AN: Thanks to Snarkyroxy for the beta reading of this chapter, as usual she made it much better…

Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing.

5. Christmas time

After the strange accident, their meetings had been very quiet and they were both keeping their distance from one another. Hermione for shyness and Severus for correctness; after all he was still her teacher.

The day before the Christmas holidays, Hermione said, 'Severus, would you like to come home with me? I told my parents about our situation and they would like to meet you.'

Severus looked at her. 'Go home with you? To meet your parents? Well, Hermione.' He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Hermione knew that he was taking his time answering, trying to find an excuse. 'Severus, may I remind you that we can't be far from each other for more than a day. How are we going to explain to everyone why I come back to Hogwarts every twenty-four hours?'

He looked at her. 'All right. I suppose I have no choice, but I am telling you now that I will not sing Christmas carols with your family and I totally refuse to wear anything red at the end of the year!'

Hermione started to laugh at the image of Severus Snape wearing a red robe for New Year's Eve. He glared at her. 'What is so funny?' and she started to laugh even more.

He was not used to have happy people around, but ever since Hermione has entered his life like a tornado, he had been feeling her cheerful influence more and more. And then, an image of himself wearing red robes entered in his mind, he looked at her and saw the mirth in her eyes.

He found the image insulting but she found it very funny, and her laugh was contagious. He felt his lips tugging upward in a kind of smile.

The ice was broken once again and the two of them made preparations for the next day.

Draco Malfoy had been spying on Snape since the announcement that Granger was his assistant and he had been noticing their secretive glances occurring more frequently. Sometimes, he could swear he had seen her smiling at him. The best piece of information, though, was the fact that he had heard her call him Severus.

His father would be pleased with this news. Lucius had been released in October and had kept a low profile, but he was still working for their Lord.

The Dark Lord had long suspected Snape of being a traitor but he had never had any definitive proof... until now… Draco Malfoy was going to help in that department. The idea of a Mudblood using his Professor's given name was preposterous!

So Severus and Hermione started their holiday in a good mood not knowing that someone was plotting in the shadows.

The first meeting between her parents and Severus was traumatic, but after the initial embarrassment the Granger's remembered their good manners and tried to put him at ease.

Hermione's father started to warm up when he discovered Snape was the equivalent of a Chemistry teacher and the two men started a conversation on the differences between muggle and wizard ingredients.

Her mother took Hermione with her in the kitchen and asked, 'Hermione how are you feeling?'

She smiled. 'Well, I didn't imagine I'd come back home with him. I mean, I thought that Ron was going to be the one but I must admit Severus is a decent man and he's very intelligent. I probably liked Ron for the wrong reasons; Severus and I have much more in common and I enjoy the time I spend with him.'

Her mother nodded and left any more of the discussion for another time. That night she was won over by the dark Professor after his compliments for her cooking and she was totally surprised when he gave her some new recipes to try out.

The holidays passed quickly and Hermione found herself at Hogwarts sooner than she expected. Severus, who at the beginning had been quite suspicious and pessimistic about the whole meet-the-parents ordeal, had been pleasantly surprised to be accepted and liked by the Grangers.

He now saw Hermione in a totally different light. She was generous and brave because her family had brought her up well. The three of them were bookworms and he enjoyed the evenings spent with them reading in front of the fire. All in all, he could almost get used to that life.

Draco Malfoy had reported the information to his father and he had been surprised when Lucius made him promise not to talk about it with anyone.

Lucius had just said, 'The right time will come and you can be sure that he will pay. For now he is still useful to the cause.' Draco had nodded to his father and agreed with him to leave the two of them alone.

…Three days with Severus Snape…

Hermione had started her second term very relaxed but she soon began to feel the approach of the NEWTs and frantically started her revision.

Severus noticed her tiredness and insisted he see her eating at least three times per day. He was watching her at every meal and she felt forced to eat. After a while she discovered that she had more energy to study and she swore to never skip a meal.

By Easter time, the students were frantic. Hermione was almost finished with studying and when Severus asked her to spend three days with him, she agreed.

'Where are we going Severus?' she asked curiously. 'Are you taking me to a warm place? What should I pack?'

He smirked. 'Calm down Hermione. I am going to take you to Cornwall; I want to show you where I grew up.'

She was genuinely surprised about it and happy because it meant that he was really starting to accept her into his life. They made the arrangements for the short holiday and they Apparated to his house on Friday afternoon.

Hermione looked around. The house was not big, but not tiny either. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen and finally, a beautiful garden surrounding it.

He watched her in silence; she was an inquisitive child and he appreciated that. He sighed. Sometimes he was not able to imagine the two of them together.

Hermione noticed the change of mood in her professor and so asked, 'Severus which one is my room?' Pointing at the two doors leading to the bedrooms.

He replied, 'My old room is the one on the left but you can choose whichever you like.'

She grinned and predictably chose that room.

He was somehow relieved. He was not sure that he could bear to sleep in his old room, so full of bad memories and suffering.

Hermione watched him while he was thinking and managed to come near him enough to whisper, 'We will make good memories for you Severus.'

He looked at her and sneered, 'I do not need your pity!' and left the house in a hurry.

Hermione sighed. The man was constantly swinging between nasty and nice. She knew she hadn't said anything wrong, but maybe he wasn't used to having compassion, and mistook it for pity. She did not want to pry into his emotions. They all came to her due to the spell but she was trying very hard to make him more comfortable around her.

Severus was sitting on a bench in the garden. As usual he had lost his control in front of her. He had suffered too much in this house and he was asking himself why he decided to bring her here.

Maybe to make her understand that she would be better off without you, his traitorous mind whispered.

Hermione located him and sat beside him. 'I wasn't offering you my pity, Severus. I apologise for having assumed that I could help you. It's this bond that make me feel your emotions and you can't expect me to turn a deaf ear.'

He sighed. 'I know.' He wasn't able to apologise even though he knew he had wronged her. 'Why don't we cook something for dinner?'

She nodded and let the argument go. After all, she was not sure that Severus Snape knew how to apologise.

The evening and the meal went by very quietly, they talked about superficial things, avoiding more serious debates for fear they'd get angry at one other.

Around eleven they were preparing to turn in for the night when Severus hissed and touched his left arm.

Hermione looked scared; he had been summoned.

'Stay here, I will be back soon,' he managed to say before Apparating away.

Hermione was still pacing the living room at dawn, her nerved frayed to breaking point. Suddenly, a very dishevelled looking Severus Apparated into the centre of the room.

Looking at her worried face, he said, 'Hermione, open the cabinet in the corner and bring me two bottles, one blue and one green.'

She ran to the cabinet and retrieved the ones he wanted.

He took them from her and she followed him to his bedroom door. She made to follow him inside, but he blocked her way, saying, 'Now go to bed. I am fine. We will talk later.' He closed the door and left a very surprised, scared and annoyed Hermione behind.

She could feel his exhaustion and his tiredness but at least he could have said something more! She sighed, the man really did not know how to treat women.