Okay so this chapter is about double the length of the previous ones, but I thought it was time to bring our couple closer to answering some questions about their past. I hope this satisfies the curiosity for some of those thoughts, and hopefully raises more questions too. They've been hurt and they've got a ways to go. This chapter picks up right where the last one left off.

She opened the window. "Severus?"

The raven flew in, materializing into the man. Darkness cloaked them both; only the glow from the moon streamed through the window.

He walked over to her with quick, deliberate strides, stopping inches from her face. "Why?" he demanded.

She swallowed, not backing down. "Why what?"

"Don't play daft," he bit out. "Why have you actually returned? What is your endgame?"

For a spy, she thought he was looking past the obvious and blatant truth—that she was terribly alone.

"I have no endgame, sir."

His lip curled back; he looked like he'd tasted something bitter. "Do not call me that."

She smiled apologetically. "I didn't come looking for you if that's what you're asking."

"Indeed."

"It's true. I needed somewhere to escape to. There are many rare ingredients in this area that would benefit my work. Perhaps you threw yourself in my path."

He stepped closer, his button-down coat with the severe cut grazing her body. "Insolent witch."

"I've been called worse."

They stared at each other in the near darkness.

"You left," he said, the smallest note of defeat in his voice.

Hermione sighed before replying. "It was clear I had made a choice that had damaged our acquaintance irreparably."

"You were my apprentice. It would have been improper."

"As you said."

They paused again, breathing nearly in tandem as their tempers and emotion rose beneath the veneer of calm.

"That did not...mean...I didn't wish for it to be possible—" he confessed, but she interrupted.

"You were cruel." And a hint of sadness colored her tone. "After. I could have taken your rejection. I would have waited until I'd finished my studies with you. I could have even continued on as only your friend, as we were. But you were horrid. You were once again the feared potions master and I was nothing but your annoying student. Why would I stay when I was so clearly detested?"

He didn't reply, but she saw his chest rise and fall with heavy breaths.

"I do not make a habit of taking the time to teach someone everything I know if I detest them," he retorted. "Nor do I spend my energy for them to waste their magical talent by leaving the field."

It was as close to a compliment as she would get. As close to an admission of longing too.

"I didn't just leave potions. I left all of magic behind. Everything crashed down on me, the weight of it all, and it was too much."

"Do not blame me for your running away."

"I don't."

This surprised him, and she wondered how long he'd been holding onto a semblance of guilt over her disappearance. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. She watched as his eyes roved her face and fell on her lips. A moment passed, decisions turning visibly through his mind, and he leaned forward another inch.

She leaned in to meet him, her warm breath coming in contact with his face, and he abruptly pulled back.

"I will return next week to see how far you have come setting up my house. I expect it to be well tended and unpacked, or else I shall renege on our contract."

She smiled. "I don't know if that's how those work, but I shall endeavor to finish making a home of this house regardless."

He nodded curtly, stepping back and transforming into his raven animagus. He flew out the open window and was gone.

Hermione stood in the center of the room, looking at the empty space where his body had been so close to her for the first time since she completed her apprenticeship seven years earlier. She swore she could still feel the warmth of his presence in the air.

Tonight he had given her an assignment. He saw her in pain, alone, and not knowing why, had done the only thing he knew how to do.

He set her to work.