Summary: The longest stretch

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the banter between Severus and Hermione–once he comes back around.

Chapter 8

Hermione was in the time room. It had been a week and a half since Christmas. Her Ministry Department had a very nice New Year's party, so she'd been occupied, and quite drunk, by the stroke of midnight. She'd had a few days off afterward but had been working on 'What ifs' since. Her postulations had centered around Severus mostly because she missed him.

Today, she was investigating what would happen if Severus didn't continue working at Hogwarts. She knew that he didn't enjoy teaching much, but it was where he needed to be–according to Dumbledore. She wondered if the old coot had been right.

The vision began at the end of the current school year. Severus packed his bags and left the school for good. He kept in touch with Dumbledore, but never taught again. He created a successful Potions business instead. In Hermione's first year, Harry hated the new Potions Master. Some things never change.

Harry was able to defeat Quirrell.

Second year went much the same.

Third year, Hermione got bitten by Lupin in his werewolf form and had to deal with lycanthropy for the rest of her life.

Fourth year, when Voldemort returned, he was furious with Severus for not spying on Dumbledore and for being the cause of his dying. He killed him at their first meeting.

Hermione stopped that vision. That had all gone pear-shaped. She'd done several visions where Severus didn't survive to the end of the war, and in most of them, Voldemort won. She'd long suspected that he had been the lynchpin in the plan, but her research had proven that without him, they'd be doomed to live under Voldemort's rule, and that meant that Harry would die as well. She ran several other scenarios where Severus left teaching at one point or another. All resulted in Voldemort killing him at that first meeting when he returned. Given those results, she'd now confirmed that he needed to continue to teach at Hogwarts to survive.

ooo

The next week, she sent Severus a note through the Floo wishing him a happy birthday. He'd sent a letter back thanking her and saying he was still busy and would see her in a few more weeks… hopefully. And that depressed her. She'd hoped he would be done sooner rather than later.

She missed him horridly. To go from visiting every day to several weeks without seeing him… well, it was doing nothing for her attraction because she found that absence definitely made the heart grow fonder.

Running what-ifs had been helpful, but she didn't interact with Seversus at all in these visions. So she changed that. And that was one thing she shouldn't have done. She set up a vision where Severus and she were a couple. It wasn't long, just a night out. Dinner, a walk in the park, and declarations of love.

She stopped the vision soon after that. Tears streamed down her face. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed for what she knew would never be. She mourned for a bit but knew she was being ridiculous. Quickly composing herself, she lifted her head and wiped her tears.

"Ugh, why did I do that? Now I'm going to be fixated on that scene forever!"

She decided she needed a break and left the Time Room. She bumped into Lilah as she walked through the area.

"Hello, Maia! How are you?"

"Oh, fine, Lilah. Good to see you."

"Is everything all right? You look upset."

"Me? On, no. I'm having an allergic reaction to something. I'm fine."

"Good. How is your project with Warren going?"

"It's going well. We've been able to postulate a point in the past that we want to test."

"Excellent! I've been enjoying your vision reports of the future."

Hermione gave a quick nod. "It's been interesting examining what changes do to the timeline."

"I must admit, having knowledge of what the future will bring has always given me goosebumps. You have been a godsend to us. We've been able to extrapolate the future before, but with your knowledge and tests with changes in the timeline... It's been very valuable. Of course, it's very tempting to try and fix something, but we must keep our oath to not interfere."

Hermione nodded. "It is hard, but you're right." And thankfully, that oath wasn't an Unbreakable Vow.

"I've been surprised, though, that much of what I've investigated has worked out worse if the circumstances are changed. I would think that we'd have a mix of results."

"Well, you've just begun."

"Yes. I've got some ideas for next week's research."

"Lovely. I look forward to reading about it."

She said goodbye to Lilah. Feeling renewed, she headed back to her testing room. She had some ideas she wanted to try out.

ooo

Mid February

Severus hadn't come around for six weeks. He'd only sent the one reply to her owl, and aside from that, she'd not heard a peep from him. She knew he was busy, but seriously, he'd just cut her off, and she was a bit miffed about that. Imagine her surprise when she got home from work one day to find him settled in his reading chair, browsing a Potions journal.

"Severus!" she cried, truly happy to see him, despite being annoyed at his lack of interactions.

"Maia, how are you?"

She threw herself on the sofa across from him. "Merlin, I'm exhausted."

"Is this a bad time? I can come back tomorrow."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't even, Severus Snape. You disappear for six weeks with nary an owl and just want to run out of here?"

"I apologize."

She folded her arms in front of her. "I'm actually used to it. Harry and Ron would never write to me in the summers. It was infuriating."

"You're upset with me."

"You're damn right I am. You said you'd be gone for a month, which wound up being six weeks, but you didn't say you wouldn't speak to me at all during that time. I thought we were friends."

He looked to the floor, duly chastised. "We are friends. I'm sorry I didn't even send a letter. I had a lot on my mind."

"Is everything okay? Is it something about You-Know-Who?"

He shook his head. "No. Not at all. I was not in any danger or anything like that."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay." She regarded him thoughtfully. "Are you hungry? Did you eat at Hogwarts?"

"I did not."

She stood. "Come on."

He followed suit. "Where are we going?"

"Curry in a Hurry on Main Street."

"There's an Indian place in town? I didn't think anything decent to eat was offered here. Just a lot of bars."

"Oh, it's next to a bar, and there's a bar in it, but they've got decent curry, and I don't feel like cooking."

They left Spinners End and walked over to the restaurant.

"I'm still angry at you, by the way. I just need some food."

He chuckled, causing her to glare at him.

"Sorry. You really are hacked off, aren't you?"

She stopped and put her hands on her hips. "You're damn straight I am. I bet you didn't even think about me during that whole time."

"You are very wrong. I thought about you every day, Maia."

She frowned at him. "Don't lie, Severus."

He threw his arms up. "I'm not lying. I bloody thought about you every minute of the day." He snapped his mouth shut and glared at her as if it was her fault he'd divulged such a secret.

She arched a brow at him. He pursed his lips at her. They stared at each other for a while before she let her arms fall to her sides.

"I'm sure we can glare at each other all night, but I want some food," she said as she stalked past him.

"I have a good reason for not speaking with you."

She stopped again and turned back toward him. "Oh? What would that be? You had enough of me chattering your ear off?"

"No!"

"Come on," she said as she started walking again. "Talk and walk so we can get there before midnight."

"Maia…"

She just kept walking. He hurried to catch up with her.

"I was inconsiderate. I was just thinking about myself. I'm sorry."

She gave him a side eye as she continued walking. She was quiet for a few moments as they walked in silence.

"You're forgiven," she said.

He sighed. "Thank you. I should have written. I just didn't know what to say."

"Am I that intimidating?"

He chuckled. "In some ways, yes."

She screwed up her face. "You really think so?"

"No, I don't really. I mean, you can be intimidating when you're irate, but it wasn't that. I am not a writer. I prefer to communicate in person. It was more that I didn't want to sound stupid, not that I thought you were intimidating."

They'd gotten to the Indian restaurant, and Severus opened the door for Maia. They found seats at a nearby booth and ordered a couple of different curries.

"Do you mind sharing? I like both of these options," Hermione asked.

"Of course. I would like to try some of your pork curry anyway."

Hermione grinned at him. "So… how was your birthday? Did you do anything fun?"

"No, I didn't do anything. How did you know it was my birthday? No one knows that."

"No one knew it was your birthday? That's terrible!"

"No one alive, at least."

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

He shrugged. "It's never come up."

"Not even Dumbledore?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I imagine since he pays my salary, he's seen my birthdate at some point, but he's never said anything about it. He only uses me for his own devices, so I haven't mentioned the day of my birth to him."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you'll be closer in the future. At least I think you're close."

He arched a brow. "I can't ever see myself trusting him completely."

"I think that feeling stuck."

"So, how do you know my birthday?"

She thought about it for a minute, then frowned. "I'm sorry. I think I saw it on your tombstone." She grimaced. "God, that's awful."

"So, it was a secret until my death?"

Her eyebrows knit together. "I… I don't know. I doubt it. I mean, I was your student. There was no reason for me to know when your birthday was, and if you didn't want to make a big deal about it, no one but your friends would know. Maybe Dumbledore, Minerva… you seemed to get along with most of the faculty. They may have known." She chuckled. "Maybe they had a roaring party for you in the teachers' lounge every year."

He chuckled along with her. "Someho,w I doubt it, but it's possible I get a 'Happy Birthday' here and there in the future."

"I certainly hope so."

Their curries came, and Severus tried his Tikka Masala.

"Surprisingly delicious for a dive in Cokeworth," he remarked.

"The pork curry is spicy. Can you handle it?"

He arched his brow. "I live for spice."

He put some over the rice on his plate and took a large forkful, immediately covering his mouth and coughing. "Merlin… not what I was expecting."

"I told you!"

"Yes, but I figured you were a novice at this sort of thing."

"I'm sorry, I've been a curry connoisseur since I was ten. I didn't mean to burn your tongue off."

He cleared his throat. "You didn't. I like it; I was just surprised. Most people, when they say spicy, are sadly mistaken. Of course, I keep learning over and over again not to underestimate you."

She grinned at him as she took a bite of the Tikka Masala. "Mmm, I don't think I've tried this here yet. It's very good."

They ate in silence and then conversed for a while before heading back to Spinner's End. After their walk, they both sat on the sofa at either end, facing one another. Hermione put her feet up and Severus turned toward her so his leg was bent in front of him.

"Maia, I need to talk to you about something."

She arched a brow at him. "Go on."

"I am sorry I haven't been around for the last six weeks."

"Severus, we've already spoken about that."

"I know, but there is more to it than I've let on."

Her eyebrows knit together. "What are you talking about?"

"I…" He looked down to the floor. "You know I have very few friends. I consider you my closest friend."

She smiled reassuringly at him. "I feel the same about you, Severus."

"I don't want anything to come between this friendship," he continued.

"So, you decided to not come around for a few weeks? That makes no sense."

He held up his hand. "I know. It's just that…" He looked away.

Hermione studied him. He was upset about something, that much was clear, but she didn't have a clue as to what it could be. It was obviously paining him, and that made her hurt for him.

"Severus, just tell me what's going on. I'm your friend. I'm here to support you through whatever."

His eyes drew back to hers. "I debated about not speaking of this to you, but in the end, I think being fully forthcoming is the best thing to do."

She nodded. She wanted to scream out for him to just tell her, but she'd learned that he would tell her in his own time and way. She needed to be patient, but it was driving her insane!

He sighed. "I'm sorry. My feelings for you are more than just as a friend. I know you're not interested in me that way, but I wanted you to know because there may be times when I avoid you because it's just too hard to be with you and not be able to actually be with you."

Her mouth dropped open. Severus rushed on.

"I don't want our friendship to be over because of this. I swear, Maia, I can control myself. I just want you to know what's going on in my head. I don't want to lose this ease that we have together."

"You…" Her voice was soft and small. "You fancy me?"

He frowned even more and nodded.

"But what about Lily? You're in love with her."

He looked at her with shock. "I didn't realize you knew about that aspect of my relationship with Lily."

"I do."

"Well… It's wrong. Yes, I did love her a long time ago. But when she started going with Potter, I realized she didn't care for me the way I cared for her. I mean, she chose my enemy, you know?" He shrugged lightly. "But I've always loved her as a person… as a friend."

"That can't be. All you ever did in my timeline was for her… because you loved her."

His lips thinned. "I don't know about my feelings for her when you knew me then, but I can assure you, I do not love her now. My feelings for her did come back with her death, but over the last few months, I've sorted them. Yes, I am working against the Dark Lord because of her, and part of my motives will always be for her, but that is because we were best mates, and I want to make sure her death wasn't in vain."

Merlin, she'd changed the future more than she'd known. She hoped that in the long run, that would be a positive change. She'd need to examine it in the Time room, but right now… she was filled with excitement and wanted to jump up and down. He fancied her! She tamped down her desire to be ecstatic and calmed herself.

"I can't believe this," she said.

"I'm sorry. I promise you I won't mention it again. I just wanted you to be aware."

She put her legs down and moved over close to him. He frowned and tried to move away, but she grasped his hand to still him. His eyes met hers, and he looked at her curiously.

"You see, Severus, I fancy you, too." Her fingers entwined with his, and she squeezed his hand.

His head dropped down to look at their clasped hands before he looked back at her in wonder. "You do?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "I didn't think you'd be interested because of Lily. It hasn't been very long since her death."

He grinned at her. "You couldn't be more wrong."

Leaning in, he captured her lips, giving a sexy little moan as he kissed her. Electricity shot through her as his lips pressed against hers. She moaned into him too, before opening her mouth to give him entrance.

"Maia," he murmured before entering and plundering her tongue. Separating from her lips, he pulled her close and squeezed her tightly. "I didn't think this could ever be."

She huffed. "Neither did I!"

He pulled back and gave her a loving look. "Seems like we both were wrong."

"And I'm ever so happy that we were."

She turned and leaned into him. His arm came around her shoulder, and he pulled her close as he leaned back on the sofa.

"I should have just said something right off instead of hiding from you."

"That would have been a lot easier for both of us, but we don't always do everything we should."

"You'll forgive me?"

"Oh, Severus, we already talked this out. I'm not going to get upset again."

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad. I feel foolish enough as it is."

"Well, to be fair, you didn't think anything was going to come of this, but please, in the future, talk to me."

"I will. I promise."