Chapter 2 – Pounding the cobblestones

As always, all canon characters belong to JKR.

This story is an adaptation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I am trying to keep this as close to the original movieas I can in the hopes of making this a bit of a different fic.

Thanks again to June for her beta help.

Chapter 2 – Pounding the cobblestones

Two weeks passed quickly, and Hermione was at the end of her rope. During her first week in her new home, she applied for several job opportunities. The Ministry had nothing to offer her, much to her dismay. Her idea about working freelance for some of the apothecaries in the area didn't pan out either. Most of them already had their own potions makers in house; thus, her offer to work from home was no good.

She even tried applying at Hogwarts, yet Minerva sadly informed her that they had a full staff. Before she Apparated home after visiting with some of the other professors at Hogwarts, she stopped by Gringotts. Her account was in dire need of an infusion, and fast. At this rate, there wouldn't be so much as a single Knut in her vault by the end of the month. While the house was hers, she still needed money for food and clothing for Viktoria. Hermione did not spoil her child, but she also wanted to provide as much comfort as she could, be it with her favorite dessert or a special book or toy.

Hermione had asked Ginny to watch the girl while she went about her job search. Not wanting to spend too much time trying to convince Ginny and Harry she would be fine, she happily came to pick up Viktoria and let them know that she had been given several offers that very afternoon to mull over.

"Which job are you going to take, Mummy?" asked Viktoria.

Hermione didn't want her daughter to know that she had just lied to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.

"Well, sweetie, I'm not sure yet. I need to think which one is best for me. After all, I don't want to spend too much time away from you."

The girl smiled as her mother took her by the hand and Apparated them to their home. Hermione sent Viktoria up to her room for her nap, and then she dragged herself to the kitchen and set a pot of water on the stove for tea. She sighed and sat down.

"Now what?" she said to the empty chair next to her.

Severus had been wandering the home for several days out of her sight. He now stood behind her, wondering if she had finally gone mad.

"How am I supposed to make any money if no one will hire me?" she said, shaking her head.

"Who on earth are you talking to?" asked Severus from behind her.

Hermione jumped.

"Professor!" she grabbed her chest, hoping her rapidly pounding heart would remain in its place. "It isn't polite to sneak up on people like that."

"Yes, I know," he said matter of factly. "Do forgive me, though, for interrupting your conversation with the chair. It looks positively enthralled."

She rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't talking to the chair. I was just thinking out loud."

"The first signs of insanity."

Hermione stood and walked to her now whistling teapot.

"Thank you, Professor. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have my own personal therapist. It's so nice to know that no matter how miserable my day is, I can always count on your words to make me feel even worse" She readied her tea and sat back down.

Severus walked around the table and sat down in the empty chair in front of her.

"It is entirely my pleasure. Now, what were you on about?" he asked.

"Oh, I've been everywhere looking for work, but there just isn't anything out there. I've been to the Ministry, to the apothecaries, the bookstores; I even went to Hogwarts. There just isn't any work available, and at this rate I'll be out of money by the end of the month."

They sat in silence for a long while, until Severus jumped up and began pacing. He did this for several minutes, then stopped and turned to look at her.

"I believe I have a solution."

"You do?" asked Hermione hopefully.

"Yes. You, Mrs. Krum, are going to write a book," he stated simply.

"Me? Write a book? Professor, I read books; I don't write them. Besides, what would I possibly write about?"

"You will write about something that has never been written."

"And that would be...?" she asked expectantly.

"A book about being a Death Eater," he said.

Her eyes went wide.

"Well, you've done it," she said. "You have touched upon the only subject I know nothing about."

"You may not know," he leaned down towards her and smiled evilly as he quirked his eyebrow, "but I do."

"Oh, now, just wait a minute. No one will believe I know the first thing about being a Death Eater. Who would buy a book written by a Muggleborn about being a Death Eater?"

"No one will. But you have moved into an ex-Death Eater's home. It would be logical for you to have found papers or journals I may have written. No one would buy a book from a Death Eater either, but if you write the book about a Death Eater, using his own accounts, the profits will go to you, a war hero and member of the Order."

"You know, I think you're on to something," she said.

"I know I am on to something, silly girl." He walked to the window and noticed clouds in the sky. "We begin in the morning. I will dictate to you, and you will transcribe what I write in that infernal machine you have in your room."

"It's a computer, sir," she said blandly.

He waved his hands and shook his head.

"Yes, yes, computer. I will tell you where my journals are so that you can look through them, and some old notes I kept from my early days."

"Thank you, Professor. I really appreciate you helping us out."

"I am not helping you," he huffed. "This is just the only way I can get you to keep your mouth shut for longer than ten minutes." With those final words, he disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione barely slept that night. She wondered what stories Professor Snape would tell her. It was well known by all of the Order members that he had been a deadly Death Eater in his time. No one had ever really asked him about any of his past deeds in detail. She knew he had killed people, and possibly tortured a few as well. How much would she be able to listen to? Would hearing the accounts of his former life change the way she viewed him? She sighed and turned over on her side. He was an early riser in life, and ... knowing that ghosts needed no sleep ... she had no doubt he would be shaking her bed before the sun appeared on the horizon.

A few hours after she finally went to sleep, Severus glided into her room. He watched her sleep and remembered her childhood face. Her daughter looked very much like her. There was a bit of her father in the girl, but thank goodness not much. The girl had also inherited her mother's intelligence and love of reading.

Severus thought back on the day he died. It was on the front lawn of Hogwarts. He had been avoiding hexes all morning, and managed to even bring down several of his old cohorts.

At one point he began to think he would survive the battle. And then in a brief flash of light, he was gone. The next thing he knew, he was back in his small home. For days, he wandered about the house, remembering only bits and pieces at a time about what had happened. Then he realized he really wasn't sure how long he had been there. Time meant nothing to him anymore.

Another thing he wondered was why he was there? He had done all that was asked of him in life ... even things he did not want to do, one of which was to kill Albus Dumbledore. That was something he had never forgiven himself for, even if it had been part of the old wizard's plan. Severus had not been afraid to die, nor did he leave anything behind undone. Why was he still there?

He was shaken out of his reverie when he heard Mrs. Krum whimpering in her sleep. During the daytime, as he kept himself in the shadows and out of her sight, he was able to observe her. She cried every now and then, both for her husband and for the situation she now saw herself in. He would never have admitted this to her, but he felt sorry for her. Many times he himself had felt the misery of being alone in the world. He had Albus for a time, but even the old wizard was of little comfort to him, as the Headmaster was constantly worrying about running Hogwarts and the Order ... and keeping Potter alive.

Severus looked at the clock next to the bed and noticed it was six o'clock. Smiling, he stood in front of the bed and took hold of the footboard.

Hermione was dreaming that she was on a sailboat. The sea was calm as her body drank in the sun. All of a sudden, the boat began to rock. She sat up and tried to walk towards the steering wheel of the boat, yet the waves rocked the small boat so badly she fell overboard. She fell into the water, and her arms were flailing. She didn't know how to swim, and she began to sink into the water. The waves were crashing all around her. Suddenly, she bolted upright in her now shaking bed.

"Good morning," said a very satisfied-looking Severus.

Hermione blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked around the room.

"Wha...what the hell time is it?" she asked.

"Six o'clock. Time to wake up, Mrs. Krum. We have work to do."

"Oh, please. Just a few more minutes." Hermione threw herself back onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head, only to have them unceremoniously thrown off of her. "Professor!" She felt the cold morning chill hit her immediately. She thanked the heavens above it was still winter and she slept with a flannel nightgown.

"Up! Now!" he yelled, and sat on the leather chair next to the desk.

Knowing he would not allow her to go back to sleep, she slowly sat up, slid her feet into her fluffy slippers, and looked for her robe. As she tied her robe around her, she turned to her former Professor.

"Let me at least get some coffee and toast. I'll be up here in ten minutes, and we can get started. Viktoria won't be up for another few hours, so we can have uninterrupted time. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes, yes, get your coffee. The last thing I need is a grumpy secretary."

She opened her mouth to complain about his calling her his secretary, but thought better of it. She turned and walked towards the staircase, mumbling the entire way.

"Bastard...who's he calling grumpy..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've got another one in the works and hope to have it up in a few days. Thank you.