A/N: It's been a minute, I had to finish another project but here we are. Hopefully, you'll forgive me and we'll just get one with it.

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Hermione opened the door into the room and almost gasped. The inside was beautiful and it opened up onto a little terrace that overlooked the street and quaint little rooftops all around.

"Oh, Hermione," Minerva sighed as she stepped inside. "It is beautiful!"

"Yeah?" she said cautiously.

"Utterly," Minerva nodded. "Thank you."

"Well, you're welcome. Do you need to get changed or anything?"

"I," Minerva looked down at herself and then back at Hermione. "Should I?"

"No, I just want you to be comfortable. Nobody knows us here, we don't have to look like anything."

"Well," she nodded. "Perhaps a small change then."

Minerva had been wearing slacks and a button-down shirt. It seemed to be her go-to and Hermione had seen her wearing a similar thing many times when she'd managed to drag Minerva out of the castle for some shopping or a play or movie. But she also wanted Minerva to be completely relaxed while they were here. There was nobody to stop them in the streets and nobody to stare at them. They were completely on their own here and she was hoping Minerva recognised that for what it was.

Freedom.

Hermione smiled to herself and looked around. The room really was beautiful. It was a little on the small side, but she knew that most hotels in the vicinity were. She drew her own things from her little beaded bag and hung up what needed to be while she waited. There was a bottle of wine on the table and a few chocolate strawberries but she didn't dare touch them. She decided to see what Minerva thought of them when she came back.

Nodding to herself and glancing at the door to the bathroom with a wry smile, she went over to the window and opened the doors. This was what she'd paid the extra for; this little room with a tiny terrace that opened up onto the street below on the top floor of the building. It gave them just enough of a glimpse of what lay beyond the tiny streets that she couldn't help but sigh at it. She slipped off her jacket as the sun warmed her and zhuzhed her hair. She turned back to glance at the bathroom door again and almost laughed at how long it had taken Minerva to pack and now to change.

Evidently, Minerva McGonagall was one of those women who just took her time doing things.

Not that Hermione minded so much, she leaned in the railing and watched the people in the street below and enjoyed the uninterrupted sunshine. Even from up here, she could tell the locals from the tourists. She watched a particularly harried man march down the street, giving a glare to a young couple who'd stopped to look in a window. She catalogued the smell of fresh bread and her stomach rumbled in anticipation of the late lunch.

"Min?" she finally called. "Are you ok?"

"Just a moment," Minerva's voice called.

Hermione sighed and sat on the bed but was only there for a minute or two when Minerva opened the door.

Hermione's mouth dropped open as she looked at her; her eyes didn't quite know where to look as she took it all in. She couldn't even speak as Minerva took one more glance in the mirror and then turned to look at Hermione with a smile that faded as she caught sight of her face.

"Is," she looked down at herself. "Is this okay?"

Hermione recognised the uncomfortable look in Minerva's eye and heard the uncertainty and realised she was the cause of it.

"What?" she breathed. "No, that's," she got up and stood in front of Minerva, still trying to firm words. "No, you look," she took a deep breath and managed a single word. "Spectacular."

"Oh," Minerva said, the tips of her ears going pink. "Do I?"

"You look incredible."

"Oh," Minerva chuckled. "Well thank you."

She turned back to get her bag and Hermione used the opportunity to let her eyes burn a path from Minerva's knee-high black boots up the black jeans that seemed to cling to long legs like a second skin and up over her back. She traced the lines of Minerva's spine peeking through the white tunic and though she was pale, the tone in her arms was magnificent. Her hair was still up in its usual place, but Hermione only thought it looked more beautiful when not paired with such a severe attire.

"Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" Hermione muttered. She blinked and realised she was staring. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes. I'm fine."

"I don't look too young?"

Hermione snorted and refused to dignify the comment with an answer. Minerva chuckled at her stubbornness and slid her arm into Hermione's. Without her jacket, Hermione's entire body erupted into goosebumps as the soft skin of Minerva's forearm brushed her own.

"Um," Hermione blinked, nearly forgetting the room key. "Right."

"Are you -"

"Fine, just hungry," Hermione muttered hastily. She bit her tongue to stop herself from telling Minerva exactly what she was hungry for and instead hit the button for the lift and smiled as Minerva nudged her with her elbow.

"This is amazing."

"When was the last time you did take time away?" Hermione asked as they descended to the street level.

"Oh," Minerva blinked as Hermione steered them out into the street. "Before," Minerva chuckled. "Gracious, before you were born."

"You've not taken a holiday in -"

She didn't point out how old she was. If there was anything she could envision Minerva having a problem with, it would be her age, so she bit back the rest of the sentence in favour of Minerva's laugh.

"There was a war on, you know."

"Now that you mention it," Hermione smiled. "I do recall hearing something about that."

Hermione looked around at the little streets and wondered where was good to eat. She hadn't bothered getting a guidebook or anything like that. Her parents had always preferred to wing their holidays and she supposed she did too.

"Do you have any preference on what you want to eat?"

"Not a one," Minerva shrugged. "Whatever you fancy."

"Do you think it's terribly cliched to get a pizza?"

"Darling, I think that's exactly what we're supposed to do."

Hermione laughed and tried not to dance as she heard the 'darling' being drawled from such pretty lips and instead, wrapped her arm around Minerva's shoulders.

"Let's go and find one then."

They wandered through the little streets, not really caring which way they were going. Minerva, at one point, stopped dead still and took a deep breath. Hermione grinned as she nodded in a direction and a few dark corners later, they arrived outside a tiny little place that smelled heavenly and looked popular.

With a bit of ingenuity, they managed to work out what they wanted and made it through the ordering with a bit of help from one of the employees. They stood watching for a while, fascinated by the process of pressing out the dough and lovingly adding the ingredients.

"Well I can't wait," Hermione chuckled as they found a table.

"Oh bother," Minerva sighed. "We didn't get a drink. Would you like me to -"

"Sure," Hermione grinned. "Surprise me."

Minerva got up and disappeared, leaving Hermione to sit in the warm sun and wonder about her life. She had pretended to make a go of it with Ron, but after about three weeks, they'd separately decided that they were just kidding themselves. They remained friends and Hermione had only recently met his new girlfriend Anna. She seemed lovely and Hermione was quite sure that Ron was totally besotted. Harry and Ginny were, of course, the talk of the town. They kept a low profile where possible which really only left her. Not long after realising that she wasn't even attracted to Ron, she'd realised that she desperately enjoyed the company of someone else far more than she'd realised. In fact, she'd turned up at Hogwarts on a school day just to say hello. She'd ended up derailing Minerva's class that day, but they'd had fun chatting to the Sixth years about subjects and demonstrating the more complicated forms of Transfiguration.

It had been one of the best days of Hermione's life and it was only later that she realised why. She glanced over at the restaurant and just watched Minerva move. It was her favourite pastime. She was utterly beguiling and Hermione thought that she might want to watch Minerva move for the rest of her life. When she was relaxed, Minerva's hands did most of the talking, her fingers were long and elegant and sometimes when they were very tired or even rarer, when they were a little drunk Hermione would reach for one of Minerva's hands and just play with them. She tugged on Minerva's fingers and rolled the pad of her thumb over her nails. It seemed like a need, within her, to always be touching Minerva and she felt bereft when she'd gone without for so long.

"Alright?" Hermione jumped as Minerva sat down opposite her. "You were miles away."

"I was," Hermione admitted. "I was just thinking about how great it is to be in your life, actually."

"Hermione," Minerva said softly. "It is I who is blessed. I don't honestly know or understand why but I am grateful for it," she reached across the table and squeezed Hermione's hand. "Every day."

Hermione smiled and squeezed back, but all too soon the hand was withdrawn and Minerva produced a bottle of something with a flourish.

"Neither of us knew what we were saying but I think we managed to buy a Rosé?"

Minerva poured a little into one of the glasses and offered it to Hermione. It had been amusing the first time they'd done this, but Hermione had come a long way since then. She stuck her nose in the glass and took a sip, humming in delight at the burst of fruitiness.

"Delicious."

"I think we'll be hard-pressed to find one that isn't," Minerva laughed and poured them both healthy servings. They sat back with a sigh and watched the world go by. When they finally got their pizzas, they stared at them in awe for a little while before giggling at each other and digging in.

"Oh," Hermione whispered. "You have to try this."

Without thinking, she offered the piece to Minerva and nearly dropped it when she leaned forward to take a bite. She did drop it when Minerva moaned, deep within her chest, at the burst of flavour from the olives and the sundried tomatoes. The mozzarella just pulled it all together.

"That is divine," Minerva sighed. "But mine might be better."

Her momentary lapse forgotten, Hermione argued good-naturedly until she too leaned forward and stole a bite. The juice from the pears cut through the acidity of the tomato and Minerva was right. It was delicious.

"But not better," Hermione grinned.

"Cheeky."

They ate at their leisure until they were done and they left with wide smiles on their faces.

"Do you think it terribly cliched to eat pizza for breakfast in Italy?"

"I don't think so," Hermione chuckled, daring to slide her arm into Minerva's. "Perhaps the," she cleared her throat. "Perhaps you might have a word with the school and they can start serving it."

Minerva tipped her head back and laughed and Hermione was arrested at the sight. The sunlight caught her hair, deepening the dark and highlighting the silver streaks through it. The pinch of her cheeks eased and the flushed skin made her look years younger and she smiled as Minerva came back to herself and shook her head.

"Can you imagine them making pizza?"

Hermione took a moment to see what Minerva was saying and laughed as well.

"You're right. That might be a disaster."

They wandered through the streets with no real destination in mind. They stopped for a coffee and realised they were really quite close to where they were staying, which oriented them again to where they were going.

"Ponte Vecchio, or into the squares?" Hermione asked, looking both ways down the road which would take them to either.

"Oh, Hermione, I surely don't mind. We'll have time to do both, won't we?"

"We will," she smiled. "We're booked in until Monday afternoon. You only have one class that day and Aurora said she'd cover it for you."

"Just how long have you been planning it?"

"Um, planning, about a month. But I stumbled at the um," she glanced around. "Transportation. I had to go to Kingsley, so he knows where we are as well. I couldn't figure out how to get your entry without revealing it all and then having to fill in reams and reams of paperwork."

"And he just -"

"Yeah," she smirked. "We're on a diplomatic mission."

Minerva laughed again and they decided that the bridge might be the best place to while away the afternoon and they set off down the road.