Chapter 2

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Chapter 2 – A Familiar Face

Although known above most things for practicality and sharp wit, the entire situation Hermione found herself in did not feel practical in the least. To her, having children was not practical, and she just wasn’t ready for them – ever. She had never been good with relationships of any sort, and she wasn’t about to gain a lifetime’s experience of it out of the air.

She had received a reply from the coupling service that had informed her, in a round-about way, she would be getting one date with her match, in which they were given time to organize their wedding plans. She had, at first, been absolutely opposed this idea, but after rationalizing it in her head, she realized that there really was no way out of the ordeal and that the poor man would soon be her husband.

Hermione had decided to wait until the school term finished before she got married and was glad that her partner only became available on the same day as she. The marriage would have to occur somewhere in two weeks.

Oddly enough, Hermione had been as nervous as a cat all morning as she waited in anticipation for her “date.” Decidedly, she glanced up at her clock and determined that she should go and get ready for her meeting.

What she had no idea of was that down five floors, within the depths of Hogwarts, Severus Snape was facing a similar problem. He looked over his appearance in the mirror and grimaced. He was pale, hook-nosed, and much the same as he had ever been. His only redeeming feature remained, as always, his athletic and toned body, and although he was no body builder, his sinewy muscle left him lithe and thin enough to be the spy he had once been.

It was with pride that he could admit that he did not have the same flab or excess fat or skin that most men his age were starting to get.

Sighing, he pulled on a black Muggle cashmere sweater over his crisp white shirt. After examining his stiff appearance in the mirror, he decided to undo the top buttons of the shirt to seem less frosty. Pushing the sleeves to his elbows, he spied the Dark Mark and winced before pulling on polished black shoes. He left the castle through the Dungeon tunnels shortly afterwards.

Before Apparating from the confines of the forest, he glanced at the location on the letter and remembered it, trying to think of an alley that may have been nearby that he could go to. Shaking his head, he folded the parchment and stuffed it into his pocket before leaving with a resounding pop, just as someone not even two hundred meters away did the exact same thing.

The next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the ground in a very ungraceful way with his limbs tangled with another person’s. Apparently, they had the misfortune of leaving at the same time and arriving at their location simultaneously. Taking a deep breath, Severus moved to untangle himself from the other victim, who was decidedly much smaller than he was.

When he looked up, he almost gasped when a disheveled-looking Hermione Granger gazed back at him with a surprised look.

‘Professor Snape?’ she asked numbly in her confusion.

Severus felt that he could not answer her immediately, as he had become very distracted by the vision facing him. Hermione Granger was wearing a simple, blue summer dress with thin straps on her shoulders, fitting quite nicely on her slim body. The skirt of it was bunched up around mid-thigh, and an attractive blush stole across her nose and cheeks.

‘My apologies, Miss – I mean Professor Granger,’ he said as he lifted himself off the ground and extended a hand to her.

Although it was out of character for him, he felt as though helping her off the ground was the least he could do for practically Apparating on top of her. She accepted the hand, and he hoisted her from the dirt with ease. She had gotten a lot thinner over the years and felt as though she weighed barely a thing, even though she was tall for a woman.

‘Thank you,’ she murmured as she brushed the dust off herself and brushed a curl that had escaped the confines of her braided hair.

Severus concluded that she actually looked quite fetching in the dress and seemed to have ample cleavage, although not huge, but enough to make the dress look nice on her nonetheless. He nodded, and they both started in the same direction. Perhaps it was just a coincidence?

‘Pardon me for asking, but you aren’t going to that café on the corner, are you?’ she asked, pointing in the direction of where they were both apparently headed.

‘I am,’ he said simply.

‘Oh.’

‘Would it be rude of me to inquire as to what business you have in that café?’ he asked curiously. Hermione noticed that even though they had been colleagues for two years, he still treated her with the same formality that he had while she was his student.

‘I’m supposed to be meeting someone – well, I don’t actually know who they are yet,’ she answered as he held the door open for her.

Severus blanched when she said this. It couldn’t possibly be her that he was meeting, could it? She walked in ahead of him, but he pulled her aside before she could walk away and pulled out his letter. Unfolding it, he held it out to her. She took it and opened her mouth to ask what, but stopped short and gasped.

‘Ah, so you recognize this?’ he asked in a silky voice.

She nodded and pulled a similar piece of parchment out of a hidden dress pocket and unfolded it, holding it beside his. They were the exact same letter, save for the names they were addressed to.

‘Apparently I am your match, Miss Granger,’ he said, carefully extracting his own letter from her hands. She had turned almost as pale as the sheet of parchment she held.

‘Merlin,’ she breathed.

‘Indeed,’ he replied.

Hermione folded away her own letter and pocketed it before swallowing the lump in her throat and looking up at Snape to see that he was almost as troubled as she. Well, it could have been worse. Summoning what Gryffindor courage that had not yet fled her, she pressed on.

‘Shall we find seats?’

They went and were seated, Severus directly opposite Hermione, and had ordered a strong coffee each before either of them found the courage to say something. The situation was entirely too awkward.

‘Miss Granger – I don’t know what to say. I–’ he began in his own embarrassingly blustering way.

She held up a hand to spare both of them from his stammering. ‘It’s Hermione, Severus,’ she said. ‘I’m about to marry you, so it seems silly to go around calling you ‘sir’ and ‘Professor,’ and the same goes for you calling me ‘Miss Granger,’’ she added.

‘You still wish to marry?’ he asked, utterly bewildered. ‘Me?’

‘Whether or not I wish to marry is immaterial. I have to, and you are my so-called match. Seeing as we are already betrothed, I intend to go though with it. I do not back out of promises I make,’ she answered practically.

Snape stood pensively for a moment before speaking. ‘So, where do you wish to marry?’

‘I was hoping you had an idea, perhaps something private? I can already see Harry and Ron’s shocked faces,’ she said dramatically, covering her own.

‘Here then, on the Green,’ Snape offered simply. ‘It is easy, accessible, and we will not need witnesses.’

‘Would you mind terribly if we didn’t get married until after the school year is over?’ she inquired carefully.

‘Not at all.’

Hermione looked up and smiled slightly for the first time that meeting. ‘Thank you, that sounds reasonable,’ she replied, standing from her seat. ‘I suppose we should leave then.’

He nodded, and they paid for the coffee before Apparating back to Hogwarts. He walked her to her door and left in directly afterwards, leaving Hermione to contemplate her position alone.

Perhaps it would not be so bad after all.