Disclaimer: All of the usual characters from 'Harry Potter' belong to J. K. Rowling, blah, blah, blah, everybody knows this already.

Summary: When Severus visits Italy with Hermione during the summer, he finds that the muggle way of life is a lot more interesting than he would've expected.

How Much You Never Knew

Chapter 5; Como Te Va Chulo?

"Are we ready, Miss Granger?"

Hermione whipped around to face Professor Snape, Crookshanks struggling in her arms as she did so. She was caught slightly off guard, having just spent nearly six hours with a pair of lighthearted boys, only to then turn around and find herself under the gaze of a looming, dark, coldhearted grown man. "I... I believe so Professor," she squeaked.

He nodded. "Then let us leave this crowded station before further discussion." She followed him silently.

When they finally found their way out of the myriad of tourists, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She had almost lost Snape in the crowd several times, as his strides were much longer than hers. It was freezing outside of the station, and she wrapped her cloak around herself and Crookshanks as tight as she could without hurting him. Severus noticed this, but did nothing. They stood in what looked to be an alleyway, having used an obscure exit near the back of the station.

"Where to, Miss Granger," he asked, "since you must obviously know this place better than I, due to your abundant experience with muggles."

She winced, not knowing whether to be flattered by his comment of her knowledge, or insulted. Had he been sarcastic in his remark? She hadn't heard any hint of mockery in his voice, but then, you never could be sure with someone like Snape. She decided it'd probably be best to just drop it for now, and answer his question. "Well," she said, looking at her watch, "it's only eight, and we have until eleven before the plane leaves. It's a red eye flight. That leaves us about two hours to kill before we actually have to catch a taxi and go to the airport."

He digested this silently before turning to her. "What do you propose we do then?" he snapped, annoyed that their flight couldn't have been sooner.

Hermione's previous thoughts of there possibly being a friendly side to the Professor were swiftly banished. His actions were confusing. Only earlier that day he had been perfectly cordial, and now he might as well have been whining. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she passed a few suggestions by him. "We could just go to the airport and look around at some of the shops there, or, I have some money. I guess we could go and get something to eat. There's probably a cafe somewhere around here."

"A cafe? What kind of a cafe?" he inquired, faintly liking the idea.

"Well, I don't know, we'd have to go find one before I could tell you."

He waved his hand. "Lead the way then." She began to walk at a swift pace, trying her best not to look at him, until he asked, "Miss Granger?"

"Yes Professor?" They still hadn't gotten out of the alleyway.

He tugged slightly at his robes. "Are you sure we don't need to change first? I dare say we might stick out with these on."

She looked down at her own self, and realized that she still hadn't changed out of her school uniform. Well, no matter. "We might stick out, but I doubt the muggles will really care."

"If you say so," he shrugged, and followed her out of the alley without another word. When they reached the main road, cars seemed to fly out of everywhere. Of course, Severus was very familiar with cars, but so many coming in his direction were unnerving. Miss Granger however, didn't seem at all bothered by this, and just kept walking. She was obviously trying to warm up, and he almost wished he'd taken his chance at placing a heating spell on her in the alley. But now that wasn't an option, as muggles were everywhere. Why was he being so grumpy with her? She hadn't done anything, and still he found comfort in snapping at her. Was it just out of habit? Or, was the upcoming introduction to her family just making him uneasy. Either way, he knew he'd better put a stop to his discourteous behavior. It would only make things worse for the both of them, and that, he wasn't in the mood to deal with. He was considerably lost in his thoughts when she abruptly stopped, and he almost bumped into her. "What have we stopped for?" he asked.

They were standing at a corner, on a busy street full of numerous little shops. "There are several cafes over there," she said pointing. "Just pick one, I don't really have a preference. I'll eat whatever."

Severus read off some of the names to himself. Osaka. Los Hermanos. Sugi. Cafe Madrid. The Bombay House. Having no further knowledge of what these cafes might be like, except for the country they represented, he just chose the one he doubted he'd ever had food from."Is Los Hermanos okay? I don't think I've ever had Mexican food before."

Hermione stared at him, wide eyed. "You've never had Mexican food before? Oh well, you've got to try it. It's quite good." They weaved in and out of people until they were standing in front of the cafe. It had large glass windows, and inside Severus could see various diners, talking and laughing jovially amongst the greenery the room provided. It actually looked very inviting. Hermione just stood there, reading a sign on the glass doors. "Um... I can't go in. Pets aren't allowed, and I've got Crookshanks with me. I'm not going to just leave him out here by himself. Do you mind if we just get take out?"

Severus knew he could just stick her cat in his trunk with Tes, but hesitated. "Miss Granger, is your cat, er, does he or she get along with other cats very well or...?"

"Well, he's not particularly friendly with new people, but he's never had a problem with other cats. Or, at least he's never had a problem with Lavender's cat. Why?"

Severus looked around, and spotted a small parking lot by the side of the cafe. "Come with me."

"Professor, what are we doing?" They rounded the corner and found that the parking lot extended behind the restaurant. Snape led her over by a few large garbage cans. There he kneeled down and opened his trunk, only to find Tes curled up against the bag of clothes from Minerva. Hermione looked over his shoulder. "You have a cat too, Professor?" Snape gently picked up the half-awake Tes, and held her for Hermione to see.

"Surprisingly enough, yes, I do." Hermione smiled at the little, black cat. "Her name is Tes, and she's quite the feisty little brat." The two cats sniffed each other's noses, until Tes started purring and tried to rub up against Crookshank's forehead. "Apparently she likes him." He put Tes back into the trunk, and gestured for Crookshanks. "May I?" Hermione handed him over, and watched as Severus placed him in with Tes. Almost immediately, they both began to chase each other around in the empty side of the trunk. He shut it and stood up. "Shall we?" They went back to the front doors of the cafe and were greeted by a middle-aged, Hispanic woman.

"Hello! Can we help you tonight?" She obviously didn't speak a word of English, and Snape hadn't a clue what she had just said. He was very relieved when Hermione began to converse with her, but was startled that she knew Spanish.

"Yes, we'd like a seating for two."

"All right then, Juana will be your server tonight, please enjoy yourselves."

"Gracias."

Whatever had just been said must've taken care of things, because a young woman gestured for them to follow her, and sat them in a booth at the far end of the restaurant. Severus was glad for the privacy, as there were a few important things he needed to discuss with Miss Granger. The waitress handed them each a menu and a tall glass of ice water, and then turning to Severus, she asked,

"Como te va chulo?." Hermione snorted into her glass. The waitress had to have known that he didn't speak Spanish. " Is there anything I can get you?" Severus noted that this was said in English, and wondered why she had said the first part of her sentence in Spanish. Miss Granger's eyes laughed at him, and she answered.

"Can we have a few moments to look over the menu? Thanks." The waitress left, and Severus eyed Hermione suspiciously.

"What was that all about, Miss Granger?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, nothing." How hilarious was this. Hermione had been shocked to hear the waitress hitting on Snape. She was sure that if Juana had really known what Snape was like, she wouldn't have said that. She looked down at her menu, and found her favorite dish quickly. Then, placing her menu to the side, she looked up at Snape. He was studying his with a furrowed brow. "Know what you want yet?"

"Have you already decided? I don't even know what half of this stuff means, let alone what I want from it." He looked down one of the columns. Carne de vaca, Carne de cerdo, Carne de puerco, what the hell was 'carne'! "Do you have any suggestions?"

To say the least, Hermione had never been asked so many questions from this man concerning things he didn't know himself, and she was quite thrilled to answer them. Perhaps after this summer, she would be given the recognition she always knew she deserved from him. Well, perhaps. These were simple questions, after all, and anyone--no matter how smart they seemed to be--could not know them if they hadn't bothered to learn the language. He was probably more than fluent in other languages such as German or French. Little did she know, she was absolutely right. The only reason she knew Spanish was because she had been to Tijuana so many times with her parents, who sometimes volunteered their dental services there, just as they had in Zaire. "Well, Professor, what kind of food do you like? I mean, at Hogwarts, let's say."

" I'm fond of meat actually."

"Any kind?"

"I prefer beef, but yes, any kind suffices."

"I think then, you might like number 17," she said, pointing at her own menu from across the table. "It's a beef chimichanga, very good."

"All right then." He closed his menu finally, and they sat in an uncomfortable silence, waiting for Juana to return.

Juana entered the kitchen, and gave the chef the orders of an elderly couple. Then she found her friend Sorida over at the sink, washing dishes. "Sorida, come see. There's this hunk of a man I just seated. Ooooh, he is so fine!"

"Really, where?" Sorida asked, drying her hands, and following Juana over to the bar where they could see everyone in the restaurant.

"There," she pointed, "isn't he hot! I'm supposed to be his waitress tonight."

"Lucky you. He certainly defines tall, dark, and hansom."

"I know, this is great. Too bad he's already got a dinner partner though."

"Hmmm, it's not like that's ever bothered you before…"

They had both sunken into their thoughts by the time Juana finally came bustling up to them. "Are you ready to order?" she asked. They gave her their orders, and she ran off again to tell the cook, rather nervously in Severus' opinion. After five more minutes of silence, he realized he'd have to say something sooner or later. He cleared his throat, trying to break the ice.

"Um... Miss Granger?"

"Yes Professor?"

"Well, I realized you haven't yet given me your opinion concerning the vacation."

"Oh, well… have you ever been to Italy, Professor?"

"I once was there for, er, a meeting, but it was at night and I didn't exactly get to look around." She knew he was talking about a death eater meeting. They were both happy when Juana came with their food.

"Here you go. Enjoy." She winked at Snape, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

Severus stared down at his meal, and it looked pretty good. "So this is a chimichanga." He took a bite. "You were right, Miss Granger, it is good."

She smiled at him. "Please, Professor. It's Hermione."

He nodded. "So, can you tell me anything about your family? I believe I'd like to know something at least, before you introduce me to them." He was nothing less than taken aback when Hermione launched head on into a vibrant discussion about all twenty plus people that lived in the villa. Although, being in his apprehensive state about going there, he hung on to every word.

A good hour and a half later, they had long since finished their food, but were still talking animatedly (well, as animated as Sev ever gets) when Hermione stole a glance at the clock and exclaimed, "We'd better catch a taxi right away or we'll miss the plane!"

"But Hermione, it's only ten. We have a whole hour before the plane leaves."

"I know, but it'll probably take a whole hour to ride all the way to the airport, and then to get through security and everything."

"It takes that long?"

She called for the check, and paid it promptly. Neither of them noticed a pair of sad eyes on them as they left. "Sometimes. It all depends on how many other flights leave at the same time as ours." He followed her out of the restaurant, and marveled at how just the wave of her arm called a taxi to them. They climbed in, and she once again paid for them. "To the nearest airport, please."