Chapter Four: An Enigma

Hermione woke up bright and early and took a shower. "Today's the day I go back. Hmm...I'll be on assignment. Better dress in Secret Auror uniform. I should have some firearms on my person too."

When she was done, she opened a small suit case, that had an Expandable Charm on it, and looked around her small apartment and took out her wand. "Pack!" All her possessions flew to the suitcase and was packed neatly. She shrunk her suit case and charmed it so that it wouldn't weight so much. She pocketed her suitcase.

Since she was a Secret Auror, Hermione had the privilege of Apparating anywhere around the world. It was 8 o'clock in England right now. Her meeting with Dumbledore at Hogwarts was at 11 o'clock. Since it was early, she decided to Apparate to Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley was not as crowded as she expected. She went to Gringotts first and exchanged her American Muggle money for Wizarding currency. She also took out a large amount of money from her vault. The money in there could now rival the large amount of money in Harry's vault. She then entered one of the shops and bought rolls of parchment, many bottles of ink, and a few quills. She also bought an owl and named it Crook, after her late cat, Crookshanks. It was a dark brown owl with a white face. Hermione also went to Flourish and Blotts to buy books to read in her leisure time. Her thirst for knowledge never died after becoming an Auror.

It was now 9:30 am. Hermione decided to visit Hogsmeade. Her arrival there was nostalgic. She reminisced about the Dumbledore's Army meeting at Hog's Head. 'Those were great times.'

Hermione went to an Owlery and sent all of her purchases and her suitcase to Dumbledore. She attached a note to it:

Professor Dumbledore -

Please keep these things safe. I'll see you soon.

- Hermione Granger

After passing by all the shops, she decided to go to the Three Broomsticks and order a drink. On her way there, she picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet. She entered the Three Broomsticks and noticed that it was fairly empty. She sat down at a small round table. Madam Rosmerta noticed her and walked from behind the bar to her.

"What can I get for you, dear?"

"Gimme a butterbeer, please."

"Oh, I love your accent. Are you an American?"

"No, but I consider myself to be an American. I've been livin' there for a couple of years now. The accent's from New York. I'm here on vacation."

"How lovely!" Madam Rosmerta said as she went to go get her drink. She was back in an instant. Hermione handed her some money.

"Enjoy your drink and enjoy your stay."

"Thanks."

Hermione looked at the cover of the Daily Prophet. The headline was "BELLARIX LESTRANGE CAUGHT!" Underneath there was a photo of Bellatrix inside the holding cell Hermione put her in. She read a bit of the article.

"The Magical Intelligence Bureau in America announced last night that Bellatrix Lestrange had been caught. She is the eighth Death Eater to be caught out of the ten that escaped. MIB Director Colin Judge said, 'I'm very proud of my Aurors. This capture is a triumph for the wizarding world.'"

'Yep, I did that,' she said to herself as she drank her butterbeer.

The door to the Three Broomsticks opened. Hermione looked up to see who just entered. 'Just the man I was looking for.' A small smirk appeared on her face.

Severus Snape, looking more annoyed than she remembered, sat down at one of the booths in the far end of the room. He was right in Hermione's line of sight. She put down her newspaper on the table and motioned for Madam Rosmerta.

"Yes, dear?"

"I'd like to buy that man a firewhiskey. He looks like he needs one."

"I know him. He might not accept your drink."

"Send it to him anyway. Here." Hermione handed her a couple of Sickles and watched Rosmerta walk to Snape. She turned in Snape's direction and crossed her legs. She managed to hear their conversation.

Madam Rosmerta walked to Snape and placed a glass of firewhiskey in front of him.

"You read my mind, Rosmerta," he said as he started to hand her some money.

"No need to pay for it. It's compliments of the young woman over there. If I were you, I'd strike up a conversation with her." With that she went back to the bar.

He was shocked. No one ever buys him a drink.

Snape then noticed the young woman Rosmerta was talking about. She was wearing a tight black spaghetti strap tank top and black leather pants. Both of which showed off her curves. She also had on black high-heeled boots, a black cloak that was fastened around her neck, and black sunglasses. Her hair was down. It was long, straight, and auburn.

'I don't know who she is, but I like her sense of style,' Snape thought.

Hermione smiled at him from behind her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow as she raised her glass to him as if to say, "Cheers" and took a sip of her butterbeer.

Snaoe took his firewhiskey and walked to Hermione's table.

"Is this seat taken?" He politely asked.

'Is he being nice? He must not recognize me. This is pretty funny.'

"No, it's not. You're welcome to sit down," Hermione said. Her voice was silky and mature. It was pleasing to the ear.

Snape sat down. "Why did you order me a drink?"

"You looked like you needed one. You seemed pissed off."

"'Pissed off'?"

"Angry, irritated, upset. Take your pick."

"'Pissed off' sounds right. I have a meeting with my superior today. I can't imagine what he wants."

"Ahh. I understand the feeling."

"Not from around here are you?"

"I am actually. But I've been living in the States for some time now. New York, to be exact. I thought it was time to come back home for a visit. You?"

"I've lived here all my life. Severus Snape." He extended his hand.

'How unusual. He's being civil and polite. He'll find out later at the meeting who I am.' Hermione thought. "I know who you are. It's nice to meet you Severus Snape," she said as shook his hand.

There was a moment of silence between them. "Usually, when someone introduces himself, the other person does the same," he said a bit annoyed.

Hermione grinned. "You can call me an enigma."

Snape was now frustrated. He was actually being friendly. Did she not understand the significance of that?

"Fine, Enigma." He noticed that 'Enigma' had something strapped onto each of her thighs and a small silver thing clipped on her pant pocket. "What are those," he said as he motioned at legs.

"These things on my thighs are Muggle firearms. And this little thing here is called a cell phone," she said as she unclipped her phone and flipped it open to show him.

"It's a common device Muggles use for communicating."

Snape looked at it. "How peculiar."

"Yeah, I suppose it is. But it's easy to use." She looked at her phone. The clock on it read "10:30am". She wanted to meet Dumbledore early.

"Well, I gotta go. I have to meet an old friend. It was nice talkin' to ya," Hermione said as she finished off her butterbeer.

"So soon?" He paused. "Will I see you again?"

'Aww, he must like me. Geez, that's weird coming from him.'

"Don't worry about that, hon. I'm sure we'll meet again. Enjoy your drink and I hope your meeting with your boss goes well. Here, you can have my paper."

Hermione stood up and left the Three Broomsticks. Snape watched her leave. 'I hope I do see her again. She seems familiar too. Where do I know her from?' he thought.

He looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet as he drank his firewhiskey.

He smirked as he read the bold headline, "BELLATRIX LESTRANGE CAUGHT!"

He continued to read the newspaper. When he was finished with the article, he looked at the time. 'Better be off. I have to meet Dumbledore soon.' He took the newspaper and made his way to Hogwarts.

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