2. What Lies Beneath

After emerging from the shower on the Friday evening, Severus wrapped the towel around himself and walked from the bathroom into his bedroom, his still-wet feet making small damp patches, as he walked across the jade green rug that lent some of it's warmth to the cool mahogany coloured wood below it.

He attempted on ridding the images of his last class- the Hufflepuff fourth-years. He could still smell the odour of singed robes and more than a couple of eyebrows. Unless he was much mistaken, Derrick Maven and Hilary Cross would be in the Potions classroom clearing the remains of a sticky yellow substance until the early hours of the morning. And if they weren't…he felt a sneer coming upon his face at the thought of what he might say, or do to them.

Severus opened his wardrobe, in the stereotypical search of what to wear. As he perused the contents, the silver framed mirror adorning the opposite wall spoke to him sleepily.

"Hot date tonight?"

He gave it a scathing glance and didn't bother with a reply.

"I can tell you, dear, black's most definitely in this season and, well…you can hardly say you have a shortage of that."

Severus opened his mouth to throw back a cutting response, but realised there was no sense in denying what he'd apprehended long before he'd opened the wardrobe, was true.

"What's the point?" he grumbled, half to himself.

Pulling out a set of clean, dusk-coloured robes and pants, his hand lingered over his usual shirt he wore for classes, before going for a dressier one, with cufflinks.

"Nice," the mirror approved. Severus raised an eyebrow at it, and began to dress. Was he looking forward to dinner, he wondered to himself? He was certainly not dreading it.

Just as she was spritzing herself with a light perfume, the phone rang. Hermione rolled her eyes at it's usual good timing. At least she wasn't in the shower at the time.

"Hello?" she answered. Perhaps it was Deana from the lab with some good news.

"Hi darling." Her heart dropped. Jeremy. Of course.

"Oh, hi."

"Is everything alright? You sound distracted." His vice wasn't concerned as much as it was suspicious.

"Everything's fine. I just don't have the time for a long conversation right now, Jeremy. I'm about to go out."

"Where?" Hermione frowned at his rudeness and the abrupt edge in his voice.

"Just out for dinner with a friend."

"It wouldn't be the 'old friend' from yesterday morning would it?"

Yes, Hermione willed herself to say. And what would you do about that?

Plenty, the nagging voice inside of her assured.

"Hermione?" he asked, his tone cold.

"No, just…just Deana," she replied, too quickly, with the first name that popped into her head.

"Deana," his voice was slow, contemplative. "Well, I'll leave you to it, then. Night 'Mione."

She cringed at the use of the nickname that she dared not suggest he stop using.

"Goodnight Jeremy."

Starting at the time, she pushed a few belongings into her small, black handbag. Wand, purse, lipstick, mobile phone, keys and a brush. Quickly she pulled on her robes, and the bag onto her shoulder. On second thoughts, she removed the wand from the bag and placed it in the pocket of her robes. Just pausing to scratch Crookshanks on the head as he opened one lazy eye and meowed a goodbye, she turned off all the lights, locked her door, let herself into the hall and started down the stairs.

Just as she stepped outside into the darkening sky, the streetlight outside the apartment building switched on, bathing her in flickering light. She sighed, and ran one hand through her hair, hoping that tonight would take her mind off things.

Severus had just sat at the table, awkwardly noticing the candlelit glow, when he glimpsed Hermione. He slightly lifted one hand in greeting. Her face, which, he'd thought fleetingly, looked lost, lighted up and she smiled brightly at him.

Before she was seated, one of the waiters came to remove her robes. Severus raised his eyebrows, before realising, of course, that it was natural for her to wear Muggle clothes under her usual robes. If the waiter noticed anything strange about her outer attire, he said nothing about it.

"Thanks, Giorgio."

The waiter grinned. "No Mr. Reading tonight, miss?" he asked in a smooth Italian dialect.

"No," she replied quietly, before nodding to him and taking her place opposite Severus. He didn't fail to notice how the knee-length, floaty but smart, black dress she was wearing fitted her perfectly, to every angle.

"Good evening, Miss. Granger."

"Good evening, and I'm not your student anymore Severus, you can call me Hermione."

Hermione took in his appearance-a nice shirt, not too fancy, and face and hair, which resembled none of its usual paleness or greasiness.

He noted her expression and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

She shook her head; "I suppose I'm just not used to seeing you outside of Hogwarts, especially in social occasions."

"I do assure you, Hermione, I do occasionally step out of the dungeons."

The tips of her mouth stretched upward for a moment. They studied their menus in silence for a few moments, before Severus broke it.

"May I ask who Mr. Reading is?"

She visibly jumped. "Oh, he's…he's the man who was with me yesterday, Jeremy."

"Your boyfriend?" he prompted.

"I suppose so," she answered, half to herself. Severus didn't question her anymore, simply saying, "He seems…nice."

When the starters came, feta salad for Hermione and French onion soup for Severus, they moved on to the reason they were there for in the first place.

"So, what is it you brought me here to talk about?" he enquired.

The nervousness she had adopted previously, subsided immediately, and she slipped into her more confident self. He listened intently as she outlined the lycanthropy treatment that had been found.

"I assume your primary candidate was Lupin?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course. Remus is the only person I've ever known firsthand who's experienced the transformations. But now…you'd be amazed how many people there are who have the condition…and not just wizards either."

"What…surprises me, is that he wouldn't want to go public about it."

"Well, he did."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"The problem…well, there's a slight kink with the formula."

He frowned. "I thought you said it worked?"

She sighed. "Oh, it works alright but not like we hoped."

Severus didn't reply, gesturing for her to clarify what she meant.

"We were all set to bring him in, to show them all its effects," She smiled. "It seemed to be going fine- our test…subjects didn't display any after-effects and we assumed we'd succeeded at long last. Until…ten minutes prior to the conference, one of the subjects, Jonathan Rivers arrived, five weeks after we believed he was permanently stable."

"A none too desirable arrival, I presume?"

She shook her head. "He had…well, you've seen how Remus looks before and after his transformations- multiply that by a hundred, and you've got Jonathan's condition."

"Could you not continue the experiment on Lupin at the conference, and modify the formula after? You did say you had a considerable time period in which to work in."

She looked shocked. "You think that I would put Remus in that condition?" she said in disbelief. "Besides, you know what the examining boards are like. They'd be watching him for months."

He grimaced. "I remember all too well." He didn't elaborate.

They didn't speak for a while, while Hermione wondered how to put her request to Severus.

Finally, after swallowing the last piece of lettuce, she blurted out, "Will you help me?"

He studied her for a moment, curiously. "Why would you need my help? You have more than enough researchers under you and you certainly have the skill, intelligence and initiative to help yourself."

She looked up at him gratefully. "It's nice to know I'm appreciated." She let out a soft laugh. "My 'team' aren't interested anymore. The lease on our lab is letting up, and it can be renewed, but they sure don't want to waste their time on it anymore. They don't want to see results with a trial-and-error method; they want quick success, recognition. Not low pay and disappointment."

He regarded her, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "And that's what you want?"

Sighing, she answered, " I've poured my heart and soul, and nearly all my funds into this." Suddenly, she looked into his eyes, "It's never exactly felt right, working at the Institute in the centre of London, and hiding everything from the eyes of curious Muggles. I always imagined, well, being something like you."

Surprised, and making no attempt to hide it, he answered, "Why ever would you want to be like me?"

A smile came on her face and she looked over his shoulder for a minute, thinking. "I remember taking a message from McGonagall in my sixth year to you. You were working in your private lab. I can remember watching you measuring, stirring and labelling before you realised I was there, all in that dark and draughty dungeon room, with just the candlelight for company. And I knew, that's what I wanted."

"Most wizards and witches would consider themselves lucky to be in your position, with the latest equipment and technology at your fingertips, rather than the old methods at Hogwarts."

Quickly, she replied, "Don't get me wrong- I know I'm more than lucky," she looked guilty, "…it's just not the same as…"

"Living the dream?" he answered softly. Brown eyes met black and nothing was said, just an unspoken agreement.

The rest of the meal was spent with polite banter and discussion of how he would suggest assisting her. After finishing the last of the wine, the strawberry cheesecake, which she'd, recommended, and paying the bill (half each, as neither would allow the other to pay for the whole meal), Severus began to say his goodbyes.

She hesitated. "I don't suppose…would you like to come back to my apartment?"

He raised his eyebrows at the young woman, questioning.

"I thought we could have coffee or something…and maybe you could tell me about Hogwarts?" Remembering, she looked quite sad. "It's surprising how much you miss it."

It was his turn to waver, but he pushed it aside, favouring a pleasant conversation with her, rather than returning to his dungeons rooms, which looked depressing and alone in comparison. "Why not?"

Severus followed her up the stairs of the apartment block, still quite amused at the fact that halfway down the street she'd removed her high-heeled shoes, complaining, "I can barely walk in these things. I don't know why I bother."

She slipped a key into the lock and twisted it several times before it clicked in response.

Once they'd entered, she'd quickly pulled her robes off and dropped them on the couch, disappearing into the kitchen. Alone, Severus surveyed her living room.

A small television, as he understood it was called, was placed on a coffee table, alongside a stack of ring binders and various papers.

A red, three-seater couch, an armchair, lamp, bookcase and radio were the only other items in the small room. He was taken aback at how much he felt at home the minute he had stepped in. It would seem only natural to settle back on the couch with a drink and unwind, so relaxing was the atmosphere.

He jumped, however when there was loud bang at the window. A barn owl, quite excitable by first impression, was fluttering around outside. He quickly crossed over and pulled the window open; wincing at the creak it produced. The owl flew over his head, and began to fly around the room, hooting piercingly.

"Is that Ceres?" Hermione called from the kitchen, over the sound of a whistling kettle.

"If you mean your owl, then yes. Shall I take the letter?"

"Please."

A few minutes later, she emerged, carrying a tea tray with the appetizing aroma of hot coffee drifting along with it. She placed it on the table and took the envelope, whilst petting the owl.

She smiled happily. "It's from Harry."

He tried not to show he was vaguely interested, but failed. "How is Potter these days?"

She scanned the letter. "Great, it sounds like. Apparently he and Ginny went out last night. I wonder how Ron will take that."

"You've seen him recently too?"

"Yes, Molly had everyone over at the Burrow for dinner the other week. Broken up with Lavender for the third time…no doubt they're back together already…"

She read further down. "Told you. Harry suggests we start a bet on how many divorces they have once they're married, which is inevitable."

She laughed after reading his closing paragraph and folded the parchment up again. "I wish I could see them more but we're all so busy these days."

"I suppose the famous Trio will be reunited," he commented. With the slightest movement of her head, it was obvious she missed her friends.

She offered him a cup of coffee. "I don't suppose you want milk," she asked. "I would imagine you to be more of a black coffee drinker."

He smiled wryly. "Never liked the taste of it with additives. Besides, it reduces the caffeine intake."

The conversation soon ran dry, and apart from them occasionally sipping the hot, warming liquid from the mugs, there was absolute quiet.

Feeling uncomfortable, Hermione broke the silence. "Have you ever watched TV before? I mean it's not the sort of thing you'd find in Hogwarts."

"It may come as a shock to you that I have lived elsewhere than Hogwarts in my life." Off her apologetic look, he continued, "But no, I haven't."

She crossed over to the television and switched it on. Severus watched, curious, as an image flickered to life.

"It's a comedy chat show," she explained. "Basically, Muggle celebrities are interviewed, but there's a lot of humour in it. Usual Friday night programming, really."

He nodded and began to take it in. After half an hour had gone by, both were sitting on he floor against the couch, laughing loudly at the ridiculous jokes the host was making, glasses of wine in their hands.

A knock at the door pulled them out of the moment. Still giggling helplessly, Hermione stood up and went to the door. The smile was suddenly drained from her face.

"Jeremy!"

The man Severus recognised from the day before strode into the room. At the sight of another man, his face looked like thunder.

"He doesn't look like Deana, Hermione! And this," he waved his hand at the situation, "looks very comfy."

"This isn't what it looks like," she pleaded. "We were just talking about work!"

Even to her, the excuse sounded weak. The scenario that lay in front of them didn't appear at all like 'work.'

Jeremy glared at her. She noticed how thin his lips were and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "When the hell did you decide it was alright to go out with other men?"

"I told you, he's just a friend!"

"You're lying and you know it. Besides, even if he was a friend, you should have made sure I was okay with it first!"

"I don't need your consent!" Hermione yelled back at him.

Jeremy promptly sank down onto the sofa. "He can leave and we're gong to have a little…talk about this," he said. Severus immediately distrusted his hostile tone.

Hermione stared at him, shaking her head. She spoke to Severus, all the fury gone from her, and quiet resignation in her voice. "It would be best if you went now."

She led him to the door and just before closing it, she whispered, "I'll owl you in the morning. Please go home."

"Are you sure?" he began before the door was gently closed, her sad, dark eyes being the last thing he saw of her. What disturbed him most was that she didn't seem tearful, upset or angry…just accepting.

Feeling distinctly unsettled, knowing he shouldn't have left her, Severus set off down the stairs and into the night.

A/N: Hey, thirteen reviews, not too shabby for a first chapter. Thanks to the following for their reviews:

Akasha Ravensong, PixieDust590, Crystal, JennyRad, iPnay, KDarkMaiden, Stellar Snape, Rchl and Michelle.

Mirriam Q Webster- That's definitely an element I want to integrate – you'll notice Jeremy isn't exactly there for her intelligence soon. Thanks for your review!

Electryone- As it's a Hermione/Severus story, it will (I hope) involve their union at some point…but believe me, I have evil plans in store…*smirks wickedly* Thanks for reviewing.

Dama-de-tinieblas- Usually, I normally do only have the end in mind, but this time I hope the path I think lies ahead of it will map out like I want it to. Thanks for your review.

Franflutewitch- It might well be…but not for a good while yet. They have a rocky road yet, I assure you.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if you do, I urge you to press the little button below and tell me your opinion. Much appreciated!