3. Sugar-Coated

Hermione didn't owl him the next morning, or the next. On the third day, Severus, pacing his rooms, and looking distractedly out of the window, decided that if he didn't hear from her by tomorrow, he was definitely going to pay her a visit.

Of course, the minute he sat at his desk to begin some fifth year work so atrocious, he knew it would occupy his time for a good long while, a flutter of long, elegant wings filled his ears and a superior looking Grey Owl landed on his desk. Severus stroked the feathers at the top of his head with one finger.

"No post today, Nikolai?"

The owl hooted in a doleful tone, and cocked his head in the direction of the open window. Severus raised his own head and watched as a familiar barn owl soared through the window and landed next to his own. Nikolai looked disapprovingly at Ceres, as she hopped up and down excitedly awaiting for Severus to take her letter.

He removed the sheaf of parchment from Ceres's outstretched leg and unfolded it. Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief as he recognised the handwriting.

Dear Severus,

I'm sorry I didn't owl you as soon as I said I would. I fear I've caused you unnecessary concern. Please don't worry about me. Jeremy and I had a long talk after you went, and he believes me now. I hope you weren't too awkward in that situation- I wish you hadn't been placed in the midst of it.

Don't judge Jeremy with what you saw. Granted, he seems a little possessive, but that's just because he cares about me.

I waited a while to send this, because I thought sending an owl immediately would send him off again, and I hate it when he's in one of his 'moods'. I would very much like to meet up with you soon though, to discuss the project further. Perhaps Hogsmeade? At the Three Broomsticks, Friday at four? Please don't reply, just send Ceres back in a few days or so. If you want to come, I'll be there on Friday. If not, I hope I'll see you again.

Hermione

He frowned. Something seriously wrong was going on at her end, whether she admitted it or not. And Jeremy? Possessive was just another word for controlling, judging by his behaviour. Hermione was clearly paranoid about owling him, was her 'boyfriend' checking up on any correspondence she received?

Leaving a dish of water and some Owl Treats on the desk, he left the two owls and the letter and made his way to the Great Hall for dinner.

Severus helped himself to the heaped dish of potatoes and various other roasted vegetables and spooned them alongside his chicken on his plate.

Absentmindedly, spearing a slice of carrot on his fork, he let his gaze linger over the heads of the students below and thought about the coming Friday.

"Knut for your thoughts, Severus?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Startled, Severus turned to face the headmaster. "Sadly, they're not worth that much. If they were, I'd have enough Galleons to last me a lifetime."

Dumbledore smiled. "Come now, you obviously have something important on your mind."

Severus nodded. "I won't be at dinner on Friday."

"You're meeting someone?" The Headmaster gently probed, giving off the impression that he always knew more than he let on. Severus regarded him suspiciously, with a raised eyebrow.

"Miss. Granger. We're meeting to discuss my assistance with her lycanthropy work."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "I see. And how is Hermione faring these days? I hear she's been doing some invaluable work over the last few years."

"She's…" Severus trailed off, searching for words.

"Not what you expected?" he asked, hitting the nail on the head as usual.

"In some ways," Severus replied, growing uncomfortable under the Headmaster's searching look.

"I'm sure you'll tell me all about it at the right time," said Dumbledore, before turning to McGonagall on his left and starting up a conversation about Honeydukes's new range, McGonagall plainly looking as though she'd rather be talking about something else than Ever-Sticky Edible Earwigs. Severus felt his own stomach turn over at the mention of these less than desirable sweets and pushed his seat back from the table, ready to tackle the pile of unmarked work in his study.

On Friday afternoon, Severus strode out of the dungeons, tucking his wand into his robes as he made his way through the Hogwarts entrance hall. He was greeted with two identically guilty looks.

The O' Finnegan twins, Sinead and Torrence, younger cousins of the late Seamus had been planting Dungbombs behind one of the portraits, who looked most disgruntled, and was clearly eyeing the landscape on the opposite wall.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, each of you!" he growled, pointing his wand at the Zonko's products.

"Evanesco."

He'd had quite enough with the twin's Zonko-sponsored pranks, the most recent being their escapade with nose-biting teacups at the teachers' table, during breakfast.

"Lucky for you, I haven't got the time to be devising a more suitable punishment, but rest assured, If I catch, or even hear of you carrying out these idiotic jokes again, you won't sleep easily for a week!"

Still wearing a snarl, he stormed out of the doors leading from the castle, leaving two relieved twins in his wake.

Griping to himself, as he hurried across the grounds, Severus realised that it wouldn't do to meet Hermione in that state of mind, and abruptly tried to relax.

Hermione smiled at Rosmerta, as the barmaid came over to her table.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you for an age!"

"Well, I haven't really had the chance to come back to Hogsmeade in a long time," she replied. "It's nice to come back to this old place, though. You look great, by the way." Hermione had always regarded Rosmerta as a bit of a flirt and rather an extrovert, but she was always nice enough, especially in her school days.

"As do you," answered the red-cheeked woman. "I assume you're meeting someone here?"

Hermione nodded.

"Would it be Harry Potter, by any chance?"

"Not at the moment, unless I'm lucky. I'm meeting Severus, Professor Snape."

Rosmerta stared at her for a few moments. "Professor Snape?" she answered.

Something seemed to dawn on her. "Oh!" She said, her eyes wide.

Hermione laughed, shaking her head. "It's to do with something I'm working on."

To herself, she quietly added, I can't deal with another wrong impression right now.

"Good afternoon, Hermione." Both Hermione and Rosmerta looked up at Severus.

"Afternoon, Professor," said the barmaid, grinning at her misconception. "What can I get the two of you?"

"A Butterbeer would be great, Rosmerta," said Hermione, in anticipation. "It's been a while since I've had a decent one of those."

"And you Professor?" asked Rosmerta.

"Same," he answered shortly, seating himself at one of the stools. He'd never had much time for the flirtatious woman who would grin cheekily at him at every opportunity.

Rosmerta clacked away on her high-heels and returned with two foaming glasses.

"Enjoy!" she said, brightly, and left the table to see to the bar.

Hermione suddenly felt very awkward, realising that the last time she'd seen him, was that horrible situation last week.

Her eyes were on the table until he spoke to her.

"I got your letter," he said.

She raised an eyebrow. "I gathered that. You being here and all."

"You know what I mean," he said, ignoring her last comment.

She lowered her eyes. "Everything's fine now, Jeremy…he'd just had a bad day."

"I'm just wondering," he answered. "…If Jeremy has many 'bad days'?"

Her gaze was downcast. "Can we please talk about something else?"

Still concerned, but not pursuing the issue, Severus took a sip of the Butterbeer and felt it's warmth slip down his throat easily.

"I've been thinking about the project," he told her. "I can contribute some of my spare time towards it, but not till after Christmas, I'm afraid."

Hermione's face dropped a little but she still looked grateful. "I need to get quite a few things sorted anyway, before I start it anew, anyway."

He nodded. "I trust we're not ending all lines of communication between then, though?"

"I hope not."

After they finished the Butterbeers and Rosmerta had collected their empty glasses, he asked her if she wanted to get something to eat while they were there.

Shaking her head, Hermione answered. "I'm afraid I can't. I'm meeting Jeremy at eight for dinner."

At his troubled look, she added hastily, "But I wouldn't mind taking a walk around the village and having a look around for a while."

He agreed, and after they paid for the drinks, they left the pub and strolled into the late autumnal sunlight, which was slowly descending into the distance, bringing darkness to cast a shadow upon them.

When it grew close to six o' clock, at Hermione's insistence, they went into Honeydukes. Severus watched almost fearfully, as the Gryffindor filled her arms with as much as she could possibly carry and then enlisted him to help.

"How many Chocolate Frogs and Fizzing Whizzbees is it possible for you to eat, I wonder?" he said, after tipping most of her choices onto the counter.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she answered, while passing a handful of pink Sugar Quills to the amused shopkeeper. "Besides, Severus, it isn't polite to enquire about a woman's eating habits."

At his stare, she laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. It isn't all for me. I'm sending some to Harry, Ron and the Weasley's and I have a few nieces and nephews who like this stuff."

Once she'd paid for all of the sweets, she pulled out a plastic bag from her handbag and her wand.

"Engorgio." The bag grew to about five times its original size. Hermione packed all her purchases inside of it and pointed her wand once more.

"Reducio." The bag shrunk, and with it, Severus supposed, it's weight as Hermione picked it up easily and strolled out of the shop.

"Of course," she said. "I couldn't leave you out." Fishing inside the bag, she drew out a miniscule marzipan cauldron, which bubbled with a sickly, sugary pink liquid. Grinning, she handed it to him. "It might sweeten you up a bit."

Severus raised an eyebrow, no sure at how she expected him to take it. Was he actually supposed to eat it?

"You could always give it to one of your students," she added, slyly, with a twinkle in her eye, smiling wickedly at his grimace. "If the rare occasion of you being in a good mood came up."

Hermione looked at her watch. "I'd better be going," she said regretfully.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Dumbledore would enjoy seeing you at the school, you know."

Sighing, she nodded. "I'm positive. I can't cancel on Jeremy, especially tonight. He's still not…okay with me about last week."

"You did nothing wrong," he reminded her.

"Tell that to him." Her sad expression was as suddenly wiped from her face as it had appeared. She smiled. "I'll see you soon, I expect. Tell Dumbledore I'll pay a visit when I can."

As she turned, Severus put one hand upon her shoulder. Swivelling round, she looked at him questioningly.

"Promise me you'll tell me if something happens?"

"If what happens?" she answered, trying to knock aside his concern with a too-quick laugh.

"Hermione," he implored, firmly.

Her eyes filled with seriousness as she faced him. "I will," she whispered, before taking a few steps backwards, still looking at him and Apparating into the night.

Before going to bed that night, after a hugely dissatisfying marking session, curiosity got the better of Severus. He looked at the tiny cauldron in trepidation. Closing his eyes, and wrinkling up his nose in distaste, he bit into it.

And choked. The too-sweet aroma filled his nose and the fizzing and popping liquid slid down his throat. He screwed up his face as if he'd just bitten into a sour lemon, and coughed as pink bubbles streamed from his open mouth.

Once he'd recovered, he noticed the mirror was laughing at him. "Oh, shut up," he growled before slipping under the covers and pulling the curtains around his four-poster. But once he was out of the mirrors sight, he smirked.

"Just you wait, Miss. Granger," he said to himself before succumbing to sleep.

"Just you wait."

A/N: Thank you so much to the following for reviewing my last chapter:

CrazySwimmer27, Mirriam Q Webster, Cay, Franflutewitch, Caitlin 19, KDarkMaiden, JennyRad, M, Alexial, Risi, Akasha Ravensong, AddisonRae, MysticalFairy-05 and Anarane Anwamane.

Rosmerta- Ah well, could you resist putting the words 'Severus Snape' and 'Strawberry Cheesecake' in the same sentence? Thanks for your review!

You'll notice I've not really filled the details in about what happened to Hermione after Severus left and why she's with Jeremy. Don't worry. It'll be filled in soon at the right time…

Please review, if you enjoy this chapter!