Disclaimer: Ugh, no I don't have any money.
Life For Rent
Chapter 6
Severus stood up as soon as he saw Hermione shut the door behind her. She looked different but he immediately recognized her. He thought she looked lovely, professional and grown up. Her normally bushy hair was falling down her back in shoulders in soft waves. It looked nice but it wasn't her. He kind of hoped that her hair wouldn't always be slicked down. Where the hell did that come from Sev, since when have you given a crap about Granger's hair?
Hermione smiled when she saw Severus stand up. He seemed just as nervous as she did. She quickly scanned the room as she walked toward him looking for a trace of Harry and Ginny. A few tables away from Severus she noticed a reserved sign and then upon further inspection she saw a flesh colored string trailing across the floor underneath the tables in between theirs and hers. The sight made her smile a little wider.
"Sorry I'm late; I ran over at work a little and rushed over as soon as I could." Hermione said to Severus extending her hand. She inwardly nodded in approval when she came close. The few years since the war had obviously been kind, his hair was styled differently and it looked healthier. His muggle clothes and new hairstyle made him look younger than she had ever seen him.
"On the contrary, Miss Granger, you are right on time." Severus said offering her a tentative smile as he shook her hand. His voice was the same, smooth, deep, and silky.
Hermione was surprised once more to see that his teeth were straightened. It completely changed the dynamic of his face. In her memories his smile always looked like a sneer, but she saw now that he had a very nice smile, even if the one he offered was a little small and hesitant. Hermione took her seat across from Severus and gave him an appraising look.
"You look well." She said finally.
Severus returned her gaze and responded in kind. "As do you, Miss Granger."
Hermione laughed a light tinkling sound that made Severus' stomach flip ever so slightly. "First of all, we need to scrap the formalities. My name is Hermione. Miss Granger was one of your students and given our individual histories and our current circumstances don't you think we have progressed beyond surnames? Unless of course you insist that I still call you Professor."
Severus cringed at her jest. He was supposed to be leaving the snarky potions professor behind. Old habits die hard. "Forgive me, Hermione," Her name was unfamiliar but nice on his tongue, "you are absolutely right."
Neither of them said anything to each other for awhile as they both perused the menu and the barman came to take their order. Both of them kept looking up to steal a glance at the other. Hermione felt strangely at ease with him. She didn't know if it was because she was determined to make it work, or because she expected it too because of the Ministry's matching system, but either way she felt confident already.
Severus, on the other hand was more ill at ease. She was much prettier than he remembered, but that was to be expected because the last time he had seen her up close she was still an awkward teenager. He couldn't help but feel like there was an elephant in the room though. After seeing her he couldn't believe that she was still single, and if memory served him correctly, she was always interested in the youngest Weasley boy.
"Mi- ah, Hermione, forgive my bluntness but I feel like we should address the unusualness of our match in order to determine the best course of action." Severus said immediately feeling like an idiot. She was being perfectly cordial and he was being a bloody businessman.
Hermione frowned briefly before smiling at him again. His heart warmed a little. "You need to relax, Professor, I am perfectly aware that you and being matched is a bit unusual. Surely, though we aren't the first Gryffindor and Slytherin, teacher and student, twenty year age difference, and sometimes fought on opposite sides of a war, match out there are we? Did I forget anything else that might make it unusual?"
Severus smiled his first genuine smile since she had arrived. "I think you might have got them all. But then again, you usually do get most of the questions right."
Hermione looked at him, puzzled. Was he flirting?
"I am curious about one thing." He said.
"What is it?" Hermione asked picking up her cup of tea.
"It is a personal question."
"Well, if we are going to make this work, I imagine we will be asking each other many personal questions." Hermione answered, hoping it wasn't going to be something she didn't want Ginny or Harry to hear.
Severus fidgeted with his drink for a moment. She was definitely not planning on rejecting him then, which was good news. "I was merely curious as to how you ended up in the Ministry matching pool. I mean you're young, attractive, and talented, and I thought maybe you would be with Ron, although now that I say that out loud I realize how ridiculous that sounds."
"What do you mean how ridiculous that sounds?" Hermione blushed slightly at his compliments but now she just wanted to know where he was going with this.
Severus could have kicked himself. He was being a complete ass. "Honestly, I never saw you as compatible with Mr. Weasley, but I just meant that I know he is a Quidditch player out of the country and he is betrothed to one of my former students. I will admit that I am surprised you are single."
Hermione quickly picked up her tea and took a long drink. It was very hot and it burned her throat causing her eyes to water. She looked away from Severus for a moment but not before his astute spy intuition recognized that he had touched a very sensitive nerve.
"You don't have to answer that." He said feeling slightly embarrassed he had brought it up.
"No, no it's alright." Hermione said trying to keep her face impassive. "I was not single until very recently. I did have a boyfriend, he was a muggle."
Severus raised his brow but didn't say anything. He could tell she wanted to say more but she was keeping her face stiff. A part of him wanted to use Legilimency to see what she was really thinking. In the end, she decided to continue.
"We were together for three years. I met him in Australia while taking some classes at a university there. The marriage law was the impetus for our break up, but it would have happened eventually anyway." Hermione did not expect to tell him so much but now that she started she felt it was important to be completely honest with Severus about how she felt about David.
"You don't have to tell me anything else." He said.
"Yes I do. It is only fair that we start this off as honestly as possible. I told David about the marriage law and what it would mean for us if we were to stay together. It was then that I found out that children were not in his future, and if we did stay together he didn't want them raised in the magical world. Having children aside, he made it clear that he was not willing to keep my magic a secret from his family forever. You see? It was inevitable that our relationship would end. When I signed up for the matching process, I really didn't care who I got set up with as long as it kept me in the magical world and in England." She finished taking another drink of her tea. It felt good to get everything out in the open.
Severus watched her as she drank her tea. Her face was still impassive. She told her story as if she was reciting facts from a textbook but he understood that could be a cover for the hurt and insecurity she was really feeling. She clearly was not over this David bloke. He could sympathize. Lily had been dead for twenty years, he hadn't talked to her in even more and he still missed her. That was pathetic even to him.
"I too refused to leave the magical world or England," Severus hesitated, and then added, "but you are not over David yet. I can sympathize."
Hermione eyed him carefully. She suspected that he was hinting that there was someone else in his life too. She guessed it very well could be Lily but she had been gone for so long that Hermione couldn't be sure without asking. Hermione had her own opinions about Lily and Severus' longstanding crush on her but she wasn't about to bring it up with Harry listening in. Also, she was willing to give Severus a chance to volunteer the information. Hermione figured it was best to change the subject.
"You see, we are more compatible than I would have guessed then." Hermione said smiling at him. She was actually having a good time with him. He had not gotten nasty once, although she probably should keep her fingers crossed on that one.
"I guess so. So we are really going to do this then?" He felt silly for asking but he wanted to be sure, a part of him still believed that she might reject him. Especially since her other love was alive and kicking.
"Do you have your copy of the contract?" She asked producing a shrunken version of hers out of her robe pocket. After she resized it she spread it on the table. Severus smirked as he pulled his out of a pocket and resized it as well.
"Before we sign these, don't you think we should discuss a timeline for this ahh… courtship." Severus was still a little unsure what to call the whole arrangement.
Hermione narrowed her eyes in thought. "Well, we have time once we sign the contracts don't we? I mean the contract stipulates that we marry within a year. Are you suggesting we set a date now?"
That was exactly what he was suggesting but he hated how it sounded like a business transaction. It was like they were signing a lease on their engagement. He shouldn't have been surprised; once again his life was for rent. "That is what I was suggesting. I made an assumption that you would want to set the actual marriage for the last possible date so that it is done. There is nothing in the contract that says it can't be moved forward, it only can't be extended."
"To be honest Severus, I don't see why they are setting a date for the marriage in the first place. I mean isn't it good enough that we are accepting the contract? I realize by accepting marriage is inevitable but still." Hermione said exasperated. "This feels too businesslike."
Severus frowned; this was not going in the direction he wanted it to. "I realize that but it is something we need to agree on. One year from today?" he asked a little testily.
Hermione jumped a little at his tone. His smooth silky voice had taken on the edge she remembered from her school days.
"Yes that's fine." She replied quietly.
Severus filled in the date on his contract and she did on hers. They each signed their own and then swapped them. Once they had signed them the contracts rolled up, sealed themselves, and disappeared with a pop. Hermione was expecting them to disappear immediately but it wasn't until they had the weight of what they had done fully hit her. She was officially betrothed to Severus Snape.
Severus stared at the table where the contracts had been for a moment. Now that it was official and he was slightly irked about her complaint of actually setting the date, he was ready to end the meeting and have a drink.
"We should probably get to know each other a little better, don't you think?" Hermione asked.
"Yes I do. We have a lot to discuss." Severus knew that he was about to be bombarded with a steady stream of questions. He was not quite ready for it so he was pleasantly surprised when Hermione started talking.
"My birthday is September 19th, my parents are dentists, and I am a book buyer for Flourish and Blotts. I have a small flat in London that I have lived in for the past two years, and someday I hope to get my teaching credentials in either transfiguration or charms so that I can work at Hogwarts." Hermione could tell that he wasn't ready for any questions. He had the same annoyed look in his eyes that he got when students in class interrogated him too much, particularly her. Hermione hoped that by volunteering some information he would unclench a little.
"Those are admirable aspirations." He said.
"I like to think so. I love books almost as much as air but that doesn't mean I want to sit in the back of a bookstore for the rest of my life. I can read them anywhere." Hermione replied. "Do you miss teaching?"
Severus had asked himself that question many times. He missed Hogwarts a lot. It was his home for so long, it was the home of many abandoned boys, and he morosely had to leave it. The only reason he did so was because some people still harbored intense grudges against him for his actions against Dumbledore and during his time as Headmaster.
"I miss it sometimes." He replied honestly but that was all he was going to say. Hermione could see his eyes going stony and knew that she was not going to get much more information out of him.
"I see." Hermione was a little disheartened that he was clamming up already. Perhaps they had had enough for one day. "I suppose it's getting late."
Severus looked at his watch instinctively. It wasn't that late. Just a few moments before he was ready to end the meeting himself so he could have a drink, alone. Now all of a sudden he felt bad for not sharing information with her like she had him. He was just warming up to her though it would take some time.
"Perhaps you would like to join me at my house for dinner the day after tomorrow. You should see it if there is the possibility you will be living there someday." Back to the business transactions, good job Severus.
"That would be great. You cook?" Hermione said enthusiastically, this was a new development.
"Yes it is not that difficult to throw some ingredients together and make a palatable meal. Do you cook?" He asked in return.
"Yes. I even think I have a flair for it." She replied confidently.
"I will have to let you look through some of my recipe books then."
"I don't really use recipes. I like to vary them so much I usually just work from scratch." She said.
Severus quirked an eyebrow.
"What?" She demanded.
"It's just that in potions you used the written instructions to a fault, even when variations not in the instructions would improve the potion. I find it amusing that you would not follow a recipe when the premises are essentially the same." He replied smirking.
Hermione was insulted. She knew that he had varied many potions based on Harry's experience with the Half-blood Prince's potions book, but Hermione had always held her own potions too.
"Yes because you are so very wise." She said sarcastically.
"And you are merely intelligent."
"You say that like it's an insult." This conversation had definitely taken a downward turn. They were beginning to argue and she didn't give a hippogriff's asshole that they were well matched; she was not going to put up with any shit from him.
"There is a difference." He snapped.
"And?"
"You have no subtlety, such a deplorable Gryffindor trait. Potter is afflicted with it as well. Intelligence is flawless and can be achieved through constant study. Wisdom can only be achieved by allowing oneself to make mistakes and then learning from them. If you had allowed yourself to make mistakes in potions you may have found more than one way to fix them." Severus said in full on professor mode.
Hermione was going to snap at him about his jab about her being a Gryffindor and his slight to Harry but she closed her mouth. He made a really good point and she felt like a fool that she had not seen that for herself. In her anger she decided to place the blame on him.
"And whose fault was it that I didn't learn that?" She snapped.
Severus chuckled. "Yours. I told you in your first year that Potions was a subtle science and that few possess the disposition to truly embrace it."
Hermione nearly growled in frustration, but once again he was right. That didn't mean she couldn't learn how to do potions the right way now. She also realized that the situation was in desperate need of diffusing. "Well, maybe then I just need more practice."
Severus understood that she was trying to end the argument. Her eyes were softening from anger to weariness and he suspected she could use a drink as well. Calling over the barman he had him bring them both a shot of firewhiskey. Once it arrived she half raised it in salute to Severus and threw it back.
She sat there quietly toying with her glass for a few moments before pushing it away and looking at him again. Severus sighed, he needed to meet her in the middle, call a truce. "I apologize, Hermione. I was unforgivably rude. You are no longer my student and I should not have treated you as such. If you want to improve your potions ability, I should introduce you to my lab when you come over for dinner."
Hermione's eyes lit up. He was such a private person when he worked at school that she imagined it was a huge leap for him to allow her access to his personal lab so soon. Grasping at his olive branch she gave him a beaming smile that warmed his insides.
"That would be great."
Severus sighed with relief that their meeting was coming to a close and because they had survived their first fight. He laughed quietly. "I believe we just had our first fight."
Hermione paused in thought and then grinned broadly. "It was kind of fun. Just next time leave Harry out of it and don't insult my house."
"Agreed." Severus scribbled something on the back of a napkin and handed it to her. "This is my address, be there at 7?"
As Hermione took the napkin from him her fingers brushed against his. She felt a mild jolt in her hand at the contact which surprised her. She wasn't expecting to feel anything so soon really. If David wasn't still in her heart, that jolt might have been a lot more. Hermione needed to get over him and she knew it. She couldn't help but notice his hands though, and she caught herself staring at them for a moment. His fingers were long and calloused, Ginny was right, they did look like magic hands.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked.
Hermione started. She had to tear her gaze from his hands to his face. "Oh uh, actually I was going to head back to work. I left a few things undone so I could be here on time but it will only take me a few minutes to finish them so I think I will do it now."
"Well then, have a good night. I will see you soon." He said gathering his jacket and standing up. She stood up as well and followed him to the door. Once outside the door of the Leaky Cauldron they stood before each other awkwardly for a moment. It was one of those weird first date moments where no one really knows how to end the night. Finally she stretched out her hand again.
"Good night, Severus." He grasped her hand and shook it once firmly and then held it for a fraction of a second. This time Hermione felt a jolt a little more powerful than before.
Severus also felt a jolt when he touched Hermione's hand, but his went much deeper. He was definitely attracted to her. "Good night." He reluctantly let go of her hand and turned on the spot to apparate away.
Hermione stood staring at the spot he was just at for almost a minute until a hand grabbed her shoulder and she jumped and screamed. Turning around with her wand at the ready she relaxed when she it was Ginny and Harry behind her sans invisibility cloak. She had forgotten about them.
"Wow, Hermione. That was really intense. Your life just got really interesting." Ginny said.
Hermione couldn't help but agree.
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A/N: Three cheers for my readers, my reviewers and my beta whoopsydaisy!!!!
