Severus was just finishing up the last potion when Hermione entered the lab. She said nothing, just started putting the cooled potions into vials, spelling the labels onto them. Thinking back to the last time he watched her in a potion lab, he was surprised she wasn't assaulting him with questions. Looking at her, he could see she had grown up and was no longer a child but he was having a hard time wrapping his head around it.
Hermione had always been one of the boys at Hogwarts, not just mentally, but physically as well. There had been nothing feminine in her straight hips, flat chest, or wild hair. Severus didn't think anyone at school realized she was female until the Yule Ball. Her transformation had been shocking enough that she was even the talk of the staff room the next day.
To look at her now, you would never be able to tell. Her hips had spread, and her chest developed. She was still thin, but had gentle curves in all the places he liked. Watching her, he couldn't help but notice that her denims hugged her arse and showed off that, while small, it was a great shape. Severus turned his eyes back to the contraceptive potion, extinguishing the flame. It wouldn't do for Hermione to catch him checking her out. Am I checking her out or just cataloging the difference? Damn, I was checking her out. It has been too long since I've been laid. Do I count the six years in my dry spell?
"Thank you for brewing for me, Severus," Hermione said.
Her words broke him from his inner thoughts. "You're welcome. Thank you for allowing me to brew. And…"
He hesitated, not sure how to continue with what he wanted to say.
"And?"
"And for… Well, thank you for letting me stay here. And for bringing Draco over today. It was great to see him," he said.
"You're welcome. I was being honest when I said he and his family are welcome to come over anytime as long as you are here. I know you will want to find your own place soon, but you are welcome to stay as long as that takes."
"You don't mind having a guest in your home?" Severus had hated it when Wormtail was sent to live with him. He figured Hermione must feel the same way.
"Not at all." Hermione magicked the empty cauldrons in front of her to the sink and jumped up to sit on the workbench. "It is nice having someone else in the house. I have lived alone for a long time so it is a welcome change."
"It is a large house for one person. When did you move in?" he asked.
Severus wanted to ask how she could afford to buy a place this big, but thought better of it. She had mentioned the house was paid for, but he couldn't figure out how one as young as her could have enough money to do it.
"I moved in a few months after I left Hogwarts." Hermione could tell Snape had wanted to ask her more about the house but wasn't going to so she gave him more information. "This place used to belong to the Black family. Sirius' uncle Alphard left it to him. After the war, Harry and I went through the full contents of his vaults and properties. He said he didn't need the four houses that had been left to him so he offered this one to me.
"It wasn't much more than a shell of a house filled with old things. No one had lived here for about twenty years. So I ripped everything up and remodeled it. I was able to put in everything that I wanted, Muggle appliances like I am comfortable with and wards on everything. Neville came and helped me plant the gardens."
"Neville Longbottom?" Severus was surprised he could hold a shovel, let alone create the gardens around her house.
"Yes, Neville Longbottom." She glared at him and spoke in an icy tone. "Neville may have struggled in your class, mostly because you were an arse to him, but he is a genius at Herbology. He just quit the Aurors to apprentice with Madame Sprout."
"I am not used to thinking of your class as adults yet," Severus said.
That was as close to an apology as she was going to get.
"I can't imagine how hard this must be on you, Severus," Hermione said. "But you will have to accept that six years have passed and even the first years you had as Headmaster have finished their NEWTs and are adults now."
Severus thought about that for a minute. "I would say that makes me feel old, but since I didn't age while I was dead, I guess I still feel thirty nine."
"It's strange. When you were my professor I always thought of you as so much older than I was. Now, you are the same age or younger than some of my closest friends. Even if you had aged the six years."
"Well, everyone else will still think I am forty-five, so I guess it doesn't change much."
"Magical humans, that don't have to fight in wars, live to be around a hundred and fifty, so six years don't make too much of a difference in the long run."
"True." Severus cleared his throat. He didn't want to talk about his age and coming back to life anymore today. "This lab, you built it from my drawing?"
Hemrione's face lit up at the change of subject. "I did. I found it in one of your potion books and I thought it was perfect so I built the lab to your specifications. And I have to say, it has been a dream to brew in here."
"Did you do all the building and renovations yourself?" he asked.
"No, while I can do wonderful magic, I didn't just want to conjure or transfigure everything," she said. "Since this place is secret-kept and Unplottable I couldn't hire Muggle contractors so I talked to Ms. Figg, do you remember her?"
"The crazy cat lady from the Order?"
"Yes." She chuckled at his description. "I asked her if she knew any squibs that I could hire. Then I used the money I received from the Order of Merlin to complete the house, greenhouse and the lab. On days when magic was needed, I would come over and do it while they worked. It was nice when they didn't question me when I did spells. Or when I magically enlarged the bathroom."
"What kind of magic did you do while they were building?" Severus asked.
Most people he knew were Purebloods and lived in old manors so he had never talked to someone who had gone through the process she was describing. It was good information to know because he would have to do it to his next place. He had left Spinner's End as a Muggle dwelling, not thinking it was worth the effort of improving.
"Things like channeling magic into the walls so I can have electricity. And I imbued wards into all the walls and floors. Sound dampening spells, air freshening spells, temperature control, permanent dust repelling spells. Things to make life easier."
"When I buy a place would you be willing to show me what you did?" He hated to ask for help, but that kind of magic was beyond anything he had tried.
"I will be more than happy to assist you." She hesitated for a moment. She wasn't used to this nicer version of Snape yet and wasn't sure if it would be welcomed. Biting the bullet she continued. "If you want, I wouldn't mind going house shopping when you are ready."
"Ms. Granger, it sounds like you are hoping we will become friends and you want to do things friends do together," Severus said, keeping a straight face. If she really wanted to be his friend she would have to get used to sarcasm.
"Actually, I only wanted to go so I could hex all the toilets to pinch your arse," she deadpanned.
Severus gave her a large smile. "Well, you are smart enough to understand my humor."
"Professor," she stressed his title. "It almost sounds like you just agreed to be my friend." She smiled at him.
"I'll never admit it." He gave her a half smile. "You mentioned an Order of Merlin. Was that from your actions during the war?"
"Yes. Harry, Ron, and I were given First Class, along with you, Minerva, Kingsley, and Moody. Most of the Order were given Second Class, along with the rest of the Weasley's except Percy, and Remus and Tonks. Members of Dumbledore's Army were given Third Class."
"Will you tell me more about the Final Battle? Who didn't survive, what happened after I was attacked?"
Hermione jumped off the workbench. "Let's finish bottling that potion then go in the house. It is a long story and I will need tea, and possibly firewhisky."
Severus lay in bed thinking about his conversation with Hermione. So many people had died during the war. The Lupins had orphaned their son, and George lost his twin. Guilt filled him as he thought about how Kingsley had brought him back, even if it was an accident, when he had no one that missed him. The Weasley's surely deserved to have Fred back. And Merlin knew Remus should be here to raise his son. Why had Kingsley thought of him when he held the amulet?
Hermione said he was beloved in the Wizarding community. The welcome he received from her and Kingsley proved that at least they didn't hate him. And Draco had welcomed him with open arms. Could it really be that the rest of the world would too? What about people like Harry Potter who he had bullied for years? The urge to be horrible to the boy was gone, but why would he forgive him? Just because he had loved Harry's mother?
He drifted to sleep, anxiety filling him with what would happen in the days to come.
A/N: I know this is short... This section was supposed to be posted with the last chapter but I missed it.
I'll be posting the next full chapter on Thursday.
