Chapter 5

AN: Many thanks to my super, wonderful betas, Clairvoyant and SoftObsidian. Also, many thanks to pythia_delphi for the awesome prompts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money here.

Severus refused to give up his plan to win over Granger. However, as a result of his conversations with both the Potters and the Weasleys, he did decide to change his tactics and pursue her less aggressively. It was best to keep her guessing, he decided, especially as he continued to gather information to further his cause; he hadn't been a spy for all those years for nothing.

He took note that while she was never outright rude to him, she did try to avoid him whenever possible; therefore, he made a point of showing up in her vicinity when she would least expect it, but he was always subtle and made it appear random.

He and Ron had been recruited to work with the Department for the Investigation of Dark Artifacts, just as she had predicted. Subsequently, Severus ran into her more often: in the elevator, in the dining hall, in the hallways, in Lucius' office, in the lab, and in the conference room. She couldn't even avoid him in her own office, as he had taken to leaving his reports directly with her rather than Lucius. He refused to leave them with her assistant because it gave him a chance to talk to her personally. And although he could tell she always seemed reluctant at first, just wanting him to drop off his files and leave, he had managed to engage her in some interesting discussions.

~*~

Snape was driving her slowly but surely insane. He never did anything that would be called pushy or antagonistic or threatening; he was always just annoyingly present. The more she tried to avoid him, the more he was there, but there was always a legitimate reason for his whereabouts. She was sure it was intentional, and she had no idea why he was doing this. He had not made one reference to their horrific final encounter a decade earlier, and it was driving her mad; if not for that, she could almost accept the man.

When he passed her in the halls, he always gave her a friendly nod. She simply ignored him. Once in the crowded lunchroom, he had asked if he might sit at her table as there were no other open seats. She had wanted to refuse, but grudgingly, she had allowed him to join her. She had pulled out a report to read, thinking to avoid speaking with him. He had merely asked her a couple polite questions about the report, as it pertained to something he was working on, and then he had spent the rest of the time in companionable silence, reading a journal of his own. He seemed to understand, unlike some of her friends, that not every second needed to be filled with meaningless chatter.

In the crowded elevators, he somehow always ended up right behind her. This made her nervous...twitchy. His actions were never lewd, like at the Hog's Head; in fact, he never even touched her. But he would be so close she could smell the subtle scent of his cologne and she could feel the heat of his body. Like a magnet, she felt drawn to him, and she had to physically stop herself from leaning back into him...sweet Circe, what was wrong with her? She did not want Severus Snape. She would not allow herself to.

Even outside work, he managed to show up. Of course, she had expected that he would be at the Potter twins' birthday party. Harry had warned her in the very beginning that Snape was a regular guest at family gatherings. But did he have to be so damned comfortable there? She found it most annoying that she had started to almost look forward to their little tête-à-têtes. She didn't think that was a good idea at all.

Hermione sat under a shade tree in the back garden talking with Selene. She was enjoying getting to know her goddaughter better after being gone for so long.

"I love hearing about all the different places you've been, Aunt Hermione," Selene said wistfully, a dreamy look on her face that reminded Hermione a little bit of a young Luna.

"Maybe when you're a little older, your parents would consider letting you go on a little trip with me. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"Wow, that would be great. I can't wait to ask Mum." She lunged forward to give Hermione a hug. "That's a very pretty necklace," she said, noticing the pendant Hermione was wearing.

Hermione fingered the necklace, then removed it to place it over Selene's head, magically shortening the chain so it was the perfect length. "It's turquoise from Argentina, a souvenir from when I lived there. It was a gift from a very good friend of mine."

"Oh, Aunt Hermione, I couldn't take your friend's gift. I wasn't hinting or anything. I don't want you to think that."

"I know you weren't, sweetie. But I just remembered something she told me about turquoise: it is the stone of friends, and if you give turquoise to a friend, the bond will always be special. Turquoise is also a protection stone, especially if it has been given in friendship. So, I want you to keep this in honor of our friendship. Okay? And the lady who gave it to me won't mind; she's one of my most special friends in the whole world now, so I guess that part worked. I'm sure she would approve of me giving it to you."

"I love you so much, Auntie!" exclaimed Selene, giving her another hard hug. Suddenly, she straightened and looked across the yard to the tall dark figure talking to her father. "Oh, Uncle Severus is here. This is the day he usually gives me a Potions lesson, but since it's the twins' birthday party, we had to postpone it until next week. I've finished my assignment, though, and I want to see if he'll give me something else to work on. I really like Potions a lot, and I might become a Potions mistress some day. I'll see you later. Okay, Aunt Hermione?"

Hermione watched with a twinge of jealousy as the girl ran off to greet Snape. She knew it was petty of her, but she couldn't help how she felt. He'd had years to know Harry's children and be a part of their lives and to become friends with Harry and Ron while she'd had to make do with miserly little bits and pieces of time spent with them. And she'd been gone from this place because of him. It just wasn't fair. She saw Selene hold up the necklace to show him and point to her before Selene ran off into the house.

He was approaching her little corner of the yard, striding purposely toward her, when he was intercepted by the whirling dervish that was Al.

"Unca' Sev, Unca' Sev!" shouted the boy, running at him full speed.

"Hello, little man. What are you up to?" asked Severus, bending down to swing the little boy up into his arms.

Who in hell is this person? thought Hermione. Because he surely isn't the Snape I grew up knowing. She felt a twinge in her chest as she observed the interaction between the two. It made her wonder whether this was the man he might have been long ago if Voldemort had never happened, and her heart ached just a bit for that man at the thought of all those years lost in service to a mad master. Two of them, really.

"My daddy said you's might be maybe... maybe bwingin' Tom Widdle wit' you today?" said the boy hopefully.

Tom Riddle? What in hell was Al talking about?

"Sorry, Al, but I left Tee at home. With the party going on, I was afraid he'd be in the way. Maybe your mum and dad will bring you out to visit soon; you can play with him then."

"Otay, Unca' Sev," agreed the boy happily. He scrambled down and ran off across the yard toward the crowd of cousins gathered by the gift table.

Severus turned back to approach Hermione, only to find her spot empty and the witch nowhere in sight. "Damn it, Granger, you can't escape me forever," he muttered as he headed back toward the house.

~*~

A couple of weeks later, Lucius and Cissy hosted a dinner party to celebrate Hermione buying her own home. The deal to purchase Aunt Blossom's cottage had gone through quickly and without a hitch. She was planning on taking some time off from work to get settled into her new home.

Hermione knew that both Harry and Ron had been invited with Luna and Pansy. Draco had gone out with Ginny Weasley a few times, so she was coming as his guest. Lucius had renewed his friendship with Snape and had invited him, as well. She couldn't blame Lucius. He knew she didn't care for Snape, but he had no idea as to the real cause of her animosity. Realizing that everyone would be paired in couples except the two of them, and fearing she would be stuck as his unofficial partner for the evening, Hermione asked Cissy if she might invite a guest herself.

Hermione was sure showing up with Ivan Markov would send a message to Snape that she was neither interested nor available. Ivan had played professional Quidditch on the same team as Viktor and was now an assistant coach with the Falmouth Falcons. He really wouldn't know anyone there, but Hermione figured Ivan would fit right in with all her Quidditch-mad friends.

She was surprised and a bit put out when Snape arrived with a statuesque beauty, named Justine Merryweather, who had honey-blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and a body that instantly made Hermione feel dumpy and inadequate. She wasn't envious of the golden-haired beauty on his arm, she told herself; she certainly had no reason to be jealous of his companion. Hermione plastered a bright smile on her face and pretended to be enjoying herself.

By the end of the night, Hermione's cheeks ached from smiling so hard. While everyone else appeared to be having an excellent time, she felt like smashing something, or absconding with Lucius' best liquor and having a private party of one. Being the guest of honor, she couldn't get away with either action, so she went over to the bar to fix herself a double.

Severus wandered over and poured one of his own, then refilled Ron's glass, as well, when he appeared and held it out to him. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation. It's not as if she were eavesdropping, as they were right there next to her, for Merlin's sake.

"So, Justine, huh?" said Ron with a nudge and a wink. "Wasn't she the one with the shoes?"

"Ummm... Yes, that's her," replied Severus.

"I see she chose the silver ones tonight," said Ron while giving Snape another nudge.

Hermione couldn't help but glance over at the woman's feet. Good grief, how did she walk in those things? Of course, walking probably wasn't what Snape planned on doing with her anyway. Wondering about Ron's question, Hermione couldn't stop her mind from imagining all kinds of kinky scenarios between Severus and Justine. And in every single one of them, the witch in question was wearing little more than those unbelievably high heels.

Hermione snorted, drawing the attention of the two.

"So, Hermione, I didn't know you were seeing Ivan Markov," said Ron.

Hermione smiled what she hoped was a mysterious smile. God, her cheeks ached. "I wouldn't say Ivan and I are seeing each other exactly... I guess I'd call it a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"Oh, uh, okay," said Ron. He turned and wandered back to the rest of the crowd, leaving her alone with Snape.

"For some reason, I had the impression that you didn't like Quidditch," said Severus.

"Oh, you're quite right I don't like Quidditch at all," said Hermione. Then she let her eyes roam appreciatively over Ivan. "However, I do like Quidditch players. They're just so... umm... how should I put it? Athletic. Yes... athletic, both on and off the field," said Hermione with what she hoped was a knowing look. "Oh, yes, I do like Quidditch players... a lot."

Glancing over at Snape, Hermione could have sworn he growled a bit at her remark and he definitely looked like he wanted to hex Ivan, or her, or maybe both of them.

~*~

The Quidditch player comment was nearly the straw that broke the Thestral's back, so to speak. After the dinner party, he got rid of Justine and went home to drown his sorrows in firewhisky. Severus very nearly decided that Granger wasn't worth the grief she was putting him through. But in the end, there was just something that wouldn't let him give up.

He had no reasonable explanation for his attraction to Granger. Maybe Luna was right, and he'd been love struck. 'Un colpo di fulmine.' The truth of the matter was he had never really considered settling down with just one witch, ever. But now, that was all he could think of. And when he thought about what he might want in a woman under those circumstances, Granger had all the right qualities.

When he'd seen her that night in the Hog's Head for the first time in years, he just wanted her, plain and simple; that was all. He just wanted her. When she slapped him, for some reason, it only made him want her more. When she rejected him at Malfoy Manor, he wanted her even more than he'd ever wanted anything, and that was saying a lot. And her continued rejection of him simply fueled his attraction. Maybe he was some kind of closet masochist, always drawn to what he couldn't have.

Perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that all the people he now called friends were happily married family men. By Merlin's hairy toes, that sounded nauseating, even to him; what on earth was he thinking? Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, hell, nearly all of the Weasleys, for that matter. Even Lucius Malfoy, who despite all the rumors spread about him years ago, had loved the same woman devotedly since he was twenty years old. Who would ever believe that Severus Snape would want the kind of lives they had all achieved? And yet he did. He wanted what they all had, and he wanted it with Granger, damn it!

He decided he needed to back off for a few days and do some serious thinking about Hermione Granger.

~*~

The Quidditch player comment seemed to have done the trick. Hermione hadn't heard anything from Snape in several days. Of course, she was on holiday from work for awhile, but she'd half expected him to show up with the boys when they came by to help her move. Luckily, he hadn't. She should have felt relief, but instead, she felt an odd sense of disappointment. She'd almost looked forward to sparring with him.

Hermione really didn't have many things of her own at Malfoy Manor; however, she did have quite a few things in storage that she'd brought back from Chicago and some things she'd kept from her parents' house when they'd sold it. She had restored their memories after the war, but it turned out that they really had always wanted to live in Australia. Most of the things she'd kept had a sentimental value: her great-gran's cheval glass, Grampa Granger's writing desk, Great-Aunt Maeve's china cabinet, and her mum's and dad's table settings, both the everyday stuff and the good china.

Cissy had also insisted on taking Hermione up to the attic storage area at the manor and having her pick out some things to help furnish her new home. Although she'd been reluctant at first, the thought amused her that somewhere some ancient Malfoy ancestor might be turning in their graves at the thought of a Muggle-born using their pristine pureblood belongings. It gave Hermione the push she needed to accept some very nice pieces of furniture.

The boys helped her settle it all in on Sunday, and she spent the past few days picking out some things to complete her cottage. She dubbed it Blossomwood in honor of Pansy's great-aunt Blossom and because it tickled her fancy to give her humble little cottage a name.

Although she'd been reluctant, she'd finally given in to Cissy's insistence that she borrow the services of one of the house-elves for a few days. So, she had ended up with Neeley, and between them, they had cleaned the cottage completely from bottom to top. They'd even cleaned out an old storage shed out back and set it up as a sort of lab space where Hermione could work on her Dark Artifacts, if she were so inclined, but its distance would keep any dangerous items safely away from her living area.

Hermione let Neeley weed the flowerbeds out front, but she insisted on doing the potions garden in the back by hand, as there were several herbs and other plants that were easily damaged by magic. After working for nearly three hours, she realized that there were actually several separate sections of herbs and plants; Blossom must have been well versed in the arts of Potions and Herbology. There was a section with herbs mainly for cooking, a section for medicinal plants, and another that had a variety of things that were used in other potions not of a medicinal nature. She found weeding to be hot, sweaty work and decided to take a break and sit on her little patio with a cold drink.

Hermione surveyed her work with satisfaction, but knew it needed a lot more attention. Some plants needed to be thinned, some cut back, and some transplanted entirely; maybe she could get Neville to come over to take a look and give her some advice. She lifted the cold glass and ran it across her forehead; the ice-cold condensation felt good against her hot skin. Just then, Hermione heard a crashing in the bushes, and the same grey-black dog from before came galloping through her yard.

"You again!" she cried. "And still chasing rabbits, are you?"

The dog stopped short and looked at her with a big doggie grin on his face. He trotted over eagerly and sat before her, just as he had done before.

"Well, I really don't mind so much if you chase them; keeps them out of my garden, doesn't it?" she said. "What do you do if you catch them, though?"

The dog gave a quick little growl and a ruff and snapped his teeth together, as if to demonstrate what he might do to a rabbit when he caught it.

Hermione could easily picture bones snapping in the powerful jaws. She gulped. "Really? Well, that's a little gruesome, isn't it? Do you think you could maybe chase them a bit, then let them go?"

He flopped down at her feet and whined, as if telling her he didn't really think much of her idea.

"Then again, I suppose you are a big, bad hunting machine; chasing prey and just letting it go probably doesn't sound like such a good idea. Hmmm... I suppose it wouldn't be natural to expect that of you; you are a dog, after all. Perhaps we could come to an agreement of some sort. For example, you could be allowed to chase the rabbits away from Blossomwood...that's here, by the way...but any actual catching and crunching and munching of bones and bodies and such could take place elsewhere. Do you think that would work for you?"

The dog sat up and ruffed several times, nodded his head and held his paw out to shake. Hermione shook his hand and said with a chuckle, "All right then, it appears we have a deal. Oh, wait. I almost forgot, I have something for you. Neeley!" she called to summon the little house-elf.

The little elf appeared with a pop, but upon seeing the huge dog, she shrieked and jumped back behind Hermione. "Missy!" she cried. "There is a monster in your garden."

Hermione laughed and reassured her. "No, Neeley, it's not a monster; this is a dog, and he belongs to one of the neighbors. At least, I'm fairly sure he does."

"Neeley has seen dogses before, Missy, and I does not think that is one," she said warily, peering out from behind Hermione.

"Well, you will have to take my word for it, Neeley. He is most assuredly a dog. Now, I called you because I bought some treats for my friend here. Would you bring them for me, please? They should be in the cupboard behind the kitchen door."

"Very well, Missy... I will sends them out to you."

A few seconds later the box of dog biscuits arrived on the table, but the little elf did not show up. Clearly, she did not think as highly of dogs as Hermione did.

~*~

Severus owled Lucius to let him know that he was taking a few days off of work, but he planned to be at his home in case anything urgent came up. Severus lived in the Blackmore Vale area, just west of Piddles Woods. When he'd been released from the hospital, he'd had no desire to return to Spinner's End. He had hit a bit of luck at that time: some land developer had been buying up all the property in the area. Fine with him. He had been happy to be rid of it, as nothing there had encouraged him to keep it. So, he had received a nice amount of Muggle money out of the deal, and when converted to Galleons, it had been more than enough to buy the comfortable country house where he now lived. It was no Malfoy Manor, but it was definitely a huge step up from the two-up, two-down he'd had at Spinner's End.

The first couple of years, he'd lived in relative solitude with only his house-elf Ned for company. He'd never owned an elf before in his life, but upon his release from St. Mungo's, he'd been too weak to be on his own and in need of some assistance, despite nearly a year of rehabilitation. Ned had served him during all his years at Hogwarts, and when he'd heard through the house-elf grapevine that Severus was going to need help, he'd volunteered to leave Hogwarts to serve the former professor again. Severus had been reluctant at first; in spite of the fact that years earlier he'd sneered at Granger's ill-fated attempt to liberate house-elves, he'd personally had no desire to "own" another being. In the end, they had worked out an arrangement suitable to both parties, and Ned had been with him ever since.

"Ned, I'm going for a walk, and I'll be back in time for dinner," called Severus on his way out. The little house-elf gave a wave of acknowledgment from the kitchen.

Once outside, Severus whistled for his dog. Tee came bounding up to greet him, and they set off for a hike. Walking cleared his head, and he needed to give some serious thought to what his next plan of action would be.

After walking for a bit, suddenly Tee took off like a shot, barreling through the brush and brambles. "Tee! Tee! Come back here, you blasted mongrel!" Tee minded just as well as he always did, which is to say not at all. Well, at least he was going in the opposite direction of Mrs. Harrigan's house--Severus mentally referred to her as Mrs. Harridan. A prissy old biddy she was, always complaining about Tee scaring her chickens.

"Bloody dog," he muttered as he scrambled down the hill after him. At the bottom of the hill, he caught sight of the dog already quite a way ahead down the path. Tee stood as if he were waiting for Severus to catch up, then he was off again, veering off on a much smaller overgrown path that led down to the river.

Suddenly, he heard a splash and a woman's voice cry out.

"Damn! Jill, Jillie!"

Had someone fallen in the river? A child? Instead of following the path, Severus used his wand to slash the brush out of the way as he half-slid the rest of the way down to the edge of the bank. He heard Tee barking madly and the woman shouting again.

"Gods be damned! Where in hell is my wand? Oh, shit, hold on, Jillie. I'm coming!"

Severus ran around the bend just in time to see Tee and Granger both jump into the river at the same time from opposite banks. And floating down the river towards him, dog-paddling for all she was worth, was a small dog, little more than a puppy really. She looked to be fighting a losing battle against the current. The pup went under once and managed to bob back up to the surface, but it was clear she was weakening. She went under again and popped back up as Severus waded out into the shallows. What he intended to do exactly, he wasn't quite sure since he wasn't a strong swimmer by any means. Using his wand he Summoned a dead branch to put in the pup's path and pull her in. But Tee came up beside the pup, snagged her collar in his teeth, and managed to haul her to the shore.

Granger was coming right behind, so Severus held the branch out to her. As she grabbed it, he stepped forward to pull her in, not realizing that he stood on the edge of a drop off. His feet went out from under him, and with a shout, he plunged in over his head.

He flailed about in a panic for several seconds before he came to his senses, her voice shouting in his ear. "Stop! Snape, Snape, Severus! Stop or you'll drown us both!"

He managed to stop thrashing, and in just a couple of seconds, his feet found purchase in the muddy shallows, and they both dragged themselves to the shore.

Tee waited for them there, bounding back and forth excitedly. The puppy lay on the grassy bank looking exhausted and bedraggled, but very much alive. Severus managed to scramble up the bank first and held out his hand to pull Granger up. After checking quickly on the pup, Hermione fell to her knees and threw her arms around Tee, telling him what a brave and wonderful dog he was and promising him a whole box of dog treaties next time he popped by. Severus had no idea what she meant by that, but Tee ate up the attention and lapped at her face.

While she was lavishing praises on his dog, he quickly glanced up and down the path and, seeing no one around, cast a discreet drying charm on both of them. He then knelt to check on the puppy and cast a couple of simple diagnostic spells; she seemed to be breathing all right but had started to shiver, so he cast a gentle warming spell. Taking a handkerchief out of his pocket, he transfigured it into a small blanket to wrap around the pup and passed her over into Hermione's arms.

With Hermione's focus no longer on him, Tee came over and leaned heavily against Severus, causing him to fall from his knees onto his arse, obviously right where the dog wanted him. Tee flopped down next to him and laid his head in Severus lap.

"Get off me, Tee, you great oaf," ordered Severus.

Tee merely tried to butt his head up beneath Severus' hand, as if saying, 'Pet me...you know you want to.'

"You imbecile, stop," muttered Severus. "You're making a fool of yourself."

Looking down at Tee, then back up at him, Granger appeared confused. "This is your dog?"

He merely nodded in response.

"Somehow, I never pictured you as a dog person."

"I'm not."

"And yet clearly, you have a dog."

He sighed. "It's complicated."

Granger cuddled her dog to her chest and kept looking from him to his dog and back again, her nose scrunched up. "Why did you name the poor thing Tom Riddle?"

"The second."

"Excuse me?"

"Tom Riddle the second. How did you know that was his name?"

"Oh... at Harry's that day, I overheard little Al ask if you'd brought Tom Riddle to the party. It confused the hell out of me, that's for sure. You referred to him then as Tee, and you just called him that here. But why on earth would you name your dog Tom Riddle?"

"The sec..."

"The second, yes, I know. Why?"

"When I got stuck with him, he was just a puppy, and he was the devil incarnate. He chewed my slippers, he chewed my shoes, and he chewed my best dragonhide boots. He dug up my garden, and then he tracked mud through my house and onto my bed. He ate everything in sight, including but not limited to numerous loaves of bread, six pork chops, a beef brisket and half a couc--not all on the same day, mind you. He was evil personified, hence the name. It seemed fitting at the time. But now, I mostly just call him Tee for short."

Hermione got quiet, clearly deep in thought.

Severus scrambled for something to say to keep her talking so she wouldn't get up and leave. "What did you mean when you said you'd give him treats when he popped by again?"

"Oh, he's been by to visit me a couple of times now. I live just down the path and on the other side of that hill over there." Hermione pointed.

Severus wrinkled his brow, trying to figure out where she meant. "I realized you were buying a home, but I didn't know it was around here. You bought the old Bagshot Cottage?"

"The solicitors handled all the paperwork, so I didn't really check on the name of the owner. It belonged to Pansy's great-aunt Blossom, so I had assumed Parkinson."

"No, Blossom Bagshot. She was the sister of Pansy's paternal grandmother Bertha. They were distant cousins to Bathilda, I believe."

At the mention of Bathilda, she shuddered, and Severus could have kicked himself. He'd heard the story: In Godric's Hollow, Harry and Hermione had met who they'd thought was the famous, old historian, and that encounter had ended in disaster. He decided a change of subject was in order.

"You didn't have your wand with you today?" he asked.

She shook her head and looked guilty. "No. Big mistake, I know. First lesson in Defense, do not go anywhere without your wand. But I've only had Jilly for a couple days, and when I saw her run off, I just went after her. My wand is lying on the table on my kitchen patio. You obviously have your wand; why didn't you levitate her out of the river or something? It would have saved you a dunking."

"I was reluctant to use such strong magic openly for fear of being seen by passing Muggles. Piddles Woods, just east of here, is a nature preserve. Many people come and hike the trails there, and often they wander into this area, even though it is private property. Levitating your pup or parting the river like Moses parting the Red Sea would have been a bit extreme. However, if worst had come to worst, I'd have done whatever was necessary."

Hermione set Jilly on her lap and idly petted her with one hand while she patted Tee lightly with the other hand. He could tell she was deep in thought again; he could practically see her connecting the dots. Her eyes moved rapidly, taking in the river and the scene before them, the branch he had Summoned, and the spot where he'd fallen in.

Suddenly, she turned toward Severus and thumped him hard on the shoulder with the hand that had been petting Tee. "You idiot," she admonished him. "You can't swim can you?"

Looking a bit embarrassed, he shook his head and admitted, "Umm... no, not very well."

"Then what the hell were you thinking going into the damned river?"

"I wasn't planning on actually going in; I was only going to stand in the shallow part. I thought perhaps I could magically shift the current a bit, then snag the pup with the branch and pull her to shore. I didn't realize it dropped off there. When my feet went out from under me, I... I panicked." He was flustered. "I've never learned to swim. Always had a bit of a fear, I guess. When I was young, one of the neighbor boys drowned in the river near my house." Now why had he told her that? He must be out of his head to run off at the mouth so.

Hermione cuddled the puppy again as she processed what he'd said. "So, let me see if I have this straight. You've never learned to swim. Not only that but you actually have a fear of water. And yet, you went into the river to help save my dog?"

He nodded.

"You are an idiot, Snape," she said. But in the next instant, her actions belied her words as she threw her free arm around him and hugged him tightly, puppy and all. "Thank you."

TBC