BEYOND AND BACK

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit tribute to the works of JK Rowling who created and, together with her publishers and licensees, owns the characters and settings elaborated herein.

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers and especially to my previewers, Bellegeste, Cecelle and Lady Memory.

Severus let his eyes drift over Lincoln Cathedral, towering beyond, and back to the white Elizabethan pub where she'd proposed they have lunch. His lips quirked.

"The Lion and Snake? How very apposite. Should I commend your research?"

She grinned and ducked her head. "Mum heard about this place from a patient who went up for the Panto. She thought the name would make me laugh."

"And did it?"

"Not laugh, exactly. I think it shows that the two can coexist perfectly well alongside each other," she said mildly. "For hundreds of years, even."

"Or a thousand?" The entrance was narrow, but there was a pleasant eating area at the back. "Some people would call that optimism."

"What do you call it?"

"Desirable," he said softly.

They both looked hastily at their menus and the dangerous moment passed in ordering lunch and exchanging gifts. He would be spending the holiday at Hogwarts, as usual, and she was going to the Burrow – a little reluctantly, but anything was better than skiing.

"Too close to flying?" he asked, prising tape off paper.

She grimaced. "Exactly. Not my idea of fun. Not very Gryffindor of me, is it?"

"You've never needed to seek adventure; it's always come to find you. I imagine it's different for dentists." He inched the book out from its wrapping.

"I hope you like it," she said. "I was looking for something about Lancashire forests, but then I saw this. It was much the nicest tree book anywhere."

"The Malvern Hills, by Archie Miles," he read. She wanted him to smile at her the way he was smiling at her gift, and then he was and she had to look away. "Thank you," he said simply. "This is exceptionally beautiful."

"So's this." He'd given her a cashmere scarf in a soft russet. She draped it around her neck and rubbed her cheek against it, watching him through half-veiled lids. "Mm, lovely." It was, but he was lovelier. Which was ridiculous, she knew, when his nose was just as large and his hair as limp as ever.

"I must admit to a selfish motive," he said. "Next time we visit the fells, I hope you'll be warm enough to linger."

She laughed.

Lunch, when it came, was hot and hearty. They dug in.

"Did you ever think, when you were growing up, that you'd like to be a teacher?" Hermione asked, swallowing a mouthful of cottage pie.

"Never. Did you?" He scooped up curried butternut squash and chickpeas.

"I spent seven years nagging Harry and Ron about homework. I knew I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life," she said. "What's your excuse? Insanity? Habit?"

"Orders," he said shortly. "The one thing both my masters agreed on." He stared at his empty plate, his face grim, and added, "It gave me something to do. Somewhere to be except dead. People to care about that weren't her."

"Your colleagues?"

He rolled his eyes. "My students, Hermione."

A/N: The Lion and Snake is a real pub in Lincoln, situated fairly close to both the castle and the cathedral. As Snape says, it seemed apposite ;~P Panto is a slang abbreviation of pantomime.

The Malvern Hills: Travels Through Elgar Country was published in 1992. I've found it listed in various online bookshops, but no one seems to have a copy, perhaps because Miles has since brought out another book on the Malvern Hills. The 1999 book was Silva: the Tree in Britain. The most recent is A Walk in the Woods. I highly recommend his work; the photography is luscious.