Here you are my ravenous readers! I hope you like it, Hermione employs her plan to get back at severus for toying with her, Snape gets smashed and Sheppard's pie gets made! (I was hungry when I was writing.)

This chapter as promised is dedicated to All4Edward, who pointed out which one of the 520 things I'm not allowed to do at Hogwarts I used. It was the "Gryffindor courage does not come in bottles labeled firewhiskey." Love that one!

I want to give a super special thanks to Bea Mendes, who is awesome and gives the best reviews ever he last one had me falling out of my chair laughing, Please check out her stories! She's great!!

I do not own harry potter, I do however own a wonderful plate of Indian food that my boss brought me! Yummers. LOL

The sun rose over Spinners end pouring through Severus's window waking him by shining happily, almost brutally in his eyes. He groaned and pulled the pillow over his eyes and attempted to sleep of more of his the firewhiskey he imbibed the previous night but to no avail, for as soon as he shut his eyes a flurry of what could possibly be jackhammers began dancing a minuet through his skull.

Prying his eyes open he realized that the jackhammers had in reality been Ms. Granger Pounding upon his door. Grumbling, with his eyes still pinched shut against the light that was intent on burning out his cornea, he flung the door open. His attempt to scare the infuriating young women with his 'potions master's ' glare failed miserably and she stood before him openly laughing at his less than professional appearance.

He stood before her his coal black hair askew and a day's worth of stubble on his face, a rumpled grey t-shirt and green flannel bottoms further conveyed the look of 'hung over', which Hermione found so terribly amusing.

"I made you breakfast." She said grabbing his hand and leading him into the kitchen. Taken aback he said nothing and complied dumbly, it being far too early in the day to argue or question her motives. She set him down at the kitchen table and pushed a cup of tea into his hands before turning back to the counter to complete his meal.

The smell of tea and real food woke him considerably and he pried his eyes open and looked around. The kitchen had been scrubbed clean for the first time in years. When his eyes fell on Ms. Granger he almost spit out his tea.

She had on incredibly short shorts on that barely peaked out from below her long t-shirt. He turned his head sideways as she stood on tiptoe to reach a plate that sat just barely out of reach, swallowing with great difficulty when the underside of her bum made its good morning appearance . She turned back to face him this time holding two plates of food in front of her. He shook his head trying to rid the image from his mind that was currently making it very difficult to look at her face.

It took him a moment to realize she had been speaking, "It's not much, but I found some eggs and I thought it would be a nice gesture after my little tirade last night." she stepped behind him and set the plate down by leaning over his right shoulder, her chest bumping dangerously into the back of his head.

He was shaking his head again as she sat down at his left. "Are you quite alright sir?" she asked laying a cool hand on his arm drawing him back to reality.

"Huh? Er…yes." He said glancing quickly at her before turning to the plate in front of him. "It looks wonderful Ms. Granger."

"Can we please stop this 'Ms. Granger' nonsense?" she said tentatively, "It's just that you're my sole source of company and I think I would feel more comfortable if I didn't constantly feel as though I was talking to my teacher." He didn't immediately respond, he didn't know if he even wanted her comfortable with him. If she got comfortable his source of entertainment would think he was simply joking and where is the fun in that? "Severus?" she whispered questionably, testing the name out and gauging his response.

He cleared his throat and said rather hoarsely "Yes, of course…Hermione." Her name felt awkward on his tongue, but she smiled radiantly to which he grimaced slightly in response.

They ate quietly each lost in their own thoughts. As Severus finished his last bite of eggs and potatoes Hermione picked up his plate saying, "I'll just wash these up." He had turned to walk into the sitting room and start the fire when he heard her squeal. He spun around reaching for his wand only to realize he had left it in his room, but then she started giggling and he furrowed his brow strode back into the room.

"What is the problem Ms. Granger?" he said irritated that she found whatever it was so funny.

"It's Hermione, Remember?" she said turning around and causing his to lose whatever composure he had left. "And nothing is the matter, your sink sprayed me and it startled me." The entire front of her shirt was wet revealing the fact that she wore no bra and that it was slightly chilly in the kitchen of spinner's end.

He stood gaping at her, trying to tear his eyes away from her front. After swallowing several times he rasped out, "Perhaps you should go change to…uh…make yourself more comfortable."

"Yes, good Idea." She said walking up to him slowly. "you wanna give me a hand?"

"Excuse me?!" he choked out his eyes widening as he took a step away from her. She gave him a funny look wrinkling her forehead.

"With those dishes." She said patting his arm as she walked past him. "I think you drank too much last night Severus. You've not been yourself all morning."

As he stood in front of the sink once more shaking his head he thought to himself, and I think I didn't drink enough.

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Hermione stood in her room clutching her sides and laughing. I can't believe how easy this is, I wonder if I can get him to stutter again. She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of jeans and a light blue tank top. Then still in her wet clothes she walked back into the hall and saw Severus in front of the fire place with one hand on the mantle and a bottle of firewhiskey already pressed to his lips.

"Severus!" she gasped. "What are you doing drinking? It's only ten o'clock." He turned around tiredly before draining the last four fingers from the bottle and setting it down on the mantle.

"Are you my mother?" he growled out, his temper coming back with his hair of the dog. "What are you still doing in those wet clothes?" he said staring into the fire.

"I came to see if you had and soap and shampoo I could borrow, I want to take a shower." She said putting her hands on her hips. "And I may not be your mother but I have to live with you and you worry me when you start drinking too much."

He sneered at her, before reaching into the liquor cabinet, grabbing another bottle of Old Ogden's, and taking a long drink. "Oh, very mature. " She muttered glaring at him. He then sat down in his chair propped his bare feet up on the ottoman and took another drink from the bottle before saying, "Everything's already in the bathroom, help yourself."

She stormed off down the hall, her plan foiled slightly by the fact that he was a git, muttering things like "bloody alcoholic" and "petulant slytherin". Severus sat grinding his teeth, staring into the fire. Insolent little chit! Telling me not to drink when she running around my house dressed like that! He took another swallow of whiskey. Gryffindor Brat! Another drink. Know-it-all wench! Another drink.

He heard the shower turn off and set down the half empty bottle on his side table and stumbled down the hall, intent of giving her a piece of his drunken mind. He was holding up the wall when she walked out of the bathroom with one of his thin white towels wrapped around her and the sight of him gave her a start. "Severus!" she gasped clutching at her heart. "What's going on?" she looked genuinely worried, and that worry turned to fear when he took a stumbling step towards her.

"You do it all on purpose," he said poking her in the shoulder. "The shorts, and the water, and the bum saying good morning." He slurred, looming ever closer with each swaying step.

"You're drunk!" she said trying to get around him to get to her room.

"And you're naked. Again." he said staring at her towel like he had X-ray vision. "Why are you always naked? Your pushing me." He said roughly, grabbing her arms. "You keep pushing me, Hermione." He pulled her close to him and she could feel His breath against her cheek. "I'm only a man Hermione; I can only take so much." He growled into her ear. She gasped and tried on vain to pull away from him.

Every step she took backwards he matched keeping a close grip on her. Her breath was coming in short gasps and her heart was pounding through her chest. After a few steps the back of her legs hit the side of the bathtub and she realized they had backed right into the bathroom. He stepped forward throwing her off balance she fell into the empty tub, and being still attached to him via his death grip he fell right on top of her. Thinking quickly she reached over and turned on the cold water, drenching them both in the frozen spray and sobering him considerably in the process.

She pushed him off of her and bolted from the room quickly as could. Severus sat up under the spray and ran a hand through his raven hair. Well I've done it now. He thought to himself, she'll probably lock herself in her room and never speak to me again…although…he mused before shaking his head, No, no I need to figure out how to apologize.

How on earth am I supposed to accomplish this, he wondered as he closed the bathroom door and stripped off his wet shirt and pants. How the bloody hell do I apologize for this? 'I'm sorry for getting drunk and leering at you like lecherous old man, Hermione, I promise it won't happen again.' He turned on the hot water and stepped under the water. Yeah, because that doesn't sound absurd, he scoffed.

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Twenty minutes later he emerged from his room dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a loose green t-shirt, his hair tied back at the nape of his neck. He walked out into the sitting room and found Hermione Curled up on the sofa with a book.

"Sober?" she questioned without looking up. "Quite." He replied not looking up from the ground. "Ms. Granger, I…um," he cleared his throat, "I'm going to go out to pick up a few things."

"Like more Firewhiskey or are you just going to switch to muggle Everclear?" she asked acerbically. He sighed and hung his head.

"I'm going for groceries and such. I won't be long, "he started for the door throwing a light jacket on. "Don't open the door for anyone."

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He returned an hour and a half later with both arms laden with bags of groceries. He reached into the bags and pulled out a small bouquet of daisies and a box of sweets. This had better work, he thought as he made his way down the hall to knock on her door. If it doesn't I'll most definitely be going back to hex that shop keeper.

When she opened her door he held them both out and looked just past her head at the wall behind her. "What's all this?" she said gesturing to the proffered objects, "drunkenly attacking me didn't work so now you're trying to buy your way into my britches with flowers and sweets?" She said icily. He groaned and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling.

"It was a means of apology Ms. Granger, please don't make this anymore uncomfortable than it already is." He pushed the flowers and candy into her hands before turning towards his own room. He had taken only a step when Hermione reached forward and grabbed his hand impeding his escape from the awkward situation.

"Severus," she said tugging his arm until he turned around. "I appreciate how difficult it must be for you to apologize to me." She offered him a small smile before adding, "I accept, thank you." The corners of his lips tipped up slightly and Hermione gasped in mock shock. "The Dark and brooding Severus Snape almost smiled?" she giggled a little bit as he rolled his eyes.

"If you're quite finished?" She nodded and followed him into the kitchen and put the flowers in a vase she had transfigured from the empty pumpkin juice carafe as he used his wand to orchestrate the groceries putting themselves away.

They managed to spend and amiable afternoon reading until Hermione excused herself to the kitchen to fix an evening meal. Severus sighed and followed her to the kitchen, "Do you require any assistance Ms. Gra- Hermione?"

"I thought you didn't cook sir." She said smirking before pointing to the potatoes and saying "Perhaps you could chop those for me, big chunks since we're just boiling them." He nodded and set to work.

"Might I inquire what were having?" He began filling a large pot with water to boil as she crossed the room to starts browning some ground round on the stove.

"Sheppard's Pie." She replied as she moved the meat around in the pan. "Tomorrow is Saturday." She said not taking her eyes off of the pan.

"I am aware." He said taking a seat at the kitchen table wondering where she might be going with her line of thought. "You have concerns?" She nodded turning the heat off under the meat and coming to sit at the table.

"Are you certain you can protect him?" she asked nervously picking at her fingernail. "Or everyone else for that matter?"

"What you must understand Hermione, is that I am one man among many Death eaters looking to cause as much destruction as possible." He sighed leaning forward on the table. "I can't openly thwart them; I can only mislead them surreptitiously and hope the Dark Lord doesn't figure it out." She sighed and hung her head.

"I wish I had more faith in this endeavor Severus." She went back to the stove to check the boiling potatoes as she spoke. "I just can't shake the feeling something will go terribly wrong."

"Only those who ever dare to fail greatly will ever achieve greatly." He said taking the steaming pot from her hands and draining it in the sink as she pulled the milk and butter from the cooler to make the mashed potatoes that would form the top of her Sheppard's Pie.

"I suppose that's true." She sighed pensively, "Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice. I can't expect that this war will end without casualties, I can only pray that Saturday's events occur without any fatalities on our part."

He nodded solemnly as she moved the now completed Meal into the oven to finish and they both reclaimed their seats at the kitchen table as Hermione asked, "Have you considered the possibilities of Peruvian instant darkness powder as a potions ingredient?"

The sat together discussing some of the possible uses for the powder while they awaited their dinner, and continued their discussion after before Hermione's frequent yawning lead Severus to believe she should be sleeping which he informed her by saying "If I wished to be this acquainted with a set of tonsils I would have chosen the profession of muggle dentist and not Potions Master. I do believe you should find your bed Hermione, as I find it less than appealing to continue this conversation with gaping mouth."

She nodded and started down the hall but stopped and turned back asking "so what you're not even going to tuck me in?" He sneered at her, but it turned to a smirk when she stuck her tongue out at him and spun back around calling "Good night Severus!" He allowed himself a chuckle as he stood, stretched and started for his own room thinking back on the day. It had ended pleasantly enough considering the way it started. Well it started pleasantly enough as well, He thought remembering the lovely view her choice of bottoms had afforded. He crawled into bed and opened his copy of 'The Practical Potioneer' intending on some light reading but instead found his eyes pulling themselves closed, the last thought crossing his conscious mind was I wonder how often I can expect to see those shorts, mornings might be worth getting up for.

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The 27th of July bore a melancholy morning. As she did yesterday Hermione woke earlier and fixed a small meal which they ate silently before they ventured to the sitting room to read by the fire. Each was lost in their thoughts on the scheduled events for the day when Severus gasped sharply and dropped his book, clutching his marked arm. "It's time." He said simply before bolting to his room emerging moments later clad in the black Death eater robes, his mask clutched in one hand his wand in the other.

Hermione stood appraising him under a furrowed brow, casting a slightly nauseous look at the mask in his hand before striding quickly up to him and giving him a swift hug murmuring "Please be careful" as she did so.

He cleared his throat looking away from her awkwardly. "I will be, I can't afford not to." He said quietly. "I'll be back late tonight, if all goes well the Dark Lord will be quite displeased, so be prepared, the top shelf of the wardrobe in my bedroom has my personal stores of potions. I'm sure you'll be able to distinguish which ones to use." Hermione nodded in understanding, the queasy look returning to her face.

Without another word he apperated out, leaving her alone to pace the floors until his return that night.

I debated with myself over ending it here, but honestly in seemed very very right. This way I can devote a whole chapter to the next bit. I really like this chapter for it's insights, we see snape and Mione working in a kind of symbiosis in the kitchen and finally realizing they needn't antagonize each other when they can simply have an intelligent conversation instead, (although there will be lots of antagonizing still! )

The Drunken Severus bit was the hardest to write, I wasn't sure about it. So what do you think?

Please review!