9

Chapter 9- October 10 through 29, 1998

Both of them were exceedingly polite to each other over the next several days. Snape knew he had made his feelings clear, but he wasn't going to rush Hermione. She, on the other hand, wasn't sure she could trust her feelings, so she continued in their normal routine, cautiously testing herself and Snape.

They continued their usual of dinners at the pub, expanded their attempts at cooking at home...sometimes with hilarious results...and delved into the books on loan from the Malfoys. Draco assisted in arranging more interviews, but placed them to more neutral locations so Hermione wouldn't have to face the traumatic memories at Malfoy Manor again.

Over the next few weeks, a pattern emerged. The nights that Hermione and Snape interviewed people for the book, they would inevitably stay closer to each other on the way home, pensive and sombre. And those were the nights when Hermione would wake from disturbing dreams to creep into Snape's room and join him in his bed, so he could keep the nightmares at bay. If those sleepy cuddles sometimes led to clinging embraces and desperate kisses, neither was willing to address it in the light of day, so a tacit truce of silence was kept.

As Halloween drew closer, Hermione asked, "Severus, do the children in this village do anything to celebrate Halloween?"

Snape scowled and said, "I wouldn't know."

Shrugging, she dropped onto the sofa beside him and said, "Well, would you want to do anything to celebrate?"

Snape cut a hostile look at her, making her blink and draw back in surprise. His voice was an acid growl as he retorted, "That's the last holiday I'd want to celebrate."

Comprehension dawned, and Hermione laid a sympathetic hand on his tense arm. "I'm sorry, Severus, I didn't think. That was silly of me to even ask. I know better."

With a gentle squeeze of his arm, she stood and left him with his painful memories. She didn't see his startled eyes following her as she retreated to her room.

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October 31, 1998

Hermione insisted that she and Snape stay in Halloween night, trying a new dinner recipe and ridiculous recipes for sweets after casting surreptitious Do Not Notice charms on Spinner's End to deter anyone who might bother them. She was determined to keep Snape distracted enough that he wouldn't ruminate on the bad memories of this anniversary.

Snape knew what she was trying to do and was grateful for it. Considering how much he had grown to care for her, he was quite willing to go along with her silly plans, as long as it provided ample opportunity for her to delight him with her laughter and radiant smiles. The kitchen was a mess of dirty dishes as well as both successful and botched attempts at making caramels and other sweets. They were almost ill with how much they had gorged on sugary concoctions instead of proper food, so Snape led her to the basement to brew her a stomach-settling solution.

"This should make you feel better." He handed her the still warm dose and she sipped it carefully.

"Oh, it's not disgusting at all!" At Snape's snort, she hastily added, "You know what I mean...so many potions are absolutely vile to taste. This is pleasant."

Snape smirked and said, "Well, if one is already queasy, then imbibing a potion that would incite a gagging reflex would be rather counter-effective, now, wouldn't it?"

Hermione chuckled and downed the rest of the dose. "Indeed. I feel better already; thank you."

Snape bowed and gestured for them to go back upstairs. "It's late. We should probably turn in."

They continued on up to the bedrooms, and Snape paused at his door when Hermione said, "I had fun tonight, Severus."

One corner of his mouth quirking up, he said, "I enjoyed being with you, Hermione. Good night."

"Good night." She watched him shut his door, then secluded herself in her room as well.

It was barely an hour later when she tiptoed to Snape's room and carefully opened his door. In the chilly moonlight, she saw him lift his head and peer at her in concern. "Hermione?"

"Were you asleep? Did I wake you?"

He curled forward onto his elbows and said, "No, I wasn't asleep. Is everything all right?"

Hermione crossed to the bed and sank down beside him, gazing at him intently. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said, "I was afraid you might be thinking about... other Halloweens... and I wanted to keep the demons away."

Snape's brows rose in astonishment, but they shot even higher when she suddenly leant forward and kissed him, pushing him onto his back again as she climbed into bed with him. Her kisses were insistent and her hands roamed over his body while her legs tangled with his under the blankets. When her lips travelled down his jaw to his scarred neck, he gasped, "Hermione..."

She nibbled on his earlobe and murmured, "Shh. It's time for you to have something else to associate with Halloween, Severus. Something good."

Snape groaned. "Something very good."

They snogged and caressed long into the night, until weariness claimed them, and they slept, their limbs twined together. Neither woke with nightmares, but when they did wake, neither hurried to get up either, content to lie there together.

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November 1, 1998

That afternoon, Snape and Hermione were sitting on the sofa, shoulders and thighs touching as they both read the Malfoys' books. Suddenly, Hermione gripped Snape's thigh and sat up straight, gasping, "Severus! Look what I found!"

Snape looked where she was pointing in the old genealogy book and saw a page titled, "Prince." Brow furrowing, he set his book aside and pulled her book across their laps, zeroing in on the text describing his mother's side of the family.

Before he could get to the end of the first page, Hermione cried, "There's a Prince Manor? You never mentioned a Prince Manor before!"

Snape's eyes raced down the page to see that it was true; the book referred to Prince Manor as the ancestral home. "I never mentioned it because this is the first I've ever heard of it."

Hermione scanned the family tree on the facing page. "I don't see you listed either."

Snape looked and said, "My mother isn't even on here. That's how old this book is. My grandfather is here, but it doesn't even show who he married. Just his date of birth."

Hermione stared at Snape, owl-eyed. "Well anyway, surely you'll go see Prince Manor!"

Snape snapped his gaze to hers. "We don't even know if it still exists. You can see that the Prince line was on its way to dying out. My mother didn't have siblings."

Tossing her head in impatience, she said, "So find out! Severus, this is exciting! Don't you want to see the place where your family came from?"

Snape sneered. "Because they were ever so helpful and kind to me..."

Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed. "Oh, give over. Don't you want to learn about your family history? I thought you liked knowing as much as you could about things. I would." Snape snorted. "Please consider it. I'd go with you if you'd like."

Her hand caressed his knee and he cast a sidelong glance at her. "Fine. I'll find out if it still exists, and if it does, you can come with me to see it. Satisfied?"

She beamed at him and bounced forward to kiss him soundly. When she backed away, she said, "Very. Oh, I'm so excited for you!"

Snape smiled at her enthusiasm even as he shook his head at it. Turning his attention back to the section on his family, he made note of the location of the house and crossed to the worktable to write a letter inquiring about the property. I wonder if it still exists, and if so, whether anyone lives there...

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November 13, 1998

Snape drained his pint and cleared his throat. "Hermione, are you busy tomorrow?"

Tilting her head in inquiry, she said, "No more than usual. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I finally got the details on Prince Manor, and I know you said you'd go with me..."

Hermione's face lit up with enthusiasm. "Of course! Oh, tell me all about it."

Snape flicked a glance around and said, "Not here."

She nodded and finished her meal. "Let's go."

They waved goodbye to Kelly and stepped out into the snowy night. Plumes of vapour streamed from their noses as they crunched through the latest layer of snow on the walkways. Snape murmured, "It's been abandoned, apparently. No one lives there now, nor has anyone lived there for years. It's very secluded, with quite a few Muggle-repellent enchantments woven into the grounds. Considering how long it's been vacant, I have no idea what sort of condition it's in. It could be a ruin of rubble or much like the Shrieking Shack by now. So, it could be dangerous. Are you sure you want to take the risk?"

Hermione turned to frown at him in thought. "Yes, but we should take precautions. If it could be that dangerous, perhaps it's time you taught me how to make that Portkey that saved you. And we should definitely tell people where we're going and when we expect to be back, just in case."

Snape's brows rose in startled consideration of her comments. "I hadn't thought of it that way. I can teach you how to do the Portkey, but it may not work right away. It's a very tricky piece of work."

Hermione shrugged and squeezed his arm. "So we go when we're ready. I daresay it's not going anywhere."

Snape snorted and said, "Indeed," as they reached the house and gratefully got out of the cold.

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November 19, 1998

"There! That's exactly how it looked and acted when I completed the previous Portkey. So, I daresay it's ready. It took less time this time around...probably because I'd managed it before. You caught on quite quickly. Well done." Snape flashed a proud smile at Hermione.

"Thank you. If I had no idea whether it could work, I don't know that I could have got this far so quickly. I'm sure that having seen your success helped me. Besides, you can be an excellent teacher, you know." She twinkled at him and chuckled at his snort of derision. "At any rate, when shall we go? I want to let Harry know, just in case. It might come in handy to have an Auror-in-training to come to the rescue if necessary."

Snape nodded and said, "I'd like to let Minerva and Draco know as well. It'd be just my luck that the day we get into trouble is the day Harry gets knocked out cold in a training exercise and we'd be on our own."

Hermione laughed and caressed his knee. "Point taken, but I'm sure we can take care of ourselves pretty well. And would it be such a bad thing to be 'on our own'?"

Snape snapped a keen glance at her, noting the blush creeping up her throat and over her cheeks. It was the most overt thing she had said about their relationship thus far. Lips spreading in a wicked smirk, he murmured, "It hasn't been bad so far."

Hermione ducked her head to hide her pleased grin. Clearing her throat, she said, "Why don't we try this Saturday, so Harry will be free."

Snape nodded. "I'll contact Minerva and Draco right away."

They parted ways on their separate tasks, and the plan was set for heading out in two days' time.

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