Summary: Back to 'real' life.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Now we delve into the pining stage…

Chapter 8

After a few more hours on the sea, they dined at Jean and Ted's favorite Italian restaurant–Grossi Florentino–one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Now they were back at the Granger home standing in the sitting room, saying goodbye.

Hermione hugged her mother and pulled back. "Thanks, Mum. This has been lovely."

"Don't be a stranger. I know you're busy, but we'd love to see you more."

"You can visit us too, you know," Hermione advised.

"We will. Ted and I will plan something–maybe around Christmas."

"Perfect," Hermione said.

She hugged her again. "I love you, Mum."

"Love you too, dear," Jean said.

Meanwhile, Ted was hugging Severus. Severus stiffened at the show of affection, but his arms went around Ted.

"It's nice to have you in the family, Severus. We look forward to seeing you again," Ted said as he squeezed Severus, making him blush.

They broke apart and Ted pulled Hermione into a great bear hug.

"Love you, pumpkin."

"Love you, too, Dad. I'll miss you."

Jean went over to Severus and hugged him tightly, too. Severus was ready this time, and naturally put his arms around Hermione's mum and hugged her back.

"Thank you for opening your home to me," he said. "I enjoyed my stay."

"It was a pleasure having you. Now don't be a stranger. You help her to get the time to visit."

Severus smirked. "I will."

Casting a Tempus charm, Severus pulled out the Portkey.

"It's time, Hermione."

He held out the bent and empty soda can, and Hermione reached out and put her hand on it. She looked back at her parents and smiled at them.

"We'll see you soon," she said before Severus and she disappeared.

The Portkey deposited them in Severus' office. Hermione smiled at Severus and hugged him quickly.

"Thank you again. This trip went perfectly. I think my parents have learned a lot about me and will not be so naggy in the future."

Severus pulled away from her and dropped his hands, setting up a more professional stance between the two of them. Their 'relationship' was over. It was back to work, and he was her boss, and they were just friends.

"You're welcome. I actually enjoyed myself. I was surprised at how open and accepting your parents were. They made me a part of your family, and that's something that I wasn't expecting. It is something I am not used to seeing."

"They were real about that. You're a part of our family forever now."

"Until we break up. When will you tell them?"

"They will still think of you as family. I'll probably wait a couple of weeks, though."

Severus nodded. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts to decompress the week and everything that happened.

"Well, I'm exhausted. I will see you at breakfast tomorrow."

Hermione's lips thinned but she nodded. "Tomorrow. Rest well."

"You too."

Hermione walked to her room feeling a little down. The past week had been wonderful, but now it was evident that Severus was back to just being the Headmaster and her friend. She mourned the fake relationship they had nurtured. In her more crazy moments, she had almost felt that he had feelings for her. It was obvious that she had overblown that. She was sure that Severus had no real interest in her. It was too bad, really, because for these last two weeks, she'd really enjoyed his company and thought that maybe they could be more than just friends.

She frowned as she reached her room. She was as exhausted as Severus. She just wanted her bed right now. She'd mull over her lack of love life in the morning.

oooOOOooo

Morning came and Hermione awoke feeling rested yet still a bit sad. She shook it off and got ready for her day. Classes were back in session today and the students would be rowdy after their long break. She dressed quickly and made her way to the Great Hall to grab some breakfast. Entering and finding her seat, she noted that Severus wasn't there yet, which was odd, as he usually arrived early and stayed a while to make sure everything was going well at the school.

Minerva turned and smiled at her.

"How was your trip, Hermione?"

"It was lovely, thank you."

"And did Severus enjoy himself?"

"He did. We went to a local apothecary and found some great and unique ingredients."

"I'm so glad. I thought he may be bored."

"I did too, but we all had a good time."

"I'm surprised he's not here. He must have needed to sleep in," Minerva mused.

"Probably, I'm dealing with the time change myself. Hopefully, the students won't be too rowdy."

Minerva gave her a sidelong look. "You know they will be. It's the day after break."

Hermione huffed. "I can hope, can't I?"

Minerva smiled, and they both went back to their meals.

oooOOOooo

Severus didn't appear at lunch either, which caused Hermione to begin to worry. Had the trip not gone as well as she'd thought? Was something wrong? She'd have to wait to see until after classes, as she had back-to-back ones all day.

After classes ended, she went up to the Headmaster's office. She knocked and heard Severus call for her to come in. Opening the door, she smiled at him as she entered.

"Hey!" she said. "Where have you been all day? Is everything okay?"

Severus gave her a cross look. "The Board of Governors decided to send me a write-up for next year's budget knowing I was going to be gone all break. They want my report notes and opinions tomorrow. I've been reading this monstrosity all day!"

"Oh no! I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Can you read this and summarize it for me?"

He motioned to the thick manuscript that was the proposal.

"You still haven't finished it?"

"I am three-quarters through," Severus sighed.

"I actually may be able to help you. I developed this as a student so I could have a summary of what I was studying."

Waving her wand over the proposal, she called out, "Summatim."

A parchment appeared next to the manuscript and the proposal started writing itself. Severus' eyes grew wide. He looked up at Hermione in amazement.

"It will pull out all the important parts so you don't miss anything."

"This is brilliant, Hermione, thank you."

"You're welcome. I had an ulterior motive. I miss seeing you at meals, so let's go to dinner, yeah?"

Severus smirked at her.

"Sure. Thank you for saving me the rest of the evening. All I'll have to do is review your summary and create a response."

Severus stood. "Let's go before something else appears on my desk."

Hermione laughed as she followed Severus out of his office. They made their way down to the Great Hall.

"I wasn't sure what to think when you weren't at breakfast or lunch."

"Did you think I had deserted my post?"

"Not really, but it was something like that!" Hermione agreed.

He gave her a quizzical look.

Hermione blushed and looked to the ground, watching where she was going.

"I thought you were angry with me for something."

Severus looked at her curiously. "Why on earth would I be angry with you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, but evidently it became all about me. Sorry."

"Well, as you now know, it had nothing to do with you," he ground out.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said again.

Severus sighed. "I wasn't trying to be sharp. I apologize as well. I've had a horrid day, and am evidently bad company."

"You're not bad company. I understand that you're frustrated. I would be too."

He glanced at her before looking forward once again. "I appreciate your understanding when I'm like this."

"That's what friends do, Severus."

"I have learned that through our friendship, Hermione."

She smiled at him. "I'm glad we have this friendship between us."

He nodded as they approached the Great Hall. They entered and settled in for their meal.

"Thank you again for that spell. I was planning on having the House Elves send me up a sandwich."

"Oh, but it's roast beef night. It would be a shame to miss that."

"Indeed."

She passed him the platter with the roast beef on it. He helped himself and set it down.

"I actually am missing your mother's cooking. She made a fine roast."

"She is a good cook. Unfortunately, I haven't inherited her prowess at cooking. I can make some things, but not nearly as well as she does."

"You seemed to do well with the bacon the other morning."

She laughed. "Bacon is relatively easy. It's the complicated recipes that are difficult for me. I've always had a hard time conceptualizing an endgame without everything written down in front of me, and even then, I don't always get it right."

"Well, you seemed to have that issue with Potions as well when you were a student."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"Incorrigible," she remarked under her breath.

Severus heard and smirked at her.

"Did the students behave today?" he asked her.

"They didn't start any trouble, but they couldn't concentrate on anything. I had to wrestle them to pay attention. All day I just wished we were back in Australia, not dealing with all this."

"Me too. I'm not fond of the Governors punishing me for taking a holiday like everyone else has the opportunity to do."

"You really think that's why they sent the documentation when they did?"

He shrugged. "I don't doubt it. They want me to know that I must be working at all times to ensure the school runs smoothly."

"Well, you should tell them to stuff it. If they don't like it, they can run the school."

Severus gave her a conciliatory smile. "I knew what I was getting into when I took this position. Well, I suppose I was forced to take the position initially, and it worked much differently for that year. But when I accepted the position officially, I knew that the Board of Governors was difficult to work with and liked to Lord over the school. Merlin, I'd heard it enough from Albus over the years."

She rolled her eyes. "All they're concerned about is power."

"Enough of them," Severus said. His eyes strayed to her wrist.

"I see you're wearing your bracelet. It is quite lovely."

She smiled as she looked down at it.

"Thank you for buying it for me. It will always be a remembrance of our time in Australia."

oooOOOooo

Two busy weeks had passed. There hadn't been a lot of time for Hermione and Severus to spend time together because they both had too much to do. In a way, Hermione was relieved because spending time with Severus was sweet agony since they had returned from Australia. She enjoyed spending mealtime with him, but any more would just make her maudlin that he had no interest in her.

She was at dinner now with him. Turning, she looked at him. "I'm going to write to my parents tomorrow and tell them we've broken up."

Severus nodded. "Pity. I enjoyed having a family for a half-minute."

"Like I said, you'll always be family to them, but I don't want to string this along any longer than we have to."

"Of course."

They quietly finished their dinner. Hermione recognized the ball of nerves in the pit of her stomach. Just the thought of ending their fake relationship seemed so final it was making her mournful.

After a little bit, Severus gave her a nod, rose, and left the Great Hall. Hermione watched him go. He'd been aloof since they'd gotten back. She frowned. She missed their banter. She'd not realized how much he brightened her day with his sarcastic comments. Hopefully, his being standoffish was just because he was incredibly busy. She missed him.

Meanwhile, Severus stalked down the hall. He couldn't believe he was upset that Hermione was going to tell her parents that they'd broken up. There were several reasons he wasn't happy, the first being that he had really enjoyed having the Grangers treat him like someone important in their lives. He was sad that despite what Hermione said, they wouldn't be treating him like true family anymore.

Then there was the disturbing fact that his fake relationship with Hermione wasn't something real. He wanted to be with her so badly that it made him ache. But she was not for him, nor did she want to be. She was telling her parents the truth… they were not together. What did it matter if she told her parents they'd broken up, anyway? They never were together. He was being absolutely ridiculous.

He turned a corner and furrowed his brows. What was wrong with him? She wasn't–nor would she ever be–interested in him that way. Just because he'd let his heart rule his head and had fallen for the woman didn't mean she would ever feel the same.

He was just being incredibly foolish, as this train of thought would only lead to heartache for him. He banished it to the far corners of his psyche and moved along toward his office.