Albus Dumbledore sat back in his chair, reading the latest missive from Florean. Apparently all was going according to plan; Severus was meeting Hermione later to go over the notes. Albus knew that Snape normally would cut off his big toe before spending time unnecessarily with Hermione Granger, but he also knew why Snape avoided her like the Moldavian plague.

If he admits to caring, starts to feel invested, he thinks it will kill him.

Moreover, there was too much at stake here for him to not become involved. He knew that, but his fear of being in Hermione's presence had kept him with his head down, insisting he was not in danger with his double-agent role. Albus knew differently. He knew the signs that Voldemort's patience with his pet Death Eater at Hogwarts was nearing an end. When Snape returned from a night with Voldemort, the recovery time was longer these days. He would never admit it to Albus, of course, but the time under Crucio had to be increasing as Voldemort tortured him for information on the machinations of the side of good.

If Albus could take the pain away, he would do so with no reservations. Snape partially spied of his own accord, but partially he felt he owed a debt to Dumbledore. He had absolutely discharged the debt and then some, but Snape was a complicated man in that regard.

He saw the same pain, and complications, in Dr. Granger. After what happened her 7th year…well, most children would have ended up permanently in St. Mungo's. While it was a success story in terms of her recovery and acceptance, she was certainly not the same for the experience. She became hard, instead, and determined; reminding Albus very much of a younger Severus Snape. She was easily among the best Aurors the ministry ever had, especially in tandem with her partner, Harry Potter. After several high-profile Death Eaters under her belt serving time in Azkaban, she had abruptly owled Diggory for a research assignment, citing an idea she had come up with that she felt could be accomplished.

It was an audacious project, to be sure; and if it was successful, could end the war in a hurry. But, it also could be perverted easily to serve the Dark Lord's purposes, and therefore Dr. Granger had been secreted away in Muggle London. Only she could Apparate to her flat, and only one Portkey existed to allow entrance. She spent the rest of her time at the Ministry's headquarters in a well-hidden basement lab behind Arthur Weasley's department.

Owls were frequent to Professors McGonagall, Vector, and Flitwick; much of what was involved in the spell she was attempting had to do with their branches of expertise. Everything hinged on a potion, however, and the fact that Severus and Hermione refused to speak to one another on the issue confused him at first. But, gradually, Dumbledore was able to see what forces were at play. Pride, stubbornness, certainly. The fact that she wanted to prove herself to her former professor who had always been unbending in his disdain for her intelligence; even though Albus knew with clarity that Snape was more impressed with Hermione than any student that had ever graced his classes. And, by the same token, Snape didn't want her to think that anything she had to say or do was of the least importance to him. Stubborn children!

But Albus didn't get his reputation for being omniscient for nothing. He knew that Snape and Hermione had both been on the edge of caring for each other too much after their shared experience in Hermione's 7th year. Neither of them could bear to admit it, so they closed themselves off from one another and dove into their worlds with a separate, firey vengance.

Naturally, some of this was helped along by the natural turning to one another that happened with Harry and Hermione after Ron's passing. If possible, Snape's hatred for Harry Potter grew in the months after Snape saved Hermione. Harry wasn't aware of this, and Hermione was only peripherally aware from the bond that she and Severus shared. As Harry and Hermione's fame grew as Aurors and as Hermione continued her Muggle university studies in medicine to compliment to her already impressive knowledge of magical healing, he could see Severus retreat further and further into himself. Of course, Snape had to hear all about Harry and Hermione's exploits at Voldemort's right hand, and don't think for a moment that old Tom Riddle didn't know how to exploit Snape's anti-Harry sentiments.

The steel was there out of necessity, to be sure, but the wall's thickness really wasn't as much as Snape would have liked.

This afternoon, he had ordered Snape to run into Hermione in Diagon Alley. He knew the Potions Master thought him a meddling fool for this errand, but a meddling fool he must be. He knew them both too well and it was simply high time they confronted the demons they had been running from for 6 years. It was time.