." Hermione's eyes opened wide. "You... For that long?"

"I am a natural Occlumens," He said. "In some way, shape, or form, I have been doing it for most of my life. Usually, it's subconscious. I suppose it was a defense mechanism for the things I experienced in my life. It kept me alive."

"But you don't need to function merely in survival mode anymore, Severus."

"Perhaps," He said.

"I... I want to help you feel less overwhelmed," She said. "I don't like that you're feeling so badly about yourself. You've been truly wonderful with me," She assured him. He looked at her and his eyes filled with uncertainty and doubt. "I'm a hugger, and I'd quite like to hug you now, but I don't know if that's what you want in moments like this, or..."

He cut her off with a very tiny, "Please."

She threw her arms around his neck and he buried his face into her wild hair. Her right hand rubbed his back in comforting circles. "You've been wonderful, Severus. It doesn't just change if we've had a row. We're going to fight. I'm bossy and overbearing and stubborn, and you're stubborn and prickly and impatient. I'm a Gryffindor. You're a Slytherin. We're different, yes, but we can figure this out together."

He didn't say anything. He just needed to hear her. Pushing his face deeper into her neck and hair, he took a deep breath.

"You don't have some ashen touch curse either. You have been through a lot, but there is absolutely no way that every single bad thing that's ever happened in your life has been your fault. We've all brought a fair share of misery into our own lives, but some of those things are not because of you. Some of those things are things that happened to you and had nothing to do with anything you did or said. They're not your fault. Things in life really can be unfair and, quite frankly, shit sometimes."

After a minute or two, he pulled back to look at her. He was a bit glassy eyed, and she could clearly see his Occlumency shields now. "You have been wonderful, too," He said.

She snorted. "It's so strange to hear you use words like that."

He smirked, not taking any offense at all. "Allow me to amend my statement... You have been tolerable."

"Ah," She said. "That's more like it."

In a rare moment of affectionate bravery, he touched the backs of his knuckles to her cheek. "You are..." He faltered, blushed, and then looked down in embarrassment.

She leaned her forehead against his for a moment. Then, she pulled back. He looked much more comfortable. They sat quietly for awhile, and then he began to speak. "I am more anxious than most people would think I am. Occlumency allows me to function, but I feel pervasive level of nervousness almost constantly. It is difficult to admit that as it feels like a weakness." She touched her hand to his, lacing their fingers together. "In the years after the war, I have realized the cost of the life I have lived - anxiety, insecurity, bitterness, isolation... amongst other things."

She took a deep breath, and calmed her innate desire to start fussing over him. "In the years since the war, I've learned that I cannot fix everything, no matter how much I might want to. I can promise that I'm here for you, and I will support you however I can." He looked at her with disbelief in his eyes. "I'm not under the illusion that you'll just accept that." He looked away from her face. "Do you feel any better at all?"

"Yes," He said quietly. She nodded. They were quiet again. His eyes found hers again, and he looked a bit uncertain. Then, he pulled her into a hug. They stayed like that, hugging each other tightly, for a very long time.