The Great Hall was emptying out from breakfast the next morning when Hermione approached the Head Table. "Headmaster, I was wondering if I could speak with you."

Albus smiled fondly at Hermione, "Of course, Miss Granger. You know I was just about to return to my office. Perhaps you would care to walk with me?"

Hermione nodded and did her best to smile, but Severus could see the tension in her face. He had been hoping to have a word with Albus himself, before Hermione spoke with him.

On the walk to the Headmaster's office, Hermione filled Albus Dumbledore in on what had transpired during her holiday with her parents.

The Headmaster sat quietly behind his desk, blue eyes deep in thought, a hand absently stroking the tip of his beard. Hermione was sitting before him, valiantly controlling her tears and waiting for a miracle.

Albus' exterior was silent, but inside, thoughts and ideas raged against one another. He knew the young witch was anxious to attend a school of higher learning. Her intelligence fairly demanded it. But, the Headmaster had been dreading her graduation and ultimate departure of Hogwarts.

He knew that his young Potions Master's road to happiness lay in Hermione. Severus had sacrificed his freedom, his honor, and his very soul in the battle for light. Now that the battle was over, Severus deserved that happiness; even if it cost Hermione a small measure of hers.

With a troubled sigh, he made his offer. "I have been contemplating the addition of a new class to the Hogwarts curriculum for several years now. While Voldemort lived, I felt it might not be the most prudent thing to do, considering his feelings about muggles. But, perhaps it's now time. I can offer you a job and home here, Miss Granger. Teaching Muggle Studies. As a muggle born, there is no need for any further preparation for you to teach this subject."

Hermione looked shocked at the words coming from the Headmaster's mouth. He was offering her a job and a home. Her initial elated reaction melted away at the realization there would be no university, no degree. She would be safe, she would have money, and she would be forever the muggle-born.

Her reply was quiet and carefully weighed. "Thank you Headmaster. It's a generous offer. I would ask for a little while to think it over."

There was no disguising the sadness on her face as she rose from her chair. "Take all the time you need, Miss Granger. I'm sorry I can't be of more assistance." Albus loathed himself for the false statement. As the door to his office swung closed, the slam of his fist against the desktop echoed. He could be of more assistance, but at what cost to Severus? The fates seemed to be pointing in this direction, but what if he was wrong?

Before he could contemplate things further, a knock was heard. Severus Snape didn't wait for an invitation, just glided into the room

"May I have a moment of your time, Headmaster?"

"Of course, dear boy," Albus motioned to the chair Hermione had been sitting in. "Please, take a seat. You just missed Miss Granger."

Severus noted the chair was still warm beneath him, and her scent lingered in the air. He quickly shook himself from his short reverie and cleared his throat. "I waited until she left. She is what I wanted to speak to you about."

"Do tell, Severus. Please, continue."

Severus took a moment and gathered his thoughts. "I know she spoke to you about the situation with her parents. She is quite concerned that she will not be able to attend university in the fall."

Albus nodded. "She is most likely correct."

Severus' eyes narrowed a bit. "There are numerous ways that she could be assisted, Albus. That's why I am here."

Albus' blue eyes began to twinkle, a sign to Severus that the old man was meddling again. "I have offered her a position here at the castle, Severus. Teaching Muggle Studies. She will be cared for."

Severus was instantly furious and on his feet. "What do you mean you offered her a position? She doesn't want to remain here at the castle. She needs to get away from here and experience the world. Not sheltered and protected like she was a child."

Albus knew he had struck a nerve. He should have anticipated this reaction from the Potions Master. Before he could think of a response, Severus was continuing.

"You will call her back here, Albus. I will pay for her education. Tell her that you have discovered a scholarship set up by the Hogwarts founders. Tell her it's a student loan to be paid back at a later date. Tell her she won the damned lottery. Do NOT tell her it is I. She will have her education and she will live her life. She will have the life she deserves and not live it rotting at this school."

Now, it was Albus' turn to be angry. "You will watch your tone with me, Professor Snape. I am still Headmaster of this school." Black eyes glittered dangerously at the Headmaster. Albus closed his eyes and took a deep, healing breath. It would do no good to have Severus quit. "I will make your offer, but I will not withdraw mine. It should be up to Miss Granger whether she remains here or leaves. Neither one of us should presume to know her heart. No more than we want her to know what lies in ours."

Albus' words hit Severus like a ton of bricks, as they were intended to. Severus couldn't trust his voice right then, since such a huge lump had formed in his throat. He nodded once, turned, and swept out of the room.

She came to him that night, around eight pm. Hermione had been absent at dinner and Severus was concerned. At Severus' prompting, Albus had called Harry to the front of the Great Hall and inquired as to Hermione's whereabouts. Hermione had gone for a walk just before dinner. She had told Harry she wasn't hungry and had some things to think about.

Severus had been ready to leave immediately and search for her, but Albus stilled him with a hand on his arm. "She needs to think, Severus."

Severus had been donning his cloak after an hour of pacing, when her knock came.

Severus ushered her inside and immediately floo'd a request for a bowl of rich, hot stew. Despite her protests, Hermione was soon sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket and eating her supper. Her wet cloak lay steaming over a chair in front of the fire.

Severus sat at the opposite end of the sofa, a brandy in his hand. "Pray-tell, Miss Granger, how did you manage to get so wet?"

Hermione flushed and examined the broth in the bottom of her bowl. "I slipped on some ice and fell into a drift," she replied, mumbling.

"What in the Gods names were you doing outside in this frigid weather to begin with?"

Brown eyes met black, "I spoke with the Headmaster today; twice, in fact. I have some decisions to make."

Severus raised one eyebrow. "Decisions about what?"

"I have been offered both a job here at Hogwarts and a scholarship to the school of my choice."

"What decision is there? Of course you will be going to university."

It was Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'of course'. No, not 'of course.' I'm thinking I may stay here. The school has become home to me, and I've found myself growing rather attached to it. I feel safe here, content, and secure."

"Safe and secure? You don't know what the hell you are talking about. You can't stay here. You need to leave, to see the world. You don't know what life is about in the wizarding world. You were raised a muggle. Live life out there, don't throw it away here."

"I don't know about life? I beg to differ with you. I have spent seven years in this world. I fought in a war in this world. I watched friends die in this world" Hermione's eyes were alive with fury and passion as they locked to his. "I fell in love in this world."

In her final words, everything grew blazingly clear to Severus; as well as the steps he must take. "Your adolescent love life is of no concern to me, Miss Granger; nor your childish infatuations." Hermione clamped her mouth shut, and stared into the fire. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but she did not let a single one fall.

Severus' chest was constricted tightly, so that he could hardly breathe. He rose to his feet, finished his drink in one swallow and set the snifter on the table "I'm afraid I am not up to the game tonight. In fact, I'm growing quite weary of it overall. Please, finish your meal and see yourself out. I will send you a message if I feel like playing again." He strode through the doorway to his bedroom and shut the door quietly behind him.

Hermione set her bowl on the floor and walked silently to the door. Carefully, with purpose, she walked up to Gryffindor tower. Any uncalculated movement would have the tears she was struggling with running free. Without taking the time to remove the silk Pajamas, she crawled into her bed, dropped the curtains, and cast a silencing spell. In the dark, she finally allowed the tears to fall.

Salazar had followed the young witch, worried for her safety given her obvious distress. Once she was safely in her bed, he appeared in the Potions Master's dark bedroom, furious and spoiling for a fight. "Snape, you ARE a snake-fucking idiot. What the hell were you thinking? How could you talk to her like that? It's no Gods damned wonder you sleep alone every damned night. She as much as told you she was ripe and ready to go."

Severus sat propped up against the headboard, staring into the darkness. His voice was quiet and carefully guarded. "No, Sal, she as much as told me she loves me. There is a difference."

The ghost threw himself across the foot of the bed, a translucent arm slung over his eyes. With a wave of his transparent wand, the fire roared to life in the hearth. "Not where it counts; either way you would have ended up in here. Lying on this bed with that gorgeous little witch, not a centuries old dead wizard."

"Yes, and what would have happened in the morning?"

"You would have kicked her out on her arse and awarded her an A in Potions?" Salazar lifted his head a looked hopefully at Severus.

Black eyes blazed back at him in the firelight.

"OK, maybe that wouldn't have worked for you. Hmmm….. how about, you would have spent the next hundred years or so shagging her senseless every night?"

Severus sighed heavily. "That's a little closer. I could never let her go. I would have kept her here with me and the rest of the world be-damned."

"And the problem with that is…….?"

"She would grow to hate me. She'd never see the world, never experience her life; never be all that she could be. She would despise me for it. I couldn't do that to her. She has her whole, bright and brilliant life ahead of her. No, this ends here."

Salazar sat up, pondering Severus' words for a moment. "Don't you think that decision should be hers?"

Severus stood up and removed his robes. "No, she's too young and too starry eyed. I have to be the one to make the choice for her." Severus grabbed his robe from the closet and started for the bathroom.

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Isn't that the same as your parents making choices for you?"

"Fuck off, Sal." Before the ghost could react, Severus had pulled his wand. The spirit found himself in the dungeon corridor, and the Potions Master's rooms warded.