hello again friends, thanks for the kind words and encouragement. You're all too kind.

-_-_-_-Chapter 3-_-_-_-

Severus Snape had been apprehensive about moving to a new city but when a highly regarded university reached out to offer a teaching position, saying no was never an option he supposed. Severus had negotiated with the university to have a full two weeks before giving a concrete answer to their job offer, he had arrangements to make and things to consider of course. The first week was spent reflecting on the offer, weighing the pros and cons. He spent an entire day writing the comparative list by hand, his spindly handwriting too elegant for the task at hand. The two lists sat on his desk for a few days, the first thing he would see every morning and the last thought on his mind before bed. Deciding he might as well visit his potential new home, Severus booked a moderately priced red-eye plane ticket, with ticket insurance obviously. He had decided on staying for just under a week, enough time, in his opinion, to gauge the city and community life there. By the time his flight had landed it was three-thirty in the morning, but he knew there was no way he could fall asleep at the hotel. The airline coffee had left a terrible taste in his mouth, but he was most definitely awake. But where else could he go at such an early hour? Pulling out his phone Severus typed in "café" and began perusing the long result list. Almost all of the local coffee shops were still closed, not set to open until 6am. Sighing, he flicked back through the list and discovered that there was one café set to open in a half hour, unfortunately it was one of those large coffee chain locations. Severus thought of these chain locations as being rather hit or miss, either the barista knew what they were doing and made his drink relatively well or they were just a teenager racing towards the end of their shift with no care for the drinks they were putting out. Severus never knew which barista he had until the first sip. Another sigh escaped him as he again debated the pros and cons of going to the coffee shop. "Well you can't stand around here all morning," he thought, "besides, you've already wasted ten minutes just debating yourself over going. By the time you get there they should be open."

Finally making his decision, he grabbed his luggage and strode toward his rental car, a sleek black Mercedes. As he drove through the quiet streets, Severus tried to imagine himself living in this city. It felt odd to try and force a future he was unsure of. Would one of these side-roads turn into his home address? Would this sleepy town become his as well? Severus pulled up to the café, turned the car off, and watched the storefront go from dark to illuminated. He could see two baristas getting ready for the day, one with long red hair pulled back into a sleek high ponytail, the other a petite brunette with a mass of curls haphazardly pinned into topknot. The brunette yawned widely and said something to her coworker. The ginger threw her head back in laughter before disappearing to the backroom. For a brief moment he wondered what the brunette had said to warrant such a reaction at four in the morning. Getting out of his car, Severus brushed imaginary dirt from his pants, more of an unconscious habit than a movement with meaning behind it. He strolled across the dark parking lot with leisurely purpose.

The soft jazz of John Coltrane's Naima washed over Severus as he entered the store. The petite brunette had not noticed his entrance, she seemed wrapped up in her own world. Her eyes were staring ahead, unfocused on the bar in front of her, clearly seeing something no one else was privy to.

"Good morning, sir!" the red head at the register was unnecessarily cheerful, "What can we get started for you today?" her black name tag had, GINNY, emblazed upon it in thick chalk-marker letters. The red letters almost rivaled her hair in brightness, and Severus noticed there was a small heart in each corner of her tag. Bold but sweet, it seemed to be very fitting for the energetic barista.

Severus watched her brown eyes quickly jump from his face, to his watch, to his suit lapels, and back to his face in one quick moment. He could practically see her adding up everything he was wearing and calculating his worth.

"A venti flat white, if you may." he smoothly answered, pretending not to notice her sharp eyes.

With the effortlessness of constant practice, Ginny punched the drink order into the system. That wide smile never left her face as she told him his total and waited for him to pay.

"Your drink will be ready in a few moments, sir." Ginny handed him his change, "Have a great day!"

He took the change and politely replied, "You as well." Wanting to leave the sharp-eyed girl, he backed away to the community board. "If this community board is up to date, maybe it will give me an idea of what this city cares enough about to make fliers for." After reading charity flier after charity flier, Severus heard his drink being made.

Turning around, he walked back to the front of the store, but this time stood in front of the brunette barista. Again, she had not noticed his presence. Her nametag read, Hermione, in thin white chalk-marker cursive, a small yellow flower had been drawn on the corner of the tag. Hermione's eyes were closed, and she was rolling her head backwards. As her head got to her right shoulder, Severus heard a loud succession of cracks. Then something wonderful happened. The petite barista in front of him let out a soft, breathy gasp followed up by an equally illicit back-of-the-throat-oh-god-this-is-truly-pornographic moan. Quite by accident he had observed her in what could have been an intimate moment. He would never have suspected this tiny little thing to make such a lovely noise.

Before he could stop himself, he said, "Long night?"

The yelp that followed his question almost brought a smile to his face. Severus discovered Hermione blushed such a delicate shade of pink when flustered; her cheeks were the first to gain color, before softly unfurling across her face. He heard her stumbling out an apology but was too distracted by her lips to pay attention. He watched as they formed another perfect "O" to blow a stray curl out of her eyes. She wore embarrassment well and he was fascinated by it. His eyes roamed her face, her eyes were trained upon his drink trying to ignore him. The blush was deepening, the bags under her eyes becoming more prominent. He wondered what had kept her up so late, what was so important or interesting she had sacrificed sleep for it? Unbidden, images of what she could have been doing at night invaded his mind. Her breathy little gasp a soundtrack he could not shake from his head. "Although," he realized, "if that were the case, she would have had a deeper sleep."

Severus could practically see Hermione steeling herself to talk to him again.

The forced cheerfulness in her voice hadn't reached her deep brown eyes. She flicked her eyes back up to him, and he could watch the blush rekindle on her face. Severus reached for the offered cup, he couldn't help himself and let his fingers gently brush her fingers; she was as soft as she appeared. The deep blush that darkened her face at the contact gave Severus a rush of power. He tilted his head to the side and continued to regard her closely. She had the loveliest freckles dusting the tops of her cheeks and nose. What could be the harm in gentle teasing? He would most likely never see this barista again.

Finally, he spoke, "Exercise before bed can help with having a more restful sleep."

Severus turned on his heel and left the store. He had caught a glimpse of her startled face, those brown eyes wide, her jaw slack, her pink lips parted in a silent "O", she was so lovely in her shock. Once he was seated back in his rental car, he realized he had not taken a single sip of his flat white. The experimental first sip was a pleasant surprise, a perfect drink. He savored the flavor, thinking about the barista who had made it.

"Maybe I'll have to make another stop before leaving, there aren't baristas like her back home."