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I want to give a shout out to Baka-Pyros who said something in a review that I put in the story. I hope you don't mind!

Life For Rent

Chapter 18

When Severus got home the note he'd left on the kitchen table was still untouched just as he'd suspected. Hermione was, no doubt, still down in the lab perfecting the Veritaserum. If Severus knew anything about Hermione it was that whatever it was that was bothering her, her fear of Severus' disapproval would be stronger and she would fix the potion. That thought actually worried him a little because he wanted her to trust him absolutely, but it was clear that she didn't. She was still slightly afraid of him, especially when he shifted into his professor persona, and she withheld a lot of information about her past. Severus' talk with Narcissa made him realize that while she had no problem talking extensively about current events and feelings, anything that happened to her pre-Severus seldom came up. Now he wondered if that was because she didn't like talking about it or if she didn't trust Severus with her feelings.

Severus decided to make some tea and a snack for Hermione. While he was waiting for the kettle to steam he drummed his fingers on the counter in agitation. If Hermione didn't trust him with her feelings about her school years or the war it was primarily his fault because he'd made her life pretty damn miserable during those years. How in the hell is she supposed to trust me? I am a cruel, old, Death Eater, Severus thought hopelessly. But she trusted him with her current feelings, which made him feel even more confused and Severus Tobias Snape did not like feeling confused. In the end, Severus decided that he would just ask Hermione what was wrong again, but he was going to have to be nicer about it.

Hermione had just finished bottling the last of the Veritaserum when she heard Severus' footsteps on the stairs. She pushed her sweaty hair out of her eyes and quickly wiped her face. Severus would be able to see that she'd been crying but she at least wanted the dignity of not doing it in front of him. She smiled meekly when she saw him approach with a tea tray.

"Its done, and it is correct this time." Hermione held up one of the little vials for him to inspect. Severus usually held each vial she presented him aloft to the light so that he could thoroughly evaluate the contents but this time he just took the vial from her and placed it in the shipping box she'd removed it from.

"I trust you, Hermione." He said putting down the tray and pouring her a cup of tea.

Hermione felt her jaw lower with that statement. When it came to a potion Severus didn't trust anyone, not even himself. He inspected his own potions with the same care and attention he did hers. Severus raised one eyebrow in her direction, the corners of his mouth slightly turned up. Realizing that she was staring, Hermione snapped her mouth shut and reached for the tea.

"Nevertheless, you should probably double check it." She said, sitting down on her work stool. "I really am sorry I messed up the earlier batches."

Severus really wished she would let it go but he needed to make her feel better if she was going to talk to him about her bad mood lately. What he really wanted to know was if Narcissa was right about her thinking about the day she was tortured. "You need to stop apologizing. It is over, the new potion is made and we have plenty of time to get ready for dinner with the Lucius and Narcissa. They moved it to eight instead of seven."

Hermione visibly blanched when he mentioned the dinner. Jackpot, Severus thought, she is worried about the dinner. Now I just need to figure out why.

Severus looked away from Hermione ever so slightly so that he wasn't looking straight into her eyes. The desire to perform Legilimency was overwhelming him. "We will be meeting them at Bonus Victus in Diagon Alley. I hope that's alright, they have a dress code."

"Oh! Why yes, that will be alright, I have heard great things about that restaurant." Hermione said visibly cheered. Now all of her concerns about returning to the Malfoy Manor had been a waste of time. Hermione picked up a biscuit of the tea tray and bit into it thoughtfully. It would have been nice if Severus could have told her that a week ago, unless…

Severus didn't even need Legilimency to feel her relief at the change of venue. Her face regained some of its color and she tucked into the little plate of biscuits as if she just realized that she was starving but after her first bite was swallowed she put the plate down and looked at him suspiciously.

"Severus, when did you find out about the change in dinner location?"

"Just a little while ago. I went to visit with Narcissa for a bit and she told me that it was necessary to change the plans just a little." Severus stated flatly. It was at least half-true.

Hermione narrowed her eyes even further, thinking deeply. She wasn't called the brightest witch of her age for nothing. Severus had clearly gone to Narcissa to complain about Hermione's hormonal behavior over the last few days and Narcissa probably mentioned the day she was tortured. Well, Narcissa Malfoy was absolutely right. Hermione was dreading the dinner because she didn't want to revisit the Manor. It was as simple as that. She had never mentioned the day she was tortured to anyone, not even Harry, because it had been to horrible to give words. Severus had been tortured on a regular basis and would probably think she was a weakling for letting just one day affect her so badly. But the truth was that it still gave her nightmares and panic attacks. If Narcissa figured it out then bully for her, maybe they could be friends after all because even though she was married to a prejudiced ass hole she at least had some sensitivity.

"What did she tell you?" Hermione asked calmly.

Severus looked at her carefully trying to read her expression, but she had gone as blank as he knew he was capable of when he didn't want people to know what he was thinking or feeling.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you just say you weren't ready to go back there?"

"What did she tell you?" Hermione repeated.

Severus scowled. She clearly wasn't going to just start spilling her emotions and thoughts like she normally would. "She didn't tell me anything. She showed me."

"Showed you?" Hermione fought hard to maintain control.

"Yes, Hermione. She showed me her memory of the day you got tortured at the Manor and she pointed out, not too kindly, I might add, that perhaps you either didn't want to return to the Manor or that you didn't want to attend the dinner because of their association with that erm, day. She figured that moving the dinner to a restaurant might help." Severus said patiently, waiting for her to just start talking like usual. The longer she sat there in stony silence the more worried he became.

After a few more minutes he couldn't take the silence anymore, so he spoke again. "Talk to me, Hermione. Is that what was wrong? Because you know you can talk to me about those things. There's no need for histrionics." Damn, Severus bit his tongue after that last sentence. Using the word histrionics to describe Hermione was not going to help the situation.

Hermione stared at Severus for a moment longer. She was absorbed in memories of the day until she heard him say 'histrionics' and then she became angry. If he didn't want her to be emotional, then she wouldn't be.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean that Hermione. I just couldn't help but notice that you don't speak about your past at all and I am afraid that might be because I have not given you very many reasons to trust me. I admit that I did not make your younger years pleasant, and I know the war was very difficult for you. I just want you to know that you can talk to me about it." Good, honesty and a pleasant tone of voice that should get me somewhere.

Hermione dropped the biscuit that was still in her hand back on the tray. She wiped her hands on her jeans and stood up quickly. "You are right. I didn't want to revisit the Manor. Well, I had best go dig through my clothes for something a little nicer than what I was planning on wearing." Hermione patted Severus on the shoulder as she walked by him. "I do trust you."

She walked up the stairs as calmly as possible to avoid stomping. Severus made her want to talk about what happened but it was so trivial compared to his life that she just couldn't bring herself to do it. It was best to just let it all go. Severus followed Hermione all the way to the bedroom closet but he didn't say anything to her until she was buried deep in clothes.

"Hermione, why won't you talk to me?"

Hermione backed out of the closet with a set of deep blue dress robes slung over one arm and a pair of shoes in her other hand. "What is there to say, Severus? You saw the memory. What is Narcissa going to do? 'Welcome to our home Hermione, oh that's right, you've been here before, this is the dining room, this is the kitchen, oh, and this is the drawing room my sister tried to kill you in.'" Hermione finished her speech in a mocking tone.

Severus paled slightly at Hermione's words. "I still don't understand why you didn't just tell me in the first place. What were you afraid of?"

"I wasn't afraid of anything! I do trust you; I just don't like talking about that day. And I don't want to talk about with you because what I went through is nothing compared to what you went through and I don't want you to think I am weak!" Hermione cried flinging the clothes on the bed and rounding on Severus. "I'm sorry I was bitchy all week. I realize that it was the wrong thing to do I just didn't know how to deal with the situation. It won't happen again."

Severus relaxed visibly. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; she just thought he wouldn't care, that would be easier to fix. Severus wrapped his arms her. "Hermione, I would never trivialize your part in the war. I can't believe you would think I would do that. I don't think you are weak."

Hermione believed him and she felt stupid all of a sudden. "You never talk about what happened in your past either." She mumbled into his chest as she snaked her arms around him. He smelled so wonderful, like soap and sandalwood. She breathed in deeply.

"You're right, I don't." Severus kissed the top of her head. "You and I have that in common I suppose."

Hermione lifted her face to kiss him deeply. "When the time is right, I suppose we will. You really are a hero though, so you shouldn't feel bad about anything that happened."

Severus smiled warmly and kissed her again. "You are too, you know."

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Hermione stood with Severus outside of Bonus Victus with Severus as they waited for Lucius and Narcissa to arrive. Hermione was still slightly nervous because of who the dinner was with but only slightly. She had talked to Draco enough to know that there was nothing to worry about. Also, the Malfoys had done a lot over the years to redeem themselves, not to mention the fact that Harry literally owed Narcissa his life. She would forever be grateful to the Malfoy matriarch for lying to Voldemort.

"Severus, early as usual. I hope you haven't been waiting long." Narcissa said gaily as she and her husband approached the waiting couple.

"Not long at all. May I properly present my fiancé, Hermione?" Severus said formally gently pushing Hermione slightly in front of him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again." Lucius said kissing her hand.

"Yes, definitely. I am so happy for you both." Narcissa said sincerely as she ushered them all into the restaurant. They were immediately seated at their table and sipping a delicious chardonnay before Hermione had a chance to catch her breath, let alone respond.

Hermione sat quietly observing the restaurant around her as Lucius and Severus caught up on each other's business ventures. Narcissa sat quietly also, but she was observing Hermione. Soon, the four of them were all talking together about Hogwarts, their dinner, their work, their dinner, and finally over dessert work came up again. Lucius was rambling on about a group of interns he had in his trade business and about how all but two of them were easily sorted into departments within the company.

"Must have been Hufflepuffs." Hermione snorted under her breath.

Lucius stopped talking and eyed her curiously. Hermione blushed scarlet as she realized that she must have committed some sort of social faux pas.

"How did you know?" Lucius asked genuinely perplexed.

Hermione blushed even deeper. She was afraid to answer because she would just embarrass herself, but she was even more afraid not to answer. Giving in Hermione went for the truth even though she knew it would shock her audience. "Hufflepuff house was designed for the people that didn't fit in anywhere else."

Narcissa and Lucius both looked at each other, shock and laughter dancing in their eyes. Severus stared at her dumbfounded. "Pardon?"

"I just mean that each house has these specific attributes that sets them apart but Hufflepuff is only known for its loyalty. In reality each house, including Hufflepuff, is full of people that are loyal to each other. There is not much inner house loyalty no matter where you're put. Anyway, Slytherins are cunning, Gryffindors are brave, Ravenclaws are smart, Hufflepuffs are leftovers. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Hufflepuffs, it's just well, erm…" Hermione trailed off realizing that she was rambling.

"Well, I had no idea you had it in you to say something against your fellow man." Severus said playfully squeezing her hand.

"I don't have it in for them. It's just the way it is. If I had my way there would be a lot of changes at Hogwarts so that houses were forced to mix more. I believe that each house is stereotyped from the beginning. Each house is relatively evenly matched as far as numbers go so basically a brave Slytherin that is a little more cunning than brave would be put into Slytherin over Gryffindor if Slytherin was one short on even numbers, but Gryffindor if Gryffindor was short. The point is that each house plays up to its stereotype therefore perpetuating it. If you mixed up the houses and forced them to develop relationships with each other the differences would not be so pronounced. I have plenty of ideas that I think would help." Hermione said blushing again.

"You seem to have given this a lot of thought." Lucius said smiling in Severus direction. "Are you sure you're going to be able to keep up with your staff when you are headmaster?"

Narcissa laughed warmly as Severus gave Hermione a look that was really, really close to adoration, or about as close as he would willingly get in public.

"I expect to get railroaded every now and then. I would love to hear your ideas, Hermione." Severus said trying not to laugh. He should have known that Hermione had a hidden agenda up her sleeve. It would be too much to ask for her to go to Hogwarts and just teach. She was probably planning on freeing all the house elves too. He couldn't let that happen, the castle would fall apart without them. It was only a matter of time before she brought it up though.

"Oh, you will, Severus. You will." Hermione's voice was inflected with fake danger and warning.

That got a laugh from around the table. Everyone there knew that Severus was going to take her ideas to heart. Hermione was really happy that the dinner was going so well. She found Narcissa and Lucius charming and interesting and it was really easy for her to imagine getting past her fear of their house. She could tell that Severus was exceptionally pleased with how the meal how was going as well. He kept squeezing her hand under the table and she hadn't seen him smile so much in one evening. Ever. Yes, everything was going to be alright. All they had to do next was get through the wedding.

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A/N: Kind of a short chapter, I know. The story is actually winding its way down. At first it was easy to get carried away but now I realize that I can only maintain a fluffy, plotless story for so long. Reviews are dwindling so I am guessing you all agree with me.

For those of you who are reading and reviewing thanks a bunch! And thanks to whoopsydaisy for correcting my horrible backwoods grammar.