Snape was gone! Hermione looked around wildly trying to see him, but she knew he was gone. The faint pop of his disapparation had sounded and she could no longer feel the warmth of his body near hers. The sad eyes of Albus Dumbledore looked out from the fire, all sign of his earlier twinkling extinguished by the flight of his former friend.

Snape was gone! Hermione thought back over the last two days, so much had happened between them in such a short space in time. They spent the morning confessing their pain and the atmosphere had changed in the afternoon to one of strong attraction. Snape had laughed! He had kissed her, she had kissed him! Somehow she had reached through a chink in his armour and found someone who intrigued her. For some odd reason they had trusted each other completely.

Snape was gone! No he bloody wasn't! The git was standing outside the window smirking at her. Through some rudimentary sign language she figured that he wanted her to get rid of Albus before he killed him for real this time.

Not wanting to make a murderer of the man who only moments before had had his tongue down her throat she turned back to Albus with a slight look of confusion on her face. He was no longer twinkling. "Too much too soon?" He finally asked.

Hermione smiled gently at him. "I think he'll come back one day Albus. Just not quite yet."

"I hope so dear!" His twinkle was slowly returning as he asked her, "And how are you young lady? I must say that you two took about ten years off my life when I arrived this afternoon. Now that was a shock!"

Hermione grinned rather sheepishly at him. "You know, for an old guy the man can kiss!"

The look of false outrage on the face of the man outside the window was priceless, obviously he could hear the conversation quite clearly. Hermione smiled at Albus and told him that she had better go and find him, again!

He replied, "Be careful Hermione." And then he flickered away.

Hermione looked at the man outside her window. His eyes were heavy with regret and a ghost of a smile lingered in the corner of his mouth. They stared at each other, both confused as to how they were feeling. Then Hermione made a decision. She ran out of the door and into the arms of Former Professor Severus Snape. He picked her up in a bone-crunching hug as if he was afraid to let go. His face was buried in her hair as he whispered to her. "I was never a coward Hermione. Many other things, but never a coward. I just couldn't bear to see him. There are so many things I regret every day. Seeing him is a reminder of all that."

She reached up and stroked his face; his breath caught at the tenderness of the gesture and he softly kissed the side of her hand that was touching his mouth. "Today has been surprising Severus. Really surprising actually." And she kissed him again.

That night Hermione reflected on her day. After Albus's rather awkward visit Snape had needed to go back to Taupo to pick up Jane from school and do some work in the café. Hermione had not gone with him, he had kissed her tenderly, then told her he would see her the next day and mentioned that he'd like to properly introduce her to Jane. A ghost of a smile passed over his face as he stared into her eyes and then disapperated away, leaving Hermione feeling even more confused than ever.

Hermione thought about going back to her hotel room in Taupo but decided she would rather spend the night in her own bed. Putting a DVD on she tried to get interested in the movie. But she couldn't concentrate. She really wanted someone to talk to about the events of the last few days. Sighing to herself she decided she could afford the expense of an international floo visit home to the UK for a few days. But who to visit? Her first thought was Harry, but although married he still had the emotional range of a teaspoon, plus he despised Severus Snape, that ruled out Ginny as well, she couldn't visit her and not see Harry. Ron? Not a chance! He'd be repulsed by the thought of Hermione kissing anyone, let alone his former professor, plus he was in Hawaii and she wanted to go home. She considered her parents, but thought they would be horrified that she was thinking of a man so much older than herself. Plus they would panic if she just turned up out of the blue. She didn't want to talk to Albus, who would just twinkle at her, or Mrs Weasly who would fuss. She decided finally that her best option would be Remus Lupin and his wife. Their friendship was really important to her and they wouldn't get hysterical about exactly who she had kissed that morning.

She then wrote a message for Snape, agonising over what she would say to him, finally after several drafts she wrote simply;

Severus,

Today was incredible, I have really enjoyed getting to know you better. I'm looking forward to spending more time with you soon and I really want to meet Jane. I need to go home to the UK for a few days – I need to think things through. I promise I'll be back soon.

Hermione xxx

She sent the message off on the leg of her owl, left some food out for it when it returned and then stepped towards the fireplace. Taking out some floo powder she took a deep breath and resolutely said, "New Zealand International Floo Terminal." In a flash, she was gone.

A/N: Sometimes Real Life can be a pain in the arse! It's been so long since I have posted, I hope some of you are still interested in my little story.

Coming really soon…Will Lupin Faint? Will Hermione ever come back? Will Snape actually smile? Will Hermione realise she needs some girl friends? Will it ever stop raining in NZ? And when is Snufflebunny-Sev going to talk to Albus?

I'll let you know!