7

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; I make no money here.

Many thanks to my beta dreamy_dragon73 for all her help; she made it all readable.

After Harry left, Hermione sat outside on a garden bench thinking about everything that had happened. The viciousness of Theo's lies had stunned her. It still shocked her that he could be so cruel, even after he had proven his very nature by the things he had said to her that day he'd broken her heart. She felt nothing, numb inside. Dead.

Maybe, she'd not really loved him after all, she thought; possibly, she'd just wanted so very badly to be in love with someone, anyone, that she'd manufactured it all. Perhaps, there was no such thing as love, really. Oh, she loved Harry and Ron, her parents, her friends; but that romantic, sappy, happily-ever-after kind of love you read about in books, maybe it didn't exist. Or maybe it only happened so very rarely that it was an impossible dream for the average person like her. With a sigh, she rose and went back into her cottage.

~**~

Severus swore as his car bottomed out on the rough, rutted drive going up the hill to Bluebell Cottage. Damn, but he'd told Maeve years back that she should have something done about the nearly impassable lane she'd called a driveway. But in those last years, when she was still driving, the old lady hadn't cared a bit and had just bounced and scraped her way up and down the hill without a care to her old car. It had only gotten worse since she'd been gone and no one had been using the drive; the rain and weather had taken a toll as well. He made a mental note to himself that next time he'd drive home and Apparate to Hermione's house rather than risk his precious car.

He'd waited three days but had not heard anything from Hermione. No sign of her in town, no posts by owl or Muggle means to acknowledge his presence in Clonbur. He knew it wasn't a case of her not remembering due to her intoxicated state because Harry had dropped by on his way home to tell Severus that Hermione knew the truth about him.

It appeared that she was avoiding him for whatever reason. Maybe, she was embarrassed by her behavior; maybe, she was depressed by her circumstances; maybe, she just didn't give a damn whether he was dead or alive. But he couldn't believe that; her curiosity as to what had become of him after the final battle should have brought forth questions aplenty. At any rate, he'd decided to take the unicorn by the horn and just come up to her home to see her. No more skulking around, peeping through windows for him. Only, he hadn't planned on tearing off the undercarriage of his bloody car in the process! As an excuse for his visit...not that he needed one, mind you...he'd brought take-away from the pub for dinner. She could consider it a peace offering or a house warming or whatever.

He noticed upon approaching her door that there were much stronger wards in place than there had been three days ago, either due to Potter or herself. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Maybe, he shouldn't have waited three days. Could she have left, gone back to England? He kept knocking until he was virtually pounding on the door. He'd just decided to start dismantling her wards when the door was opened a bit, and she peeked out at him through the crack before throwing it open.

"Oh hello, Professor! Come in, won't you."

"Miss Granger, I have been out here knocking on your door for ten minutes or more. Could you not hear me?"

"Sorry, I was upstairs in my office. I have the room heavily warded to keep magic from interfering with my electronic equipment. Unfortunately due to that, when I'm in there, I can't feel the shift of the wards down here. I had some music on, and I really didn't hear you knocking until it got louder. Sorry, sir."

He handed her the bag of food. "No need to stand on formalities. I'm no longer your professor or any kind of authority over you. You may call me Severus, at least in private, or Russ if at the pub or elsewhere in public."

"What's this?" she asked, looking into the sack. "Oh, take-away. Brilliant! I hadn't even realized it was time for supper. Thank you, Severus. Oh, and you may call me Hermione," she added with a shy smile. "You're going to stay and help me eat it, aren't you?"

She led him to her cozy kitchen and set out place-mats, plates and silverware before divvying up the pot roast smothered in onions with baby carrots and new potatoes. She reached into the cupboard for some wine glasses.

"I have a nice Cabernet that would go well with the roast beef, would you like a glass?" she asked, then handed him the bottle to open. "I promise it won't be like the other night, I rarely drink like that. I don't want you to think I've turned into a complete boozer," she teased.

They had a lovely dinner, and she did indeed have an unending number of questions. How had he survived Nagini's bite? How had he recovered? Why had he chosen to leave the wizarding world in spite of the fact he'd been cleared of any charges? Why was he running a pub instead of brewing potions? Why was he living here of all places?

They chatted easily all through supper. Hermione was surprised at how easy it was to converse with him. She smacked herself in the forehead when she realized that his alias was an anagram of his name, and she hadn't even spotted it.

"I can't believe it, and I'm supposed to be the brightest witch of my age: I must be slipping." She laughed. "So, Severus, you've lived here in the village for eight years, did you know my Aunt Maeve at all? You must have, considering what a small place it is."

"Yes, quite well, in fact. We were neighbors after all."

"What? Neighbors? You're joking."

"No, not at all." He told her of the small house he rented, which was just down the road. "I'd often stop in to check on her. Sometimes, I'd bring dinner from the pub and eat with her right here in this very kitchen. She was a feisty old biddy, but she had a heart of gold. She reminded me a bit of Minerva to tell you the truth."

"Be careful, or I'll tell Minerva you said that. We keep in touch you know," Hermione said teasingly. Then, she laid her hand over Severus' wrist and squeezed it gently. "Seriously though, thank you for being here, for befriending an old lady. I feel bad that I wasn't here for her. My parents stayed in Australia after the war, and I was all she had left. I should have been here and I wasn't. Circumstances kept me away, but that's no excuse. I should have made more of an effort, and I'm sorry now that I didn't."

Severus placed his other hand over hers. "Try not to feel guilty, Hermione. Maeve wouldn't want you to. She spoke of you often you know. Funny thing is she never called you by name, or I might have made the connection; she always referred to you as 'my niece' or 'Lambie'."

"That was always her nickname for me; it was kind of a family joke." Hermione responded with a sentimental smile at the memory. "When I was little, she always called me lambie-pie. When I got older, she just shortened it to Lambie."

They settled with a second glass of wine in front of the fireplace and continued their conversation. Severus asked her what she had done after the war, so she told him about her parents, her job, her friends. She didn't mention Theo directly, but just that she'd recently had a bad break-up and had decided to leave her job and take some time off here at Bluebell Cottage. She told him how she'd wanted to write, but it just didn't seem to be happening, so she'd been doing a bit of research as Harry had suggested and thought something might come of that eventually.

Finally, Hermione mentioned what had happened three days earlier. "I wanted to thank you for bringing me home safely the other night, Severus, and taking care of me. I'm sorry you had to see me like that. It's rather embarrassing now. Remember I told you I'd recently had a bad break-up?"

He nodded.

"Well, I'd read some things in the Prophet about him, and it upset me greatly."

"Hermione, I know all about the Prophet article and Mr. Nott's interview."

She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, sweet mother of Merlin, what must you think of me. I swear to you it isn't true, Severus, none of it! I would never be unfaithful to someone I was involved with...engaged to." She seemed more concerned he would think her an adulterer than with Nott's aspersions on her sexual preferences.

He pulled her hands away and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "I know it isn't true, my dear. Believe me, I am well aware of Mr. Nott's character and what he is capable of. Plus, I spoke with Harry. He was here when I brought you home. If I were to believe anyone's version of events it would be yours, I assure you." He handed her a hanky. "Now, do not waste another tear on that cad. He isn't worth it. And do not shut yourself up here all alone. Do your research if you must, but come and interact with the rest of the world. Paddy misses your visits to the Green Dragon; he thinks you're staying away because you're angry with him. Stop by and see him, won't you?"

"I will. And thank you for everything, Severus."

She stood on the front step and waved as he drove, slowly and ever so carefully down her rutted lane. And somehow, she felt better than she had in a very long time.

tbc