Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing. Thank you for the kind reviews on Chapter 1! They keep me writing. This is my favorite ship and my favorite trope. I hope I do it justice.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the Amortentia potion, here is an excerpt from Pottermore:

"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them."

The owl flew in the back door of the shop, dropping a freshly sealed parchment on Snape's desk. He stopped writing account ledgers long enough to see the Ministry seal, and set his quill down with a sigh. Cracking the seal he unfurled the scroll, simultaneously giving the waiting owl a treat.

Severus (if I may be so bold as to address you so),

I look forward to seeing you later this morning. We have moved the trials to St. Mungos to avoid chaotic foot traffic in the Ministry Atrium this week. Please meet me at 9am in the Ignatia Wildsmith Laboratorium. We have a dozen silver cauldrons ready and heating, as per your request. The Legilimencers have been thoroughly vetted. I will admit, I am rather nervous about today. If your schedule allows you to come early, I would appreciate it. Your presence calms me greatly. I'm sure you are surprised to hear that, but we depended on you for many years and your constant vigilance, as Moody would say. So I find myself more confident with you in the room. Please send back a brief missive with the owl so that I know that you've received notice of the location change.

With regards,

Hermione Granger

Head of Special Projects Trial Team

Ministry of Magic

She was certainly right about one thing… he was surprised by her admission that his presence would be a calming one. Most of his former students would prefer him as far away as possible, and if he were in their vicinity they would consider his assistance indifferent at best and hostile at worst. What a strange woman Miss Granger had become. To each her own, he supposed.

Severus glanced up, checking the clock on the wall of his small office, nestled in the back of the potions shop. Half past seven. Very well, he would leave for the hospital laboratory in half an hour. Picking up his quill and a separate sheaf of parchment he wrote a reply.

IMiss Granger,

I do not see how my presence would create a peaceful environment, but I prefer to be early to my appointments nonetheless. I will meet you at the proper location in less than an hour's time. Ensure that the attendants do not heat the cauldrons past a simmer.

Severus Snape

Owner and Proprietor

Sertain Solutions

He gathered his supplies and shrunk them into a small bag and put on his cloak.

"Leaving, Sir?" Blaise Zabini poked his head into Snape's doorway.

"Yes, I am afraid I will be out of the office most of this week for these blasted pairing trials." He replied as he looked for his notebook. Blaise retrieved it from the shop counter in the front room and handed it to him.

"Ah, thank you."

"You're welcome, Master Snape. You're getting better at niceties, you know."

"Comes from dealing with competent Slytherins in my vicinity for once." Blaise smirked at the response.

After the war, Severus feared complacency and restfulness, so he began to produce various rare potions that required more work and patience than the commonplace potioneers cared to give. Slug & Jiggers couldn't keep his stuff on the shelves and soon he was offered a shop front around the corner in partnership with the Slug & Jiggers apothecaries.

The young Slytherin, Blaise Zabini, came to him out of determination to make an honest wage, while still being able to lead his fashionable lifestyle and wear his trend-setting wardrobe. (Most shops in Diagon Alley were sorely behind the times in such things). Despite growing up in vanity and wealth, the handsome young wizard had turned a new leaf after the war and was determined to set his own path. His seven times widowed mother was renowned for her beauty and station, and she looked down upon his entering a trade. However, she was somewhat mollified that Blaise would be working with the war hero and Champion to Slytherins, Severus Snape. The former professor's name was quite in vogue at the time.

It was Blaise who first suggested the unique name for Snape's products: Sertain Solutions. At first, he thought it rather juvenile sounding, but the gold calligraphed SS on the bottles looked rather striking and elegant. In the end, he couldn't think of anything better, so Sertain Solutions became a money making enterprise in a small corner of Diagon Alley.

It seemed Hermione Granger and her associates were not the only ones impressed with his devised potions that saved his own organs from Nagini's venom. Though he would always bear the scars, it was unheard of for someone to survive such a lethal injection. The reputation of that story alone had brought in plenty of business. Then there were his experimentations and improvements on basic potions. Severus had come up with a clever charm to trick the minds of adolescents into thinking the potions tasted a certain flavor. He could not actually change the flavor of a potion or it would be ineffective, but he could charm the mind to believe what the tongue tasted. These potions were wildly popular with witch mothers across Britain. The most popular were grape, pumpkin, and snozzberry (a favorite of children who loved the stories of Roald Dahl).

His other largest customer base were werewolves. Remus had let it slip to many of his kind that Snape was the only potioneer able to brew a Wolfsbane that did not taste like shite dug up from a swamp. The tolerable tasting Wolfsbane was almost always on backorder for his repeating customers. Once a month he filled as many cauldrons as he had with it. He needed to hire more help and increase his supplies soon. All in all, Severus had gained a lot of business over the last eight years, and now he could be considered a somewhat wealthy man. Not that he acted like it or changed his lifestyle much. But his quiet cottage outside London was a great improvement from the pit that was Spinner's End. He even took himself to the Royal Opera House now and again. A guilty pleasure pastime for the man who grew up poorer than all his pure-blood peers.

With a quick nod to his finely dressed apprentice, Snape walked through the front doors of his shop. The Sertain Solutions sign was swaying slightly in the early October chill. The gold letters shone in the light through the cloudy afternoon. He walked at a brisk pace to his preferred Apparition point and disapparated with a distinct pop.

The gates of St. Mungos were already swarmed with single witches and wizards lining up to be the first at the pairing trials. The week of trials would be first-come-first serve and many of the candidates were eager to be paired. Since the idea of the Amortentia-based pairings got out, people were increasingly convinced that the program was more than an over glorified dating service. This addendum to the law was both scientific and sentimental. That was the mantra Hermione kept whispering to herself as she looked over the cauldrons, potion attendants, Legilimency experts, and paperwork registrars.

Scientific and Sentimental.

Scientific and Sentimental.

Scientific and -

She looked at the door again. Severus Snape swept into the room with his signature authoritative cloaks. It seems wealth and reputation had not affected his wardrobe or attitude. Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. He was here. All would be well. She knew he had been moderately coerced into participating, so there was always the chance he would decline to appear. She wasn't sure exactly why, but even in recent years, she found his presence calming and reassuring. Perhaps because he was a constant for her in a changing world over the last twenty years.

It had been ten years since the final battle at Hogwarts, and she had been glad to see him continue to include himself in society instead of hiding away as most who knew him expected from him. The pronounced success of his potions business had made him a figure in society, and they occasionally found themselves in one another's company at various functions and benefits. Each time, Hermione left the encounter more relaxed than when she arrived, and she felt fulfilled by the challenging conversations. Not that he would be considered a pleasant or amiable dinner companion by common standards. Far from it. But his biting sarcasm and overly formal way of speaking were part of his snide personality that she enjoyed.

"Professor, thank you so much for coming!"

"I said I would be here, did I not?" Almost rolling his eyes at her apparent enthusiasm.

"Well, yes, but I'm still grateful that you did."

He remained impassive and looked as if he was waiting for instruction. When she did not immediately tell him what to do, he took the opportunity to clarify her earlier address.

"Before we begin this week of nonsense, Miss Granger, let me make it clear that I am no longer a professor. You may refer to me as Master Snape, as I am a certified Potions Master, or if you must — Severus." He sneered.

"Very well, Severus," she let it roll off her tongue as if it had always been there, "Though I remain unmarried, the title of Miss from you makes me feel eleven again. Please call me Hermione or simply Granger if you insist on being formal."

He appeared to be in distress for a moment before replying, "As you wish..Hermione."

She smiled slightly at the sound.

"Shall we begin?"

"Indeed."

He went through each of the dozen silver cauldrons and added the final ingredients to the Amortentia potions. With four figure eight motions of the silver stirring rods, he allowed the attendants to repeat the same motions at the other cauldrons before he spoke the enchantment over each. The steam from the potions swirled above the cauldrons in characteristic spirals of mist. Severus checked over each to make sure they had the proper mother-of-pearl sheen.

The change in the room was instantaneous. Each employee in the room leaned into the long work table at the center of the laboratorium. Eyes glazed over as enticing scents brought memories and longings to the minds of each person present. Fortunately, Snape was practiced at handling a room full of drooling morons, and he wordlessly flourished his wand over each worker's head to make them impervious to the potion's effects for the duration of the trials.

One by one, they perked back up and some blushed various rufescent shades as they returned to a sober state. Even Hermione looked a little embarrassed though she surely knew the effects the potion would have. She explained how she researched it thoroughly for the Ministry project, and how she experienced the allure of it in her 6th year at Hogwarts as a part of Slughorn's N.E.W.T. level potions class.

Severus paused before asking Granger to cast the spell upon his person. The spell would not work if cast upon oneself. He sniffed carefully. What was that smell? He thought he was prepared for the expected fragrance, yet the Amortentia no longer smelled like lilies, cold stones, and sandalwood. What could possibly cause his scent profile to change? The aroma was somehow familiar though he couldn't place it within his sensory memories. Severus was not accustomed to his brain not supplying ready answers, especially when it came to potions. He covertly wafted in the smell to further investigate. This new smell had hints of lavender, frankincense, fresh sheets of parchment, and…what was that floral scent? Perhaps jasmine or honeysuckle. All together the profile was far more feminine and somehow familiar than he was expecting. How could it feel familiar if he could not recall it?

Before he could further scrutinize the scents, his nose was stopped by a quiet spell from Granger's wand to make him impervious. She looked at him with a question in her eyes. He supposed he looked rather frustrated by his conundrum. He filed the issue for later analysis. There was an important task to attend, even if his main involvement was maintaining the potency of the completed potions. The first dozen participants were led in by a Ministry intern and led to a cauldron. Their faces loosened to a slack-jawed expression and their pupils dilated as they smelled their own personal desires. The twelve wizards behind the cauldrons murmured soft but deliberate Legilimens. The bubbling of cauldrons, note giving of the Legilimencers, and the scratching of quills were the only sounds in the room. The attendants were taking careful notes of each person's scent profiles as given to them by the spell casters perusing minds.

Severus stood a step in front of the side wall and suddenly felt cold fingers clasp one of his hands held behind his back. He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced quickly sideways to see Hermione anxious and taut at his side. She was clearly in need of what she thought of as his "calming presence". Without thinking, he awkwardly squeezed back before she released her hold taking a deep breath. The first group was already leaving through the back door as the second group was arriving through the front. The potions assistants and attendants smiled with a small amount of relief. The process was working. At the end of the week, they would pass on the results to the Arithmancy department to match the pairs. Lives would change. And hopefully, new life would be made in the years to come.

Author's Notes:

I took some details on the Amortentia potion from Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter Wiki. The potion is supposed to make characteristic spirals of steam and have a mother-of-pearl sheen.

I find Legilimency fascinating, so it was fun to combine the two. Please leave a review even if it's a short one! It keeps me writing. Chapter 3 is already written and 4 is under way.