Chap 8: I'd like to know you, please.

Hermione awoke to the smell of fruit, eggs, and coffee the next morning. She did a double take at her surroundings to make sure that the day before had not just been one big dream, no she thought that would be a nightmare. But to her dismay it was real. "Well, this looks halfway decent" she grumbled looking at the tray of food sitting on the table across from the bed. She got up and went to sit down to eat her food, she was rather perished, due to the events of last night, and the past couple of days, Hermione had not been able to sit down and actually enjoy a meal. Taking a bite of the egg and drinking some of the warmed coffee, she glanced up to see Severus standing in the doorway.

"I hope you like the breakfast, I had Gumdrop bring it up for you, since I went to the great hall to eat, and you looked so peaceful, waking you could wait." he spoke to her in a voice that was something new to her, it was a normal one, it was not cold or maliced, like he had always sounded in his classes and around school. 'Maybe this will not be so bad, living here with him for the rest of my days, maybe we could even get a new house somewhere out in the country' she thought for a second, only to hit herself mentally in the head 'Hermione, this is Snape your thinking about here, not one of your friends!' "Thank you, Severus, it is very nice, I have not had a proper meal in days." She stated, thinking it best to keep her thoughts to herself for the time being.

"Well, when you are done with eating, I was hoping you could get dressed for a stroll thru stores in London for clothes, as you do not have any but a few garments, I have supplied. If you would like to of course. I'm not going to pressure you out in the open, this soon, if you do not want to go out." He wanted her to be as comfortable as possible in the situation. Severus knew pushing her to far, or making her do things while away from the prying eyes of the dark lord and his servants would only make her resist their whole cause and plan. Contrary to popular belief, Snape was not a man who liked to live his life in misery, and the dark. He had a country side estate in Scotland, that he had inherited when his mother had passed a few years back. The professor loved the home but had never had anyone to share it with.

Maybe now was the time to go there, and open it up to let it air a bit. It could not hurt to have his future companion living in a nice mansion, instead of these dungeons, he had called home for most of his adult life. The mansion, would also be a more convenient place to raise a family. It had more room and more resources. Pulled out of his thoughts, he listened to her response to his earlier announcement.

"Yes, Severus I think a little shopping, and fresh air would do me well. Perhaps we could venture to muggle London, and I will show you the place where I was raised. I think it might help me coap with all that is going on right now. Even though my parents are no longer here, rest their souls, I would like to be somewhere, that has never held bad feelings for me." She told him, hoping he would agree with her, and let her go see her old house. Hermione felt as though she needed some kind of closure to her old world, to go on with this new one.

"That sounds grand, we can do that after we have gotten you some new things, there is also somewhere I would like to show you, that no one other than my family has seen before. I think you might think it "homey", if you will."

"That also sounds nice, I'll go get ready now, thank you again for the breakfast Severus. I never saw something like that coming from you, I guess there are sides to everyone, that no one has seen before." And with that she got up from the table, gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed for the lavatory. "Oh, and Severus the 'you know who' won't be there will he, this place you are taking me to?"

"Wouldn't dream of it Mione, I wouldn't dream of it." And with that being said, he watched her disappear in the bathroom. He stood there shocked for a few moments, then said to himself "I think I would like to get to know her more..." and then strode off to ready himself for their trip.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoys! Thank you to the readers who reviewed. I got 3 reviews that were all positive, and had to write you guys another chapter. So here it is, next chapter will be the shopping trip, and the pasts of Hermione, and Severus. R&R.

-Jess