I'm sorry for the length of time between my updates, I work a very busy job as some of you know and this can keep me away from writing for months at a time. I shall try my best to update this a little more regularly but I cannot promise consistency in this. Thanks for your patience, as always

Lu

The first one to see Hermione about it was Lavender. Perhaps she was the only one, other than Severus, who knew how she truly felt about Krum. When she poked her head around the door of her room, she offered her a half smile. "It's alright Lavender," she said beckoning for her to enter and shut the door.

"You're really alright with it?" her friend asked as she settled on the chair beside her.

"It's what I wanted," she replied, "You know that." Lavender nodded. She looked over Hermione's desk and picked up the engagement ring, examining it.

"He let you keep it?" she asked as she turned the golden ring over.

"Yes," she said, "I should have given it back but he was insistent. I couldn't deny him that," she added. Lavender offered her a sympathetic little smile and handed her the ring back, "I don't think I want to wear it though," she said. She folded Lavender's hand over the trinket and shook her head, "You keep it."

"Hermione I couldn't," she said. "It's yours."

"Well, put it in the drawer then," Hermione said, gesturing to the drawer in question. Lavender did as she was asked and slid the drawer shut, sealing away the ring.

"What're you going to do now?" Lavender asked.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied, "Enjoy myself for a while and not worry about it too much."

"Was marrying Krum that bad?"

"He wanted to ship me off to Bulgaria without asking me what I wanted," she shuddered at the thought, "Away from my friends, away from everyone," she said. The look of sympathy in Lavender's eyes was obvious and she wrapped a hand around her shoulder in a light hug.

"What about making a match?" she asked.

"Lavender, there is so much more to life than finding a husband and getting married," Hermione said, resting her head against her friends shoulder. She knew that Lavender, this version of her at least, was as much a product of her time as Molly. Her forward thinking ways would be alien to her but she couldn't help but voice her opinion anyway. At least Lavender seemed to accept that her funny ways were a part of who she was and that they were never going to change.

"Maybe," Lavender said. Hermione could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn't really believe her. That was fine. She was here to learn what she could and see if there was anything she could do about it. Perhaps Severus would be able to help with that little problem too! "At least now you can see Severus again!" Lavender said. Despite herself, Hermione flushed a brilliant shade of red.

"He's engaged already!" she protested, even though she knew what Lavender said was true.

"I don't think that's going to stop you somehow!" Hermione let out a shocked little laugh at that and nudged her friend's shoulder with hers. Molly chose that moment to call for them both, apparently tea was ready, and so the subject was dropped.

"Don't tell Mrs Weasley," Hermione said as they approached the door.

Lavender shook her head, "Promise," she said. Satisfied, Hermione followed her down into the sitting room for afternoon tea. For the first time in what seemed like ages, she felt glad to be there.

It was three days later that Hermione heard from Severus, and another two before she was able to pay a visit to his home. Molly had tried to force Lavender to go along with her, as a chaperone to ensure nothing untoward happened while she was there. However, Lavender was busy having tea with Luna and Neville and no one else had been available. So it was that Hermione found herself approaching the large doors that were the entrance to Severus' Manor all by herself.

Looking up at the huge dark wood doors was more than a little intimidating. It was at least twice her height and engraved with a pattern that screamed foreboding at anyone who happened to look at it. Still, there was only one thing to do. Reaching out a sure hand, she tapped a couple of times on the wood and took a step back, certain that she was expected and someone would be waiting for her. She was not disappointed. Moments later, the door opened.

"Master is expecting you," said a well presented house elf. Hermione gave the creature a sympathetic nod of thanks and stepped inside. The interior was not what she had expected. Quite what she had in mind was a lot darker and perhaps a little drab. These pale cream floral patterned walls with a thick light green carpet had been as far from her mind as anything. It had the feeling of a woman's touch to it, but it was far too classy to have been Ms De La Cour. It had been there too long for that as well.

"This way," the elf spoke again, snapping her from her thoughts and she followed it silently to the sitting room. "He will be along shortly," it said before snapping its fingers and disappearing. Hermione was left in the centre of a moderate sized sitting room. Looking around, she found that this room also had a light feeling to it. It wasn't cramped or dusty. There were several books left on the side in a neat pile. In fact, when she took another look around, she noticed that the whole room was immaculate. Eventually she chose an arm chair by the fire and picked up the top book on the pile. It was a volume on making potions – she was less that surprised at his reading material. Opening the first page, she realised that there had been a copy of this book at the library at Hogwarts.

Looking over some of the recipes in it made her smile and before long, she was pulled into the pages and unaware of what was going on around her. "I get the impression you're going to tell me half of those recipes are wrong," came the droll voice of her friend. Hermione jumped. Blood thudded in her ears and a hand flew to her chest.

"You startled me!" she exclaimed, placing the book to the side. He made no apology about it as he walked into the room. Hermione watched as he settled into the chair opposite her, his dark eyes coolly assessing her, as though he was sizing her up for something. Hermione swallowed; it was a little bit like being back in the potions classroom… No, she wasn't going to let this man intimidate her. Not again. "Where do you want to start?" she asked, aware that she had her side of the bargain to fulfil, "Thank you, for getting rid of Krum," she added, knowing she should thank him for it before anything else.

"You're welcome," he replied with a small incline of his head. "Tell me about the Wizarding World," he said. It seemed like a decent enough starting point and so she began.

"Not an awful lot has changed in two hundred years," she said, "Then again, other aspects have changed greatly. Hogwarts still exists; you are a potions master there in fact." He let out a snort at that but she continued. "Diagon Alley is much the same as it is now; a few businesses have changed but not all that many." The more she thought about it, the more she realised that there hadn't been all that much change in the wizarding world… except for one thing and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to disclose that much just yet. She had no idea what the effects of these conversations were going to be; for all she knew, talking about the War before it happened might change the outcome. If Severus didn't join the Deatheaters in the future, he'd not be there to work against him. It could mean that The Dark Lord won in the end and that was something she was very keen to avoid.

"Tell me something useful Hermione," Severus said. She looked up at him and pressed her lips together again.

"I don't know what I can and cannot say," she said honestly, "I'll start with potions," she added after a pause. It was a subject that he was clearly interested in and she thought she could do very little harm, especially if she only related some of the things he had discovered in the future. Feeling very clever, she began relating some of the details that she could remember. A few of the improvements to the recipes Harry had discovered in his later years at Hogwarts. Much to her delight, he jotted down what it was she told him. His hand as neat and clipped as ever, his concentration something to be admired. She smiled as she spoke, glad to be able to tell him these small details. When she finished, he looked over the notes he had made and turned inky black eyes to her.

"This is interesting," he muttered, pointing to one of the potions. "Do you think we could recreate this?"

She nodded, "Of course, it's simple enough," Hermione said. "I'd be happy to show you in fact," she added.

"Some of these ingredients are rather rare. It may take a day or so to procure them," Severus said, scanning the list once more. Hermione nodded.

"I doubt I would be allowed to visit again so soon anyway," she said, speaking before thinking through what she was saying. She flushed a little at that and looked away, "Molly already thinks there is something going on."

"Molly has always had her nose in where it isn't wanted," Severus replied. Hermione laughed a little at that and shook her head. She agreed with his sentiment completely, hearing it however was unexpected. "Then we shall agree to meet again in a week?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, "See what you can get from those lists and we'll have a good go at making those potions," she smiled. He nodded. The mantel clock then began to strike and she turned her eyes to him once again, "My carriage will be here soon," she said. He rose when she did, escorting her to the door like a perfect gentleman should.

"Thank you for your company," she said when they reached the door.

He took her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles in a chaste manner, "I look forward to our next encounter," he said. She flushed at his lovely manners and was about to ask something when there was a dull bang from the floor above them. Severus' eyes flicked up, Hermione knew better than to do the same; maybe it was just a book falling from a shelf. Somehow she doubted it but it would be rude to ask.

"Thank you again," she said as the footman approached. His eyes lingered on hers for a long moment, the bang all but forgotten. After a long pause, she turned and headed for her carriage, the place on her hand where his lips had touched still warm and tingling.