The Truth Without Veritaserum

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. JK Rowling owns it all, but I promise to return her characters in "like new" condition when I am done with them.

Thank you to my wonderful betas, SnarkyRoxy and JuneW. Without them, this story would not be possible.

Arriving at the restaurant, which held the single title of Vane's, Severus requested a quiet table near the back. The host promptly ushered them past the other patrons, including the boisterous Weasley party. Ron clearly thought his old friend Hermione had come to her senses. Molly Weasley even stood up as they approached, obviously under the impression that the couple had decided to take her up on her generous offer to join the Weasley family for their celebration.

As Severus and Hermione neared the full table and continued on past with no more than a glance, they left a stunned and silent matriarch in their wake. Severus noticed that Hermione appeared angry at the fact that the group was there to "celebrate" – too angry to find any humor in it. However, once the host seated them out of the line of sight of the mostly red-headed party, her anger began to ebb and she began to relax, much to his amusement.

The restaurant was rather nice, but had a casual air about it. Taking a brief glance at their menus, the pair ordered. Glasses of port appeared instantly in front of them, and they began sipping, an awkward silence falling into place.

Severus was uncertain whether he should jump into discussing his plan of revenge or begin with some gentler "small-talk" to ease the tension. Observing his lunch date, it appeared by the look on her face that they still had some unfinished business.

He attempted to draw her into conversation, first about the recent Death Eater trials, and when that proved fruitless, the new Border Patrol Laws. When she continued to remain largely uncommunicative, Severus became frustrated and slammed his hand on the tabletop harder than he intended, causing an upsetting of the silverware at his place setting.

"What is with you, woman?" he growled.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"I mean that normally you are nearly impossible to shut up, but for some unknown reason, I cannot seem to get you to talk about anything right now. I invited you to lunch to discuss some things with you, but I had also foolishly thought that I might take advantage of this and get to know you a bit better as well!" he railed.

In the middle of his rant, Hermione's face changed from the innocence she was attempting to portray to one of clear interest. Composing herself, she said, "Well, I had hoped for an apology."

Severus snorted.

"An apology, Severus. You keep talking to me as if I'm some errant first-year who you caught sneaking into the Restricted Section of the library or stealing from your private stores, when in truth, you're no better. You bait me at every turn, you take your enjoyment in trying to confuse me, and you cannot deny that you took great pleasure in humiliating Ron like that."

"I was simply ensuring that he was being held accountable for his actions, my dear. What, pray tell, is wrong with that?"

Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what it was, exactly, that she'd said. "I didn't mean it like that," she mumbled.

"Indeed," he replied. He fingered his glass for a minute longer as he watched her. When it became clear that she was not going to say anything else without his prompting, he spoke again. "Fine. Although I believe that I was correct in bringing this matter to the forefront with the Auror Department, I admit that I should have sought your permission before doing so, since you were the primary victim."

A warm smile grew on his lunch companion's face, and as loath he was to admit it, it warmed a small corner of his heart.

This white flag allowed them to ease into the uncharted grounds of "small talk" that he'd attempted to venture into earlier. Severus' dish of shepherd's pie and Hermione's plate of roast chicken and potatoes appeared before them. As they ate, their conversation slid from Severus' own trial to the inevitable arrival of students at the school.

When their stomachs were full and their plates had conveniently vanished, Hermione broached the first of the uneasy topics of conversation that Severus had been anticipating. He had been surprised at her restraint and was impressed that she had managed to hold her tongue for so long.

"So," she began. "Tell me exactly what Minerva said to you about what I'd said to Molly."

After a long pause, Severus answered, "Your former Head of House simply feels that I would be a bad influence on you. She has requested that I ... what were her exact words? Ah, yes ... leave you be. I am sure that she believes that this is merely a flight of fancy that will pass if given enough time."

Hermione huffed. "She has no right to say that to you! I'm no longer a student and I haven't been for three years! How dare she..."

Severus held up a single hand, bringing a halt to her tirade. "Minerva meant no harm by it, Hermione," he said with forced calm. "The nosy woman means well. I personally believe that she simply spent too much time in the presence of Albus Dumbledore to be able to stay out of other people's affairs."

At this, the witch sitting across from him snorted. It was at this interruption when he realized he was attempting to convince himself of Minerva's well-meaning at the same time as he was trying to convince his companion.

"The woman was your Head of House for six years, and Headmistress for your last year of school. Not only that, Hermione, but she led the Order of the Phoenix following Albus' death. You cannot deny that she feels some degree of responsibility for you, that she'd feel some sort of maternal instincts."

After another minute, Hermione nodded her head, conceding that Severus' assessment was likely correct.

"That leads me to the next obvious question then, Severus," Hermione began.

"Excuse me, sir," came a voice from beside them.

The couple looked up to see their waiter, who had remained blessedly out of sight until now, standing at their table.

"What?" Severus snapped.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have neglected to Summon or request anything since you have finished your meals. I feared that there was something wrong with the food, or the dessert menu did not offer enough selection."

"I know how to order at a bloody restaurant," Severus snarled.

"Yes, sir," the man said before hastily leaving the table.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and he smirked in reply. Deciding it would behoove him to behave in a somewhat gentlemanly manner, he asked, "Would you care for something else?"

After another look at their menus, they each placed an order to the table. Quickly, a dish of trifle appeared before each of them, as well as a cup of coffee to their individual specifications.

Severus looked back to Hermione. "Now that the waiter is gone, you may continue."

"Oh," she said as the color of her cheeks took on a much darker shade of pink than was typical for her. "You did a fair job of explaining what Minerva thinks of me. I would like to know what you think of me."

This girl truly needs to learn something about Slytherin subtlety, Severus thought. True, it wasn't as if he hadn't anticipated the question, he just hadn't expected her to ask it so soon. He swallowed the bite of his trifle in his mouth and took a sip of his coffee before speaking. "What do you wish for me to say, Hermione?"

"I want to know the truth, Severus. I feel as though ever since I said those words at Harry and Ginny's engagement party, we've been involved in some sort of dance with one another, only I'm not sure which one of us is leading."

She met his gaze, and for a fateful moment, Severus felt as if she could see into the very depths of his soul, every fiber of his being, every secret he'd safely tucked away... the very essence that made him Severus Snape.

He surprised even himself when he didn't lash out at her in self-defense. Severus never allowed others to see any part of his true self. No one, save Dumbledore, had ever been able to see past the years of barriers he'd built since he'd left school as a teenager. Perhaps in time he'd be able to tell Hermione –

She had just put down her spoon and was starting to push away from the table.

"I think that I have not imbibed nearly enough wine, nor have I swallowed any Veritaserum," he said smoothly.

She moved to get her purse.

Damn! Not caring if he made a fool of himself or not, Severus grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Hermione, I have not finished."

The expression on her face was obviously warring between hurt and anger, but to her credit, she stayed in her seat and kept her eyes on him, giving him a chance to explain himself.

"As I was saying, I've not consumed enough of either of those things, however, I do not need wine or Veritaserum to be honest with you. You were my student for six years – five years in Potions, one year in Defence. In that time, you were best friends with my school rival's son."

As he was speaking, she turned her face away, refusing to look at him, and he felt her try to pull away. Severus gripped her arm harder, keeping her where she was, and continued talking. "Then the war came to a head, as you well know." As he said the next words, he gradually loosened his grip on her arm. "You have grown into an attractive, intelligent, and forthright woman. I had not realized it before you made your confession, had your epiphany, or whatever it is you wish to call it, but I do know that you are a far cry from the child I once taught. I would like a chance to come to know the witch you have become."

Hermione finally looked at him and blinked.

He smirked.

"I'm sorry, Severus, I am a bit surprised. I mean, you said something similar a bit earlier, but I didn't really know what to make of it... I mean," she said, looking down at her hands, still somewhat visibly shaken. "I don't know what I mean."

Only then did Severus realize that he was still holding her wrist. He released her and sat back. "You asked for the truth. I simply gave it to you."

"Yes, you did. Thank you for that."

Severus nodded and wondered if perhaps Hermione was now feeling the same way he'd felt just a couple of weeks ago when she had made a similar profession regarding her feelings for him. Perhaps her thoughts were now just as muddled as his own had been then. How badly had he just thrown the girl off-balance?

In an effort to distract her, he leaned over his place setting and requested their coffees be refilled. Once the dark liquid appeared, Hermione dutifully picked up her cup and began sipping.

Severus waited a touch longer before he settled back, picking up his own cup and sipping from it and waving his half-eaten trifle away from the table. "Now, Hermione, I believe that the reason that I asked you here was to discuss my ideas for a revenge plot."

When a smirk grew on the young woman's face to rival his own, Severus knew that the image of the little girl that he'd known was indeed melting away before his very eyes. He was very much enjoying the challenging company of the woman who had taken her place.

"Yes, Severus, I believe that is correct."

"Then, tell me, when is the next large get-together? Preferably one that includes more than just the Weasley family."

As Severus watched that smirk grow to an outright smile, he was well and truly lost, though he was not ready to tell her that, just yet.

~ * ~

Hermione was in the makeshift Potions lab just off of the kitchen at number twelve, Grimmauld Place. It was a small room in which she'd spent countless hours cleaning, organizing, and, of course, brewing. This was where she had brewed many of the potions used by the Order members during the war, and where Ginny had swiped the Calming Draught she'd slipped Hermione a couple of weeks earlier.

Hermione's smile grew as she watched the potion continue to brew. It was maturing exactly as Severus had said that it would.

Two weeks, she reminded herself. She could easily wait two more weeks until she was able to even the score with Ron. Besides, she had another potion to start brewing.

Waving her wand, she Levitated the cauldron, removing it from the flame to the cooling rack. It would need to sit for thirty-six hours and then be put back onto the flame, at which point the final ingredients would be added before it had to simmer for five days with only water being added twice daily. Then this potion would be completed.

The second potion was a touch trickier to create. However, if all went well it would also be completed long before she needed it.

Severus had asked Hermione when the next get-together was going to take place. A small part of her had wanted to snap at him, only because she was quite certain that he full well knew what has happening. "This is the first time since Harry was a year old that he is free from the threat of death," Molly Weasley had declared, before starting her plans for a huge birthday party for Harry at the Burrow.

It was to be a true celebration of life.

"Everyone" was invited and Hermione was positive that meant that Severus was on the guest list. She could tell from his grousing that he had no desire to attend, but somehow she'd managed to coax him into escorting her. It had taken quite a bit of talking before he'd agreed, however. Well, more arguing than talking. It certainly helped that the event promised to be the perfect place to inflict revenge on Ron, and hopefully Molly, if everything went according to plan.

Still, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how much power she now held over Severus. She wasn't about to delude herself that he fancied her in return. But the simple fact that he was intrigued enough by her to say that he'd like to get to know the person she'd grown up to become ... that spoke volumes.

When they'd said goodbye to one another outside of the restaurant, he had simply said that he would see her again, but no plans were made. However, if Hermione closed her eyes and thought hard enough, she could still feel the press of his lips against the back of her hand as he bid her farewell. She knew she'd be wearing the silly grin on her face for days.

Even without a date to look forward to until Harry's party on the twenty-eighth of July, Hermione was sure that she could think of a reason or two to make her way to the castle. After all, there was a certain Headmistress that she needed to have a discussion with.

That thought firmly in her head, Hermione pulled down the second cauldron from the shelf, and began preparing the ingredients to begin the second potion.

A/N: I'm sorry about the delay. Kids are all back in school and life is getting back to normal... finally! :) I am trying very hard to get caught up on reviews. Please know that I love them dearly (they help encourage me to write when I'm feeling blue) and if I haven't responded to yours yet, it's only been because I've been spending my free time writing.

Yes, I do know Harry's birthday is 31 July. So, before I get a bunch of comments telling me to learn my canon facts, look at your calendars for July 2002 and you will see that to have his party on a Sunday, it either has to be 28 July or 4 August.

Finally, Severus' meal of shepherd's pie and trifle was not because it was the only thing that I could think of. It was purely to amuse me and to pay homage to one of my all-time favorite Friends episodes. Seriously, it makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. *smirk* "It tastes like feet!"