"Professor Snape, you haven't the slightest clue why I'm here, do you?" Hermione said. Grin still plastered on her face. Snape's jaw dropped a fraction of an inch and went from zero to sarcastic in two seconds flat.
"Why, of course I know why you're here. Why on earth would I let on to any confusion what so ever?" Enter eye-roll.
"Really, Miss Granger, for a know-it-all, you certainly have let your keen sense of observation go."
Hermione snorted.
"Whereas you haven't changed a bit."
Snape smirked. Good, he thought. I've still got it.
"The reason I'm here, professor, is to tell you some very, very good news." Hermione explained, half exasperated, half excited. Snape stared at her; she was positively bursting to tell him everything. He raised his eyebrows in anticipation.
"Do continue, Miss Granger. If you think you can."
Her smile got wider and she took a deep breath.
"I have come to declare you a free man." She said slowly to add effect. Severus stared at her, not breathing, taking in this news. What the hell? How the hell? He opened his mouth to speak twice before actually finding the words in his mouth.
"I...I'm sorry, I don't quite...understand?" Hermione paused. This was very unlike the Snape she knew. She was expecting more sarcasm and bite, but speechlessness? Hermione's head tilted to one side, evaluating her guest's reaction.
"You're free. No longer do they reserve a cell for you in Azkaban. Your name has been completely cleared." Her brow furrowed. This wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. A crease appeared in Severus' forehead.
"How long?" He asked quietly.
Hermione's face study continued.
"Four years, sir."
Four years, Severus repeated in his head. He couldn't believe it. The past four years of his life could have been used toward rebuilding his life in his world. The four years he wasted running amongst muggles. Wasted. Snape stared at his hands on the table.
Across from him, Hermione didn't know what to do or say. She realized what he was thinking and why. Four years running from nothing, for nothing will put you out like that.
"Professor, I offered you a drink. A good drink. How 'bout it, huh?" She asked gently.
Snape barely looked at her before nodding in agreement. She got up from the table and walked over to her refrigerator. She pulled out a tall brown bottle labeled "Firewhiskey" and set it on the counter to retrieve her "Texas sized" shot glasses from the cabinet. When she came back to the table with her acquisitions, Severus wasn't there. He had moved to the kitchen window and was staring out at the city.
"I suppose it is my own fault, you know." He said quietly, not looking at her.
"I should have just laid there dying for someone to find me. Two years in a cell sounds like sweet release compared to the six of cowardice."
Hermione reached out to touch his arm, but reconsidered. A moment passed before she spoke.
"You did what you thought was necessary at the time." She said. Severus sniffed.
"Sure, that's an easy way to put it. I'm the great coward of the wizarding world; a bat hiding in various caves trying to escape his past, and avoiding his future." He shook his head and turned away from the window.
"Let's have that drink, shall we?"
Hermione nodded and followed him silently back to the table.