A Sugar Coated Snape

A/N: Huge thanx to Dryad for being my Beta goddess!

A Sugar Coated Snape

Hermione had arrived at the ministry bright and early on the Monday after graduation to meet with her new boss and research partners. She was feeling nervous and excited all at the same time, completely unsure of what to expect from the new path her life was going to now be travelling. After dodging the flying inter-department messages which filled the elevator, she stepped out onto the floor that she knew she would come to view as a second home.

The first thing she noticed was that the floor that had been allocated to their department looked like a building in its own right. There was at least a third of the floor sectioned off for what looked like an indoor greenhouse. She could make out some greenery with spurts of colour showing through the frosted wall. When she looked a little more closely she also noticed that some of the foliage appeared to be rustling. She came to the conclusion that someone was intent on researching entirely upon Herbology. She mused that having fresh ingredients on hand for the trial potions she had in mind was going to be a big plus.

The floor was covered with what looked to be wool carpet of a very rich burgundy. She also noticed an extremely large square jarrah table that looked like it could possibly seat at least three people on each side.

The table already held quills, parchments, inkpots, candles and a few thick books upon its surface. She summarised that someone had already begun on his or her research projects and that they must be pretty keen, for as far as she new this department had only just been created. They had obviously started work as soon as they arrived.

There were two desks in a far nook of the room that were pushed together, facing one another. Who ever was to occupy that area were evidently going to be working closely together.

She also noticed a rather grand fireplace located near this area. With four comfortable looking, green rich velvet armchairs and assumed that they were set up to encourage discussion.

Upon scanning the rest of the room she nearly fainted. Aside from a decent sized office that was tucked away near the greenhouse, the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with books, texts, and knowledge. There was even a balcony running around the inside of the walls, to make it easier to reach all of the tomes.

Dazed, she dropped her bag where she was standing and made her way over to the shelves, running her hands lovingly over the spines as she perused them.

Severus had spent the entire weekend decorating, transforming, and transfiguring everything around the space he had been given by the Ministry. He was very proud of the finished product. It wasn't a feeling he had associated with any of his past actions but things were different now. He had a real honest chance to start over, to do the things he should have been doing from his youth, instead of the shameful things he had done. This was going to be his new beginning and he'd be damned if he was going to fuck this up. This time he was going to make a difference, and he was going to be accomplishing this by doing something he truly enjoyed, with the goddess he worshipped by his side.

He arrived at around seven a.m. via the floo to get some last minute things ready, when he spotted Arthur Weasley emerging from the lift. Though Arthur was not a scholar like Severus, the two men had formed a respectable friendship with one another, during their time of service to the Order.

Arthur had often come across the troubled and worn man in the library, looking very tired and stressed. He held Severus in high regard, for he knew the role he chose to play was hard on him. He would never condemn Severus in his mind for the mistakes he made, for if it wasn't for those mistakes, they wouldn't have had a very valuable well-placed spy to relay important information that gave them the upper hand in the end.

Severus for his part held Arthur in high esteem. It wasn't often during his years, that he had come across genuine people and Arthur Weasley was definitely a genuine person. No subtle layers to his personality or hidden agendas, he was just Arthur and that was it.

Truth be told Severus had to admire the man. Loyal to a fault and a huge family full of love and respect. He was even employed to do something he loved and thoroughly enjoyed. He never made Severus feel ashamed of his past, never portrayed himself as being on a higher moral ground and always treated Severus with respect. So Severus had always shown Arthur the respect and consideration he deserved.

Let's face it, he only had to teach the brood of troublesome Weasley boys; Arthur had to deal with them all the time for his entire life. That thought alone had always been enough to give Severus the willies.

Severus walked over to greet him as he had recognised the shock of red hair immediately.

"Arthur, you're in early," Severus said shaking his hand.

"I could say the same for you Severus. Eager to start are you?"

"Of course. Would you expect anything less from me?"

"No I suppose I wouldn't," Arthur replied with a friendly chuckle.

"My, you have done a wonderful job with the place. I must say I am extremely envious of the team you will be working with."

Severus smirked a little at Arthur's words, his earlier pride from this morning swelling in his chest.

"Thinking of changing fields Arthur?"

Mr Weasley laughed out loud at that.

"No, no, I enjoy playing with muggle stuff to much for that, besides I would be asleep after skimming two paragraphs for research."

Severus chuckled good naturedly thinking about how all his boys, with the exception of Percy, were exactly the same. They were all hands on.

They sat down in the armchairs by the fire, with their backs to the entrance and received a tray of tea and coffee from his department's house elves and continued their light conversation.

At eight o'clock he heard the lift doors again and muttered a charm into his coffee to be able to view the person who had entered. When he saw it was Hermione, he wasn't sure if he should reveal himself or not. But when he noticed his goddess examining the room he decided to leave her be for the moment. He gave Arthur a glance that communicated that he wished for them to remain silent and continued to observe her exploration.

It had only been two days since he'd laid eyes on her last, but to him it had felt like an eternity. His eyes greedily took in her form. Her hair was tastefully pulled back in a French braid and she was wearing a little dusting of makeup making her look so far more mature than the simpering fools her own age, who covered their faces in paint. She wore an above-the-knee grey pencil skirt that showed off her smooth creamy legs and what looked to be a white silk blouse. All in all she made a very sophisticated and alluring picture.

He couldn't stop the smirk from settling on his features when he saw her eyes glaze over at the sight of all those books. Most of them he had brought from the Snape family library, while the remainders were either Ministry property or on loan from various Wizarding libraries.

He watched her closely as she caressed the lucky tomes that were within her reach. Oh how he longed for her to give him such undivided attention. He saw her eyes flash and recognised that excited sparkle instantly. She had obviously found something that piqued her intellectual interest.

Severus shared an amused glance with Arthur, as Hermione had instantly buried her nose into the book and wandered distractedly towards their armchairs. When Hermione reached them she still hadn't removed her attention from the text.

Arthur was hard pressed not to giggle as he watched Hermione perch on the arm of Severus' chair. Snape sat stock still, torn between wanting to begin working with her and thoroughly enjoying her closeness. He was saved how ever from making that particular decision, as she proceeded to slide over the arm of the chair and into Severus' lap.

He didn't dare even breathe. She hadn't even noticed.

The situation was completely laughable, he saw Arthur start to blush as Hermione wriggled her pert little bottom around trying to get comfortable. Snape, on the other hand, was trying to deal with the effect she was having on his own body. Clearly, his goddess had a one track mind when she was trying to quench her thirst for knowledge. He decided he had to make his presence known and cleared his throat.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Hermione let loose an extremely startled scream and leaped from the chair, tumbling over the coffee table in the process. Severus' rich baritone laugh vibrated through out the vast room at the scene that had just played out in front of him. At that very moment, Neville Longbottom emerged from the lift, quickly assessing the situation, and immediately coming to the wrong conclusion, He reacted immediately, running to Hermione, placing himself between her and her attacker and drawing his wand in defense, pointing it directly at his former Potion Master's eyes!

Severus too had his wand drawn. He wasn't known as one of Britain's top duellists due to luck after all.

"What do you think your playing at, Snape?"

"Mr. Longbottom, I would strongly advise that you not hex your boss as it would most definitely not, make for a good first impression," Snape said quickly.

"Sssir? Boss, Sir?" Neville stuttered out, eyeing Snape sceptically.

"Yes Mr Longbottom, boss. Do you honestly think I, of all people, would claim something if it were untrue?"

"Nno, sir." Neville lowered his wand hesitantly, unsure whether he should submit or not. Snape rose from his chair gracefully and folded his arms while raising an eyebrow in question. There was still tension in the air and finally Hermione spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence, changing the subject.

"Mr Weasley, it has been to long. How is Molly doing these days?"

Arthur rose from his armchair and embraced Hermione in a warm friendly hug, which made Severus envious of their casual closeness.

"It has been too long my dear. Molly is fine. I think she is having a bit of difficulty coming to terms with the fact that she only has one baby left now though. And how are you, Neville?" Arthur reached out to shake Neville's hand, thus encouraging him to holster his wand.

"Poor Molly," Hermione replied. "What will she do when Ginny finally decides to leave the nest?"

"I dare say she will go back to medi-nursing like she did before we started a family."

"I never knew that she was a qualified medi-witch!" Hermione replied surprised.

"Of course. What, did you think we left Hogwarts and started having kids straight away?" Arthur asked with mock indignance.

Hermione blushed at Arthur's reply, slightly embarrassed about the fact she took for granted that there was no life before her generation.

"I should really be off and let you lot get to work and all that," Arthur announced, addressing the odd group of three before him.

He embraced Hermione once again, giving her a quick squeeze before parting, letting her know everything was okay. He then shook Neville's hand again, telling him he would be fine. Severus then walked him back to the elevator.

Neville and Hermione eyed each other nervously, wondering what the hell had happened for them to be answering to Snape once again. Severus turned from the lift to face his new colleagues with a smirk upon his face. They looked so confused and apprehensive. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to hold back the laugh that threatened to burst forth. Suppressing the urge though, he strode purposefully towards Neville and extended his arm in a formal greeting.

"Mr Longbottom, I apologize for this mornings events. I completely understand your response, given the scene you observed." He grinned as he noticed Hermione's blush. "And I would like to welcome you to your new position as a part of R.O.A.M." Neville was quite dumbfounded and out of sync with this new incarnation of his fearful potions master.

"Thank you, professor, sir."

Severus chuckled lightly before answering.

"Severus. My name is Severus. As I am no longer your professor and we are no longer at Hogwarts,I trust that I may call you Neville? Now come, I will show you where your research area is."

Severus strode off towards the area of the floor that had been sectioned off for the use of the greenhouse, opened the door and ushered a still-confused Neville and an inquisitive Hermione through. What ever Hermione had thought of the outside it was nothing compared to the inside.

There were rows upon rows of some of the most exotic and obscure magical plants she had ever seen. She watched as Neville's wide eyes took in everything before him, running his hands along the more harmless foliage and peering carefully around some of the more dangerous. She also noted a lot of what was there was going to be very useful for some of the potions she had in mind to try out.

Hermione's gaze then snapped up to Snape. She watched him as he watched Neville and drank in the sight of his accomplishments upon his new colleague's face.

"Pro... Sir... Severus. I... I don't know what to say... Why?"

Severus pulled himself together and cleared his throat before he answered. He had been caught off guard when Longbottom had spoken.

"You may have been an abysmal potions student, but Professor Sprout informed me that you have been gifted without a doubt in the area of Herbology, especially in crossbreeding different species of plants. I wanted to give you the opportunity to explore the field you showed so much promise in."

Severus had a slight blush staining his cheeks by the time he finished. After stating his reasoning, he strode from the greenhouse leaving Neville to gape at his new work area.