Holy cow!  I can see why this is one of your favorite chapters.   Hermione was not a bit happy to see Severus in her place of business again, and she wasted little time in letting him know it.  But crafty as ever, I think Severus handled it very well with his threat to go to one of her competitors.  No, she couldn’t afford it.  But Severus could appreciate her ass with gusto… as long as she didn’t read his mind… yet… that would never do.  LOL! It is interesting that the more they discussed Severus’ ideas for the new potion the calmer Hermione became.  I must admit that the first thing I did after I read the chapter was to read the story of the ievshan-zillia and then read the chapter again.   I loved that Severus used the ruse that by having a business lunch with him she wouldn’t have to meet with him again until she had the ingredient.  It didn’t hurt that Therese made a very good case for her to go with him:  “Yes, Madam. That dark wizard wants you. But he wants more than your favors. I think he is truly smitten with you. He doesn’t want me about, chaperoning like you were a sixteen-year-old virgin!” The lunch was everything I (and Severus) could have wished –good food, good company, good conversation.  I nearly fell out of my chair when he told Hermione that he never realized that she had a dimple, but it was her reply that shocked me:  “My mum has the same dimple, as did my grandmother, and I’m sure her mother as well. All the women in my family have the same small dimple on the bottom of their left cheek. It’s one of those hereditary things,” she said as she felt face grow warm.  Great Lord!  This was a monumental piece of information, and I’m certain it wasn’t lost on Severus– rather than overplay his hand, he escorted her back to her shop and returned to Hogwarts. My final comment is to say that I think the potion Severus has in mind to create is a double-edged sword.  I can’t make up my mind if the idea of this potion with the hard to find ingredient is only to get his foot in the door, or if he is hoping the fragrance will affect her similarly to the way it did Otrok… that could get completely out of hand.  I hope he knows what he is doing. You’ve got me holding my breath and sitting on the edge of my seat.  This chapter is magnificent! Beth 

OMG!  This was so painful!  Reading this chapter made me cringe, laugh, and feel terribly sorry for both of them… but especially Severus.  He’s a fish out of water here cuz he doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.  He only knows that he can’t get her out of his mind.

By the tone of her remarks to everything that Severus said, she made it perfectly clear that seeing him again –in the flesh– was a complete shock.  This woman was not the “snippy, bossy upstart” he had heard so much about from the other attendees at the symposium.  Not that she didn’t sound snippy and bossy, but there was air of desperation about her.  She wasn’t self-assured, wouldn’t look him in the eye.  When she asked him point blank why he was there, I thought his response was conciliatory and reasonable:  to speak to her about her successes and “to let you know now the things I could never have said when you had been my student.”  She was not the bossy know-it-all he had known. However, she had become hardened.

She was confrontational.  He was conciliatory.  And then he just had to make that stupid remark about her “nervous disposition.”  Arrrgghh!  From that point on it seemed that she would say something hurtful, send him on his way, and then call him back.  She is so hurt, and he truly has no idea why.  She has built a very successful business for herself, but it’s hard to carry on sometimes when you have a broken heart.

I ached for both of them.  When Severus took her hand, I had a feeling that his gesture would end badly.  His invitation to dinner and her refusal with the excuse that she never goes out with a man without her assistant being present left little else to say.  After he expressed his astonishment –stupid men – she ended the meeting quickly and firmly.

And what does Severus think?  “Now, it was time for Phase Two.”  I had to laugh.  He has no idea...  But my final thought was that when Harry shows up at Hogwarts to try to pester Neville into telling him what he knows about Hermione, all hell is going to break loose, and it ain’t going to be pretty.  I’m so afraid for both of them.  And for Alice. 

You keep me on the edge of my seat!

Beth

I love the story, but it always leaves me desperately wanting to know more. As others have said, surely Severus now has enough to figure things out. Will they be together soon with the facts out in the open?  I hope so.Thanks!

Thank you for the missing chapter. It's much clearer now. Her anxiety is very acute. I don't blame her at all.

Yea two chapters in two days.  I am so happy.  I like how you wrote the interactin between these two.  Please update again soon.

Well, Chapter 12 makes more sense now. Thank you for clearing up the confusion. ^_^ By rhe way, did you possibly mean "if you will excuse me" when you wrote "if you will excuse you"? It didn't seem to make sense. ^_^

Oh Dear...  what a conundrum.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the situation you have put the two of them in.  I have read - and enjoyed - stories with plot lines similar to this one, but I do not believe I've read ones who had Hermione playing the same card as she does here.  It is a very interesting twist.  Now - we have to await his return to Hogwarts.  I wonder, will Alice be reading on her step when he opens the front door?

Hmm...now they meet with no obstruction other than the one Hermione & Severus make of their own whilst they prance around unsavory topics. But alas, Severus has seen that dimple before, yes?Well done.  Thank you for sharing~

sorry, too american for me - no idea what commencement robes are and we don't 'graduate' from school

oh poor Hermione! How will she reconcile being seduced by the man who raped her?

FINALLY!  But what an intriguing encounter.  She is rude and abrasive and he takes it all in stride.  Is he so enamoured with her that he lets it roll right off his back, or does he find her feelings justified since he was, after all, not espeicallly nice to her as a teacher?I liked that you gave her justification for not sending him packing, because as angry and uncomfortable with him as she is, she surely would have forfeited the income received from this transaction just to be rid of him.Hermione says that she made it clear that she had no time for him.  Is that a scene  that we will get in the future, or do I just not remember them interacting previously?  I do have such an old lady memory, after all.I liked Hermione's conversation with Therese about having lunch with Snape.  We all know what she is going through, but it was nice to see her verbalize some of her concerns.  And that Therese is quite an observant little thing.  Or maybe Snape is being terribly obvious about it.They aren't going to talk about the war over lunch.  I wonder when they will talk about it?  The dimple thing sure made an impact on him.  Will he fully comprehend what happened before she brings it up?  If so, will he bring it up instead?  I would love to see them hash things out all ugly and violently, because I think it would be good for her (and I'd just like to see it!)  I don't, though, know if he would have it in him to fight her knowing he caused her such grief.  It might be guilt fest on his part.I know that rape is a very sensitive subject, and I know from reading some previous reviews that people want to vilify Snape, but I have trouble seeing anything but two victims here.  I don't say that to belittle Hermione's position in the ordeal.  What he did to her was vile and unacceptable, but let us not forget that he is not some creepy old man out scouring the streets for victims so he can get his jollies from violating them.  There is no victor in this situation, and I am able to believe that they might be able to have a strong relationship not despite their shared experience, but because of it.  If that is the case, it will take some serious work, but I don't find it unreasonable that they could eventually have a healthy relationship.Sorry, I'm rambling again.  Thanks for another fantastic chapter.  With each one, I am more eager for the next to post.

Loved it - can't wait to see what is next

It almost seems as though their meeting was like some sort of dance.  And somehow, sooner or later, they both have to face the music *pun intended* on what's occurred between them, all those years ago. I don't think she's looking forward to it, and he surely won't know what hit him when he finds out the truth.

"GAAHH!"<-- what i say everytime a chapter of this ends. as always, i love the updates. and i can almost TASTE Severus catching on. >.< it HAS to add up to him now, it has to. its so obvious! i look forward to the next chapter. and thank you so much for writing this.

That was intense . . . and wonderful. Thanks! 

Ahhhh!  Finally, they meet alone!  So much tension!  I love it!!!!!

Aah!  The hereditary dimple!  OH this is so exciting, I'm abusing my poor capital letters.  More!

I am absolutely trilled to see the update, I am rather hooked on this story. I like that Severus and Hermione has finally met, I do want him to be able to add two and two together and get four so he can face the consequences of his actions during those last days of the war. What bothers me a bit is how you have Hermione react to him, while I do want her to forgive him and love him at some point, I don't  like the idea of her being portraited as the rape and violence she endured isn't important, that the fact that he happily got his sexual pleassures with a fellow deatheather are more bottersome than the fact that he raped a young girl, violated and humiliated her in the worst possible way "all for the greater good", not to mention saving his own skin. I don't know if it is possible to get from him being her rapist to being her lover can be done without downplaying the crime and make some shortcuts where it is more important that he finds her attractive enough to give her sexual gratification the seccond time around than for her to face the man who violated her. I hope it will be at least some mentioning of  her confronting him, and that she wont fall simpering into his arms totally happy that he at last will make an effort to seduce her instead of what he did the first time. I do have Severus very high on my list over characters I want a happy ending for, but even higher do I want justice and a happy ending for a Hermione who gets not, revenge, but get the crime comitted against her aknowlegded and dealt with in a decent manner, not as "oh yes, let me show you what a great lover I can be when I want to be". For the childs protection, the secret around her birth were the absolute rigth thing to do, but I do think that one was too busy doing it for protecting Severus compared to have helping and  protecting Hermione as the motivation. Enough of my ranting, I do like your plot and you write it very well, and more than anything will I greedely read the next update as soon as it is submitted. Only the best stories make me engaged like this:-))

I think perhaps there may be something missing. There are references in this chapter to some contact between Severus and Hermione that I didn't remember reading and couldn't find in scroll back. That said, it was a good chapter, if a little confusing to me continuity wise. I like how you worked in the dimple.

Great chapter!!! thanks for the update!

oh my!  Soon the cat will be out of the bag.  People are slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Incredible. Wow. I wonder how long before our astute Professor finds out that one plus one equals three?

That was fabulous!

'What an ass!' he thought has a rather deliberate double meaning, I should think. *grin* And I think Hermione is in trouble now with her remark about "It’s one of those hereditary things". Great chapter. Eagerly waiting for more!

poor hermione.  I love this story.  I can't wait for the next chapter!  Severus will have it figured out pretty soon, I think!