Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or ideas which you recognise as being from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. The plot of this story is my own, but I have no intention of making any money from it.

Chapter 6

"Very ladylike." He wandlessly conjured a serviette with a sarcastic smirk, which he handed to her with a slight bow.

Hermione's mind was racing. What, how, but... How could he know? Have I put the whole cause in jeopardy, what's going to happen, oh god, oh god...

She went for outrage, in the hope that he'd simply guessed on the off-chance. "How dare you! Calling a perfect stranger a 'witch', indeed! And what the hell is a 'Muggle'? It sounds like either a swear word or a disease!"

But Snape simply looked at her, expression unchanging except for a small frown which creased the skin above his eyes. "I meant 'witch' as in 'woman of magical ability', and you hardly need me to tell you that the other definition does not apply to a beautiful and serene woman such as yourself. And since I am certain that you are one, you know perfectly well what a 'Muggle' is."

The compliment flew straight over her head as she stared at him dumbly. What the hell was she going to do now? Since he didn't appear to be either actively hexing her, or kidnapping her, Hermione could only presume that he did not know her identity. What would be a plausible cover story, if he hadn't figured out her agenda?

"What gave me away?" she asked, playing for time.

"Your mind. When I tried Legilimency, I could tell that you were hiding something. You're a good Occlumens, but it takes training against Legilimency specifically to manage that, so you must be a witch."

Hermione's eyes widened. Oh shit. It must have been while we were dancing. She usually kept up a train of innocuous surface thoughts for anyone attempting to read her mind to see, but she could only guess that the sheer shock of dancing with Severus Snape had made her mind concentrate on that rather than keeping up appearances. Perhaps when she had strengthened her barriers, she hadn't put up the final layer, in panic and confusion? On the plus side, since he was being so nice to her, he clearly hadn't read her mind, so her Occlumency was good enough to keep the best in the business out. Not that he would ever say so outright, she was sure. It was quite gratifying, really, to know that she had bested him, and he knew that she knew.

However, the fact that he had tried to read her mind at all was something that she didn't like. What was his motivation? "What, Severus Snape, do you think gave you the right to try and read my mind anyway?" The anger was quite genuine.

He bowed once more. "I do apologise, however, it is a force of habit for me to check the mind of any new person I meet, in case they turn out to be an enemy. I thought that whilst dancing would be an unobtrusive time to do so."

She raised her eyebrows, wondering about the truth of that statement. She was too shocked even to properly react to the fact that Severus Snape had just apologised. That was, from her memory of conversations with Minerva, about as common as seeing Nargles. "So, does that mean that you were wandering through the minds of everyone in that room?" She really hoped that the others' Occlumency shields had been up better than hers.

"No, only those to whom I was interested."

"Interested?"

She could have sworn that he blushed a little. "You looked as bored as I felt. And I thought it would be a good conversation starter if I could be your knight in shining armour and save you from that horrendous egg-headed humanoid with whom you were dancing."

She giggled at the image of him in shining armour (which somehow became tin foil in her brain), until she remembered. SEVERUS SNAPE, DUMBLEDORE KILLER! Wait... is he... flirting? She tried to keep the shocked look out of her eyes.

Looking uncomfortable, he clearly made a conscious decision to change the topic. Unfortunately, it was to one even more uncomfortable for her. "May I ask why you were trying to hide your identity?"

"Well," she decided to go with the first explanation that her brain had suggested. His reaction might tell her what he suspected. "I was a Muggleborn witch, and my parents moved to the USA when I was ten, so I studied at the Pure Spring Academy in the USA. After graduating, I stayed in there for a while, but decided to return to the UK about ten years ago. In the USA, the muggle and magical worlds are not so separate as here, and I have always felt more comfortable in muggle surroundings due to my upbringing, so I decided to live in a muggle community. I haven't really had much contract with wizards here – I decided early on that the state of muggle Britain was so terrible, I had to do something about it, so I became an MP – then that kind of precluded me from having owls flying in my window. I'm perfectly happy using magic only occasionally and being a Muggle most of the time, so..." she gave a weak grin, hoping that her story would pass muster. "As for the Occlumency, surely someone who feels the need to check every mind he meets for enemies will understand the desire for privacy. Force of habit means that I keep my mind blocked at all times, even though I live among muggles."

He looked at her for a long time. "Well, that sounds plausible," he said. Typical. No reaction to gauge from... must not forget that I'm dealing with double-agent superspy Severus Snape. Who managed to fool Dumbledore.

She decided, since he still wasn't hexing her, to take that as a positive sign. She was hoping that now he had figured out her birth status, he'd react in disgust and run away in horror as any pure-blood supremacist should. Though this meant that she'd have to change her identity again, perhaps move out of London... plans were already starting to form. She decided to change the subject, as she presumed her alter-ego would do.

"So, Severus, what's your story?"

"Well, that school I mentioned in Scotland is actually Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The rest is all true too – except I was a Potions Professor before my current post. Lucius Malfoy is actually a wizard, by the way, as is his son Draco."

Hermione tried to look surprised. "Oh? I had no idea."

"Yes, but he... wishes to be more integrated into the muggle world by becoming its prime minister, I believe."

Hermione snorted inwardly. "Wishes to be more integrated", Malfoy? Honestly. How is his nose not growing ten feet long?

Outwardly, she put on a worried expression which was actually not far from her inward feelings. "You won't tell him about me, will you? It's just... I've spent so long trying to fit into the Muggle world that I'm not sure that I'm ready to leave all that behind just yet."

He gave her that searching look again. "No, I will not tell him if you do not wish it. It would perhaps be inadvisable."

Inadvisable? Understatement of the century, he'd kill me as soon as look at me. Hermione searched for a new topic. "You say you taught potions? My personal favourite was always charms, but I try to keep up with the latest developments in all the major disciplines."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you consider major disciplines?"

"Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."

"Not divination? I believe that that would commonly be added to such a list."

She snorted in derision. "Load of bloody fakes, ruining peoples lives with their crap."

He laughed, then. She was slightly surprised at that. It was a genuine laugh, not a cackle. She found herself involuntarily joining in, the irony of the situation not escaping her. They were only here because some mad old bat had made a prophecy that only Harry could kill Voldemort. Had Dumbledore not taken that prophecy so seriously, they might have been in with a fighting chance last time. As it was, no one was allowed to go near Voldemort but Harry, who was far too young at the time to do any damage.

When they had recovered, he looked at her with a hint of a challenge in his eyes. "So, you say that you keep up with potions developments. Have you read the most recent Potions Review?"

"Of course. What did you think about the idea of the improved Polyjuice Potion?"

"It won't work."

"Why ever not? I agree that in the format they set out, it would be untenable, but what about combining with a charm which would..."

There followed a complex and in-depth conversation which ended up ranging from Potions to Charms to the theory of Magic itself. Hermione found that it was the most enjoyable discussion she had had in a long while – there was never time to talk magic with the Order, not that any of her friends would have wanted to, and the Muggles she worked with would be off-limits for this conversation, for obvious reasons. But it was more than that – she enjoyed having a conversation with someone who followed her thought process, but debated every idea she had. Just for the sake of the argument, she took joy in proposing controversial theories and defending them. Sometimes, she thought that he was doing the same – he couldn't really be suggesting that bezoars be a restricted ingredient, surely!

Watching him become ever more animated was also extremely amusing. That eyebrow appeared to have a life of its own. Hermione had to keep reminding herself that this was Severus Snape, murderer. Whenever she saw Dumbledore's body falling, she felt the old anger rising up, and made her points just a little more vehemently. The old anger also silenced the little bit of her soul which was now muttering. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone to talk to like this all the time...

They were both surprised when the grandfather clock in the ballroom struck midnight, loudly. Neither of them had moved away from the balcony, or looked at anyone else all evening.

Remembering herself, she stood up from the bench where they had seated themselves mid-way though arguing about the merits of transfiguration over potions when transforming one's appearance. Snape, too, stood.

"I really must go," she said. "My taxi is booked to come now, and I need to get home. And before you suggest apparition, I need to be seen to leave in the car by all my Muggle colleagues. And then, the taxi driver would be suspicious if I didn't turn up, and..." She shook her head as she realised that she was still in argument mode, proposing her case and dismantling his arguments before he had even disagreed.

Rolling his eyes a little, as he had quite often over the past two hours, he interrupted. "I understand. How very Cinderella this moment is."

She raised an eyebrow at the Muggle reference. It was then she noticed the look on his face. If Hermione didn't know better, she'd say he looked nervous.

"Would you have dinner with me on Tuesday night?"

Her eyes widened. That she hadn't been expecting. Not after the revelation about her blood status. "Um..."

"I do not mean to pressure you," Snape continued, "but I would appreciate the opportunity to... discuss things further with you. And..." he flushed even more, "I asked you to dance tonight because I find you extremely attractive."

Wow. Way not to pressure me. Hermione ran through the potential implications in her head – she needed to keep Snape on side, otherwise he might reveal her status to the rest of the Death Eaters and they would either just kill her outright, put her into slavery, or start asking questions. None of which was a good outcome. On the other hand, a date with Snape...

Her long silence had clearly unnerved him. "I apologise for my forwardness, I am not usually so forthright, I am not sure what came over me, it is clear that you have no interest in me, I should have known, I have always been unattractive, a woman of your beauty would never, you probably have a partner already..."

It was the closest she had ever come to seeing him babble. Decision made, she grabbed his arm as he went to turn. "Wait."

He paused.

"I... was just considering. I mean, it's so long since I've been on a date, and longer still since I've been on one with a wizard. I wasn't sure."

She took a deep breath. "But I'd love to give it a go. I'd like to get to know you better."

Screwing up all her courage, Hermione stood on tiptoe and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. And that was the first time that she saw Severus Snape smile.