From this day on Chapter 9: Something adequate, a harry potter fanfic

From this day on

Chapter 9 -Something adequate-

"Well," the older Hermione began, "what else shall I say? This is how everything started."

Her younger self shifted her weight nervously from one foot onto the other. "And what happened next?" she asked excitedly. "Did you fall asleep in his office? Did you spend the night there?"

Her older self narrowed her eyes at that. "You mean, if I had fallen asleep, Severus would have taken advantage of it and would have dragged me into his bed, don't you?" she asked with a frown.

Hermione just blushed. "Well I just thought, I thought – No-" she mumbled awkwardly, "not really-"

Slowly the furious gleaming fire in the older Hermione's eyes died away. "You may not like him – yet," she told her embarrassed younger self. "You may think he is mean, cruel and cold hearted, but I can assure you, you're completely wrong. He would never ever do such a thing! You can't even imagine how much work it took me to seduce him."

Hermione could hardly believe her ears. "You? – Seduced? - Him?!" she croaked out. In complete shock.

At this her older self's lips twitched with amusement. "Well not right there and then of course - but later on, when we got to know each other better – I fell in love with him and - yes, I did push things - then. But I can tell you, it wasn't easy at all."

The younger Hermione's eyes were full of confusion and curiosity.

"Severus is a man with a very dark and troubled past," her older self continued. "You already know that he was a Death Eater and worked as a spy for the light side afterwards. But you can't even imagine how it affected him. What horrors he witnessed back then. He didn't have those nightmares for no reason, you know? He didn't consider himself worthy to be loved by anyone, let alone by an inexperienced, 18 year old girl. The worst of all was that I was still his student back then, and he couldn't bring himself to get involved with me at first, but – luckily – I did convince him in the end," she smiled, but turned serious again the very next moment. "Even if you can't imagine it right now, Severus has a great sense of honour. He feels horribly guilty about his past and even if I don't judge him I can at least understand why. He doesn't do so for no reason. I don't want to go into the details. He'll tell you himself when he deems it the right time. Just remember that he was terrified of his own emotions and desires, and tried to deny them for quite some time."

She exhaled with a soft sigh and got up from her position at the edge of the table. "Well, if we aren't going to get our work done anyway, we can just as well sit down for a little while."

With that she strode over towards the pair of armchairs by the fireplace, and left it to her younger self to follow.

She summoned a teapot and cups and ordered it to fix some tea by itself. "This way we can discuss things a lot better," she smiled as she handed her younger self a cup of steaming hot Earl Grey Tea.

"You're drinking yours without milk or sugar, right?" she asked casually and Hermione nodded, bewildered. It was just odd to see a version of herself acting this comfortably at home at Snape's quarters.

"Well, whatever," her older self smiled while pouring some milk into her own cup, "I didn't stay in the dungeons that night, but returned straight to Gryffindor Tower, where Harry and Ron were still up and waiting for me at the common room. Especially Ron was in a foul mood, as he supposed me to have served detention all that time. When I told them that Severus - I called him Professor Snape back then of course - had brewed me a Sleeping Potion instead, they were more than a little surprised. I didn't stay up much longer, since I already felt the potion's effect and I can tell you, I slept wonderfully that night.

There was a lot of sniggering from the Slytherins at the beginning of our next potions class, when Severus asked me if I had slept well. My fellow Gryffindors were furious, and gossiped about him after class as they supposed it to have been a mean, sarcastic remark because I had dozed off the lesson before. This was an easily understandable misinterpretation, since Severus' face didn't give away any hint that it wasn't a mock question at all. But I knew it wasn't. To my classmates' surprise, I looked up with a smile at his comment. And when I even responded with, "Yes, very well, thank you, sir," I could sense everyone holding their breath, cause they supposed this to be rather impudent, but Severus just answered this was good to hear and started the lesson with a slight sneer.

Four days later I returned to his office like he had told me and he led me straight into his study this time …

"Come in, Miss Granger," Snape said and led her over towards the pair of armchairs by the fireplace. "Take a seat."

A slightly confused Hermione followed the invitation. She felt quite timid and awkward in his presence, and still wasn't sure what to think of his uncharacteristic kindness.

The large dark-green armchair almost swallowed her small form, when she leaned back. Snape took a seat in the opposite armchair and looked at her. The feeling of insecurity and awkwardness even increased under his intense stare.

Since she didn't know what to say, Hermione lowered her eyes and let her gaze slip to the little table between them, where the marble chessboard she had noticed at her last visit, was positioned.

This time, a game seemed to be in progress. Hermione noticed that the white chessmen at Snape's side of the board stood completely still, while the black figures in front of her were moving restlessly in their fields. They didn't appear to be pleased about the disturbance. Sabre rattling and rude comments towards the opponent troops, which rested motionless in their spots, told of this. The hooves of a nervous black knight's horse were impatiently pounding the chess board, while he scowled at the white bishop that endangered him from the left. The horse's bridle clattered when it tilted its head aside with set-back ears and rolling eyes to snap at the bishop's sleeve.

Hermione didn't understand this behaviour at all. For all she knew, wizarding chessmen moved on the order of their owner, but didn't wriggle or stamp on the spot on their own impulse. But the black horse seemed not to know of this. Now it even whirled around in its field with a sharp, aggressive squeaking sound and kicked its hind legs in the direction of its attacker. The large, iron clad hooves missed the bishop only by millimetres. It was obviously on the white figures to make the next move and the black ones had little patience to wait for it.

For the first time since she had noticed the chessmen, Hermione wondered who might be the commander of the foul-tempered black troops. She hadn't had any idea Snape might not be alone. Confused, she lifted her head and looked around.

˜~˜˜- O

Severus Snape tried his best to hide a smile while he watched the Granger-girl with amusement. As a Slytherin she would have been a hopeless case since she was completely unable to mask her emotions. Right now, her pretty heart-shaped face mirrored her every thought, and when her huge brown eyes met his after seeking his non-existent chess partner, he could easily read the unasked question in them.

He suddenly frowned at his train of thought. Did he just assume her pretty, he wondered. Well whatever, this was neither time nor place to allow himself to dwell on ideas like this.

"In case you are wondering who orders the black chessmen, no one does. There's no one around, Miss Granger."

At her even more confused stare he continued, "You see, I only rarely have guests. In fact, Albus – the headmaster," he corrected himself, "is the only one I ever play chess with. So I decided to transfigure the black chessmen to act on their own. I admit this can be quite frustrating sometimes as I mostly foresee their actions. They can only act the way I would in their place, after all, and so I can quite easily discern their strategy."

˜~˜˜- O

"Oh," was all Hermione could say to this declaration. In some way she considered it quite sad that he had to make such an arrangement to play a simple game of chess. He must be quite lonely, she supposed. She had never wasted any thought on his private life so far. She had never thought of him as a real person who had a life apart from the potions classroom. She hadn't seen anything else in him than the loathed and feared professor he was; but now, in his private study, and given the kindness he showed towards her, he suddenly appeared much more human to her. She wondered what he might do on a long dark winter's eve, on a grey rainy weekend, or during the holidays. She somehow doubted that he would seek out company. He probably would –

Another furious sound from the black horse put her thoughts at an end.

With an annoyed clicking of his tongue, Snape pointed his wand in the direction of the troublemakers and muttered a spell. Immediately, the restless black chessmen froze dead in their spots. They stood just as still as their white opponents now. The black horse remained in an impressive movement of raising itself onto its hind legs, its neck furiously twisted to snap at the white bishop again.

Hermione supposed that fighting these chessmen was probably no fun at all; since Snape had transfigured them to act on their own, he had most obviously passed a lot of his character into them.

Snape, who had followed her gaze, forced his lips into a thin smile. "I'm trying to triumph above my 'darker side', one could say," he mocked, but a certain tone in his voice told her that he wasn't entirely joking.

Insecurely she lifted her head to look at him. "And who usually wins, sir?" she asked.

He looked at her for some seconds, his dark eyes glittering, before he answered. "Well, mostly the 'light side', fortunately, though not always. But you're not here to talk about my chessboard, Miss Granger, are you?"

"No, of course not, sir," she straightened her shoulders. "I'm here to tell you about my condition, as per instructions."

"And what is it like, Miss Granger? Are you feeling better? he asked without any trace of sarcasm this time.

"Yes, lots better," she assured him, still unable to relax in his presence.

"You're not having trouble sleeping anymore?"

"No, I'm sleeping well now."

An expression of satisfaction crossed his face for a split second. "That's good," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "We can reduce the dose of the papaver somniferum then. I would have only very unwillingly dosed you with the same amount again."

"And how is your headache?" he asked, looking up at her again.

This time she hesitated. "Well, it's lots better, too, sir."

"Better, but not gone?" he asked thoughtfully.

She silently shook her head, nervously aware of his dark eyes resting on her face, taking in every little detail.

"How much did you study these last few days?"

"Oh, not half as much as before. I rarely did any more than my homework and some light reading in the evenings."

˜~˜˜- O

Severus frowned slightly at that declaration.

What she called light reading was probably still more than what most of her fellow students got done in a week, he suspected.

He had no idea why she was so frantic with her studies, almost obsessed. Certainly, she had always been eager to increase her knowledge, and he had secretly admired her for the determination with which she handled the tasks she set herself; but this was no good at all. Maybe he could talk some sense into her.

"Well, I assume that part of your problem is caused by the uncomfortable way you are hovering above your books for several hours a day. It causes the muscles of your neck and shoulders to get all tense and rigid and can easily lead to a headache. There are, of course, spells that are supposed to deal with the problem, but they don't work very well. I think I know of something which will work to much better effect."

Her head snapped up, surprised by the unexpected softness in his voice, and with a slight smile he continued: "I'll be right back."

With that he rose from his seat and disappeared into his storeroom, leaving Hermione wondering about his comment.

˜~˜˜- O

After only a minute he returned, a small bottle with an orange, shimmering, oily liquid in his hand. "This is a relaxing massage oil," he explained. "It consists of a couple of magical plants and if regularly rubbed down into the skin of neck and shoulders it will have a much better effect than any charm."

Hermione stared at him, at a loss for words. This wasn't what she had expected at all. Not only was she completely surprised at his kindness, she also wondered how on earth she should manage to rub that potion into her neck and shoulders without troubling her already-hurting muscles even more. She might be able to reach the aching parts, but it could hardly be relaxing if she twisted herself like that.

Once again Snape seemed to have read her thoughts. "I'm sure you'll find someone to assist you with this, Miss Granger," he sneered.

Oblivious to her blushing he continued: "It might be honourable of you to work so far ahead to prepare for the N.E.W.Ts, but you certainly should at least try to relax some more. I know it's hard under the pressure of the upcoming finals, but it's important, Miss Granger. You won't be able to keep up that pace for another half a year."

Hermione, who didn't really know what to say in response, sent a doubtful look in his direction. Snape, noticing her insecurity, leaned back in his seat, with another slight smile.

"What are you this nervous for anyway?" he asked carefully. "You've been top of your year, ever since you started at Hogwarts, why would you be worrying about your finals?"

"I'm not worrying about failing them, sir," Hermione started to explain, but he interrupted her with an impatient wave of his hand. "Yes, yes I know, you already told me so. It's the average you're concerned about. But honestly, what is there to worry for, I ask you? What other than an A could your grade be, Miss Granger?"

Her cheeks flushed at the praise.

"I hope to be accepted at Stonehenge, sir, and its entrance examination is said to be really hard to pass. Besides that I'm also well aware of my muggle inheritance and the fact that I won't be able to provide any references from a graduate."

˜~˜˜- O

For the first time, he looked at her unable to mask his complete and utter surprise. But then, on the other hand, it probably wasn't that much of a surprise, was it? Stonehenge University of Magic was a very old, traditional institute, internationally famous for its high standards in all its faculties.

And Hermione Granger would hardly go for anything less than the best education she could get, would she?

And she was right. Stonehenge only very rarely accepted halfbloods or muggleborns as their magical abilities weren't considered strong enough to live up to the institute's high demands. The terms of admission were very hard. Only those students who graduated with top marks were allowed to participate in the entrance examination at all, and even then they couldn't be sure of consent. If the results were not completely satisfactory, the students could still hope for acceptance if their application was endorsed by a Stonehenge graduate.

Since these references were mostly given by a relative or friend of the family, a muggleborn had hardly ever a chance to get access to the institute. Not very fair, quite uppish even, but simply the way it was handled.

"Well, I highly doubt this will be necessary in your case Miss Granger, but I can assure you that I'll gladly give you a positive statement should there be the need for it," Severus exclaimed.

Hermione looked flabbergasted at her other self. "I can't believe he actually offered that," she gasped. "Did he really give you a reference!?"

The older Hermione shook her head. "No," she exclaimed, smiling. "He couldn't do so when we got involved with each other, of course. We knew there would be enough embarrassing questions and ugly gossip around us when our relationship was revealed after my graduation, and the last thing we wanted to risk was a discussion about Severus favouring me for personal reasons. But then, it wasn't really necessary after all. I passed my N.E.W.Ts with an A+ average and got a really satisfying result at the Stonehenge entrance examination as well. So there wasn't the need to bring anyone's reference. You see, there's nothing to worry about. But you certainly shouldn't get sloppy and start to neglect your work now," she grinned.

Hermione released her breath. "Ha - as if - I won't, don't worry. But you can't even imagine how glad I am to hear about this."

The other Hermione smiled. "I can, believe me, I can. I remember quite well what it was like to prepare for those N.E.W.Ts. How are you feeling right now, anyway? Don't you have any trouble sleeping?"

"Surprisingly enough not, no," the younger Hermione responded. "I've been so preoccupied with the task Dumbledore was going to send us on that I hardly wasted any thoughts at my finals the previous week. My sleep was quite troubled, yes, but this was mostly because of the nervousness that came along with the upcoming task. And since we've been here in this time – well-" she blushed. I did sleep quite well last night, in fact."

"Oh yes," the other Hermione smiled. "I heard of that."

At her younger self's furious blushing she asked: "How is your head doing then? Does it still hurt?"

Hermione just nodded, still confused by the other woman's knowledge of her well-being.

At that her older self's face lit up. "Oh, just wait, I definitely know of a way to get rid of that."

After the sunny warmth outside, it was pleasantly cool in the dungeons. Severus had just delivered Tina at Hagrid's, and was now on his way back to his study, but his thoughts were still preoccupied with the little girl. All the way down towards the half-giant's hut she had told him happily about the 'potion' she was going to continue today, and of the thrilling prospect to accompany Hagrid and Fang into the Forbidden Forest afterwards.

She hadn't been a tad afraid of him, he had noticed in wonder. Given the way his students cringed as soon as he just looked in their direction, it had completely and utterly stunned him, when the little girl had slipped her hand in his, while merrily chatting about the nice Potions lesson 'they' had just held.

Like his older self had advised him, he had allowed her to hand out some of the nastiest ingredients the Gnat-Bite-Removing Essence required.

Her eyes had sparkled with mirth as she had handed out the naked red slugs whose water-clear slime was supposed to have a calming effect on the itching. Her eyes – his eyes – deep and black, looking at him out of the face of Hermione Granger.

It was certainly time to get back on safe ground again.

But when he finally entered the study he hardly believed his eyes. Not only had the two women not finished half of the work he had expected, they were even sitting happily chatting with a cup of tea.

"I'm sure you'll find someone adequate … Why not ask Severus?" the older Hermione smiled as she passed her younger self a little potions bottle, with bright orange, oily contents.

Severus frowned at that. If anyone was handing out a potion it should be him, shouldn't it? He was preparing to ask what all this was about, when the older Hermione suddenly looked up from her cup and noticed him standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Severus, it's you," she smiled. "We're just having a little break. Do you care for a cup of tea, Dear?"

"No, certainly not," he snapped spitefully, but she just laughed at his anger.

"Oh," she coughed with a grin, "it's you. Excuse me, I'm terribly sorry, 'sir'."

He could hardly suppress a sigh of defeat. The nerve of that woman annoyed him. How could she always act the way that made him feel like a complete fool - maybe it was because of the embarrassing kiss he had shared with her in the corridor the day before. How could she be so much trouble, while his own time's Hermione was so kind and friendly?

As soon as she spotted him, she immediately jumped to her feet looking quite embarrassed, almost guilty.

His frown deepened at that. This wasn't right at all. She certainly had no reason to feel guilty, she had every right to take a little rest after all she had been through this past two days.

Swallowing his anger at the older Hermione, he bestowed an encouraging smile on the younger one. "It's quite all right," he told her. "I'm sure we'll catch up with the delay easily, if we're working all three together now."

The surprised, but grateful little smile she cast him, assured him that he had once again found the right words to comfort her; and for reasons he didn't want to examine, this left him surprisingly pleased.

A couple of minutes later, his older self joined them. "How is the progress?" he asked, and his younger self sprang into action.

"We're still preparing the ingredients for the next working steps, but we're not completely done yet." He sent a dark scowl towards the older Hermione, who didn't seem to be affected by this in the slightest.

"We took a little break before he joined us," the older Hermione filled her husband in, nodding in the younger Severus' direction with an amused smile. "But for some reason it seemed to bother him."

The older Severus' brows rose at that. "Why so? A short rest could hardly do any harm. And you certainly have every right to take things slow, Love." He sent an almost accusing glance in his younger self's direction.

Severus ground his teeth in silence. The sympathetic smile he got from his own time's Hermione even increased his foul mood. With a dark expression on his face, his lips pressed into a thin line, he focused on his task again.

For some time all four of them were working in silence, each preparing some different ingredients. Then, suddenly, the older Hermione flinched with a gasp of pain. The knife she had been holding clattered to the floor.

Severus and Hermione just turned their heads in surprise, but the older Severus was at her side within a second. "Hermione," he asked worriedly, "what's the matter?"

"Oh damn," she mumbled, with her finger in her mouth, "I slipped with the knife and cut my finger. It's not too bad, Severus," she added at the concerned look on his face.

"Let me see the cut, nonetheless," he insisted. "I want to make sure it's all right." He carefully took her hand in his and turned it to examine the wound.

It wasn't bad, the younger Severus noticed. It was hardly even bleeding. Just a short cut at the tip of her left index finger. There was certainly no need to make such a fuss about it.

Her husband was all concerned about her, though. He healed the little cut and gently kissed her fingertip, before he released her hand again. "There, Dearest, it's all right again," he muttered. The future Hermione touched his cheek in a loving gesture and he wrapped both of his arms around her waist.

"Thank you Sev," she whispered and leaned in to him, likewise encircling him with her arms; and before either of their two stunned younger selves could sort a single of their confused emotions out, their future selves were already kissing.

"Honestly," the younger Severus sneered with a mixture of annoyance ad embarrassment, "is that really necessary?!"

Hermione just stared at the pair in total confusion. It was so strange to be in the same room with her future self anyway, but seeing her kissing the future version of Snape - Severus, she corrected herself immediately - who was standing right beside her with a displeased sneer on his face, was just too much. It made her immediately think of the disturbing, breathtaking feeling of longing, when she had found herself in his arms under the Invisibility Cloak; and remember the confused feelings that had moved her at his older self's kiss the day before.

Hurriedly, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, she tried to focus on her task again, but since her hand was trembling, she accidentally dropped the beaker she had been holding.

With a sharp splitting noise it smashed to pieces, and the ruby-red juice spilled like blood onto the floor.

She was so confused that she didn't even consider the possibility to use magic. Hastily she kneeled down to collect the splinters and flinched with pain the very next second as one of the bits penetrated her skin.

Furious at her own stupidity, she got to her feet again and tried to pull the small bit of glass out of the pad of her thumb.

Then Severus was next to her all of a sudden. "Let me see," he murmured. He took her hand in his and turned it over to regard the cut, just like the other Severus had examined his wife's hand only moments before. Carefully he removed the splinter with a simple spell and healed the little wound.

Hermione could have died of embarrassment. Not only did she have to let slip the beaker due to her clumsiness in the first place; she'd also made a complete fool out of herself by the awkward way she had tried to deal with the mess. How could she forget all about being a witch? And in front of Snape of all people – Severus, she corrected herself automatically.

How stupid of her.

Slowly and timidly she lifted her head to look at him. His eyes were soft and dark, without a trace of anger or annoyance. She even supposed to spot some amusement glittering in the black depth. Unable to draw her gaze away from his, she swallowed. There was a nervous fluttering in the pit of her stomach and she was very well aware of the almost ridiculous parallel of actions. They had repeated their older selves' activities, with the exception of the exchange of caresses and endearments of course - and it was hardly an option for them to kiss, either.

Nonetheless Severus kept hold of her hand, while she simply stared into his eyes, almost sure he was thinking the same. When he finally, almost reluctantly, released her hand, they noticed the couple across the room watching them, broad grins on their faces.

Several hours later they ascended the stairs towards Dumbledore's office. It was afternoon already, and the huge picture-windows beside the stairs were lit by the bright light of a warm and sunny September day.

After the long hours of concentrated work, Hermione's neck and shoulders felt even more tense and ached even worse than they had recently, and she felt in desperate need of a relaxing shower, some food, and a long walk outside in the grounds – at the lake, possibly. But given the current circumstances, all of these wishes were clouded by obvious difficulties. They had spent the day on brewing a potion to reactivate the substances they had prepared 'five years before'. Tomorrow they would be able to start with the first essence. But for today they were done.

Hermione's thoughts wandered off towards the things her older self had told her earlier about the developments in her future. From what she had been told so far, she still couldn't quite see how everything could have turned out the way it did.

She felt the weight of the little bottle her other self had handed her in the pocket of her robe, and the words of her 'advice' still echoed in her mind. 'I'm sure you'll find someone adequate …' she had said and winked an eye at her. As if she wanted to push things between Hermione and Severus a little.

But it was completely out of the question that she would ask 'him' of all people to massage her neck. What on earth should he think she was planning, if she did? And in general, how should she indulge the feeling of his hands, touching her bare skin? Even if it was only to relax the muscles of her neck and shoulders – it was – much too intimate – in her opinion. She couldn't handle such closeness between them yet. Of course she knew there would be much more closeness between them quite soon, but – this wasn't at all what she wanted to think about right now.

She would most likely tense even more at his touch, wouldn't she? But then, she had felt so good, when he had held her in his arms the day before – and during the night –

She didn't remember when was the last time she had slept so deeply, so peacefully. Even if she had been seated in an armchair, it had been more calming and comfortable than the cosiest bed. And despite the fact that he had been troubled by a nightmare before she had woken him up, he seemed to have slept very well himself.

The headmaster greeted them in a cheerful mood. "Ah –Herm- Miss Granger, Severus, there you are. How nice, have a seat," he smiled and pointed towards the two leather upholstered chairs in front of his desk, but shook his head before they even had the chance to follow the invitation. "No," he muttered to himself, "No, the office is hardly the adequate place to discuss this matter."

Looking back at them he smiled, "We should head for the living room instead. Severus, you know the way. Just go ahead and take a seat. I'll join you in a minute."

"Certainly, Albus," Severus agreed with a trace of confusion. He briefly wondered, what matters Albus planned to discuss. But if he thought of it, it wasn't really hard to guess.

When he looked at Hermione, he noticed that she was nervously biting her lip. Though she appeared not especially scared, she seemed to be very timid and looked quite pale; and once again he felt the impulse to reassure her of his presence and that everything would be all right. Very softly he placed his hand at her forearm and when she looked at him out of anxious, almost frightened eyes, he even smiled at her. "It's this way, come-"

When they stepped into the headmaster's living room, Fawkes watched them curiously from his perch. But once he recognized Severus, the large scarlet-red bird relaxed and continued to smoothen his feathers with his golden-shimmering beak.

For all it seemed, Severus was a frequent visitor in these rooms, and Hermione supposed that Fawkes probably knew 'her' as well.

His hand still resting at her forearm, Severus led her towards one of the armchairs and seated himself in the one to her right. Hermione felt slightly discomposed at the loss of the calming contact, when he withdrew his hand from her arm, but sat down nonetheless.

She knew neither what to do with her hands, which were nervously wrestling with the material of her robes; nor what to say.

She didn't even look at him, afraid her eyes might display her torment of emotion if she did; but stared out of one of the huge windows, pretending to be closely contemplating the fluffy white clouds in the blue summer sky.

In fact she didn't take in much of her surroundings. Once again her thoughts were captured by the things her older self had told her about the development of her relationship with Severus. So he would brew Contraceptive Potion for her to drink and they would – eww- It was still a strange, disturbing idea. She still couldn't fully understand and accept the prospect of ending up in bed with him at all and quite soon at that. But if she was honest with herself, she had to admit that the mere idea brought back some of the strange sensations and emotions that had captivated her when they had been so close to each other beneath the Invisibility Cloak the day before. She remembered the cuddling of their future selves they had witnessed and tried to imagine the both of them in their place, but couldn't really follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion.

Nervously she bit her lip. She just wondered what might go wrong, so that she would end up pregnant and how on earth they would handle the situation, when everyone found out about it.

At the very few, timid side glances she threw in his direction, she found Severus staring to the floor with a dark look on his face, as if brooding over the idea himself.

Now that they had no task to focus on, there wasn't a thing to say. They just waited in awkward, uncomfortable silence, for Dumbledore to return.

When the old man finally entered the circular room, Hermione felt a wave of utter relief. He took a seat in the armchair opposite to her. With a smile he summoned three steaming cups of Orange Pekoe and a dish of chocolate-covered cherries, but Hermione felt too tense to touch the candy. And as for Severus, he didn't even glance at it either, she noticed.

"Well, this is a truly interesting situation you have entangled yourselves in, isn't it?" Dumbledore began. "But it has been a surprise to all of us to find out about your er - fondness of each other, I can assure you of that."

Turning serious once again, he continued. "I had no idea you would find yourselves in a situation like this, when I sent you on this mission. Actually, I have only known of your plan since a week ago, when Minerva and I started dreaming about it. At first we weren't sure what to think of this, but then, you two - excuse me, your married selves - appeared and told me the same story. And back this morning, when I found you acting so awkwardly around each other at breakfast – Don't take his personally, my dear friend," he threw in at Severus' sharp intake of breath, "I know you tried your best, but you can't say that the terms of endearment you addressed each other with rolled easily across your tongues, can you? Although I have to admit that there were some amazingly believable parts in that little role-play of yours."

Severus' expression darkened at that.

"It's a good plan and it's certainly about time we stopped Voldemort. So I really hope you'll succeed," Dumbledore continued seriously. "Do you think that in spite of the current circumstances, you will still be able to accomplish your task?"

At this he looked at them, and Hermione shifted uneasily in her seat. A brief side glance at Severus told her that he wasn't any more comfortable with the situation. Nonetheless both of them nodded at the headmaster's question.

"It won't affect your work?" he inquired worriedly and this time they both shook their heads. "No, Albus," she heard Severus assure the other man, "I'm certain we will manage to work well alongside each other."

"Well, that's a relief to hear," the headmaster smiled. "It would be best for everyone, if you could bring yourselves to accept matters as they are. I know it's quite hard for you, but I would only very unwillingly perform a Memory-Charm on you, when it's time for you to head back into the past."

At their likewise shocked gasps he continued with a smile: "It won't be necessary, will it?

You can stay in my personal guest room, since you can't really use one of the others at this school. There's too much danger you could be seen, while you're definitely supposed to be elsewhere. And of course, you can't go to the Great Hall, either. I've made arrangements: In general it would be best if you travelled down to the study by Floo Powder, and had your meals up here, unless you're really sure not the cross your other selves' way, that is. But it's late now and I'm sure you're both tired. If you would follow me to your chamber now?"

The guest room was a pleasantly sunny room in colours of soft beige, lime-green and periwinkle blue.

Right opposite the door was a window-seat with a round dark-wood table inside. The mid part of the window consisted of lozenge-shaped pieces of clear glass that allowed a beautiful view of the lake and the wood-covered hills behind, but the window's edges were ornamented in a frame of tendrils whose blossoms were strongly reminiscent of some kind of bellflowers.

Right now the fading sunlight that caught in the blue and green-coloured glass projected the floral mosaic onto the honey-coloured wooden floor and the large, beige carpet, which showed a similar pattern at its boundary.

Left of the window-seat was the bed. It was a four-poster of course, which repeated the floral pattern of green and blue at its pale-beige curtains. Though not very large, it probably held enough room for two people to sleep in, as long as they weren't afraid to touch each other. Which was – not what Hermione wanted to think about right now. Uncertainly she turned her head to check the room for a second bed, which there wasn't.

Like everywhere else in the castle the walls were of pale sandstone. The sconces were copper, and held a couple of thick, honey-coloured candles.

She spotted a door, to the right of the window, but it probably just led to a bathroom. Left of the entrance-door were a small fireplace of plain sandstone-blocks, a large, light-beige couch beside, and a reading table in front of it. A dresser and a small desk with an ink bottle, a feather-quill and some sheets, completed the furnishings. All in all a nice room, with soothingly coloured, pleasant providing, – but Hermione didn't feel calm at all at the prospect of spending the nights in here – with him.

With a crushed expression on her face, she bit her lip. Even if one of them slept on the couch, they would have to spend the night in one room again. Carefully she risked a side glance at Severus, who looked equally uncomfortable with the arrangements.

Dumbledore, who had watched them closely, handed his colleague a small leather pouch. "The fireplace is connected to the kitchens. You can either light a real fire in its hearth, or you can conjure up a magical one that lasts only long enough to throw a small amount of this powder here into the flames, and order whatever food you wish for. It will appear immediately on the table by the window seat. Oh and as for the sleeping arrangements, unfortunately there is no second bed, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you will find something adequate," he said with an annoyingly cheerful tone in his voice.

With that he left them alone.

Hermione couldn't help but stare at the door that closed behind him. Slowly, with a trace of panic in her gaze, she turned her head to look at her companion. "Well," Severus cleared his throat …

A/N: Many thanks for the kind reviews and e-mails and as always, thanks to SilentG for her help as a beta-reader.

*MistressOfMayhemhof* Do you mean a fic in which Draco is actually born in the future, but lives at the nowadays' Hogwarts because he used a Time-Turner? That would be such a great idea! I don't think anyone has done something like that before. A very nice and refreshing twist on the countless time-travelling fics. Please write the story and tell me, when you put it up.

*Lily Ayl* You really noticed that very well. I can't tell you much about the matter, though, since I don't want to give away too much. But your questions will be answered within further chapters.

*Indigo Ziona* Hey, that's a really nice idea to let Snape read 'Lord of the Rings' in one of your stories as you say. Did he read it as a novel, or as a History related book? And what's the name of your fic?

*Chrissy* Thanks. Like in 'A little of your time', most of the ingredients I mentioned, are taken from an old book about medicinal herbs and are said to have more or less calming or sleep inducting effect. The 'magical-ones' like melandrium noctiflorum, solanum luteum, which is indeed said to taste first bitter then sweet, I chose out of metaphorical sense, though. Derivatives of papaver somniferum as morphine, are used as a very strong pain releasing drug and have in fact the mentioned side effect of repressing the induction to breath. Hypericum perforatum is useful to improve the mood, but likewise increases the sensitiveness to sunlight.

Serpentina