Chapter 2 – Early Mornings and Unexpected Meetings
Closing the door to the flat behind her, Hermione quickly sat down on the sofa and pulled off her boots. Okay. Heels were a mistake, she thought, massaging the ball of her foot. Especially considering I knew beforehand that Ron and Harry would drag me for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron after our meal.
Standing up, she shrugged out of her cloak, leaving it lying haphazardly on the back of the sofa, and shuffled into the kitchen to get some tea. As she stood waiting for the kettle to boil, she realised that she really didn't have much longer left in the flat and that she still had a lot of packing to do.
Serves me right for procrastinating, she thought wryly. I never used to be so bad.
Pouring the boiling water into the teapot with one hand, she quickly directed a few packing charms on the drawers and the cupboards with her wand hand. It was a start, and she'd just leave out the few things she knew she'd need until Saturday.
Retrieving the few things she'd need, she cast the final few packing charms on the kitchen, smiling in realisation that it had taken the boys much longer to do theirs. Charms were never Ron's strong point, she recalled, remembering the number of breakages there were when he had finally got round to his packing.
Taking her tea, freshly brewed the Muggle way as she preferred, she went back into the living room and frowned.
Mr Roper really did have a reason to ask if I'd leave it tidy if this is how it was when he came over earlier. Sighing, she took a sip of her tea before pulling out her wand. It was going to be a long night, even with the aid of magic.
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Hermione woke with a painful start at five on Saturday morning. "Wha... oh ow, ouch! Stupid... keys... cold," she mumbled to herself. She sat up from her position on the living room floor next to the fireplace, wincing and taking the keys out of her hair. She had fallen asleep late on Friday night after spending the whole day packing and organising things for the move. Her bedroom had seemed like miles away at the time, and she'd fallen asleep on the floor when she'd closed her eyes for a moment. It was only now she realised that a night on the cold living room floor might not have been such a great idea. I must be getting old, she thought as she stood and arched her back.
Looking about the room full of boxes containing her life, Hermione couldn't help but feel melancholic. Here she was a twenty-four-year-old woman with a great job and... Well, that was about it really.
She didn't have a house, and she didn't have a significant other. "Not that I want or need one," she said to the empty room. Though her mind said otherwise.
Escaping the maze of boxes, she moved into the kitchen, double checking it for anything left behind. Finding nothing, she moved towards the bedrooms and bathroom, meaning to have a shower and get dressed before starting the process of shrinking boxes to take to Grimmauld Place. She made it as far as the hallway past Harry's old room, when there was a sharp rap at the door.
"Open up! It's Mr Roper," he bellowed from outside the door.
Hermione's head dropped to her chest and she sighed. That was all she needed at this time in the morning, a visit from the landlord. Recovering and taking a steeling breath, Hermione went to open the door.
"Oh, good, you're up," Mr Roper said gruffly as she opened the door. Behind him stood someone she thought she'd never see again. Draco Malfoy.
She stared at him speechless as he peered right back at her over the shoulder of her landlord.
"Miss Granger?" Mr Roper asked, when no one had said a word for a full minute. "This is..."
"We know each other, Mr Roper," Draco said quietly.
"Oh, really? Well that's just wonderful. Miss Granger, this is the new tenant for the flat. He's looking to move in early, and I told him we'd come this morning to see how you were doing on the packing front."
Hermione forced a smile at the men. At five o'clock in the morning! What kind of person comes around at five am!?
"Um, come in then I suppose," she said, inching back from the door. "I'm pretty much done."
They entered the flat, having to follow the path laid out by the boxes, until they stood in the small area in the centre of the living room Hermione had slept in the night before.
The night before... Oh crap! Hermione's hand flew to her face, then to her hair and she winced. She'd answered the door looking like this!
Draco had noticed Hermione's actions and couldn't help but smirk as she winced at the thought of being stood in front of them in her highly sleep-ruffled state.
"Well, looks like you're mostly done, doesn't it," Mr Roper said, looking about. "I'll go check the other rooms..."
"Hang on, Mr Roper," Hermione said, annoyed at his presence now that she'd got over her initial shock and embarrassment. "I've not yet finished, and I need to have a shower and such before I'm doing anything today, so I think it'd be best if you came back in a while. It is only five o'clock in the morning."
She looked between Mr Roper and Draco as they glanced at one another. Draco at least had the decency to look sheepish, even if it was only for a fleeting moment.
"Well, we'll come back in a bit then," Mr Roper replied grudgingly, leading the way toward the door. Once he'd left the room, leaving the door ajar for Draco to follow, Malfoy Junior turned to Hermione.
"Need a hand in the shower, Granger?" Wiggling his eyebrows, Draco hurriedly left the room as Hermione reached to take out her wand.
The door shut just as Hermione made to cast a jelly legs jinx on him. "Honestly," she said, flicking her wand to lock the door. As if I'd touch him! Not after what Susan told me!
Replacing her wand in her sleeve, Hermione headed for the bathroom for what was now to be a quick perfunctory shower, rather than a relaxing one.
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Shrinking the last of the boxes, Hermione cast a weight reducing charm on it and added it to the collection in her bag.
"Done," she said to Draco, who was stood by the window, looking out at the early afternoon sky.
"Thanks," he said. Not turning around, he continued, "Sorry, I didn't mean to rush you. I just... well, I need to get out now."
"Out?" Hermione asked, confused.
"The Manor. I can't stand it, my parents are..." he turned around and looked her in the eye briefly before dropping his head, "arguing."
"Oh." Hermione didn't know what to say. She and Draco had never got on particularly well, and today had been surreal in that he'd said not one thing that could be construed as offensive to her. Well, not counting his shower comment, but that was more suggestive...
"It's fine, Granger. I'm not after sympathy, just an escape."
She nodded in understanding and turned to make one last check of the rooms before coming back to where Draco stood, unmoved from before. "I'll be going then," she said. "See you around, I guess."
Draco laughed and nodded. "You will. Don't worry," he replied cryptically.
Hermione smiled bemusedly at his reply and let herself out, leaving her key on the sideboard near the door. Climbing down the staircase to the ground floor, she prepared herself to Apparate to Grimmauld Place, and after taking one last look up the staircase at the door of her old flat, she disappeared with a quiet pop.
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Arriving on the doorstep to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, Hermione stood for a moment having second thoughts.
You have nowhere else to go! Her sensible side said loudly. You need this and Harry did say it's okay.
Another, more shy and retiring part of Hermione spoke up for once, arguing, But he's here! You're going to make an idiot of yourself!
She managed perfectly well while in school! her sensible side countered.
Yes, well, he's not a teacher anymore. He's actually 'attainable' now... Shy Hermione said. Perhaps her shy side had been spending too much time with her oft ignored, seductive, man-eating side...
Shaking her head at the thoughts running through her mind, Hermione opened the door, the wards recognising her as she did. Stepping into the dark hallway, she closed the door behind her as quietly as she could to avoid waking up the stupid portrait of Mrs Black.
What she didn't see straight away because of the lack of light was that Severus Snape stood to one side of the hallway about halfway down, arms folded and an eyebrow raised in question. "You finally worked out how to open the door then," he said, making her jump in fright.
"Profes... Sir! You startled me! How did you know I was out there?" Hermione asked, intrigued and trying to cover her initial surprise.
He pointed to the door behind her as if it were obvious. "Modified Stealth Sensor Spell."
"Oh." Moving further into the house, she took her cloak off and hung it up on one of the many empty cloak pegs. "How are you, sir?" she ventured to ask.
He looked at her for a long moment, taking in her appearance and then frowning. "I am as well as could be expected considering I'm housebound in what must be one of the most mind numbingly boring houses in Great Britain."
Hermione bit her tongue to prevent from laughing. She didn't want to wake up the portrait, after all. "Oh."
"Oh? That's the second time you've used that word in under two minutes, Miss Granger. You seem to have lost your vocabulary on the trip here. Perhaps you ought to go back and find it?" He gestured toward the door with a wave of his hand and turned to enter the library.
"I'm staying here actually," she blurted. Way to go Hermione, she chided herself. "I mean I'll be living here for a while."
"Is that so? And why would that be? Surely you don't long for my company?" Snape asked, sarcasm all but leaping from him.
"I'm staying because I need somewhere to stay while I find a new flat," she answered succinctly.
He tilted his head in thought and then nodded once, turning and entering the library without another word.
Hermione stood in the hallway for a moment collecting her thoughts. Well, that didn't go as badly as it could have.
First things first – she needed to unpack some of her more essential things, which meant finding a room. Heading up the staircase, she picked a room close to the only working bathroom in the house. The only one because somehow, someone, had accidentally broken the other bathroom beyond repair. Accident my arse, they were prating about with that charm and hit the plumbing..., she remembered as she opened the door to an empty bedroom.
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Flopping down onto the bed, Hermione sighed in exhaustion. She'd been up since five that morning and it had only just turned four. I want to go to sleep!
Forcing herself to get up with a groan, she stood and looked in the full length mirror that stood in the corner near the window. Dressed in practical clothes for the day, her hair roughly pulled back from her face, she hardly looked a picture of seduction.
Wait! she told herself, shocked. Since when was seduction even remotely close to being on the table?! Shaking her head, she turned to leave the room to get a drink and look about the house, but upon grasping the door handle and partially opening the door, she stopped.
Perhaps a better top wouldn't go amiss, she thought, a spark of hope lighting in her chest. And I'll brush my hair, too.
She did that quickly and left her room, the temptation to put on a skirt or some better trousers almost too much.
Stepping off the last step, Hermione realised she'd been in the house for almost three hours and hadn't seen Snape since she'd arrived. Probably in the library, she told herself. Mentally grasping onto the little spark in her chest, she walked over to the library door contemplating asking him if he'd like some tea.
Putting her hand out to push the door open, she saw through the gap in the door that he was already there reading by the fire.
"Would you like a cup of tea, sir?" Hermione said, opening the door and wandering up to the fireplace to warm her hands. She'd forgotten how chilly Grimmauld Place could be when it wasn't full of people.
"If you think you can make tea to my standards then yes, Miss Granger," came the reply. He didn't even look up from his reading to address her.
"I'll try," she replied, standing from her crouched position in front of the flames and heading towards the door. "One sugar and no milk, isn't it?"
He looked up then, not shocked, just surprised that she knew how he took his tea. "Yes." Smiling, she left him to it and went to the kitchen.
Once she'd managed to find suitable cups from the array of pottery in the cupboard, Hermione set about making some tea. Now, where's the kettle... Hermione almost laughed when she remembered that there was no electricity in the house and therefore no electric kettle. She quickly spotted the hob, and on it, an older kettle. It had been ages since she'd used one of those things. After some counting, she realised she hadn't been inside Grimmauld Place in almost three years, and looking about the room, she didn't think much had changed.
It was still grimy around the edges, despite Molly's best efforts. But for now it was home and it would do. Stirring the tea, she put the spoon in the sink, picked up the cups and left the kitchen.
"Here you go, sir," Hermione said, holding his tea out to him once she got into the library.
He looked up and took the cup from her hands, his fingertips cold as they brushed against hers which were warm from the tea. Hermione suppressed a shudder and smiled as he said his thanks.
Seating herself on the floor in front of the sofa, Hermione gazed into the fire, thinking about what she'd need to start doing tomorrow for flat hunting.
"Miss Granger," came a voice from her side, drawing her away from her thoughts.
"Yes, sir?"
"I understand you work in the high level research department at the Ministry?" he ventured, closing the book on his lap to address her properly.
"Yes, though I work from home most of the time, occasionally going in for meetings and such."
He nodded, and continued, "How do you do your research then?"
"Well, I have a lot of books of my own," she said, turning to face him fully. "All shrunk and boxed to save space. Merlin knows I'll never be able to afford a place to house them all fully sized."
He smiled, albeit faintly and stood, making his way to the shelves of the Black family library behind the sofa to re-shelve the book he'd been reading.
It was then that Hermione realised he only had these books to read and... well... she'd read them all within a single summer. Even the ones that were about which Pureblood one ought to marry if you were considering this or that and which one to avoid if you didn't want to be shunned by society. That book had sent her to sleep more times than she could count, it was that boring.
"Well, I'll be unpacking my books tomorrow, so if you wanted to borrow any..." Hermione trailed off, testing the water.
"I... thank you, Miss Granger," he said as he moved back toward the fire place. "I find myself at a loss for things to do right now."
She nodded in understanding, and turned back to the fire, watching the flames dance across the wood while she tried to think of something to say.
"Did you by any chance bring any groceries with you earlier, Miss Granger?" Snape asked after a few minutes, snapping her out of her reverie yet again.
"Oh, damn! I knew I needed to get something," she said. Getting to her feet quickly, she made for the door, but stopped and turned to her ex-professor. "Is there anything you need, or want, while I'm out, sir?"
He regarded her silently for a few moments before standing, straightening his robes and nodding. "Yes. I'll make a list, shall I?"
"Great," Hermione replied, "I'll go have a look in the kitchen. I may as well get everything we need for a while."
Hermione checked the cupboards quickly, making a mental note of the few things they needed or would soon, and turned to leave the room but found her exit blocked by Snape.
"Here is my list," he said, holding out a piece of parchment neatly rolled up.
"Right, thanks," she replied. Taking the note, she made to leave the room but Snape didn't move from his place in the doorway so she walked right up to him before stopping and lifting her eyes to meet his.
"Problem, Miss Granger?" He asked, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips.
Stammering out a 'no' she dropped her eyes to his chest, not daring to move because her proximity to him was the closest she could ever recall. It made her knees strangely weak.
She felt rather than saw his subtle movement towards her, closing the small gap between them. His voice whispered softly into her ear, and she closed her eyes at the sensation of warm air running across her skin. "Most people ask the other person to move if they are in the way, Miss Granger." Putting his hands on her upper arms, he slid them slowly down toward her elbows and moved past her into the kitchen, his torso grazing hers as he did.
Hermione's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, and she stood still while the lingering feeling of his hands could still be felt on her bare arms.
"I'll see you when you return," he said, busying himself with making tea.
Shaking herself out of her haze, Hermione all but ran from the kitchen.
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