A/N: Last chapter was very short, but I'd planned it like that, sorry.

I'd like to say that I am aware how out of character the characters seem but it's hard to keep them in character when their situations are so different to the way they are in the book.

Another point: Wow! I read Pygmalion by Pigwidgeon, which is brilliant by the way, and my story is so much like it (one of my reviewers said it was and they were right). It wasn't meant to be so much like it, in fact I hadn't read it until the other day, so I don't want the author to think I was copying their work. So my apologies for that.

Now back to the story.

"Hermione what's wrong?" Harry asked as she opened the door to him, her eyes watery and blotchy from crying.

"N…nothing," she snivelled but Harry wasn't about to let it drop.

"I know you, you don't cry over nothing. Is it Greg?" She snorted in derision and wiped her eyes.

"I wouldn't get into this state over Greg, no it's…someone else," Hermione said.

"Let me guess, his initials are SS aren't they?" Hermione nodded and Harry put his arm around her leading her into the sitting room. "What happened?"

"I saw him in Diagon Alley," she started, picking up a tissue and wiping her eyes and nose with it. "I told him about the divorce and he didn't seem to care. I hoped that we could be friends but he doesn't want anything to do with me. He said he was glad that he'd hurt me because he had finally got his own back." The words had just fell out of her and once she'd stopped the tear began to flow freely again.

"Well," Harry said, "he's a complete bastard for saying that." He lifted Hermione's chin so he could look at her face, into her eyes. "But I can understand why he's reluctant to just be a friend, I mean how would you feel if some chose Greg over you?"

"Pretty bad. God I've been so stupid." She stood up and began to pace; stepping over the floorboard that creaked. "I was unhappy with Greg, I find a man who makes me feel good, who I end up falling in love with and I leave him but I leave him out of some misplaced loyalty to my shit of a husband."

"Everybody makes mistakes Hermione, but you might not be in love you know. You were only together a few weeks, and you weren't even together properly," Harry said watching as she paced back and forth.

"I know but I had sort of liked him before that," she confessed biting her bottom lip.

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "How long for?"

"Well since we were at school really. I'd just though it was a crush, you know nothing serious but since the party I haven't been able to stop thinking about him," she said as she ran her fingers through her hair, unsuccessfully as it had turned into a frizzy mess.

"Since school?" Harry's mouth dropped. "Why didn't we know about this?"

"I wasn't about to tell you and Ron, so that you could have me sectioned!" She exclaimed looking at him in horror.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know Harry. I just don't know."

Severus sat in a small flat in London. It was the flat he owned just in case he couldn't get to his home on the coast. It was tiny compared to the mansion that he usually lived in, but it suited him on occasions.

There was a knock on the door and Severus answered it. He was somewhat reluctant to answer it as he had retreated back into the solitude that he got used to during the war.

"Sirius?" Severus asked in surprise, this was the last person he was expecting, Sirius did not usually come to his house alone.

"Can I come in? I need to ask a favour?" He put on his most charming smile although he knew that it would be ineffective against this man. Severus narrowed his eyes in suspicious, not liking the idea of Sirius Black asking him a favour.

He let him in though and soon they were sat in the small sitting room that, despite the size, was still kitted out with the most expensive furniture.

"You really are worth a mint aren't you?" Sirius asked in awe, looking around the flat.

"Yes, but you didn't come here to discuss my financial situation," Severus stated and Sirius rolled his eyes choosing not to say anything.

"I came to ask if we could hold my birthday party at your house." Severus looked confused, his eyebrows knitting together and his brow furrowing.

"You want to hold the party here?" Sirius laughed and shook his head.

"Why would I want to hold a party here? I could just hold it at my place," Sirius said. "No I meant at your place, your real home."

"No you may bloody well not hold your party at my house!" Severus said crossing his arms over his chest. Sirius gave him his best puppy dog eyes, he'd had a lot of practice over the years when taking his animagus form.

"Please, if we promise not to break anything?"

"No!"

"It's not as if you aren't invited."

"No!"

"Oh, please Sev," Sirius said using the forbidden name.

"Don't do that, I'm still not going to let you."

"Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaase?" Severus was enjoying watching Sirius beg and was thinking about stringing him along for a while longer.

"Look all right, but anything gets damaged and you pay for it." He pointed a finger menacingly and Sirius gave him a small, cheeky smile.

"Okay thank you." He got up to leave making Severus think that their conversation was now over. It was, however, far from over. Sirius still had something else to discuss with his old enemy. "Oh, just one more thing," Sirius started and Severus rolled his eyes. "Are you an idiot?"

"You what?" Severus asked his eyebrows shooting up, almost hitting his hairline. He and Sirius had not said anything that could potentially cause an argument for years, choosing instead to adopt the "if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all" attitude so as to avoid conflict.

"We heard about your little conversation with Hermione," Sirius said painting a disapproving expression on his face.

"Oh did you now?" Severus narrowed his eyes and scowled.

"Yes, and she's very upset you know."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Severus said sarcastically.

"Listen you idiot, she's divorced now and it doesn't take a genius to work out how she feels about you."

"She chose her husband," Severus retorted quickly. "She only left him because she found out he was having an affair."

"No, Harry said that she was thinking about leaving him anyway, before she found that out," Siriussaid abandoning his harsher tone.

"What? I don't believe you." He was looking at Sirius in suspicion.

"You don't have to, but I think you're an idiot for sending her away like that."

"So she was going to leave him?" Severus asked slowly, that truth sinking in.

"Yes, she realised what a prat he was and was planning to go and resolve it all, and then she found him wrapped around some blonde woman."

"Fool," Severus said under his breath but Sirius heard him.

"So are you, she was so upset after she spoke to you. You'd been so nice and then you went back to your nasty, vicious self."

"That's just it though," Severus said running his fingers through his hair. "I am that person, if she doesn't like that then what could there possibly be between us?"

"You weren't like that with her though, you were polite and, and not nasty." Sirius laughed at his choice of words realising how unintelligent they sounded.

"That isn't me, that's the act I learned from you and James Potter at school, I'd watch you chat up these girls and you'd act differently and say what they wanted to hear and they'd fall for it. That was what I was doing." Sirius shook his head.

"No it isn't. That was you, the real you. The you when you're not putting on that neutral mask of yours to hide yourself from the world."

"That is very profound, what a shame that it's also a load of bollocks," Severus said sneering at the man opposite him.

"I think that you're so pissed off because you showed someone the real you, for the first time in your life and they turned you down. That must have hurt." Severus didn't have a reply to that; he just sat there looking at him. Sirius looked at him in surprise. "Oh my God, I'm right, aren't I?" He was shocked, he'd just guessed, clutched at a straw and it had been the right one.

"Get out!" Severus hissed and pointed towards the door.

"She loves you Severus, the real you, she didn't know what she was doing, she was confused." Sirius was babbling trying to get out everything at once. "Now she realises what a mistake she made please if you feel the same tell her she doesn't deserve to get hurt."

"Get out!" He was louder this time, his voice dangerous and commanding. Sirius did not argue this time, nobody argued with that voice.

He left the small flat hoping that he had managed to convince Severus about Hermione. He hoped for her sake, and partly for his. He had to admit that he felt rather sorry for him, everybody wants him to be friendlier, less cruel and when he does he gets turned down. He just couldn't win.

Hermione was sitting at home writing up some notes that she'd made. She was attempting to write a textbook on Auror training for students. So engrossed was she that she was startled when she heard a knock at the door.

She pulled herself up and shuffled to the door not feeling very energetic.

She opened the door and saw Severus standing there. She stuttered at him, unable to form a proper sentence not knowing whether to shout at him or be grateful that he was there.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you."

"What do you want?" She asked sounding harsher than she'd intended to.

"I want to talk, and to apologise for my unacceptable behaviour," Severus replied. Hermione nodded and let him in. She led him into the living room and motioned for him to sit down.

"Well?" She said feeling like a complete bitch for behaving like this, but she was not about to take any more crap of a man.

"First of all, I'm sorry about what I said in Diagon Alley, it was unacceptable and rude, and if I'm honest completely untrue." He held his breath waiting for her reply.

"Well thank you for your apology, it is accepted. Now I think it is my turn to apologise."

"No," he said holding up his hand stopping her words. "There is no need for you to apologise, you have already, I jut want to put it all behind us now."

"I agree, it's been very stressful. Greg really messed me about."

"Yes, and I'm sorry for making it all worse," he said feeling a wave of guilt wash over him, making him feel quite sick.

"You needn't apologise again either. Besides you did make it clearer for me."

"How so?" He asked raising one eyebrow.

"Well I realised that I had never felt as strongly about Greg as I had done about you, and I thought I loved him," she said looking up into his eyes, pleased to see that they were not cold and lifeless like they had been in Diagon Alley.

Silence fell between the two, neither wanting to admit the truth. They had both been hurt and they both felt they were in danger of being so again. After a while Severus broke the silence.

"I was attracted to you ages ago you know," he said and she smiled.

"Really?" He nodded. "So was I, attracted to you I mean, not myself." He laughed as she stumbled over her words.

"We've both been really stupid haven't we?" She nodded and smiled sadly.

"It's not totally hopeless though, is it?" She asked this time she held her breath as she awaited his answer.

"Not totally, no," he said and Hermione exhaled. "Although I think you need some time to get over your divorce."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm still really messed up, I don't think it would be good to drag you back into it." He nodded and they both agreed to put whatever was between them on hold for a while.