"Daddy?" Jane repeated once again. Snape looked down at her and smiled. Hermione had never seen such a look on the face of her former potions professor. It was tender and loving and you could see he adored the child.
"It's all right Janey, I was surprised that's all," Snape reassured his daughter. He turned to Hermione and said, "let's walk Ms Granger." Jane skipped on ahead of the two adults as Snape faced Hermione, His scowl was firmly back in place and he hissed at her, "What in the name of Merlin's great-aunt Mildred are you doing here Miss Granger?"
Silently cursing her lack of a plan for the fourteenth time that day Hermione flinched at the vitriolic tone in Snape's voice. "I'm looking for you Professor."
"Why the hell would you do that?"
"I…um, well, you see, I, we…Albus asked me to come."
Snape sighed, "I can't deal with this right now, I'm playing tonight, I have to drop off Jane at the babysitter's and she cannot know about my past. Will you meet me when I finish?" He looked at her darkly and continued, "I turned my back on that world Miss Granger, don't for a minute believe that I want to come back."
Hermione assured him that she would see him later that night. They arranged to meet at the café and Hermione walked away, a thoughtful look on her face.
In the ten years since that fateful night on top of the Astronomy tower Hermione Granger had done a lot of growing up. In the days that followed the ultimate betrayal it was she who looked after Harry, she who restrained Ron from doing anything crazy, who comforted Ginny. It was Hermione who figured out where the Horcruxes were, and it was her who stood beside Harry as he quietly killed the terror of their time.
She had calmly weighed up her options, asked the Headmistress for a recommendation and went out into the world. She worked hard, perhaps too hard as she immersed herself in her work. She tried not to think about her childhood, which was lost – taken away from her by a monster. Since she was 11 years old she had been fighting for the light and it showed on her face. She was an often serious young woman with ambition worthy of a Slytherin. Her work had consumed her and she had used it to her advantage. Used it to forget. She could hardly remember the awkward teenager who had gone to America to study, people commented on her self-reliance and maturity. She had forgotten how to be young.
A couple of years after Dumbledore reappeared he sought her out when she failed to appear at yet another Ministry event. He gently told her to stop what she was doing before she harmed herself. His grandfatherly concern broke her heart and she sobbed on his shoulder. "When you left us you made life even worse, everyone else was falling apart and I had to be strong, and now I'm so tired of it but can't stop. Why did you have to leave us? And why did you have to take Snape with you? He would have been strong with me, he could have helped with the search. We needed him, I needed him!"
It was then that Hermione and Albus stopped being headmaster and student and started to become friends. Together they tried to overcome her insecurities and she became slightly less stressed by life. She still had an answer for everything though, which made some people want to strangle her. She was still impatient with those whose brains did not work as fast as hers did. Dumbledore had been able to stop her from overworking, he had suggested her stay in NZ, and now he had sent her to Snape. She walked along the street considering the man who she had met that afternoon, he had changed from the cold man she had once trusted, then despised. It had been many years since she had changed her opinion of him. In his retirement Dumbledore liked nothing more than speaking of his ex pupils, and Severus Snape was one of his favourite topics. He thought that he had failed the young man who had come to him in terror so many years before. He had encouraged him to spy and in the end had made him promise to save Draco Malfoy. He had made Severus Snape the most despised man in Britain. Hermione had heard so much about the young man Snape once was. She wondered at the man he had become.
And he had a daughter! This was incredible to Hermione, she thought he hated children. But there was no escaping the fact he obviously adored the child. She wandered into her hotel room in a daze wondering about the man she had met earlier.
A few hours later Hermione walked into the Spanish Café, ordered a coffee and took a seat in the shadows. It was a casual place, brightly coloured walls, comfortable chairs and a very relaxed looking Severus Snape playing his guitar, a glass of wine beside him. The expression on his face was one of absolute peace and Hermione worried that her being there might be harmful to that. He played beautifully and with passion, it was not perfect by any means, but it would have taken a more experienced listener than Hermione to realise that.
She was enchanted, in a few short hours she had seen love and peace on Snape's face. She doubted very much that anyone back home had seen them at all. She quietly sipped her coffee and waited for Snape to finish.
"That last track was, 'Capricho Arabe,' said Severus as the audience applauded. He went and got another glass of wine then walked up behind Hermione. "Now, what am I going to do with you miss Granger?"
Hermione gave a startled squeak and mumbled "still creeping up on people then."
He glared at her and sat down. "I think you're the one who's been following people, now tell me, what do you want?"
"Well, how much do you know about what has happened at home?"
"This is home Miss Granger, but I've heard some things about Britain. I've never wanted to go back, I can't imagine that I would be welcome."
"OK, well for a few months after Albus…after you left we were in disarray, Harry told the order of the prophecy and we had no clue, no leadership as to what to do next. Then Remus Lupin, strangely enough, took charge, we were expecting Moody to do so, but Voldemort killed him just a few days later. Remus took charge, he told us all to go back to School, which was the safest place, my parents went into hiding for two years, I hate to think what Voldemort would have done to them. We researched and found the Horcruxes, as we disabled them Voldemort got progressively weaker. Finally after we killed Nagani, Harry challenged Voldemort to a duel. He used the sword of Gryffindor, it was over in minutes."
"So, are you sure he is gone forever?" Severus interrupted.
"Professor, you know that there will always be evil in the world, but yes he is dead and will not be rising again." Hermione replied with a shrug.
"I thought so, the mark is gone," he said softly in a tone of wonder. "I will always be grateful to Potter for that. Was he hurt?"
No, not really. Though he was understandably upset that he had to kill a man, he recognised Tom Riddle had long since lost his humanity. He has healed now, he married Ginny Weasley and they've started a family…triplets, would you believe?"
Severus shuddered at the thought and Hermione smiled at him in agreement, "yes, they are a handful. Sometimes I think Minerva will retire before those three reach Hogwarts, just to avoid them. Harry is a lot more sensible since he got over Sirius's death. Remus is a much better parental figure than Sirius could ever have been."
"And Minerva, is she alright?"
"Well, she was very angry with you for a while! She is a fine leader for Hogwarts, she speaks of you often."
"I always thought you were destined to marry Weasly."
"So did everyone else Professor, but they all forgot to ask me. He's my friend, but without Harry we really have nothing to say to each other. He's in Hawaii now, thankfully, not with me."
He smiled at that and Hermione looked surprised, "I don't think I've seen you smile before today sir."
"I had very little reason to smile when I knew you Miss Granger."
She looked pained, "When Albus reappeared he was furious with us all. He couldn't believe we didn't trust you enough to keep you safe with us. He was astonished that Harry thought you had killed him."
"I told him it would be that way. I guess I thought of it as a perfect opportunity to escape. I walked away from the wizarding world that night. I couldn't bear to be near Draco, Voldemort would have been furious that I had done the boy's task. I felt the mark burning every night for two years. I spent time in South America mainly, then a friend asked me to come to New Zealand. I've been here ever since. I've no idea why I'm telling you all of this Miss Granger, but I trust it will go no further."
"You have my word," she stated, "you don't owe me an explanation. Though I did miss you when you went away."
He frowned, "Why on earth would you do that?"
"I'm as qualified as you now Professor," she smiled, "and you can't possibly believe that Professor Slughorn inspired me to do that."
He smirked and raised one eyebrow, "indeed Miss Granger."
Just then the manager of the café came up to them. He grinned at Snape and said, "Seb, stop flirting and go home, we're closing if you hadn't noticed."
Snape looked around at the empty café and stood up, "Miss Granger, it looks like it's time to leave. But first, can I introduce you to my business partner Jamie, Jamie Atwood, this is Hermione Granger, she was one of my students in Scotland."
They exchanged pleasantries and walked out of the café. As they strolled towards the hotel Hermione looked puzzled, "Seb?"
"It's easier this way, Severus is a bit of a mouthful, I'm Sebastian Prince, café owner, part time potions maker and father, I gave up my fathers name, he deserves no link to my daughter."
"I'm not sure why Professor, but I'm glad. Can we continue to talk tomorrow?"
"Seb, call me Seb. I'll come by in the morning. Goodnight Miss Granger."
"Goodnight Seb, and my name's Hermione."
It's so exciting to get reviews! This is a story about two people changed by circumstances and the passage of time. I'm pretty sure it will be an angst free zone, I seem incapable of writing it.