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He was supposed to hate her. She was a Gryffindor; he a Slytherin, but what did that mean anyway? What relevance to any of their lives did that have outside of Hogwarts? He didn't know, and it was safe to say no one really did. No one single person had the answers to life, the universe, and everything, which is why he tried to stop pondering it. The fact still remained, though, that she was getting under his skin slowly but surely, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.

: P

She was surprised to see him sitting there waiting for her. He had nothing to drink in front of him and appeared to be deep in thought. Something was definitely different this time. The air of change surrounded them and it was very, very thick. Taking a deep breath, she weaved her way through the group of people to his table . . . their table. It was the same table he found her sitting at the night everything started. It had been their table once a week every Thursday since.

"Can I get you anything to drink, sir?" she inquired as she shrugged off her coat and draped it over her chair.

"Granger, sit down," he commanded quietly.

A brief thought of defying him crossed her mind, but she did as instructed. She could not ascertain his exact mood, but it was already obvious she would get nowhere arguing with him. "Is there a problem?" Her brow furrowed a bit in thought.

"No. I merely with to attempt to have a sober evening with you for once."

"Sober as in zero alcohol sober? Or sober as in one or two drinks sober?" she asked.

He leaned forward. "Granger, for seven weeks we've been in a drunken stupor when we've met. For once let's at least attempt to have a normal conversation."

She visibly gulped. "Zero alcohol sober then . . ."

He scowled at her disappointment and . . . fear was it? More and more Hermione Granger reminded him of Weasley. Quite frankly that was more disturbing than anything else that happened between them of late. "Yes, Granger. No alcohol. If you can't carry a normal conversation with me while sober, then you can't talk to me drunk anymore either."

Her eyes went wide for a moment like a deer caught in headlights. Desperately she said, "Give me ale."

"Granger!" Snape growled.

Hermione narrowed her eyes in determination several moments later finally showing some of her fierce Gryffindor traits in response to his anger. "Fine!"

Countless minutes passed in silence following the exchange. Snape glared at some random spot behind her while Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably.

Muttering under her breath she said, "Hell of a place to be sober. I mean, it's only a bar and all."

He stood quickly and grabbed her coat. "Come with me."

She looked at him a little confused but took her coat and put it on anyway. They managed to get through the quickly growing crowd and into the street. Snape led them to a dark alley where he suddenly grabbed hold of her and apparated them to another dark alley. Hermione's eyes had not quite adjusted to her surroundings, but she was able to make out the architecture. If they were still in London, it was somewhere unfamiliar to her. He grabbed her hand and began navigating through a series of passages before stopping in front of a nondescript door. Snape tapped it twice with his wand and the door opened allowing them entrance. At this point Hermione was so turned around that even if she knew exactly where she was in daylight, she would not be able to find her way back.

"Professor, where are we?" she asked as she followed him up a creaky staircase. He did not respond but rather pushed her through the doorway at the top of the stairs and slammed home the locks. She looked around and found the one room flat to be nondescript on all accounts. It was almost exactly how she imagined her former professor would choose to live.

Turning away from her surrounding, she stared him down. This was all completely unorthodox even for him. She wanted, nay, needed answers. His complete ignorance of her at the moment meant she would have to continue to wait though. Hermione shifted impatiently several times before claiming a seat in the only chair present. He appeared to be looking for something and it could take some time before he finished so she figured she betting settle in a bit until he actually told her what he was up to.

As best as she could tell another ten minutes passed in silence between them before he made any motion toward her. He did not say a word as he threw a cloak at her. She looked at it a moment, looked at him, processed the look he was sending her, and swiftly put on the cloak. He once again grabbed her hand and apparated them elsewhere. Not only did this cause her to become even more lost, she was more quickly becoming more confused then ever.

"Stay here a moment," he whispered and disappeared into the dark. The only light came from the quarter moon hanging in the sky. She could just make out a residence in the distance and the surrounding wood. She was obviously in a forest clearing, but it was nowhere she was immediately familiar with. Hermione always knew Severus Snape to be somewhat cryptic, but his current actions were bordering on ludicrous in her mind. He said barely ten words to her in the last hour and none of them explained why she was standing in the middle of a forest at night wearing a cloak three full sizes too large.

To say this was not what she expected from her evening would be a gross understatement. Had things gone as planned, she would be very, very drunk right now trying to convince him she wanted more from him than information regarding Harry. She would be explaining for more than the first time why she was desperately avoiding her parents and the wizarding community at large. She would be telling him why she was studying Chemistry at a university in London. She knew she told him more than that even, that he was the only person privy to the last two or so years of her life. And she also knew she would have told him none of it if she was not drunk. She drank to get away from her problems, but he always brought them to the forefront of her mind. Was she really that desperate for attention that she would tell everything to Snape, or was it because she felt a kindred soul in him? Either way, it had landed her in the dark, alone and unprotected.

"Granger," came the whisper behind her. She jumped. Taking note of who it was, she was certain she saw the smirk of pleasuring without actually seeing his face.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on? I've been apparated to no less than two strange places tonight not to mention deprived of alcohol in the process! I want to know what's going on."

Snape grabbed her arm and escorted her in the direction of the house. While she felt safer in his presence, part of her was still scared to death of what he was doing. He could kill her and leave her without anyone wondering what happened to her. She stopped abruptly.

"Granger!" he barked quietly.

'No. I demand to know what's going on. How do I know I can even trust you? For all I now you'll kill me or worse."

"Use some sense, woman!" he scolded. "If I wanted to kill you I would have by now. There's been more than ample opportunity."

They stared at each other for several moments.

"Where's you courage?"

Her stare turned into a glare.

"I stopped being a Gryffindor the day I graduated. I shouldn't have to tell you."

He dragged her to the door while muttering, "Bloody stubborn ex-Gryffindors" under his breath. She tried resisting but he was too strong for her. They reached the door and he knocked while announcing, "Severus Snape and Hermione Granger present." The door to the small house opened squeakily and Snape shoved Hermione over the threshold. He knew he could have told her what all this was about, but it was better for him not to tell. She would never believe him anyway. It was better she saw and heard for herself. It was better for all of them.

End Chapter 3

A/N: As usual, please review. Comments, questions, etc. are appreciating as long as you're not critiquing grammar (mistakes are normal, humans aren't perfect) or flaming. Cheers!