Severus Snape sat alone in his classroom, staring at the glass of whiskey in his hand. Next to him was his silver death eater mask. It was late – late enough that he wasn't worried about any students barging in and catching him getting drunk with his secrets. He should have never touched that girl. He was good at shielding his mind but Voldemort was just as good at penetration. What if Voldemort saw something about Hermione that Snape couldn't hide? He had a lot of deaths on his conscience, but never the death of someone he cared about so deeply.

It was amazing how she was all he thought about these days. The look on her face when she left that afternoon was agony. He had broken her heart, it was obvious. He had broken his own as well. He grabbed the mask and threw it with all his might against the stone wall. It hit the stone with a clang and fell just as loudly to the floor, staring at him, mocking him. He couldn't hurt the mask. No amount of strength, no amount of magic could ever damage it. It was forever – just like the death eaters. Just like his past. He drained the alcohol from his glass and walked over to the mask. It glinted in the light from the candles struggling to fill the darkness of his dungeon classroom. He picked it up and tucked it into his robes.

He took his wand from his desk. He needed to talk to Dumbledore and somehow the old man was always in his office when Severus needed him. The password now was – and Snape grimaced as he said it – "snicker doodle" and he was swiftly rising. The office was well lit, but empty. Snape looked around in frustration. The one time he felt like coming clean, the crotchety man was no where in sight. Not wanting to leave empty handed, he took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with Hermione Granger," he said into the empty room. Nodding, as if he had achieved something, he left the office. Dumbledore, who had been just outside in the hallway between his chambers and the office, stroked his beard. The elderly headmaster was not surprised. In another life, he would be rejoicing that such a lonely man had found love in a woman that suited him so well. Instead, Dumbledore was almost sad that the pair would face such obstacles. When Dumbledore had attended Hogwarts, it wasn't uncommon to see the younger male professors courting the older female students but times had changed and there were firm rules set in place by the ministry of magic about under aged wizards. While Dumbledore himself was willing to turn a blind eye, he didn't want to endanger his brilliant double agent or his most promising student in any way. He had important plans for them both in the order. The last thing Severus needed was publicity – he was a spy. He sighed. Hermione needed to graduate before anything happened and that was a full year away. By then it may be too late. Considering Miss Granger's tears, it may have been too late already.

oooo

The walk around the lake had made Hermione feel better. Ron had come too and they had collapsed on the grass and watched the sunset. It was warm and the sun took a long time to set and they were late getting back into the castle but no one really cared. She went to bed feeling tired and almost happy. She wrote to her parents. She wrote her last charms essay and finished her ancient runes worksheet. She climbed into her bed, with every intention of falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She thought about him. She was so frustrated with herself. He was making her crazy. She was so distraught by him that she could practically hear him calling her name. She sat up abruptly, realizing that she wasn't imagining that part. She could hear him fumbling around the darkness of her sitting room. She reached for wand on the night stand and lit the candles. She pulled on her black robe and went to the door. He was in the middle of repairing a vase he'd cracked when he'd run into the coffee table with his shin.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I broke your vase," he replied.

"Here, professor, what are you doing here?" she clarified. She could see that he broke the ugly pink vase that had come with the room.

"You can call me Severus," he said, suddenly. "I should have told you that long ago."

"Severus, then," she said. She'd been calling him Severus in her head for awhile now, though she wouldn't admit it to him or herself, for that matter.

"I came to apologize, mostly," he said. "I was cruel when you left the quarantine and I was cruel when I left that morning and I was cruel today in the classroom."

"Yes, you were," she said. "Though, I know now I was asking too much of you. You were right about Voldemort."

"I was right and wrong," he said. "I… I never meant to hurt you."

"Thank you," she said. "It means a lot that you came." She pointed to the couch he was standing next to. "Have a seat, I'll call Wally for some tea," she said.

"I don't want tea," he said. She sat next to him carefully. They didn't touch. "Hermione."

"The laws are very clear," she said. "And Dumbledore made it very clear to me that there wasn't room for ambiguity. I don't know what to do." His hand reached over and took hers from her lap. He scooted so they were closer and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"It doesn't have to be all or nothing," he said.

"If I had never gotten sick… none of this would have happened," she said. "I would have continued to annoy you until graduation and then you would have happily forgotten my existence."

"Not true," he said. "I would have asked you to stay on as my apprentice."

"Really?" she asked, sitting up. "That would be amazing. You've not taken on an apprentice in years! Professor McGonagall told me in my career meeting that you get a hundred applicants a year and turn them all down!" she said. There was an ambitious glint in her eye that he had missed seeing.

"So you see?" he asked, as if that explained it all.

oooo

Summer came and everyone packed up and left. The fifteen minutes after the Hogwarts Express left were the most bizarre. She and Harry stood in the middle of the front hall and stared at each other. They stood and listened until Professor McGonagall came up to them.

"Mr. Potter..."

"Shhh," he said. McGonagall looked at him, surprised. "Listen."

"To what?" she asked, lowering her voice accordingly.

"Exactly," Hermione said, somberly. McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"We need to discuss some ground rules," she said, her voice back to normal. The spell was broken and so Harry shrugged and they followed her into the Great Hall to sit at a long wooden table and discuss their summer plans. It was fairly simple. Hermione had to take her exams still but she was all caught up and by next week, she'd be finished completely with her sixth year. "The school rules remain the same – even curfew," she said and Harry groaned.

"What does change?" he asked, instantly sad that he couldn't stand in whatever hallway he wanted to at three in the morning.

"You don't have to live in your dorm, you can move into a guest room like Miss Granger's for the summer," she said. "You can go to Hogsmeade on the weekends as long as you are accompanied by an Order member."

"What about visiting my family?" Hermione asked. "They aren't happy about me staying here for the summer, especially after being sick."

"Professor Snape has offered to take you home for a weekend," McGonagall said. "Didn't he tell you?"

After the rules had been set and she'd listened to Harry groan and complain for a sufficient amount of time, he left to go pick out a guest suite and she went down to the dungeons where Snape was mucking out his classroom so it would be cleaned and restocked in time for next term.

"You want to meet my parents?" she asked.

"Not exactly," he said, staring at an unlabeled jar full of a green liquid warily. "Dumbledore said he thought you should be able to see your parents and then he volunteered me. I prefer not to leave the castle during the summers."

"I'm sure someone else…"

"Don't be silly," he snapped. "I'll take a weekend away with you even if it involves Muggles."

"How gracious of you," she said dryly. "I guess I'll write them."

"No need, I already have. We go next weekend, after your exams," he said. She didn't know what to think of his continuing correspondence with her parents but she could tell that this was his way of reaching out whether Dumbledore dropped it in his lap or not.

Her exams were easy enough – she was grateful that her sickness had fallen on the year between the OWLs and NEWTs. With that finished, she set about packing her duffel bag for the weekend. What would her parents want to do with her while she was home? She put in a nice blouse and skirt – her mother would probably want to go to church Sunday morning or if they decided they wanted to eat somewhere nice, she would have a proper outfit. Mostly, though, she figured they would stay in. She wasn't sure the Muggle world was ready to have Severus unleashed upon it just yet, anyhow. Finished, she thought she'd better go make sure Severus was packing something other than his intimidating black robes.

He was in his room looking at an empty suitcase on his bed. It was black, leather, and had his initials monogrammed on it in silver lettering.

"What does the middle S stand for?" she asked, and he turned, smiled a little when he saw her.

"Salazar," he said, looking a little ashamed. "My family is… proud if not noble."

"Well, I thought you might like a little company while you packed," she said.

"I haven't really spent much time with Muggles," he admitted. "Of course, your parents know who I am; still, I somehow feel that my wardrobe isn't compatible with your suburban home."

"I suppose not. We can transfigure some things," she offered and he nodded. He took out a few older things – pants, cloaks, and shirts.

"Will these do?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. She lowered the waist on the pairs of slack and made the rows of buttons into a zipper. He raised an eyebrow. She altered a few shirts – even made one short sleeved. By the time she was done, she thought that he would be fine and, for his benefit, she left everything black.

In the morning, bright and early, they met in the great hall and used the large fireplace there to floo to Diagon alley. From there, Hermione led them on to the underground and they headed to her childhood home while most people were just getting to work. She was nervous and tired on the underground and he let her sit down while he stood in front of her, holding onto the pole near the door. Her knees banged against his legs with the movement and he stood in front of her, looking down at her fondly while she struggled to keep her eyes open. Finally, she heard her stop on the garbled announcement system and she tugged his sleeve. He was in black slacks and a white button down shirt. She'd insisted that he didn't tuck it in. With his long black hair and skinny legs, he looked more like a rock star than a wizard. If Hermione were to bring a man like this home under any other circumstances, her parents would have a cow. She'd never really explained Snape to them – in a physical sense. They knew he lived and taught in the dungeons and that he was smart and kind of a loner, but he was sort of severe to look at when you first saw him.

Hermione's parents had offered to pick them up at the station so they didn't have to deal with luggage but Hermione had waved them off. The luggage was safely in Hermione's coat pocket already and it was a short walk to her house. Severus looked around at the quiet, suburban neighborhood. It was a little cloudy but that would probably burn off later to a clear day of sunshine. It was summer, after all. It smelled like lilacs when the wind blew.

She could tell he had questions and that he was holding them in. She was actually grateful for that. She didn't feel like defending or explaining her Muggle lifestyle at the moment. Finally, Hermione spotted her house and pointed to it.

"That one, number 47," she said. "Are you ready?"

"Are you expecting something dire?" he asked, smirking.

"No, I've just never brought anyone home to meet my parents, before," she said, feeling foolish as she said it. It wasn't exactly like they'd had a choice about the matter. He was an authority figure, not her boyfriend. Still, she wondered how her parents would treat him. As a common house guest or something more? She thought about ringing the doorbell but the idea of waiting on the porch for an awkward eternity was unappealing and so she just turned the knob and pushed the wooden door open. The front hall was deserted but she could hear breakfast sounds from the kitchen. She could smell bacon frying and so she shut the door behind them and removed the luggage quietly from her coat. Severus enlarged the pieces and waited while Hermione went into the kitchen.

"Hey Mum, hey Dad," she said. Her mother stood at the stove and her dad was at the table reading the paper. They were already dressed, thankfully. She didn't want them meeting Severus in the pajamas. Her parents looked up and then both rushed at her, pulling her body close, touching her shorter hair, kissing her cheeks, generally making sure she was in once piece. Finally, they stepped back.

"Where is Mr. Snape?" They asked, her mother rushing to take the bacon off the heat before it burned.

"He's here," she said, motioning to him where he was standing just out of eyesight of her family. He came through the door, ducking slightly – too tall for the Muggle world.

"I am Severus Snape," he said, looking at her parents with his most impassive face, most likely to hide his nervousness. Hermione herself would be wary of that expression, but the most extraordinary thing happened. Her parents smiled and hugged him, too.

oooo

She settled him into the guest room trying to hide the smirk on her face but every time he looked at her he would roll his eyes and sigh and she would just smile bigger. She thought that she would be mortified while her parents still had their arms around her potions professor but now, later, she was glad that her family could embrace him in the same way that she had. He sat down on the double bed in the passive, blue room.

"This will be just fine," he said, but she wasn't sure if it was for her benefit or for his own. It wasn't very late – in fact they had only minutes to situate themselves before they were expected to be back down at breakfast. She left her luggage outside her door at the end of the hall. She didn't want him to see all her stuffed animals and picture books – the Dr. Who poster. She wished could just magic the embarrassment away but Snape had her wand with his things – she was underage and out of school grounds and so she wasn't to use magic. Magic would also run the risk of alerting the death eaters that she had left the school and was with him. Magic was rare in such heavily Muggle populated areas.

"Good," she said, and sat gingerly next to him on the bed. He moved his hand so it sat lightly on her knee. "Thank you," she whispered. He didn't know was to say and so he applied more pressure, gave the soft, white skin a gentle squeeze. He longed to touch her, to press his nose into her shoulder, to kiss her face and her stomach and the back of her knee. Instead, they leaped guiltily apart when footsteps sounded on the stairs. They were already out in the hall when her father's head poked up the top of the stairs.

"It's time," he said and she nodded, too eagerly. They went downstairs and sat at the round, wooden table in the warm, bright kitchen. Severus had grown up in his family's manor – cold stone and many echoing rooms. This was a small house that was made to fit no more than three people but he could see that it was just right for the three people (two, now) who lived there. He thought that growing up in such a place would be more than tolerable which was still leaps and bounds better than his childhood. There were books everywhere in the house, even spilling into the kitchen. Stacks of them on every subject. There were magnets and pictures on the large, white appliance near the sink which he assumed was for keeping the perishables cold. He finally noticed that the sound of silverware against dish had ceased and he looked back at his table companions who were all watching him with the same amused expression.

"Pardon me," he said, "I don't spend much time with the non-magic community and I rarely enter their personal living space."

"That's quite all right, dear," her mother said, kindly. "I don't have any plans for the weekend other than catching up with my daughter."

Severus could take a hint. "I have no problem leaving your family alone."

"That isn't what she meant!" Hermione jumped in quickly.

"Of course not," her mother said, in just the same tone. Her name was Jane, and she had the same bushy hair as her daughter, it was just much lighter – blonde like Lavender Brown. Her father had not much hair to speak of but it was the same brown that Hermione had – or had been once before the temples had turned gray. He remembered they were healers of some sort… fingernails or teeth or something. He couldn't quite recall. "I meant that we will do whatever you two wish to do."

"I have to work today," her father piped in and he could see that Hermione would have been disappointed except for his presence. Her father had hugged him out of sheer relief and adrenaline, but he was quiet now and Snape suspected he was quiet most of the time – dominated by the women of the family. "I'll be home for dinner."

"We could go see a movie, or stay in, or perhaps go out to lunch and do a spot of shopping," her mother offered. Snape found himself mildly curious as to see what a day in the life of a Muggle was like. He suspected it would be like that day when he was 26 and he broke his wand while deep within the forbidden forest. He'd had had to hike out without food or water and it'd taken him hours.

"I could use a few more supplies," he heard Hermione say.

"Special supplies?" he heard her mother ask doubtfully. Severus looked over at Hermione and she twitched, ever so slightly.

"I would be more than happy to take your daughter on all her wizard-related outings from now on," he said. Her mother smiled and her father stood, clapped his shoulder once, and left for work. They wanted to be accepting of their unique abilities but they liked the help, too. Hermione smiled and ate the rest of her eggs gingerly.

In fact, Hermione didn't go with him to Diagon Ally later. She gave him a list and a sack of coins and sent him off while she had dutiful quality time with her mother. Besides, she had assured him, he wouldn't want to spend an afternoon in the woman's section of Harrod's. He took her word for it. It didn't dawn on him until they parted that the whole point of this awkward getaway together was that he would keep an eye on her. Now, she was alone in the metropolis of downtown without her wand and without his protection. Anxiety filled him immediately and he apparated back to the Granger homestead with a crack startling many patrons of Diagon Ally. It was considered impolite to apparate outside of designated areas but he didn't care. She had mentioned vaguely where they were going and so he started out on foot – going the direction they'd come from. Once he reached the underground entrance, he descended the stairs to look at the map on the wall of the city. The store was not on it, of course, but he thought that perhaps he would just go toward the most popular, dense area. He walked past the turnstile, keeping his wand in his pocket just in case someone said something but no one did.

The train was crowded and he remembered the feeling of Hermione's knees pressed against his legs but this time he sat down between an elderly woman in a tweed overcoat and a younger man with a white cord plugged into either ear. His head was bobbing to some internal beat and Severus wrote it off as some Muggle contraption that he had no interest in anyway. He kept an eye on the map but when most the people got off he decided to go too. He could always apparate back to the Granger's house – it was impossible to apparate to somewhere you've never been before.

Luck was in his favor. The Harrod's was enormous, taking up at least the entire block and he could see it immediately. He suddenly was awash with an emotion he wasn't exactly familiar with… was it fear? Oh he felt something similar when standing in the presence of the Dark Lord but what he felt then was a deep, agonizing terror but this was a little bit to the left of that and completely irrational. The store was milling with people going in and out of the doors. He approached slowly and a middle aged, dumpy woman smacked him with her handbag as she walked briskly by. She glared at him and he held on to his arm which now stung. He scowled back but she didn't cower like he was used to. Was this how he made his students feel?

He moved into the stream at a faster pace and tried not to flinch when the glass doors opened for him. Inside his sensitive nose was overwhelmed with the smell of a hundred different perfumes. He coughed and felt his eyes water. People came here intentionally? He felt like sending up red sparks and hoping that Hermione saw them and found him but then it was rather important that he found her. He tried not to think of what would happen if he couldn't find her. He needed to do a locater spell of some kind but it was illegal to do magic in front of Muggles and there were so many! He was tall enough to see over most of the racks and he didn't see he her springy curls that were getting longer again. He'd meant to offer her another trim before they'd come on this trip.

What could he do? He didn't see her on the first floor so he went up the escalator. By the fourth and final floor he was beginning to worry and look for a quiet place in which he could use his wand. He was just about to go into a woman's dressing room when he heard her voice coming from the area labeled 'House wares'.

She was holding a set of bed sheets discussing thread count with her mother, safe and sound.

"What were you thinking just going off by yourself like that? I need to be with you all the time. This is a mad house – anyone could see you here and when you vanish, how am I supposed to find you?" he said, grabbing her arm and throwing the sheets down out of her hand. Her mother gasped, shocked by his sudden appearance.

"I don't… what are you doing here? We talked about this; I thought you wouldn't want to go!" she said. He was scaring her because he really sounded worried.

"Hermione, you are the smart one here. You need to pick up my slack!" He said. "I have your wand, I had to take Muggle transportation to find you, and all this so… so… do you know what could have happened?" He whispered, trying to discourage people from staring.

"Severus," she whispered. "Everything is fine."

"It won't always be," he said. She put her hand on his face and gathered him into a calming hug.

"Hermione," her mother interrupted. "I've lost my taste for shopping. Let's go." Hermione nodded and so they gathered all of their already paid for bags and made their way for the train station. Suddenly the nature of Hermione and the professor's relationship was all rather murky.