Edinburgh weather in the summer was always quite pleasant; mild with more sunny days than rainy ones.

Severus did not mind Edinburgh; in fact, it was a welcome relief to be there instead of seeing nothing but the stone walls of the castle as he did the majority of the school year. So when he was invited to speak at the 88th Annual Global Potions Summit being hosted at the University of Edinburgh that summer, Severus fairly jumped at the opportunity. Four days out of the castle was a tease, really, but with the work he was channeling into changing his curriculum, and the extra duties he had taken on as Deputy Headmaster, a long weekend in Edinburgh was just what he needed.

On his arrival, Severus was gratified to discover that in and around the panels he would be attending and his own keynote address on his work improving the Wolfsbane potion, he was able to spend his free time as he pleased. This arrangement suited Severus well, as he disliked being compelled to attend conference talks that he had no interest in. The university had supplied very generous accommodation in hotels near to the campus, all of the meals were complimentary for keynote speakers, and he would actually be able to relax.

After his first successful address for the day, Severus had found himself shanghaied into conversations with other professionals in the field who had further questions, and more than a few representatives for companies attempting to headhunt him. He had no desire to work for any of them, but it was certainly a boost to his ego to be desired thusly. Following the war his reputation had taken a hit, but after his acquittal and subsequent change in status to "hero", Severus had suddenly found himself in high demand.

Ultimately he'd gone back to Hogwarts because Minerva had begged him, and she was the only one who had supported him before the rest of the world's tune had changed.

Which was why once his talk was over and he was able to pull himself away from the sycophants, Severus took his leave from the building and decided to take a stroll around the grounds for some peace and quiet. Everything was lush and green that time of year. Two large willow trees in particular caught his interest; they rested on the very outskirts of the grounds near the edge of town. They were placed close together, the branches stretching across one another to almost form an archway.

Intrigued, Severus moved toward them, passing through the thick foliage to stand in between them. He felt the hum of a magical signature nearby, causing him to frown as he gazed around to see where it was coming from. And then he saw it, a faint glimmer in peripheral vision— there was a hidden passage. Severus moved towards it, and as he got closer, he could see a tall hedge. In the centre of where the two willow trees ended on the other side of the passage sat a gate that was so covered in foliage, it appeared hidden at a glance.

Curiosity got the better of him and Severus walked up to it, reaching out for a dull brass latch so that he could open it.

The gate swung open with ease, much to his surprise. Wand in hand, he entered and was surprised to find himself in a very beautiful garden. It was well-kept and had trees and flowers planted everywhere— it was a sea of colour. He felt a twinge of satisfaction at having found such a tranquil and beautiful place. Sensing that there was nothing sinister within, he slid his wand back up his sleeve and moved further into the garden. As he made his way quietly through, he paused in places to simply enjoy the sunlight filtering in through gaps in the trees.

Severus was surprised at how much he was enjoying the garden, and considered staying. It was at that moment that he stumbled upon someone, sitting on a beautiful bench in the middle of the garden. Keeping himself in the shadows, he decided not to disturb her. The woman in question had a mane of glorious brown curls that captured the sunlight in a way that made them shine golden. Her head was down and she had a book open in her lap, and though her face was largely obscured from view, he could see the serene almost-smile curving her lips. It was like something straight out of a fairytale.

Loath to disturb such a peaceful image, Severus remained out of sight and simply observed her. After a while he began to feel like an intruder, and so he moved back to where he had entered and left the woman to her reading. As he made his way back to the building for his next panel, Severus could not help but feel envious of her, and the tranquility she seemed to have found there.


The following day on his break, Severus returned to the garden. As with the previous day, the woman was sitting and reading, so he was able to observe her unguardedly. He was fascinated by her and the garden. The garden was unlike anything he had ever seen before. As with the previous day, he took his leave shortly before his next panel, once again choosing not to reveal himself. It was better this way–– they were both able to enjoy the garden without the burden of being sociable.

On the third day he visited the garden again, this time skirting around the other side to view her from a different angle, leaning back against a tree and simply enjoying being out in the fresh air. That side of the garden had a different assortment of shrubs and trees, but it was no less beautiful. There was a gentle breeze, and as it tousled her curls he caught a brief waft of her scent that had been carried to him; she smelled of lilacs and spring. As usual, he stayed just long enough to decompress after his address, but not so long that he felt as though he was intruding. This time, however, Severus was startled on his way out to hear a gentle but familiar voice call out to him.

'Hello, Professor.'

A feeling of dread pooled in his stomach as he whirled around to face the owner of the voice and was surprised to come face-to-face with Hermione Granger. His eyes widened slightly as he took her in. She looked so much like she had when she was his student, and yet totally different somehow. The years had been kind to her; her skin was smooth, her wise brown eyes were sparkling in the sunlight, and her once-wild and unmanageable hair was smoother, perhaps tamed by the weight of it as she had grown it significantly longer.

Severus had the fleeting thought that she was actually quite lovely, but swiftly cast that to the side: this was Hermione Granger, one third of the Golden Trio who had all given him so much grief as students.

'Miss Granger,' he said finally, breaking the silence that had stretched between them.

'How are you, sir?' she asked with a smile.

He wondered for a moment if he had ever been as happy as she appeared to be in that moment. 'Tolerably well,' Severus answered, his lips tightening in a thin, firm line. Merlin, this was uncomfortable.

'You look well,' Granger observed. 'I hope you have been.'

Without really understanding why, her words triggered his flight response, and he was suddenly desperate to get away from the situation. 'I–– forgive me, but I have something to attend to,' he said quickly.

Severus turned on his heel and fled from the garden, his long legs carrying him with haste in the direction of the lecture halls. Once inside the building, he leaned heavily against a wall as he tried to sort through the emotions screaming through him. Surprise, alarm, vulnerability at being caught out watching her... gods, what must she think? There was no way she hadn't noticed him observing her the previous days. Why had she waited so long to speak to him?

Clenching his fists, Severus pushed off the wall and walked in the direction of the dining hall to find some water, hoping the sick feeling would leave him before his next lecture.


The remainder of summer passed in a blur of curriculum planning and answering letters from concerned parents who just had to be certain their child's allergies would be catered for in the Great Hall when the school year would resume.

It was the most tedious part of Severus's job, and one that he hadn't had the displeasure of completing before. During his time as Headmaster, he'd spent the majority of his time putting out the fires that Carrows were lighting all over the castle: trying to prevent them from torturing his students or, heaven forbid, killing one of them. He'd skipped straight past deputy and into the Headmaster role through no choice of his own, and had been forced to be grateful for every second of it even though it had been the worst year of his life after a series of rotten years.

Whenever Severus had a spare moment, however, his mind would return to the peace and tranquility he'd found in Edinburgh, and he was unable to forget about seeing his former student. Eventually curiosity got the better of him, and one afternoon during a catch-up meeting with Minerva he'd asked about the Granger girl.


'Whatever happened with Hermione Granger after she left Hogwarts?' Severus asked.

Minerva looked up at him from the paperwork at her desk in surprise. 'I'm shocked you are even asking me that, if I'm honest,' she said when he raised his eyebrow at her impatiently.

'Humor me.'

'Well, as you are aware, she returned as an eighth year student during the year you were on sabbatical recovering,' Minerva began, still gazing at him curiously. 'Afterwards she attended the wizarding college at Oxford, before entering into a Potions apprenticeship under Master Burns.'

'Burns took on an apprentice?' he choked out.

Minerva smirked. 'Not so omniscient as you purport to be, hmm?'

Severus rolled his eyes at his employer and friend. 'A little less sass if you don't mind.'

'If I recall correctly, I am the one with information that you desire,' she quipped. 'You'll accept everything else that goes along with it.'

'Well, get on with it then, infuriating witch,' he grumbled.

Minerva looked victorious and Severus shot her a sour look. 'All right, don't get your pants in a twist,' she told him. 'As I was saying, she completed her Apprenticeship with Burns, and afterwards was hired as a part-time professor at the University of Edinburgh. She's been there for the past five years I believe. As I understand it, she is also working as a brewer and researcher for a private brewing company.'

'She works at the University?' Severus demanded, suddenly annoyed. 'You should have told me. I could have been warned before…'

'Before what, Severus?' she asked, a cat-like grin pulling at the corners of her mouth.

He crossed his arms over his chest defensively. 'Before I ran into her while I was at the symposium.'

Minerva's grin turned into a full-blown smile. 'What fun would that have been?'

'Crone.'

'Sourpuss.'


The conversation had given Severus a little insight into why Granger had seemed so comfortable in her surroundings.

Although he was now armed with information, Severus had still been unable to put the thought of her reading in the garden out of his mind. There was no denying now that he'd found her attractive, both before he knew her identity, and even upon it being revealed. She had become a uniquely beautiful woman–– a natural beauty. And she was a Potions Master, something he had not known about and didn't expect. He didn't think he'd been a very good teacher or spokesperson for the subject when she was his student, so it was even more shocking to him that she'd pursue it.

Eventually, as summer passed by slowly, and the start of school term was looming ever nearer, Severus found himself wanting to go back to Edinburgh and see Granger once more before his life was swallowed up by teaching again–– one last chance for the repose he found himself seeking more and more those days.

One day, after some particularly gruelling meetings with overbearing parents in the morning, Severus made the decision to leave the castle for the remainder of the day. Still dressed in his dark, forbidding robes, he trudged down towards the school gates and once he was clear of them, he Apparated to the outskirts of the magical sector in Edinburgh. Orienting himself, Severus made his way in the direction of the University, walking along the edge of the quiet campus with only one destination in mind.

He swept through the foliage of the two willows, seeking out the gate. Severus had no idea what he was hoping to find, but an empty garden bench was not it. Granger was nowhere to be found, even after he had walked a quick circuit of the garden. It looked as though some foxglove and lupines had sprung up since the last time he had been there, and the soft pops of colour were a welcome addition to the overall colour palette.

Giving up on the idea of Granger being there, Severus removed his heavy teaching robes and sank down onto the bench dappled in afternoon sunlight. Draping his robe over the back of the bench, he gazed around to take in the garden from this altered perspective. It was a different sort of lovely from further down. He gazed upwards towards the sky and the trees that grew around created a little frame. There were clouds, but not so many that the blue sky was not visible.

Taking a deep breath, Severus closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the wind rustling through the trees, the sounds of crickets and other bugs, and of birds chirping somewhere nearby. It was relaxing, a sort of meditation. He sat there for an unknown amount of time, simply enjoying this opportunity to be alone.

Eventually he reopened his eyes, and perhaps shouldn't have been at all surprised to find Hermione Granger standing before him with a serene smile curving her lips.

'Hello, Professor,' she greeted.

'Professor Granger,' he replied, causing her smile to widen.

'Ah, you've found me out, I see,' she quipped.

'Indeed,' Severus drawled.

'What brings you by today?' Granger asked, taking a step back as he moved to stand from the bench.

Collecting his robes and draping it over one of his arms, Severus gazed down at her. 'I had some rather frustrating meetings this morning with some disgruntled parents who were there to ensure their precious progeny were afforded every possible luxury we can afford them during their school year,' he answered. 'After that I simply needed to…' Severus gestured around vaguely.

Granger nodded in understanding. 'Escape it all?' she offered, to which he nodded.

'I imagine at a university level, your interactions are largely with your students as opposed to their overbearing sires?'

She nodded. 'The only reason I accepted a teaching position, if I'm completely honest with you,' she said. And then she paused thoughtfully for a moment before saying, 'If–– if you are not opposed, would you care to have a coffee with me?'

Severus was taken aback by her invitation, and pondered for a moment. His afternoon was free, and if he was honest with himself, he was finding her to be not unpleasant company. Throwing caution to the wind, he nodded.

'All right.'

Granger led the way through the University town, walking for several blocks until they arrived at a cafe on the corner of a busy street. It was unassuming from the outside, but warm and welcoming within. Though summer was not quite over, the weather had been shifting noticeably cooler in the late afternoons and evenings. She ordered their coffee at the counter, and they took a seat at an empty table by the window. Severus looked around the place, a little out of his element. There he was, in a city he was not familiar with, having coffee with one of his former students on a whim – it was wholly unlike him.

'So,' she began, cutting through the awkwardness. 'At the risk of sounding presumptuous, may I call you Severus? I'd be a lot more comfortable if you'd call me Hermione, now that we are peers of a sort.'

Her bluster was punctuated with a slight flush of pink to her lovely cheeks. Her words sounded confident, but underneath it all, she was just as anxious about this as he was. This information actually helped to ease some of his discomfort.

'That is acceptable,' he answered. It was better if they were on equal footing.

'Wonderful,' she said with an incandescent smile.

'How did you happen to come across the hidden garden, Hermione?' Severus asked, finally asking the question that had been on his mind for weeks.

'Ah, well when I first moved here and started teaching, I found myself overwhelmed and a little stressed. I was out for a walk one day and I stumbled onto it,' Hermione recalled. 'It was in such a state of disrepair at the time–– a huge tangle of weeds and broken old furniture. It was oddly haunting, actually. So I slowly started to clear it out and restore it whenever I had a free moment.'

'Working with one's hands provides a certain kind of satisfaction,' he murmured.

Hermione nodded. 'It was a kind of therapy for me,' she admitted. 'You see, I had ended a relationship with someone before I moved here, and I think it was a good way to recover from that–– a welcome distraction.'

'Weasley?'

She shook her head. 'Heavens no,' she said with a chuckle. 'Can you imagine? Ron and I did try, but my decision to return to Hogwarts for my eighth year after the war put an end to that fairly swiftly.'

'There were many who thought you'd have a Quidditch team by now,' Severus intoned with a smirk.

Hermione shot him a wide-eyed look of distress. 'Merlin's hairy balls, no,' she said with a chuckle. 'Actually, Viktor Krum and I were together for a few years during my Apprenticeship. We'd become reacquainted through a mutual friend. But the long distance put a strain on things, and I never really could find it in myself to tell him I loved him. I always felt terrible when he said it to me because I just couldn't say it back.'

'Ah,' Severus said, genuinely surprised. Viktor Krum did not seem like the sort of man who'd be able to keep up with the woman sitting across from him.

'Sorry,' she said with a sheepish smile. 'I didn't mean to blurt out all of my romantic history.'

Severus shook his head. 'No matter,' he told her.

'So,' she began with an excited look in her eye. 'Could I convince you to tell me a little more about your work with Wolfsbane?'

Severus smirked. The Hermione Granger sitting across from him was different to the girl he had taught in many ways, but it was comforting to know her thirst for knowledge still remained. They sat and talked for a while as they drank their coffee. It wasn't until the sun began to set that he realised how long he had actually been in Edinburgh. He paid for the drinks on the way out despite her protests, and they walked in comfortable silence back towards the University so he could return to Hogwarts.

They stood at the Apparation point, Hermione turning to him with a nervous expression. 'You are welcome to come back here, to the garden that is, whenever you need a break,' she told him.

'I just might take you up on that,' he rumbled.

'Goodbye, Severus.'

'Goodbye, Hermione.'

It wasn't until he went to dinner that night with the staff, when Minerva had gawked at him and asked if he was all right, that Severus realised he was actually smiling.


Throughout the school year, Severus found himself taking advantage of Hermione's offer to visit the garden more often than he expected he would. Though, he admitted to himself, it became less about the garden and more about seeing her.

He was startled to find that it had been charmed to remain green and beautiful year round, unaffected by the seasons. It was a clever little bit of magic on her part; she really was exceptional. It wasn't even until after Christmas had come and gone that Severus finally realised that he had feelings for the lovely witch. Minerva had noticed before he did, and had pointed it out to him after he'd returned from exchanging gifts with Hermione on Christmas Eve, sitting in the same cafe they'd gone to at the end of summer.

It was ridiculous, really, falling for a woman so much younger than he was... especially one who had previously been his student. The amount of time since he had been her professor made it a little less uncomfortable, but he still felt like an old letch. Hermione had never once indicated that she'd be interested in pursuing anything beyond the tentative friendship they'd formed, so Severus simply accepted with resignation that his feelings would remain unrequited.

The rest of winter passed; soon spring was upon them and the students were all busy preparing for their important exams in May. During their occasional rendezvous, Severus and Hermione would exchange gripes about the quality of their students' work and commiserate with one another. He'd never realised he'd been missing this: someone that empathised with him and for him to be able to do the same in return.

By the time the exam period was over and June was upon them, circling back around to summer again, Severus felt as though he might have actually managed to fall in love with Hermione Granger. He'd never have thought it possible that first day she'd spoken to him in the garden. He'd never looked forward to seeing someone the way he did to seeing her, and though they didn't often have time to meet between teaching classes, marking exams, and her research, Severus coveted his time with her.

The school year ended for them both, and with more free time on his hands at the start of the summer vacation, Severus didn't know what to do with his time. He was far too distracted to work on his research, but did not want to monopolise Hermione's time. He was also terrified of giving himself away, especially given how easily Minerva had managed to deduce his feelings with regard to Hermione. So he waited for the symposium to invite him to join the panel once more, and in July, returned to Edinburgh.

On the first day of panels and addresses Severus only had one to attend, though he sat in on another that Hermione was involved in and felt a surge of pride at how beautifully she handled herself. When the afternoon came around, he found himself making his way to the secret garden, hoping to see her face-to-face.

Pushing the gate open, he found her seated on the bench reading as she so often did, looking every bit as serene and other-wordly as she had the very first time he had glimpsed her there.

'Hello, Severus,' she greeted with a smile, looking up from her book when she saw him approach.

'Hermione,' he replied with a nod. 'You spoke very well today.'

She beamed at him and Severus thought his heart might stop. 'Thank you! I must admit, it was my first time and more than a little nerve-wracking.'

'You get used to it,' he murmured.

Hermione scooted across on the bench a little to make room for him, patting the space beside her. 'Sit,' she entreated. 'I want to know how you've been – it's been quite a few weeks since I've seen you here. Have you been busy?'

Severus did as he was bid, stiffly sitting beside her. He caught a waft of her scent as a light breeze picked it up and carried it to him. 'I've been trying to tie up the loose ends in the aftermath of the school year,' he answered with a shrug. 'I had planned to go abroad for a few weeks perhaps – for a change of pace.'

Hermione smiled. 'Where do you think you might go?'

'Perhaps South America for some ingredient inspiration. I've reached a roadblock in my Wolfsbane research,' he told her.

'It sounds like just the thing you need.'

'And you?' he asked. 'What are your plans for the rest of the summer?'

'I have my research position to consider, but I was also planning to take a short break. Perhaps we will run into one another?' she answered with a teasing smile.

Severus swallowed the lump in his throat, suddenly nervous. Why was he so bad at this? 'Perhaps we––' he began, before shaking his head and pausing, his lips thinning.

'Go on,' Hermione said, her lower lip finding its way between her teeth.

Steeling himself for rejection, Severus took a deep breath to fortify himself. If he didn't ask now, he'd never know. Not knowing where they stood was a particular agony he didn't want to suffer through.

'Say we didn't run into one another accidentally?' he said quickly.

'You mean, make a plan to see one another?' she clarified.

Severus nodded, anxiety twisting his stomach in knots. 'If you are not opposed.'

Hermione expelled a sigh, turning her body to face him better. 'Severus, just so we're clear here, are you asking me on a date?'

She didn't sound disgusted by the idea, much to his relief. Clenching his hands by his sides, Severus finally relented and nodded. 'I understand if you aren't interested––'

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before his arms were filled by her suddenly, and her mouth was pressed to his in a silencing kiss. His eyes widened, startled that she was half-way sitting on his lap, her soft, sweet lips moving over his. His brain finally caught up and he returned the kiss, not taking it further but simply enjoying the feeling of her touch. She pulled back and smiled, her brown eyes sparkling with a joy he was baffled that he'd managed to put there.

'I'm very interested,' Hermione told him with certainty.

His heart soared, and for the first time in his life, Severus felt completely at peace.


Fin.


Beta by Aurora_Borealis3406 & AnneCaterina.