Disclaimer I own nothing from the books...but everything else is mine! So that means umm, yeah J.K. only has Hermione and Severus and the nice distant thought of Hogwarts and other suitable plot devices and peoples. Hehe.

A/N Ahh the plot finally appears!! Sort of...for two or three sentences, umm yeah. (Runs and hides from reviewers)

I Can't Believe It Chapter 5
By Tigress Burning

Severus's hand shook as he took the small, pink coloured bottle from Hermione and lifted her foot to his lap. "I'll do it for you...if you would like." he said, realizing how intimate a gesture this was. If she said no...the pain he would feel...but then the pain suddenly lifted as she smiled and agreed softly. "Yes, thank you." Unaware of her own thoughts, he turned his attentions to her feet. For some reason his heart was beating a staccato beat, like a bird cornered by a cat, struggling desperately to survive and escape.

He had never thought he was a "foot man", preferring instead bottoms and bosoms equally. But this was as intimate as he had ever been with Hermione and he thought that if he died tomorrow he would be happy with just the memory of her intakes of breath as he touched the arch of her foot, her slight tremble while he cupped her heel.

All the next morning he treasured the memory. Hermione was showering and with deft sleight of hand whilst shaving he pocketed her wedding rings and hid them...not enough she would actually be frantic, but enough to where she would have to look for them. As he heard the children thundering down the stairs he snuck out of the bathroom. Sixth House had ten children living in five separate bedrooms on the second floor. Tony and Edward roomed together as did Albert and Michael, Robert and Justin, Holly and Marisa, and Kellie and Diana.

"Severus, darling, will you walk ahead with the children so I can finish dressing?" Hermione called just as he knew she would.

"Certainly Hermione, see you for lunch dear?" he asked, almost unable to keep his smirk to himself.

"Yes." she called as he retreated down the hallway from their suite to the kitchen, gathering the children and leaving for the day. Walking to the school grounds he stopped just outside of their building and turned to his House.

"Before you go inside children I had something I wanted to ask you. I was planning on getting together a evening supper picnic for our House. But I need your help. I don't know what is authentic American picnic food." The kids immediately glanced at each other.

"Fried chicken."

"Sandwiches."

"Macaroni Salad."

"Baked beans and chips."

"Dessert!!"

The suggestions flew quickly and furiously but all seemed to agree that the dessert was most important, at least to them.

Severus pointed to Tony, Edward, Holly and Kellie. "I will get the chicken from the main cooks. Can you four make the other dishes as you suggested them? Then the other six can gather pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags and place them on the front lawn. Wait till Mrs. Snape is upstairs after school though okay? I'm going to make certain she has a tiny bit of marking to do to ensure she will be occupied while we ready everything."

The children ran off to class, already excited and beginning to plan. Severus turned to walk to his classroom in the Advanced Wing and ran into Megan Daniels, the Headmistress of Foltenburg and the Transfiguration teacher. She was a small woman, only five feet and two inches tall. She was a tiny bit plump, with glasses and long, thick brown hair usually kept in a ponytail. Only when you saw her eyes did she stand out in any way. A vibrant blue, they shone from behind her glasses, taking in everything about her beloved school. Viewing this woman, you almost could not believe she was fully as powerful as Albus. But just as the Head of Hogwarts was, so was Megan. Every child who knew her, every person who met her, loved her immediately.

"Already plotting, Severus?" she asked, smiling upwards to him. Turning, she began walking with him towards the building across the Quad, taking two steps to every one of his own.

"Only about supper tonight. The children and I are planning a picnic to surprise Hermione. As I'm not sure what is proper for American picnics, I needed their help." he replied.

"Of course. A picnic, you say? He nodded a affirmative.

"We should have a movie for everyone this evening. All the Houses can come to the Quad after their dinners, or picnics. That penguin movie, Happy Feet? Yes, that will do nicely." she said with a slight nod in his direction. "We can project it onto the front of one of the buildings, just like a drive-in when I was a child. We'll have to close the shutters so the picture is unbroken, or I can just transfigure it so there are no windows." As they approached the Advanced Wing and saw the students standing outside, Megan drew her wand. Muttering "Obvolvo Foris" she swish-flicked at the building in front of them and the entire facade smoothed over. A "Finite Incantatem" later and the building was restored. "Yes, that will do nicely. Thank you Severus, I will make the announcement at lunch." The plump Headmistress turned to her own students and began to shoo them into class before suddenly turning.

"Oh, and Severus?" she called. He turned her way. "I really am quite pleased with how you and Hermione are fitting in here. I don't believe I will give you back to Albus next year if this continues!"

For the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon as he planned for their outing with the children, he remembered last night. The classes he taught were surprised of course, but nothing near the apoplectic shock his Hogwarts students would have shown. The older students simply assumed that Mr. and Mrs. Snape had "enjoyed" each others company the night before. Severus was amused. How crude children thought; even children only 7 years younger than his wife (that word was finally spoken not with shock, but with possession) It was a well kept secret that Severus used Legilimency on his students. It was one of the reasons there had never been any truly serious accidents in his labs and how he always managed to catch Hermione about to help Neville. However sneaky it was, it was a skill he was not going to stop using just because he no longer happened to be a Death Eater. And wasn't it useful now that he and Hermione were here in America; working to find and destroy the last outposts of Death Eaters which Voldemort had tried to plant ten years earlier in the nineties.

They hadn't had but two leads yet, both were near the New England coast in small towns. Over the weekends they had apparated over in disguise, but both leads completely panned out. The cabin, and house where each led were obviously abandoned and hadn't been visited for several years. They were quickly running out of leads but Severus thought the next one they were going to investigate would be a bit firmer. It would be sending them to California in time for the Thanksgiving hols. He wasn't sure why this holiday was quite so important but as it would give them four days instead of two he could really find no fault with it. At least it would be in a few more weeks. That would give him extra time to convince Hermione he could be the man for her. Afterall, he loved her.

A/N2 Hello faithful reviewers!! Well, I have decided. I am going to be making up spells for this fic. "Obvolvo Foris", which Megan uses to transfigure the windows of the Main Hall is actually Latin. They mean to cover opening. Also, Voldemort is officially gone but as we know, any group like that often has nasty little cells all scattered around even after it is destroyed, hence Hermione and Severus's "mission". Not too sure of if I will have any actual fighting, it's kind of up in the air as I do all my chapter writing at work in between my calls. (I'm a telemarketer for a satellite cable company in the US. ) Last but not least, there is a ermine familiar for whomever can find out what food is "proper" for a British picnic. They are kind of like a ferret but much softer and less smelly. You can find a pic by Googling "Ermine". For some reason it won't let me put the URL in the chapter. Please include a URL of where you found the information so I can put the info on my favorites. I'm sure I will be using it next chapter!!