Chapter 3

Her wand went off at 7 am just as she had charmed it the evening before and she very nearly broke it in half and tossed it out the window. She had never been this hung-over before in her life and she made a mental note to charm something less valuable to act as alarm clock. She rolled over to get out of bed and noticed two small bottles on the bedside table. In the Half-Blood Prince's cramped script one of them read, "Headache" and the other read, "Dehydration." She took them in that order.

She filled the bathtub and soaked as the potions coursed through her veins leaving a trail of well being through her body until she felt restored from the end of each hair on her head to her toes. One of them had been dosed with a Cheering Potion. She had only had three glasses of wine, which for her was still considerable, but she decided that some of the prominent individuals at the party had been smoking something other than sheesha from their hookahs and of that, her body had been previously ignorant. Now, she could contemplate Severus Snape.

But first, she reminded herself, she had to come to terms with her own reaction to Snape. He had turned her into a dumb fool. She could understand why Minerva had not told her he would be there; she might not have come. Over the years she had been able to push thoughts about him aside and forget he even existed until something would remind her and she would be overcome with extreme anger or shame. Hermione decided that she might as well face those feelings since she had the opportunity, but she questioned why Minerva had wanted her to come face him. Minerva had been trying to get the Soumali's to recruit her for several years. Maybe Minerva thought it was time for her to heal this remaining sore from the war?

Hermione did not often indulge in such introspection unless she was analyzing her irrational feelings for a member of the opposite sex and she had always been able to rationalize not pursuing the current, unworthy selection. She was a Gryffindor and wore her heart on her sleeve. She did not often have such complicated emotional reactions to people; she was usually able to intellectualize her feelings and examine them in an analytic way, but her feelings towards Snape were beyond reason at this point. She would simply have to experience more with him and experiment; she needed to know more. She tried to imagine how Professor Snape would react to the information that he stimulated such strong emotions in her and was disappointed to discover she couldn't. The old Snape would sneer, but this new man. He might not even care and that upset her, inexplicably, again.

She contemplated her reflection in the, thankfully, muggle mirror. Lovely, lovely nose? Where did that come from? She snorted in disgust, finished getting dressed and went down to seek out breakfast.

Hermione's day unfolded much like the days that followed. She went down for breakfast and ate with the girls who had helped to prepare it. Fresh orange juice and a fried egg stuffed into a pocket of bread. She started drinking her coffee with milk and sugar. She liked to teach them in the mornings when they were more attentive so she got into the habit of taking them to the library having formal lessons with a blackboard, notebooks, and pencils for the first hour and then she took them outside and they had discussions about nature or books and otherwise enjoyed each other's company. They spent a lot of time walking through the gardens and orchards, looking at everything and discussing their magical properties. Girls after her own heart, she wished she had known them at Hogwarts. She found that when her responsibilities were completed she often chose to stay with the girls and Amina and was learning Moroccan Arabic rapidly as a result. They often spent the hot days climbing trees for olives and oranges, swimming and reading at the beach.

During the day she was able to push Snape into a dark corner of her mind. One day she watched Souhair take two sandwiches towards the cliffs and Hermione called out to her but she simply turned and smiled and then continued walking. Firdaus explained that Souhair wanted to include Uncle Severus and was going to eat with him. Hermione looked again and saw no one where Souhair was approaching in the shade of the cliffs.

"A mirage charm," Firdaus smiled. "He often uses a deflection charm when he goes outside, but it hurt Souhair's feelings so he uses the mirage charm. She can see the mirage of water on the beach and she knows where he sits. Look!"

Hermione watched as Souhair's coltish brown figure shimmered and disappeared. Hermione looked up at the house and, recognizing her balcony, figured that Snape was sitting in the same spot she had seen him in from the house. She filed that information away for safekeeping.

Hermione had not again eaten in the dining room they had used for the party. Usually they sat in a less formal room just off the kitchen. After their second meal together when she bungled an awkward "Thank you, for the potions" and struggled with simple conversation afterwards, the family also decided not to test her manners and she and Snape were usually seated furthest apart at the table. The result was a lively, cheerful mood.

Hermione often took the opportunity to watch him, though. He usually was in faded blue jeans and a t-shirt, usually black, but every once in a while he wore all black and it gave Hermione the shivers. She wondered what he had done with his teaching robes. He looked so healthy, strong and tan. His hair he wore at about the same length but it no longer had the greasy sheen to it, instead it was healthy and looked very soft. He was a slim man, tall, but not exceedingly so and his arms were sinewy. Sometimes she found herself watching the tendons and muscles jerking underneath his tan skin and wondered about the dark mark. She had never seen one burned onto the arm. She had never seen his; once Harry had destroyed Voldemort they had all disappeared for good. She wondered if he had been approached to talk about it. The magic was very dark and very advanced, few aside from Voldemort and perhaps himself could understand it. The DEs they captured alive would not speak about it and the DEs who slipped through their fingers certainly would not expose themselves to contribute to research.

He was wonderful with the girls. Souhair insisted on sitting next to Hermione or Snape and would often flit back and forth around the room to spend time with them both. He told her stories and made her laugh. Firdaus was not as needy, but was also affectionate and clearly adored him. One evening, after Firdaus had fallen at the beach and cut her chin on a rock, Snape told her that she was still very beautiful. She blushed and kissed his cheek and then ran off to bed. Hermione had been about her age when he told her that he saw no difference between her normal teeth and her hexed teeth that had grown till they reached her chin. Her blood boiled in indignation and outrage. She was jealous of his kindness to sweet Firdaus. Perhaps sensing her rage, something he had been conditioned to do as a spy and legilimens, he looked at her, his face an unreadable mask. She was tempted to start grabbing things off the table and start throwing them at him, and was briefly made more furious that they did not use utensils so there were no knives to throw. She wanted him to be as angry as she was and marveled at how she could infuriate him just by breathing when she was his student. She clenched her fist but released it when Latifah's own fingers closed around her wrist.

"Hermione, this weekend Ayoob and I are taking the girls to Casablanca. Would you like to join us? We will take you into the souq! The girls told me you did not bring a lot of clothes so I think you want to go shopping?"

Hermione was again embarrassed and could not reconcile her feelings with the trust the Soumali's had placed in her. She was enraged by their friend's kindness to their daughters, whose wellbeing she herself had been entrusted with. Latifah perhaps sensing indecision, but hopefully not the source, again insisted.

"I think you will enjoy it very much. Casablanca is a magical city, unlike any in England you might have experienced." Almost as a second thought, Latifah asked, "Have you traveled much before you came to us?"

"No, actually, I've never even been to Wales or Ireland. My parents took me to the South of France many summers when I was growing up."

"Nice?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Hermione asked surprised.

Latifah laughed, "I recognized the accent! My mother had family in Nice so we went for summers as well."

"Oh! I didn't realize Nice had much of a magical community. It was very beautiful, but it felt very…muggle."

"That is an accurate description. My mother was muggleborn. She is a very gifted witch and she insisted on remaining close to her family. Severus has met her; In fact we will be staying at her house in Casablanca. What did you think of her, Severus?"

Hermione nearly jumped at the chance to stare at Snape, given the invitation. She watched as he removed an olive pit from his mouth with his index finger and thumb. His mouth was wide and the lips fuller than she remembered, but she was still working with a caricature of a gaunt vampire bat. He moved his tongue over his teeth under closed lips and he chuckled and spoke in a low, rumbling voice, a distant cousin of the voice that had terrorized and berated her as a child. It made her hair follicles tingle.

"A formidable witch, not unlike Minerva McGonagall. Unfortunately I won't be able to join you on this trip to visit her, but please tell her, well, that I've been good and that I hope she's well."

Latifah and Ayoob both shouted laughter at this last comment, before protesting that he must come. Snape's eyes were laughing and insisted, "No, I have potions brewing that cannot be left for more than a few hours at a time. If you like your house intact, you will permit me to stay here this weekend."

Hermione dragged her eyes from Snape who once again looked like a perfect stranger to look quizzically at Latifah.

"My mother has adopted Severus, and thinks he is misbehaving by spending his days at the beach. She wants him to return to real work and be productive member of society, get married and have six kids. She fusses over him like she does the girls. And he loves it."

Snape snorted and Hermione tensed half expecting an explosion worthy of Harry Potter misbehaving in class. But he only smiled at Latifah and poured himself another glass of wine. He looked at Hermione and the smile in his eyes dimmed a little. She wondered what face she was making and unconsciously lifted a hand to her cheek.

"I'd love to go, Latifah."