A/N-Once again, un-betaed, so all mistakes are mine. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my reviewers, without whom I probably wouldn't bother writing. You honestly are amazing. Also, if anyone has time, could you please answer the question in the poll? The result affects the tone of Chapter 4 so I do need an answer. Thank you!

By the time Saturday arrived, Hermione was a mess. She was utterly terrified of how the evening would turn out, and hoped against hope that her spell would work as she had described it to Severus. Secretly, she also hoped that he'd enjoy her company over dinner, the book she had purchased only fuelling her desire for the dark man. After seeing him with it in his hands, the only man she could imagine the male character being was indeed her old Potions Professor. Yes, she couldn't resist the thought of it being him that had his way with her-maybe it was his voice, or his mannerisms, or something else entirely, but she just knew that he absolutely entranced her. Gods, she could only imagine his reaction if he found out.

The way he had spoken to her in the bookshop hadn't helped either. His voice felt like it was stroking along her skin, sliding over her body and sending the most delicious shiver down the length of her spine. The dark look in his eyes only served to inflame her further, unfathomable as they were, his eyes were startling in their intensity. Merlin.

Even though she kept telling herself this wasn't a date, that he just wanted the spell, it didn't stop her from spending a good couple of hours preparing. By the time she was ready to go she had changed her outfit at least five times, eventually deciding on the first one she'd tried on first. Ah well. Not wanting to look like she was dressing up for him, she had chosen a simple cashmere jumper and dark jeans, the deep plum colour of the jumper offsetting her eyes quite nicely.

"Bollocks!"

She had forgotten the time, and it was already two minutes after the time she was supposed to be meeting him. Dashing for her notes, she threw her research into her bag and quickly Floo'd to Professor Snape's home in Spinner's End.

"Ah, Miss Granger. So kind of you to join me." He drawled, his gaze pinning the witch in place on the rug.

"I'm so sorry, the time ran away with me and-" She began to explain, but was silenced by another glance from the wizard.

A tinny alarm sounded from a doorway leading off from the room, causing Severus to excuse himself to check on their meal. Hermione, true to nature, took this opportunity to look around the room she was in.

It was larger than she would have expected, and quite richly furnished. The rug in front of the fire was clearly Oriental, and the fireplace itself was rather ornate, with vines carved into the marble. Bookcases covered two of the walls, and various doors led off to other parts of the house. From what she had heard from Harry at the end of the war, she could only assume that he had drastically redecorated his home after retiring from teaching.

"Getting yourself acquainted with my home, Hermione?" He breathed from directly behind her. She jumped a mile, only just containing a squeak of fright as she whipped around to face him.

"As a matter of fact, Severus, I am." Her voice was mocking as she replied, the deliberate use of his given name a jibe at his use of hers.

"Well, I'm delighted that you feel comfortable enough to get familiar with me, witch. Dinner is served." Hermione almost thought he was teasing her, but that was preposterous, surely? The abrupt change of topic threw her slightly, but she recovered quickly enough to scurry after him, unable to keep up with his long stride. Still, it certainly didn't stop her from surreptitiously checking out his arse as he walked in front of her.

He led her into a small dining room, large enough to fit a square table with four chairs and not much else. It was decorated in the same vein as the living room, although it was rather dimly-lit due to a low amount of candle sconces on the walls.

Severus directed her to her chair and disappeared into the kitchen as she settled herself, not seeing the raven perched in the corner of the room.

Mordant was extremely curious about this young woman who had invaded his Master's quarters. Hardly anyone visited the dark man, and even then the visits were brief and business related. At least the man had left that school now, instead choosing to retire and conduct his own research into various potions, although it did greatly reduce his list of potential targets. He had particularly enjoyed the Divination teacher's reaction when hit with bird poo, the woman with all the ridiculous scarves, especially as she had been infatuated with his Master for as long as he could remember. The only reason he hadn't defecated on the new witch's hair tonight was because he could sense that his Master would be extremely displeased with him if he did, and he had no desire to be fluorescent pink again.

Severus walked back into the room carrying two plates of grilled tuna with spaghetti, setting the woman's down in front of her as she thanked him. He noticed that during their meal not much conversation took place between the two, although they did discuss their work lives for a while. Apparently she worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, mainly on cases of divorce, domestic abuse and cases involving children. Mordant hoped that the witch hadn't seen his Master's twitch; it was much too early to get into that. He only knew himself because of the connection he had with the Master, where he could occasionally see flashes of what he was thinking.

Looking up, he noticed that the young woman was laughing at something the Master had said. It wasn't an unpleasant sound. Severus had that glint in his eyes again, the one that normally spelt some kind of trouble for the cause. His eyes followed his Master's movements as he took the dishes into the kitchen once more, before bringing out dessert. By the look on the witch's face, she was absolutely delighted by his choice. Bored, Mordant closed his eyes.

Moments later, a strange noise came from the witch opposite his Master as she ate. He didn't recognise it himself, but Severus did, judging by the dangerous glint in his eyes and the smirk twisting his thin lips.

"Enjoying yourself, Hermione?"

The raven could see the witch's blush from across the room.

"I-ah-Do excuse me, Professor, I don't know what came over me." She spluttered, obviously mortified by her pleasured moan.

The wizard raised an eyebrow, but let the subject drop.

The meal was concluded in silence, and the young woman was instructed to go to the living room while he cleared up. She quickly acquiesced, still utterly embarrassed by her behaviour as she scuttled off.

Severus flicked his wand at the dishes and set them to clean as he mulled over dinner's events. The witch had definitely matured since her school days as she hadn't badgered him with incessant questions or chattered inanely. Her conversation had actually been interesting; he'd forgotten how bright the witch was and what she did for a living did fascinate him, although it would bring up far too many awkward questions that he really didn't want to answer. He decided not to bring it up.

However, her moan at dinner had shocked him, but not as much as his reaction had. A very… Physical reaction, one that he hadn't had from a simple noise since he was a teenager. He'd had a hard time concealing it, thankful that he'd kept to his tradition of wearing robes over his pressed shirt and trousers. Severus had a feeling that he'd have to take the robes off soon though, in order for Hermione to give her spell demonstration.

Speaking of which…

Walking out of the kitchen, he found the little witch carefully browsing his vast collection of books, a small smile of pleasure lighting her delicate features. He shook his head and spoke, startling her out of her reverie.

"Hermione, would you be so kind as to demonstrate that spell for me now? I would like to be able to continue my research at some point this millennium." He silkily asked, standing close to the witch to startle her.

Much to his delight, she jumped. "Of course, sorry, I must have gotten distracted." Her face flushed a pale pink at being caught browsing through his books. "Uh, where would you like me to demonstrate?"

"Follow me, Hermione." He replied, his black eyes sweeping over the woman once more before he turned and led the way to his lab.

He could tell as soon as she entered that she was impressed. Her amber eyes had gone as large as saucers at the sheer size of the room, combined with the various projects of his that littered the available surfaces in preparation. It was well lit and he could clearly see her interest in the contents of the cauldrons, so he decided to encourage her along.

"Any time you're ready would be perfect, it's not like I have anything to be doing." He purred, snapping the witch's focus back on the task in hand.

"Oh yes, of course." She withdrew her papers from her bag and explained to him the theory behind the spell, mostly just reiterating what she had said in the bookshop.

"Basically, it takes the principle of withdrawing magic from a person and applies to a whole area, meaning that muggle science can be done without incident." She raised her wand and swished it in a rather complicated pattern, the incantation flowing from her like water. In mere moments, the spell was completed, and she looked to him for conformation of the effects.

He turned to the first of his cauldrons, mixing a simple base as a starting point. The chemicals combined as perfectly as he believed they would have done, knowing that this witch was nothing if not utterly thorough in her research.

"It has worked, Hermione." He confirmed, turning to the witch with a look of respect.

He was greeted by an absolutely stunning smile in return. It lit up her whole face and he himself felt much happier as a result of her joy, something that was exceedingly rare for the dour man. Refusing to dwell on it, he invited her to the living room for a toast to celebrate her achievement, and further discussion of the implications of the spell itself.

They ended up talking about a variety of topics until the early hours of the morning, the vast quantity of elf-made wine easily loosening their tongues. Severus was shocked by how easy it felt to talk to the witch, especially considering how irritating he had found her as a student. He supposed that people changed over time, experience and time altering views and personalities alike. After all, finally being free of both of his masters had changed him.

One change that he would certainly notice in the morning was that instead of sending the witch home, he had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder, his face buried in her vanilla-scented curls.

A/N- Love it? Hate it? Tell me in the reviews! Just to warn you, the next updates will be sporadic because I have eight exams next week and I still haven't got a definitive result in the poll. I also want to get most of the story planned before I continue much further, but I will keep writing!