Chapter 6

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 was sure the incident with the pup would change Granger's attitude towards him. He looked forward to being in her good graces and thought it would lead to a new beginning for them. But if anything, she seemed more distant and intent on avoiding him. He couldn't understand it. Sitting on the grassy bank of the river, she'd seemed so at ease with him.

He had no idea why she was determined to dislike him so. Oh, he'd been a right bastard to her and to all her friends back when they were his students, but surely she understood that things had changed and he was a different person, especially considering his new friendships with Potter and Weasley. Choosing to do what he always did when he needed answers, he decided to do some research to see what she'd been up to since the end of the war.

First, he checked through the press clippings for anything he could find on her. There was very little mention of her once she'd officially started working for the Department of Mysteries. That wasn't unusual, as most Unspeakables kept a pretty low profile and were fairly well protected by the Department unless they did something particularly stupid. Although she technically wasn't an Unspeakable, she had the same type of clearance, so he knew the rule probably applied to her, as well.

All he could find was the occasional blurb here and there: Miss Granger, who has been absent from England for the past several years, was in attendance at the wedding of Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood... at the wedding of Ron Weasley and Pansy Parkinson... for the christening of Miss Selene Lily Potter... Miss Granger, formerly one-third of the famed Golden Trio and a long-time friend of Neville Longbottom, was seen at the funeral of his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom...

Deciding to go back a little farther to the time before she'd left England, he was shocked at the sudden amount of space the press, namely Rita Skeeter, had devoted to smearing Granger's good name after the end of the war. From immediately after Voldemort's fall until Granger actually started working for the Department of Mysteries, the papers had been laden with unending lurid headlines and attacks against her. The viciousness of some of the things Skeeter had succeeded in printing about the Gryffindor golden girl shocked even Severus.

Skeeter had basically called her a glory-seeking slut willing to sleep with anyone if it would gain her a bit of celebrity status. There had been, of course, mention of Krum, Potter, and Weasley, but she had also tried to link Hermione with practically everyone from Cedric Diggory to Colin Creevey and all the way to Voldemort himself. Her name had even been linked to his. Skeeter had claimed that inside sources reported that Granger had spent hours daily "sitting vigil" at his bedside during the months he'd been in a coma. She had then implied that perhaps the outstanding grades the girl had received while at Hogwarts were actually earned through questionable extracurricular activities rather than legitimate class work.

This was outrageous. She was a war hero. If not for her, he truly doubted Harry would have stayed alive long enough to finish his task. Why hadn't the Ministry or the Order defended her? Why hadn't any of her friends stood up for her and protested these slanderous statements? There was much more to this story than what he'd been aware of. He decided the best way to find out was to go to the source. He Apparated to Ottery St. Catchpole.

~*~

Severus arrived at Ron and Pansy's home to find Harry and Luna there, as well. Whatever they'd been up to, they all looked as guilty as sin. So, he challenged them outright. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Going on?" asked Ron nervously. "Nothing's going on, Severus, nothing at all."

"Don't lie to me, Weasley. You're a horrible liar. You four are up to something, and I want to know what it is."

None of them seemed to want to draw Severus' wrath, but finally Luna spoke up. "We're here because of Hermione."

"What about Hermione?"

"We're worried about her; she's just not her old self. She seems closed off somehow... cold... different," said Harry. "And like we said before, Severus, we just don't understand where this sudden animosity toward you, in particular, has come from. She was always the first to defend you before. So, we've been trying to figure it out."

"Yeah," agreed Ron. "We were trying to decide when it all started, but we've seen and heard so little of Hermione over the years that we're not exactly sure. It's been quite obvious since she moved back here; that's for sure."

This statement puzzled Severus. In truth, he'd only come to be friends with Harry and Ron over the last few years. He'd spent nearly a year in the coma and then another year regaining his strength in St. Mungo's. Even after that, he'd spent several years living in self induced exile before he'd finally decided to leave his solitude and actively rejoin the wizarding world. He honestly hadn't given her much thought before now. He'd known that Granger had left England, but he'd somehow assumed that the boys had stayed in close contact with her over all that time.

"What do you mean by that? That you've seen and heard so little of her? And what the hell was all this about?" Severus demanded, enlarging and throwing the copies of the Prophet on the table.

Picking up one of the papers, Ron grimaced at the lurid headline: The Brains of the Golden Trio or Gryffindor Whore? Who is the REAL Hermione Granger? "I forgot how bad it was," he said softly. "How horribly Skeeter painted her...."

"Bad!" roared Severus. "That one is mild compared to some; they practically crucified her. Why were there no rebuttals? Why didn't the Ministry do something? Why didn't you, her bloody friends, or the Order, do something?"

"I did print rebuttals in the Quibbler, Severus," said Luna softly, tears in her eyes. "But we've never had the readership that the Prophet has. It didn't do a whole lot of good because, other than Hermione's true friends, most people in the general public just discounted my articles."

"We wanted to do something, Severus, but she wouldn't let us; she told us not to. She was afraid Skeeter and the Prophet would have turned on us, too," said Harry.

"So, to protect your own reputation, you left your best friend out to hang?" asked Severus, shocked. This did not sound like the Harry Potter and Ron Weasley that he knew.

"Severus, it's not what it seems," said Ron. "Skeeter hated Hermione. Hermione had blackmailed her years earlier, you see, and she wanted revenge; that's why she printed all those lies about her. But for some reason, she didn't bother with us, so Harry and I were still in the public's good graces. Hermione begged us to ignore it. She was afraid if we defended her, or tried to fight it, then Skeeter would have discredited us, as well. We needed to maintain a positive influence with the public."

"It still sounds like you were putting your reputations before your friendship."

"No," gasped Harry. "It wasn't like that at all. It was for you. After the war, when we realized what you'd done, for me, for all of us... We knew we had to protect you, to clear your name. You were in a coma and unable to defend yourself, and honestly, Severus, we weren't even sure that you would if you could. There was still talk of convicting you for killing Dumbledore. But the wheels turned so slowly, it took a long time before your hearings started. We had to bide our time and retain our popularity in the public eye in order to sway others to our side. It was all in order to have the influence to get you pardoned when the time came. Hermione insisted upon it. She was afraid if we crossed Skeeter, she'd manage to turn the public against us, like in our fourth year when Voldemort returned."

Severus sat down hard. "You're saying she allowed herself to be slandered and vilified in the press as some insane means of protecting me? Dear Merlin, no wonder she hates me."

"But that's not it, Severus," said Pansy gently. "That's what we don't understand, you see. She didn't hate you back then. See this article..." She pointed to the one that had linked Granger to him. "We obviously know the part about how she 'earned' her grades and being tied to you before the war is rubbish. There's actually a bit of truth here, though.

"Hermione did spend hours at your bedside every single day for months. We both quit volunteering at the hospital by that point: I to start my medi-witch studies and she to do her training at the Department of Mysteries. But I know for a fact that she came to St. Mungo's nearly every evening. If she had studies to do, she did them there at your bedside. But she also took time to read to you, talk to you, brush your hair, hold your hand, or just sit quietly by your side. Those are not the actions of a witch who resented you, or hated you, Severus."

Ron continued, "So we figured something must have happened. But we don't know what or when. We know that she finished her training at the Department of Mysteries right about the same time you finally came out of your coma. But then, within a matter of days, she took an assignment out of the country and was gone, practically without any warning. We were wondering..."

"Wondering what?" asked Severus defensively, looking at Ron.

"Well, when you regained consciousness, did you have some sort of disagreement with Hermione? Or a confrontation?" asked Harry. "Something that would explain this huge change in her attitude about you?"

Severus was puzzled. He tried to remember those days; they'd always been a bit murky to him. "No, I don't think so, but then, my memories of the first month are foggy. In fact, I have no memory at all of the first couple of weeks."

"Oh, I do remember that now," said Pansy. "You had some kind of mind-altering reaction to the combination of potions, didn't you? You were quite delusional for a while." She stopped to think for a moment and giggled. "I heard that you thought Professor McGonagall was Lord Voldemort and that Madame Pomfrey was Bellatrix Lestrange. It was rumored that you caused quite a scene when they came to visit you. I heard you threw your dinner tray at them and tried to Avada them with your butter knife. Thank goodness you didn't have access to your wand; it could have been a real disaster."

"Well, I certainly have no memories of any of that. So, I suppose if Granger showed up in my room, I could have said anything to her without having any memory of it now."

"But Hermione wouldn't take something like that seriously. If Severus were delusional... Would she?" asked Harry.

"Perhaps she didn't realize, Harry. That type of patient can be very convincing. I don't know if she would have heard that he was out of his head before she visited him; it took the Healers quite a while to figure out exactly what was going on," said Pansy. "Oh, wait. Now I remember. It was just around that time that she suddenly stopped coming by. I thought she'd just got busy for a few days. That did happen from time to time. But then, I found out at Ron's birthday party that she'd moved to Florence on an assignment. It was all very sudden, as I recall. I remember because we had become fairly friendly by that point, and I was a little hurt that she didn't bother to say goodbye. Harry told us the transfer was all very sudden."

"I remember that, too," said Harry. "She said she was leaving immediately on an assignment. She made it sound like a great opportunity, but she said she had to transfer right away, within days, or lose her chance for the job."

Luna got a strange look on her face and started quickly thumbing through the papers on the table.

"What is it, Luna?" asked Harry.

"Just a thought, love; let me work through it for a minute," she responded, humming tunelessly to herself.

The group sat in silence for a few minutes, the rustling of paper and Luna's humming the only sounds.

Suddenly, Pansy gasped. "I just remembered something Hermione said. It was right after the Hog's Head fiasco. I said it was a mistake on Severus' part and asked her if she could get over what happened that night. But her reply seemed odd to me."

"What did she say?" asked Harry and Severus at the same time.

"She said, 'I'm not convinced that it really was a mistake. I believe deep down that's how he really still sees me, thinks of me. I'm just some slag; I'll never be good enough in his eyes.'"

"I don't think that! Why in Merlin's name would she say something like that?" Severus practically shouted.

"Well, you did accost her in a bar, Severus," said Harry.

"And you felt her up and made lewd suggestions to her," added Ron.

"And maybe, just maybe, mind you... it wasn't the first time you said and did hurtful things," offered Luna. "Whether intentionally or not."

Severus protested, "I've never..."

"Not that you can remember, by your own admission and from what Pansy has told us," said Luna softly. "Look, this is just guesswork and supposition, but I've arranged these articles in a kind of time line based on events as we know them. First, there's all this bad press about Hermione that went on for months after the end of the war.

"Then, here's the news of your hearing, Severus. Ultimately, all charges against you were dismissed. We were all happy about that, Hermione included. And we know she was still coming to see you almost every day then because that's when the rumors were leaked about her sitting vigil at your bedside, and this article linking her to you appeared.

"And I know personally that Hermione was nearing the end of her training at this time because of this article," Luna pointed to an article, dated in late February, about a collection of Dark Objects being uncovered in Wales. "She couldn't talk about her work specifically, but we now know that it entailed decoding Dark Artifacts. And I remember her telling me that she was going to take an assignment in Wales. I remember this clearly because I asked her to keep an eye out for Welsh Pixies; they're much rarer than the Cornish ones, you know. She was quite excited about it. The assignment, I mean, not the Pixies."

"Okay," said Ron. "I never thought I'd be saying this to you, Luna, but I do see the logic in this. Everything is feasible, so far."

"Oh good, I'm glad you think so, Ron. Well, then here is an article about Severus coming out of his coma. Now, we know that you have no memory of this period of time, Severus. But we also know that up to this point Hermione continued coming to see you every day. But then we learn that she stopped coming by very suddenly, and that was just before March first because Pansy learned, on Ron's birthday, that Hermione had suddenly taken the assignment in Florence. But it was just a little over a week earlier that she told me she definitely was going to stay in the UK and work out of Wales."

"So, we can assume that something drastic happened between this week...," said Harry, pointing to the article about Dark Objects in Wales.

"...And just after this week," concluded Severus glumly, pointing to the article about him reviving from his coma. "Bloody hell!"

Things were not looking good. Right now, it seemed highly likely that he had somehow managed to bugger his own love life nearly ten years earlier, and he had no memory of the event at all.

~*~

Aside from all her other worries about Snape, Hermione was quite upset when she realized that her lovely home was right in the same neighborhood where he lived. She thought her friends had purposely set her up, as they knew how she felt about the man. But Ron denied everything and was pretty convincing about it, too.

"Hermione, I don't know why you're getting so freaked out. Sure, Severus does live in the area, but so do a lot of people. It's not as though he's in the same building in the flat below you, or something. His house is across the river and nearly a mile away."

"I still think you should have told me, Ronald," Hermione admonished.

He knew she was put out with him when she pulled out the 'Ronald.' "Would you have loved the cottage any less if you'd known?"

Scrunching her nose, she shrugged and said, "No, I suppose not. It's true I do love it there."

"There you go, then. All's well that ends well," he concluded.

~*~

Hermione was in a quandary. She knew from first-hand experience that Snape was a bitter, cruel, hurtful man able to wound deeply with just his words and tone of voice; he was entirely capable of breaking someone's heart. But the Snape she discovered since her return seemed like a completely different person: decent, caring, considerate. She'd seen him interact with Harry's children, who treated him as a well-loved uncle. The man had a dog...a dog who absolutely adored him, for fuck's sake! Dogs were good judges of character in her opinion; how could Tee be wrong? Who was this man, and where was the Snape she knew?

She soon learned that some parts of the old Snape were definitely still there. She'd seen him when a wizard who was suspected of using Dark Magic to control and abuse his girlfriend was brought in. He had torn into that man up one side and down the other, telling him in no uncertain terms what he deserved. He'd hardly raised his voice, yet by the time Snape had finished with him, the bloke had practically pissed himself. Oh yes, the old Snape, or at least part of him, was still in there, and who knew what might trigger his appearance? Hermione shuddered at the thought of dealing with that Snape.

Plus, she was confused by his actions toward her. He seemed bent on pursuing her as if the events from the past had never happened. She felt an inexplicable attraction to the man in spite of the knowledge deep down that it was a very bad idea. Feeling unbalanced and unsure how to deal with the whole situation, Hermione reverted to avoiding him at all costs. However, as it turned out, some things were unavoidable.

~*~

Friday afternoon, Hermione was sitting at her desk when a tap came on her door. Harry's head poked around the edge of the door; it reminded her of the first day she'd sat in this office. "Hi, Hermione. Megan said it was okay to come in."

"Sure, Harry, what's up?" asked Hermione as she closed the file she'd been reviewing.

"Ron asked me to pass the word...he's just left to take Pansy to St. Mungo's."

"St. Mungo's? Why? What happened? Is she all right?" questioned Hermione in rapid-fire succession as she jumped to her feet.

"Hermione, calm down," said Harry with a laugh. "She's having a baby, remember? She's gone into labor."

"Oh... Oh! I didn't even think... Well, what should we do? Should we do anything?" Hermione didn't have a clue what was expected, as she'd been out of the country when all of Harry and Luna's children had been born. "Should we go down there, or would we just be in the way?"

Harry laughed again. "Well, these things take time; it's not as though the baby is going to be born at any minute. If you want, we can go down after work and see how things are progressing."

"Thanks, I'd like to do that," said Hermione, breaking into a grin. "He is going to be our godson, after all."

Harry stopped dead and turned to look at Hermione with a strange look on his face. "What gave you an idea like that, Hermione?" he asked.

"Oops! Maybe I've let the cat out of the bag," she said, biting her lip. "I guess I wasn't supposed to say anything, but I thought Ron would have asked you by now."

"Hermione, I'm not going to be asked to be the baby's godfather."

"Oh yes, you are, Harry," said Hermione. "When Ron asked me and I agreed, he said he was so happy to have two of his closest friends as... Oh, shit... He didn't mean you and me, did he? He meant Snape. They asked Snape to be the godfather."

"Hermione, in addition to working together, Severus is one of his closest friends," said Harry. "Ron wanted you to be the baby's godmother, and Pansy agreed, but she wanted to choose the godfather, and she wanted Snape. Ron was happy with that choice, as well, and it's fine with me." He looked at her nervously before asking, "You aren't going to change your mind now that you know, are you?"

Hermione paused to think for a moment but then shook her head. "No, I couldn't do that. I wouldn't. I just didn't think is all. When Ron said two of his closest friends, I just assumed... it's okay. It'll be fine.

"So, we'll go down together after work then and see how things are going and if there's a new little Weasley in the world yet?" asked Hermione.

"Okay, I'll pop by here around five o'clock and get you, " said Harry.

"Sounds good to me," responded Hermione cheerily as she picked up the file she'd been working on. As soon as the door shut behind Harry, her smile faded, and she rubbed her fingers across her brow as she murmured to herself, "Why can't things ever be easy? Bloody, buggering hell!"

~*~

Severus arrived at St Mungo's after work to see if his godson had arrived yet. As he stalked through the halls, he couldn't help but think that if he'd been wearing his teaching robes, they would have billowed. He had taught most of these dunderheads, and they still scurried to get out of his way. He smiled to himself; he still had it.

"Hello, Professor," chirped a happy little voice. "It's so good to see you again, sir."

"Mrs. Cadwalader," he responded with a nod. Her presence reminded him that he had spent nearly two years in this hellhole; many of the the people there had spoon fed him and wiped drool from his chin, in addition to caring for various other intimate bodily functions. It did tend to humble a man. With a sigh, he turned to the young woman who had always treated him with respect and kindness when he was her patient and greeted her a little more pleasantly and informally. "It's good to see you, too, Imogene, after so long. How is that boy of yours? Robert, was it?"

She beamed. "Rodney, sir. And he'll be a third year at Hogwarts next fall."

"Really, already? It's hard to believe that much time has passed. And please allow me to offer my condolences on Leland's passing. I was sorry to hear of it."

"Thank you, Mr. Snape. I do appreciate it," she responded.

"Please, do call me Severus, my dear. Well, I really must be off to see some friends. Good day to you."

"Good day, Severus."

He rounded the corner to find Arthur and Molly in the maternity waiting area and went to sit with them while they awaited the birth of their newest grandchild. Shortly after five-fifteen, Harry and Granger arrived together. Molly rushed to greet them, giving them both hugs and fussing over them, as she was prone to do. While Molly chatted with Hermione, Harry moved over to sit by Arthur and Severus and join in their conversation.

After a bit, Molly drifted back over, pulling Hermione along with her. Harry got up to let Molly have the seat next to Arthur, moving to the empty chair. The only available spots were two chairs by the window, rather far away from the group, or right next to Severus on the sofa.

Severus was amused by Hermione's dilemma; she didn't want to sit next to him, but she didn't want to call attention to it either by sitting too far away or by moving one of the chairs closer. He merely sat back with a smirk on his face and his arms draped across the back of the sofa. He made a sweeping gesture with one hand to indicated she was welcome to sit by him.

With a sniff she plopped down on the sofa but scooted away from him as far as she possibly could.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye and had to suppress an unnatural urge to grin. She was adorable when she was in a snit. Merlin, he wanted the woman. Now, all he had to do was convince her that she wanted him, too, in spite of whatever might have happened between them before.

~*~

Pansy gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and they named him Andrew David. He was named after no one in particular because they said they just wanted him to be himself. Hermione got to hold him barely an hour after he was born. He was so tiny and helpless and new. She'd never in her life really thought about having children, but holding little Andrew caused her heart to ache a little. She'd quickly passed him off to Ron, not liking the yearning that holding the babe brought out in her.

Afterward, she and Harry stopped at the Leaky for a celebratory drink. Before long, they were joined by several Weasleys and eventually Snape and Ron and a few others, as well. Although she was getting used to being around him, Snape's presence still made her uneasy. And tonight, after holding Ron's baby boy, she couldn't help but think of the past and of all the years she'd been gone. She thought about how long she'd spent away from her friends and all of the events she had missed: births, christenings, holidays, birthdays. So many things she'd missed.

After a few more drinks, she became a bit maudlin, thinking about all those things, and then angry that Snape could pretend that the past had never happened. She'd left by her own choice, yes, but she would never have made that decision if she hadn't been devastated by the things he'd said to her. Hermione realized she was getting a little drunk and was in danger of doing something stupid and rash, so she told Harry she was tired and wanted to go home. Harry insisted that she'd had a little too much to drink to Apparate safely, and he wanted to make sure she got home safely.

"I could escort you home, Granger; it's not as if it's out of my way," Snape offered upon overhearing their conversation.

Before Hermione could reply, Harry cut in, saying, "No, it's all right, Severus. I'll be happy to take Hermione home."

Hermione was relieved for a brief instant that she wouldn't have to deal with Snape, but then the half-drunk rebellious side, which had been dying to finally confront the man, jumped forth and protested. "No, Snape's right; it's on his way, and besides, there's something I've been wanting to ask him for quite some time now."

Harry looked worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Hermione?"

"It'll be fine, Harry," she assured him, patting his hand.

Hermione turned to Snape and grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. "Let's go," she said curtly.

~*~

She'd had more than a couple drinks and didn't want to take a chance of splinching, so Hermione let Snape Side-Along her. They landed on the walk between her gate and the front door. Even with his hand on her arm, she stumbled a bit when they arrived, and he drew her close to his side to prevent her fall.

"Careful there," he said. Once she was steady on her feet, he released her and followed her to the cottage door. "You said you wanted to ask me about something, but perhaps it would be best to wait for another time."

She turned to confront him. Not expecting him to be so close when she stopped and turned, she nearly ran into him. Hermione placed her hands on his chest, meaning to push him back and put some distance between them. His hands fell to her hips to steady her, and her breath caught when she looked up and saw his eyes on her mouth; he had the look of a starving man. Instead of shoving him away, as she had planned, her fingers clenched the front of his robe, and she pulled him against her as she raised up on her tiptoes to close her lips on his. It was like she was possessed; she couldn't stop herself. It was barely a touch at first, but then it spread like wildfire, like a spark to tinder igniting a tiny flame. Before she knew what was happening, an inferno blazed between them, threatening to consume them both.

Somehow her hands ended up twined around his neck, the fingers of one hand threaded through his hair to pull him down to her. He held her tightly to him, so close she could feel his hardness pressing against her. She moaned, tilting back her head to give him better access, as his lips left hers to nuzzle and nip along her neck. At this point, Hermione opened her eyes, and the realization that she was standing at her front door and damn near snogging the pants off Snape, or vice versa, brought her to her senses. She shoved him away, as she had intended in the beginning.

Her hand came to her mouth as she choked back a sob. "What kind of game are you playing!" she demanded.

"What?" Snape looked confused.

"This! What is this? What are you playing at!"

"I didn't start this; you kissed me first," he defended himself.

"Only because you're driving me mad. I don't understand what's going on here. Is this some sort of cruel joke? Are you trying to make me want you, then planning to slap me down like you did ten years ago? I'm not the silly little girl I was then. I made decisions that day that changed my whole life. I went far away from my home, my friends, and everything I ever held dear. I was gone for a very long time all because of the things you said to me that day. And now, you act like it never happened. You come on to me like there was nothing in our past. I don't understand your actions, and I don't understand you, Snape. So, I will ask you again: what kind of game are you playing?"

TBC