AN: Thank you for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!

Severus nodded, doing his best to appear interested in whatever Fleur was saying. It was hard to feign interest in the latest perfumes, especially when a much more interesting woman was sitting alone across the lawn.

The quarter-veela was the queen of horrible timing. The second Severus had seen Hermione eating alone, he'd attempted to make his way towards her. Leave it to Fleur to rush over and decide now was the perfect time for a chat. Severus may not have been a polite man, but he was respectful enough not to make a scene by shooing Fleur. So, he listened as his eyes drifted to Hermione every few seconds, hoping Mrs. Weasley would take the hint and allow him a few moments to speak with his apprentice.

"Zit was great to speak to you again, Professor Snape," Fleur concluded. "I will be sure to go to your store sometime and pick up some Midnight Temptation."

"I look forward to seeing you soon," he said.

Fleur gave him one last smile before calling, "Bill? Where are Victoire and Dominique?"

Severus turned around. Before he could walk over to Hermione's bench, Potter sat down beside her. His timing was as impeccable as ever. Then again, who wanted to spend their entire engagement party talking to their boss? Perhaps it was for the best Severus sneak in another cupcake.

"Don't even think about it."

Severus' frown deepened. "What exactly am I thinking about, Minerva?"

"Interfering in another Gryffindor romance," She stood beside him.

"What Gryffindor romance?"

"Ron and Hermione's."

"Pray tell, what kind of romance is there between a woman uncomfortable in the spotlight and a man who would perish if there wasn't a camera within his line of sight?"

"They're the golden couple."

"Are they now?" Severus purred. "Tell me, have you never heard of fool's gold, or the expression, 'all that glitters is not gold?' It may apply in this case?"

"Severus," she lowered his voice.

"My name is hardly an answer to my question."

"They are anything but fool's gold."

He snorted.

"You've seen them since Hogwarts. You watched them grow closer."

"Yes, they are so close they are not even at the same table," Severus said.

"I know this is hard for you to accept, but the are happy together."

"So I've been told by every media outlet in Britain." He couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice.

"Fine, if you can't see it from my point of view, look at it from another side. You are her mentor. You must keep that relationship professional."

"Why would I be anything but professional?" He couldn't help but catch another glance at Hermione. The conversation with Potter was growing more intense. What could they be discussing? Did it pertain to him?

"I see the way you're sneaking looks at her."

His full attention was on Minerva.

"I also see the expression on your face when you think nobody is paying attention," she continued. "It's the same look you gave Lily when you thought nobody noticed."

"First of all, it would serve you well not to compare Hermione to Lily," Severus snapped. "They are entirely different people."

"Yet your feelings for them are the same."

"Do not presume to know my feelings regarding either Hermione of Lily." He glared at her.

"All I'm saying is that you attempted to ruin Lily's happiness, and look where it got you," she continued, unaffected by his expression. "It would do you well to avoid making the same mistakes."

"How is noticing someone is alone making a mistake?"

"It is if you're goal is to lure that someone away from the fiancé who loves her."

"Right, because all of Wizarding Britain will crumple to its knees if its Golden Couple were to ever part ways."

"It would be a disaster for Hermione if she were to so much as entertain the idea of a future with you."

"On that we agree," Severus said. "There is no future for us. When she completes her apprenticeship we will part ways, and that will be the end of our association. Our relationship will end as it began, strictly professional."

"And I hope you continue to understand that."

"Minerva, why do you care if I go over and speak with Hermione? Is the relationship between Hermione and Mr. Weasley so unstable that they need you to run interference anytime someone so much as desires to sit at a table with her in order to make her feel less alone?"

"If you can believe it," her expression softened. "I'm doing this because I care about you, as much, if not slightly more so, than them."

"I did not know that your definition of care involved throwing baseless accusations at someone. It must be the height of concern to accuse someone who only wants a woman to feel less lonely at her own party of trying to steal her away from her fiance. I shudder to imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of your hatred given how deep your care runs."

"If you can believe it, I don't want you to get hurt."

"How is desiring to sit beside someone getting hurt?"

"You want much more than to sit next to her, and we both know it."

He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Severus, I want you to be happy," Minerva continued. "I want you to find the love you've always wanted, but you won't find it by panting after married Gryffindors."

"First of all they're engaged, not married."

"It should be close enough for you."

"Not necessarily," he argued. "An engagement can be called off without too many legal ramifications, a marriage cannot. Regardless, I am not panting after anyone. All I want is for Hermione to feel like one person cares about her at her engagement party. When did that become a criminal offense?"

Minerva opened her mouth.

"Professor Snape!"

Severus held back a groan. Speaking of the red headed git…

"We need to talk." Ron stomped over to him. His expression was a mix between determination and impulsivity. Nothing good ever came from it.

"Think about what I said," Minerva walked away.

Severus grunted.

"Professor Snape, I need you to refuse to give 'Mione overtime," Ron began.

"Excuse me?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Ron said. "'Mione doesn't need overtime, so you shouldn't give it to her. You also shouldn't let her work on weekends. She doesn't need that either."

"Why not?"

"Because she doesn't need it."

"I beg to differ. According to her, she needs funds to pay off that monstrosity you're attempting to pass off as a ring."

"It's not a monstrosity, it's a ring. It's the prettiest one I could find. Everyone loves it!"

Severus shook his head and bit his tongue.

"I mean it, 'Mione doesn't need overtime to pay for anything. I can afford everything."

"You can?"

"Yes."

"Then why is Hermione so convinced you are going to have difficulty paying your bills on time?"

"Because she's obsessed with math and worries about weird things like that."

"I hardly think being able to afford your next meal is a weird thing to be concerned with," Severus said.

"We can afford our next meal, so you can tell her that she needs to keep her regular hours and not work overtime."

"Hermione working overtime is between her and me."

"I'm her fiancee, so I get a say."

"Hermione is an adult who can make her own decisions."

"Not when she isn't thinking clearly."

"Her mind seems clear to me," Severus answered. "At least it was when I spoke with her a little over an hour ago."

"Look, I know you don't understand this because you've never been in a real relationship, but Hermione is really nervous right now."

"She seems quite calm to me." Severus snuck another look at Hermione. She stood and met his eyes.

"Well, she's going to be very nervous soon and you need to respect that."

"True, I suppose anyone would be nervous about marrying someone who wants to dictate the terms of their employment."

"Hermione needs to be home more so she can plan our wedding. She's so nervous about your reaction to her wanting fewer hours. She's afraid to tell you that she needs more time to think about her future with me and less time working for you."

"Do you mean to tell me Hermione is so distressed she can no longer speak for herself?"

"Yes," Ron said. "She panicked about the price of the ring, so she wanted to work overtime and weekends. Now that she's had time to think about it, she doesn't want to work overtime for you anymore. The problem is you're a git, and you make her work too hard, so she's afraid to speak with you."

"I'm wounded." Severus said. "I believed Hermione and I had an open relationship where we could discuss things such as the terms of her employment. Apparently I was mistaken."

"You were very mistaken."

"I will keep her sudden fear of me in mind the next time we discuss the terms of her employment."

"So you're going to drop this overtime business?"

"I'm going to do the thing you should be doing." He glanced over at the woman in question, who was approaching them. "Hermione?"

"Yes?" She drew near.

"Mr. Weasley is expressing his concern that I may overwork you by asking you to work weekends and the occasional overtime," Severus began.

"He is?" Hermione glared at him.

"Yes," Severus continued. "I was quite hurt to think you could not discuss such issues with me. If you have changed your mind about working more hours please let me know. I promise to drop the whole matter."

"No, I haven't reconsidered overtime," Hermione growled. "In fact, I would like to work this coming weekend, and perhaps work overtime starting on Monday."

"What?" Ron spat.

"Are you certain?" Severus asked. "If you fear me, know your fiance is here, and he will protect you from any harm I could cause."

"I'm more than certain I want to work more for you."

"Very well then," Severus couldn't hide his smirk. "We will make a schedule acceptable to you."

"'Mione, how can you tend to my needs and plan a wedding when you're working?" Ron snapped.

"Judging from your appearance, you seem to be managing just fine on your own while she works," Severus cut in. "Also, I hear it is quite common for one to work and plan one's wedding on their time off. I daresay thousands, if not millions, of women have done just that."

Ron's face turned red.

"I look forward to discussing my new schedule on Monday," Hermione smiled.

"It will be my pleasure to have you work on nights when it is acceptable to both of us, and weekends when we are both able to allow it."

"'Mione, this isn't fair!" Ron snapped. "You're supposed to be planning a wedding, not working yourself to death."

"I'm an adult who can make my own decisions," Hermione retorted. "If I want to work more, I'll work more."

"What about me? We're in a partnership. We're supposed to do things together."

"How is going behind my back and telling Professor Snape not to give me overtime working together?"

"It's me making my wishes clear."

"What about my wishes?"

"My wishes are just as important."

"Given that Hermione is my employee," Severus cut in. "I would say her wishes are paramount."

"Would you bugger off?" Ron shouted.

"You were the one who approached me, not vice versa," Severus backed away from the couple.

"Well you need to leave now!" Ron retorted.

"No, I want him here. He stays," Hermione argued.

"Why?" Ron whined.

"Because I invited him to this party I didn't even get a say in! He stays as long as he wants!"

"This is my family's party, and I say he leaves!"

"While you two are discussing whether or not I stay, may I make an observation?"

"No!" Ron yelled. "Bugger off!"

"Yes," Hermione answered. "I want to hear your observation."

"Mr. Weasley, you seem to want a housewife," Severus answered. "If that is the case, it may do you some good to discuss your expectations with Hermione. She may or may not share them."

"Hermione does share my expectations!" Ron shouted. "We both believe in a strong, traditional marriage without greasy gits making life difficult!"

"Stop calling him a greasy git!" Hermione shouted.

Severus could almost feel Minerva's glare on him.

"I'll call him whatever I want, especially when he's telling me things I don't want to hear!"

"Maybe you needed to hear that!"

"Nobody needs to hear anything he says!"

"Maybe I do!"

"Hey!" George rushed over to the couple. "What's going on here? I could hear you clear across the yard."

Severus looked up from the couple. All eyes where on them. The Weasley brothers were pale, while Arthur was glancing at a clod of dirt. Harry frowned while Luna massaged her bump. Minerva was glaring at him as if he'd just given the entire Gryffindor house detentions. The only person who seemed more upset than the headmistress was Molly, who looked as if someone told her the chicken was overdone.

"Ron is being a controlling arse!" Hermione argued, bringing Severus' mind back to the people in front of him.

"'Mione won't listen to reason!" Ron shouted.

"And I am simply making a few keen observations, ones which Mr. Weasley finds less than pleasant," Severus drawled.

"Well keep it down. You're starting to worry some of the other guests," George snapped.

"Worry them about what?" Ron asked.

"They're afraid you may rashly call off the wedding."

"We cannot have that, can we?" Hermione growled.

"Forget about whatever you're fighting about. It's about time to cut the cake anyway," George said.

"So it is," Hermione muttered.

"Smile 'Mione," Ron jabbed her in the shoulder. "At least try to look happy we're engaged."

"Oh yes, I'm completely ecstatic we're engaged," her voice was even lower.

"Are you two going to be okay?" George asked.

"Yes," Ron grinned. "This is just another one of our arguments we're so well known for."

"Yes, just another argument," Hermione answered before turning to Severus. "Thank you again for listening to my viewpoint. I look forward to working out a new schedule with you."

"It will be my pleasure. That being said," he took a deep breath. "I fear there are some potions which need attending to. I must take my leave."

"So soon?" Hermione asked.

"What do you mean so soon? It's not soon enough for him to leave," Ron retorted.

"Sadly, my potions cannot wait much longer. Judging from Mr. Weasley's outburst I've already overstayed my welcome."

"Did you at least get any cupcakes?" Hermione asked.

He leaned in and smirked. "I had three."

"Three?"

He nodded.

"I did not know you were capable of such avarice."

"There are many things of which I am capable that I have kept hidden," Severus stood up straighter.

"Goodbye Snape," Ron said, his face still as red as his hair.

"Goodbye, and," he gave Hermione one last look. "Thank you for the invitation."

"Thank you for coming, and for everything you've done," Hermione answered.

"As always, it was my pleasure." With that, Severus apparated away.