Ch 10: Revelations and Recriminations

"You want me to what?" Snape asked, incredulity written clearly on his face.

"She needs to use your lab space to work on the potion. She also asked me to inquire if you might be willing to help her with her research. It's all very reasonable, Severus. Besides, it's a very complicated potion and I think you would enjoy working on it." Albus valiantly tried to make his case, but, judging by Snape's reaction, wasn't doing a very good job.

Snape sighed, pinching his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Albus could tell that Severus wasn't the least bit happy by what he had to say. Still, he had promised Hermione that he would convince Severus to help her; he had no intention of letting her down.

"I don't like her and I won't work with her. Period."

Albus snapped upright in his chair and gave Snape a hard look. It was a look that brooked no argument and clearly communicated his authority as Headmaster. "But you will, Severus. It is important, not only to Hermione, but to the Ministry as well, that this potion's properties be thoroughly studied and documented. I have no doubt that she could perform the task by herself, but I see no reason why she must. Not when you are in a position to help her."

Snape glared at the man, but eventually yielded under the weight of the Headmaster's stern gaze. Stiffly, he said, "Very well, then. I will do what I must."

Albus sighed. "I didn't want to force-" He quieted when the office door opened to admit the woman in question. "Ah, Hermione. Please, do come in, my dear. I was just discussing your proposal with Severus."

Hermione glanced warily at Snape as she took the seat next to his. "And what did he have to say about my request?"

"You needn't speak about me as though I wasn't here," he snapped. Hermione's face reddened in embarrassment. "If you wish to know my response, then here it is: I do not wish to work with you, but-" He held up a hand to silence her when he noticed the indignant flush that crossed her face. "I will assist you, at the Headmaster's bidding."

Hermione studied the man beside her for a moment before turning to look at the Headmaster. She raised her eyebrow in question, a look that took the old wizard aback. It was a look he knew only too well; he'd seen it often enough on his Potions Master's face. He knew that it meant that she was disappointed in him for ordering Snape to assist her. Still, coming from her, it reminded him of a fact that he had buried deeply within his mind. She was Hermione Snape, and, if she had had the fortitude to be married to Severus Snape in her reality, she would have no trouble putting this Snape in his place. It only served to reinforce his decision to order Severus to work with her.

"I'm sure you two will be successful in determining the Latere potion's properties together. Should be quite the interesting project, don't you agree, Hermione?" The twinkle returned to his eye as he noted the twin glares from the two people in front of him. Albus was suddenly struck by a realization of how compatible these two people really were. He wondered if they might have a chance together in this reality. Perhaps, in time…

Severus stood rather abruptly. His spine was stiff, his look cold, as he said, "Very well, Albus. I will work with Miss Granger on her little experiment." He spat the last part disdainfully, earning another glare from Hermione. "If you'll excuse me, I must go prepare my lab." With a curt nod to Albus, Snape turned to leave, robes billowing in his wake.

Albus watched him leave with disappointment. He wished, not for the first time, that Severus wouldn't be so stubborn. "Would you like some tea, Hermione?" he asked in an effort to alleviate the tension. He wasn't surprised to find, upon looking in her direction, that she was glaring pointedly at him.

"You know he'll be impossible to work with, now?" She asked.

Albus sighed. "I know that you didn't want me to order him to assist you, but I can assure you, without my insistence, he wouldn't have consented to help you. Anyway, I think you are more than qualified to handle Severus." The last was said with a knowing smile.

Hermione's glared deepened. "My husband was stubborn, but not like this Snape."

"That's because you were married to him, my dear. He would have had to give a little in that situation. Still, I admit it may be a bit difficult to work with Severus at first, but after he gets involved in the research, you shouldn't have any problems with him."

Hermione sighed, slumping back into her seat tiredly. "I hope you're right, Albus. I do need his help. The manuscript has been helpful, but I'm still at a dead end. I don't know why I ever even agreed to attempt this anyway."

Albus looked at her carefully, noticing the stressed body language and dark circles under her eyes. He grimaced at her appearance. Ever since their visit to the Department of Reality, she had seemed to be under more stress than ever. This surprised Albus; he had thought she had settling in well after New Year's. He would definitely need to speak with Harry and Ron to see if they knew what it was that was distressing her. In truth, Albus had his suspicions, all of which revolved around a certain acerbic man in black.

"If you truly don't think you can work with Severus, then perhaps I could request that Director Muse-"

"No, there's no need, Albus. I seriously doubt anyone could help me as much as Snape could. Truth is, I don't think anyone else has the fortitude to work with me." She chucked self-depreciatingly. "I've picked up several of Severus's personality quirks over the years. Needless to say, I don't suffer fools easily."

Albus chuckled with her, amused by the picture she painted. He sobered when he noticed the distant look on her face. "Are you alright, Hermione?"

She shook herself, coming out of her daze. "What? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Just been a little tired lately." She waved off his concern. "I was just wondering if it's not too much to ask of Snape to help me. After all, he does have classes and his other duties. Perhaps I should work on this alone."

"He'll be fine, Hermione. He's more than able to juggle the workload. He could probably use the distraction from teaching all the 'dunderheads' he believes he has to deal with. Besides, I can always take some of his classes if he becomes too overwhelmed." Hermione smiled at the sly look on Albus's face.

"I'm sure he'd love that," she said laughingly. She sighed again, her good mood fading quickly. "I just hope we can figure this potion out quickly. Especially now that..." She broke off, looking away from the Headmaster. He frowned, wondering what she didn't want him to know. "Well," she said, standing. "I'd better go collect my notes and brave the dungeons. Time waits for no man, and all that rot."

Albus nodded, rising from his chair. He walked to her side, gazing at her intently. "Are you quite sure you're well, Hermione?" he asked gravely. Her eyes slid away from his, only serving to peak his concern more.

"Of course. Like I said, I'm just tired. Thank you for getting Snape's assistance." She quickly moved to the office door, desperate to make her getaway.

"Hmm… well, if you need any further help, don't hesitate to ask."

Hermione nodded, looking relieved that he didn't intend to interrogate her further. "I'll see you later, Albus."

Albus watched her leave, questions whirling through his mind. There was something bothering her, something beyond just Severus Snape. Clearly, she had her reasons for not confiding in him, but Albus was still worried. He only hoped she would trust him enough to come to him if she needed his help.

Severus bit back a snarl as the Granger woman once again invaded his workspace. "Is there something I can do to help you?" he asked sarcastically.

She gazed at him, clearly unperturbed. "Yes, actually. But as you seem unwilling to be of any assistance at all on this project, I won't burden you with the details." She picked up the phial she had been reaching for on his table and walked back to her own table.

Severus glared at her, wishing, not for the first time, that he hadn't promised Albus that he wouldn't hex her. For three days now he had been made to suffer her presence and the impact it had had on his privacy. On the first day, she had walked into his lab and immediately set about cleaning and rearranging it as though she owned the place. He had glared, sneered, snarled and, finally, threatened her with bodily harm in an effort to reassert his dominance.

She had simply ignored him and continued her actions.

Now, Severus was at the end of his patience. Having sneaked a glance at her notes (he wasn't about to ask her what she was doing), he had gathered that her research into the mystery potion that had brought her here wasn't going very well. Personally, Severus couldn't comprehend how she, even with her relative intelligence, had been able to complete such a complicated potion on her own. In truth, Severus himself, although loath to admit, wouldn't have attempted such a feat unaided.

Severus supposed, had he been a better man, he could have offered to assist Granger in brewing the Latere potion. It was indeed a challenge worthy of his expertise. However, pride goeth before the fall and all that nonsense, so Severus was content to observe her struggle with the potion.

Today, he could clearly sense that she was more frustrated than she had been the previous two days; he idly wondered if she had reached a stalemate in her research. Maybe he could catch another glimpse of her notes-

"I give up! This is impossible!" Even the normally unflappable Snape was startled by her sudden outburst. Rising from his stool, he made his way to her table. Remembering that discretion was always the better part of valour, Severus approached Granger cautiously.

"What appears to be the problem?" he asked disdainfully.

Hermione looked at him with flashing eyes. "Nothing you need concern yourself with," she said coldly. With a wave of her wand, she banished the contents of her cauldron. "You've made your disinterest in my research more than clear."

"Well," Severus said, "if your incompetence is such that you cannot finish this project, I might find it within myself to stoop to assisting you. I am, after all, quite used to dealing with dunderheads and their relative shortcomings."

Even as the words left his mouth, Severus knew he had perhaps gone too far. This suspicion was validated when he saw Hermione's face flush. With a barely controlled air of fury surrounding her, Hermione stood. She moved towards Severus, a noticeable stalk in her step which caused him to take a step back.

Severus had never before seen a woman so obviously enraged. Even her relatively small stature did not seem to lessen the threat that she now posed to him. Discretely gripping his wand, he said, "You do need my help, don't you?"

Hermione's eyes widened and, just as quickly as it had risen, her ire evaporated. She turned from him and sat heavily back on her stool. Severus had to admit that he was surprised by her sudden acquiescence. The Hermione Granger he had known had never been one to back down from a fight. Letting go of his wand, he stepped towards her. Not sure what it was that he intended to do, he picked up the book she had been studying.

"Has this manuscript not been of help to you?" he asked, skimming the page concerning the potion. His trained eye noticed that several of the ingredients in the potion weren't even available anymore.

Hermione sighed. Eyeing Snape warily, she said, "It's been useful, I suppose. This copy is certainly more complete than the copy we used previously."

"You had assistance brewing this potion previously?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. A Potions Master assisted me."

Snape, still reading the manuscript, nodded. He paused, tapping his fingers to his lips in thought. "Who was it? Perhaps we could contact his counterpart in this reality-"

"Um… that really won't be necessary," Hermione said nervously.

Snape snorted. "Of course it will. You clearly aren't having any success recreating the potion on your own. This isn't a project for one person to attempt."

"That's precisely why I asked for your help," Hermione snapped.

"Yes, I'm sure it is," he drawled. "However, if you are trying to recreate the potion exactly as you did in your reality, it would be prudent to work with the same Master. You know that each brewer leaves his distinctive mark on the potion."

Hermione looked at Snape with wide eyes. He raised his eyebrow, amused by her indecision. After a few moments, she sighed. "I meant that it wouldn't be necessary because… well, because it was you who assisted me."

Severus was shocked, but oddly pleased that he- at least the other him- had been involved in creating such an advanced potion. He looked at her pointedly. "Perhaps if you had mentioned this earlier it could have saved us a lot of trouble."

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "Does that mean you'll help me?" she asked tentatively.

Snape sighed. "I suppose it does." Looking at her sharply, he added, "At any rate, my assistance will serve to get you out of my lab sooner."

Before he knew it, Severus found himself with an armful of Hermione Granger. He stiffened, shocked at her behaviour. "What are you-"

Hermione stiffened as well. Untangling her arms from around his neck, she stepped back. Her eyes were rooted to the floor, but Severus could see that her cheeks were flaming. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I just wanted to say thank you."

Severus studied her for a moment before speaking. "Yes, well. Just make sure there is no more hugging," he said the word with barely disguised disgust, "in the future."

And he was startled again when she raised her head and gave him a blinding smile. "No problem," she said. Then she smirked. "Well, don't just stand there. Let's get to work."

Snape bemusedly watched her turn back to her worktable. Maybe working with her wouldn't be as torturous as he had suspected.

Two weeks later, they were no closer to unravelling the mysteries of the potion. Severus and Hermione had been working nearly non-stop every night. While Severus was teaching, Hermione would research the library, cross-referencing information she had acquired from the manuscript. Although frustrated by the lack of progress, Hermione was hopeful that the answer she was looking for was just within her reach.

Severus had, much to her surprise, turned out to be an excellent lab partner. Oh, she knew beyond a doubt that he was efficient and brilliant; he was still the same Severus Snape she had been married to in that regard. What surprised her was that, after a suitable period of grumbling, he had begun to take her seriously. He offered suggestions with no hint of condescension and had even, on one particularly memorable occasion, cracked a joke in her presence.

Hermione had been careful not to slip into her old habits when working with Snape. She still winced at the memory of the hug she had given him; she'd been mortified by her lack of control. For the first couple of days they had worked together, Hermione had kept up a constant mental litany of "he's not Severus." Luckily, it was getting easier to control her feelings when she was around him. If only it was as easy when she was alone…

That was another problem. Although she was happy working ten to twelve hours a day on her research, she still needed private time. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite convince Ron Weasley of that. Harry and Draco had left over a week ago, but Ron seemed reluctant to leave. While Hermione was glad to see him, his constant presence was beginning to wear on her a little. It would be okay if he visited occasionally, but he had taken to showing up at her quarters every night, and he wouldn't leave until close to midnight.

Hermione would have been glad to tell him to bugger off if not for the presence of Sophie. She had to admit that the little girl had grown on her, and she always felt a little better when Sophie was around. Hermione had always regretted never having children with Severus, now perhaps more than ever, but they had both agreed that bringing a child into their world would have been irresponsible. Being around Sophie at least gave her a taste of what she had missed.

Regardless, Hermione was now at the end of her rope. She really didn't know if she could take anymore calf-eyed gazes from Ron; besides, if she didn't get rid of him soon she'd never get any sleep.

Tonight would be the night, Hermione decided as she set up her lab. She was bone tired because Ron had stayed in her quarters till well past midnight last night. She had done and said everything short of being outright rude to get him to leave, but he simply hadn't listened.

She wouldn't hesitate to be rude tonight.

Bringing out her notes on the potion, Hermione wearily settled into her work. A few hours later, her eyes were drooping, and she was in serious danger of falling asleep.

"Drink this before you fall over." She was startled when Snape thrust a cup of coffee in front of her. She blissfully inhaled its aroma as she took a drink.

"I might need a Pepper-Up Potion before the day's over." She nodded her thanks to him before asking, "Are you done for today?"

"Yes," he said as he looked over her shoulder at her research for the day. "I see you didn't make much progress today."

Hermione glared at him. "I'm exhausted. I can't even keep my eyes open, let alone make sense of this nonsense."

"Hmm," Snape commented. "Perhaps if you didn't entertain Mr. Weasley into the early morning hours…"

Hermione gave Snape a searching look. "Been checking up on me?" she asked amusedly.

He sneered. "Far be it from me to interfere in your personal life."

"I'll have you know that I intend to remedy that particular problem tonight, anyway. Ron's getting to be a little annoying; I think it's mostly due to the fact that he doesn't seem to be able to take the hint that I want him to leave."

Snape gave a small bark of laughter. "Astounding. I never thought I'd live to see the day when Hermione Granger finally realized how annoying her friends really were."

Hermione glared at Snape. "Don't get me wrong. He's still my friend. Anyway, maybe you don't know me as well as you thought."

Snape sobered. Looking into her eyes he breathed, "Maybe I don't."

Hermione's heart pounded and she felt a jolt of desire course through her body. Snape's gaze was intent. She knew this look of desire intimately; she'd seen it often enough on her husband's face. Drawing in a shaky breath, Hermione tried to calm herself. "Snape, maybe we ought-"

"I think by now you would call me Severus." Hermione shuddered at the timbre of his voice.

"I…" Her voice broke. This was too much. If she called him Severus, the distance she so desperately needed between them would be broken.

"Hermione," Snape began, but it was too much for her. Memories of her husband arose unbidden, more intense than they had ever been since his death. She should have known working with Snape would be too much for her to bear.

"Please…" Her voice cracked with the strength of her emotion. Instead of retreating, Snape moved closer to her. When his hand cupped her elbow, she swayed towards him and, suddenly, she didn't care anymore. Stepping towards him, she raised her face. His arm slid to her waist and he looked down at her.

Hermione knew this was wrong but she couldn't stop. "Severus," she said huskily. Snape's eyes bore into her own as he lowered his head to hers-

And then he jerked back, releasing her. Hermione stumbled. "What-" she began.

"I'm sorry. That was…" Snape cleared his throat. Turning away from her, he gestured at her notes. "We should go over your work for the day."

Hermione stared at his back, bewildered and more than a little frustrated. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused. Actually, she should be relieved. She suddenly felt ashamed for her lapse. It was wrong of her to even consider kissing Snape so soon after Severus had died. Clearing her throat, she said, "Yes, of course. We should-"

She was interrupted when the door to the lab slammed open and Ron stumbled in. "Hermione, did you hear?"

Ignoring the glare Snape was giving Ron, Hermione made her way to Ron's side. "Ron, what are you doing here?"

"So you haven't heard then?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head, more than a little confused. "Heard what?"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. Do tell us what's so important."

Ron glared at Snape. Turning back to Hermione, he continued, "Harry just Flooed me with the news. Vincent Crabbe was murdered."

Hermione looked at him like he'd grown another head. "And this would concern me how?"

"The Dark Mark was over his house."

Snape inhaled sharply and Hermione felt her knees go weak. "Oh, gods," she uttered. She heard Snape questioning Ron sharply, but she was too shocked to listen for the answers. "It has to be Lucius," she muttered. It had to be him; Albus had sworn all the Death Eaters were dead in this world.

Suddenly she noticed the silence in the room. She looked up to see Snape staring at her in shock. "What did you just say?" he asked menacingly.

Hermione stumbled back, frightened by the look in his eyes. "I didn't know if he'd come through for sure-"

"You brought Lucius Malfoy through with you?" He advanced on her until she was against the wall. Ron was rooted to the floor in shock; he made no move to assist her.

"I- I didn't know. I only remembered he'd been doused with the potion when I read about the murders in Diagon Alley in the Daily Prophet."

"And why haven't you mentioned this before?" Snape growled.

"I wasn't sure!" Hermione said shrilly.

He glared at her, and then grabbed her arm roughly. "The headmaster will need to be informed immediately, and I think you are just the person to tell him what you have done."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story. Big things to come in Ch 11: Snape discovers Hermione's biggest secret and Hermione learns why the Dark Lord triumphed in her world.

Thanks for all the great reviews! Big thanks to sophierom for her super fast turnaround on this chapter!