Chapter 5

Author's Notes: I once again send out many thanks to Scabbyfish for beta reading! And, seeing as how I never did so, please apply all the usual disclaimers and so on retroactive to the first chapter and to all chapters hereafter. In short: I don't own anything you recognise. Can-Touch Talc, on the other hand, is a figment of my own bizarre imagination.

"Mr. Weasley is here with someone – is that Miss Bones?" he asked. When Hermione nodded, but didn't otherwise respond, he continued, "Is that a problem? I recall you mentioning a falling-out." His tone seemed to indicate some surprise at the thought that she might be jealous.

"Yes, it's a problem," she admitted. She hated to think about what Ron might say about Severus being with her, date or no date, especially after the disastrous conversation at St. Mungo's. "Not to me. I'm happy he's here with Susan. Ginny and I had discussed the possibility of her setting them up, though I didn't know it had happened already. No, the problem is simply that he and I haven't talked since I refused to . . . " she trailed off.

"Yes?" he prompted. "If you want me to help you make a clean escape, you owe me an explanation."

She sighed. "Since I refused to get back together with him romantically. We tried being together. I thought it was an abysmal failure, and, at the time, so did he. But I think Harry got this picture of domestic bliss stuck in his head, especially when it became clear that Harry and Ginny were going to be a permanent item."

"And so you're afraid that he'll make a scene in front of Miss Bones, declaring his passion for you in the middle of the restaurant?" Severus scoffed.

"Not exactly," she said, but then rethought it. "Well, actually, yes. That wasn't my concern, though. If he does declare any sort of passion, he's just going to make a complete idiot of himself, but that's nothing new or abnormal. No, what I'm concerned about is his reaction to you."

Severus raised a brow. "Why? It's common knowledge that he and Potter both still despise me, and I assure you, the feeling is mutual. It might entertain the other customers, but I hardly think a row between us would do anything more than make people blink."

He didn't understand my point at all, Hermione thought. "I rather meant that in his rage, the accusations might get more personal than usual. You are here with me, right? And while you and I know it was more or less a business meeting, Ron would never be able to see it that way. And we can't exactly explain, if you want to keep your revenge a secret."

"And so you think he'll conclude that you would actually go on a – what do you call it now – a date with me?" His voice sounded incredulous.

His tone of voice temporarily derailed her train of thought about the possible confrontation. After her dream the other night, she wanted this belief nipped in the bud. "Excuse me? Why wouldn't I, if you had asked? You're intelligent, a good conversationalist when you're talking about topics you're comfortable with, and even I can tell you've been making an effort to be pleasant and friendly with me tonight. You picked me up at my flat. We had dinner. Current circumstances indicate that you're planning to walk me home. Aside from our short conversation about the twins, what about tonight isn't like a date?" she asked.

Severus stared at her in astonishment. As far as he could understand, she was arguing that tonight had been a date, but of course it hadn't. It was just a collegial meeting between two adults with a shared goal. He was twice her age, or nearly so, for Merlin's sake. And he knew well enough what he looked like and how he had treated her as a student. What kind of game is she playing?

"Excuse me," he retorted, "but as far as I know, young, intelligent, attractive women like yourself don't agree to a social dinner with men of my age, disposition, and looks."

"Well, as far as I know, men of your intelligence and experience have no interest in bushy-haired, walking encyclopaedic, barely-out-of-school girls like me!" she huffed. And paused. "Did you just say that you think I'm attractive?"

This wasn't going the way he had expected, drat it all. He sneered at her. "I was merely making a basic observation."

"Damn you, Severus!" The low expletive was as unexpected as her previous statement. She turned around and stalked off, apparently forgetting their original argument was about avoiding the most junior Weasley male.

He sighed. Given her temper, it was decidedly likely that any confrontation would be unpleasant, but he wouldn't let her walk home alone after dark. He resigned himself to an emotional scene as he strode across the restaurant after her.

He caught up to her just as she tried to pass Weasley's table without him noticing.

"Hermione!" Weasley exclaimed, looking back and forth between his date and his former girlfriend. Miss Bones looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"Hello, Ron," Hermione replied. "It's nice to see you, Susan. If you'll excuse me, I was just leaving."

Weasley, the idiot, would have none of that. "No, don't leave! Susan won't mind if you join us, will you, Susan?"

Susan looked like she would rather invite Black in his mongrel form than invite Hermione at the moment, but she contained herself politely and replied, "Of course not. It's lovely to see you too, Hermione."

Severus realised that Weasley hadn't seen him yet. He debated whether jumping in proactively would be more entertaining than waiting to be noticed, and decided it would.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Mr. Weasley."

Weasley's gaze finally shot to him, and Severus watched his eyes grow wide. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Miss Bones had a matching expression on her face.

"What are you doing here, Snape? And why do you think you have any say in what's possible for Hermione?"

Mindful of Hermione's concern over Weasley's opinion, he opted for discretion. "Miss Granger was assisting me with a small Potions conundrum I've been facing for the Ministry. There were some Arithmantic calculations needed, and while I am loath to admit it, her skills in that area outdo my own. Given some time-sensitive issues around the project, she graciously agreed to discuss it with me tonight."

His lengthy pronouncement apparently astounded Hermione's former classmates. Weasley's mouth gaped quite satisfactorily like a fish's. Miss Bones just bounced her head back and forth between Severus and Hermione, as if trying to connect them together and failing. Severus didn't dare smile, but enjoyed smirking rather nastily, instead.

Weasley's speaking capability seemed to be knocked further off kilter than normal, possibly because of the gaping of his mouth. "Hermione . . . you . . . Snape . . . but he's . . . how could you?"

Hermione sighed loudly. "How could I what, Ron? Do my job? Assist a key researcher who does work for the Ministry? Eat dinner? I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. I do all these things regularly, and enjoy them."

"You know what I mean, Hermione. He's Snape! He hates us." He was practically stomping his feet and whining, but he dropped his voice and looked around before saying, "He killed Dumbledore!"

"And you know as well as I do that he was cleared of all charges. You were there. You saw the evidence. The war is over, Ronald. It's time to move on with our lives," she concluded, looking pointedly at Miss Bones.

"Besides," Severus interjected, trying to draw some of Weasley's attention away from Hermione. "I only ever hated Potter. You I disliked because of your attachment to him and your carelessness in the classroom. Miss Granger annoyed me with her know-it-all tendencies and her abysmal taste in friends, but at least she did her work and did it well."

Weasley barely glanced at him before turning back to Hermione. "Traitor," he snapped. "I'm going to tell Harry about this."

"I wouldn't expect otherwise, Ron," she replied, looking away. "When you do, be sure to ask him to tell Ginny that I'll be in touch soon. I'm terribly sorry we've interrupted and disrupted your evening, Susan."

Miss Bones looked at Hermione with a more tolerant expression than she had started with. Apparently she had picked up on more of the undercurrents than she had let on and was placing the blame solely where it belonged.

"Think nothing of it, Hermione," she replied. "These things happen. We were just sitting down, and you've apparently finished – is there anything on the menu you'd recommend?"

Hermione and Miss Bones exchanged small talk for a few minutes while Severus and Weasley glared at each other. Finally, Weasley broke.

"You leave her be," he said.

"Excuse me?" Severus returned.

"You know what I mean. You're not looking at her as if she's working with you. You're looking at her as if . . . " he trailed off, looking uncomfortable with his own words.

Severus frowned at him. "I'm quite sure you're imagining things, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps you're projecting your own opinions onto me."

Hermione's eyes snapped to him at that remark, and Miss Bones trailed off in mid-sentence. A little too blatant a remark, apparently.

"Miss Granger, perhaps we should take our leave? I will escort you home so we can finish discussing the project."

"Yes, of course, sir," she responded quickly, implicitly agreeing to address each other formally in front of her friends, at least for the time being.

Hermione turned to her friends. She looked at Weasley and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ron, truly," she said. "Tell Harry and Ginny I'll be by soon. Take care, Susan, it was nice to see you."

"Good-bye, Hermione," Miss Bones replied. "Good-bye, Professor Snape." Severus didn't bother to correct her, just nodded his head before silently following Hermione out the door and into the night.

He let her lead him through Diagon Alley and back to the front of her flat in silence. She stopped by her door and paused, resting her head against it for a moment before turning to face him.

"Hermione," he began, but trailed off, not knowing what else to say. She looked down, avoiding his eyes, but making no move to go inside, either.

When he was a teacher, if a student in his house was involved in an altercation like the one they'd just had, he ignored them or told them to toughen up. Occasionally he would let some of the youngest ones talk and sniffle at him, but he was only there to listen, not give emotional advice. He limited himself to dispensing tissues. But he was no longer a teacher, and Hermione was long past the age of student troubles, in experience at least, even though her student days were more recent than he liked to remember.

"Hermione," he tried again, once again trailing off. He sighed. "I just don't know what to do or say at the moment."

At that, she looked up at him and gave him a small smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Really? I think that must be a first."

"I rather thought it was you who always had something to say," he responded. The comment lacked any bite.

"I talk all the time. That doesn't always mean I have something to say. You don't talk all the time, but whenever you do speak, you know exactly what to say – though admittedly, it's usually to cut the other person down to size."

Severus winced at that. It was true, but he wasn't very happy she was thinking it at the moment. "I don't want to cut you down just now."

"I gathered that," Hermione said. "And actually, I'm flattered that you want to be able to say something in this instance, even if you don't know what to say. There really isn't anything to say, anyway. Ron's a prat, and I'm still hoping he'll grow out of it. I'm crossing my fingers that he and Susan work out because I think she'll be good for him. She won't tolerate his nonsense, but she'll do it in a more subtle way than I would." She fiddled with a strand of her hair.

"Are you, ah, upset that he's moved on? I know you said you weren't interested in him any longer, but nonetheless . . . "

"Oh, definitely not!" Hermione exclaimed. "Remember at the magic shop when I said I needed to stay away from Ron?"

Severus nodded, unsure where she was going with that comment.

"He and I had just made an uncomfortable scene at St. Mungo's in which he declared how much he wanted to get back together with me, and I had to turn him down. I upset both him and Harry, who found me right after you and I had words, and explained all about the hopes he'd – Ron – well, actually both of them – had had."

"Hopes of what?"

"The four of us living next door to each other and raising a Quidditch team between us over the next fifteen years. Definitely not what I had in mind. Maybe one kid, someday, but not now, and not like that."

"Ah, I see."

Severus couldn't figure out what he wanted to do. He wanted to murmur words of comfort, but that was hardly something he was experienced in. It was a very foreign feeling, and he didn't know what to do with it. He wanted to reach out and touch her hair, run his hand down her face, take her in his arms and hold her. He was completely out of his element trying to deal with tenderness. Sex he could handle. Enemies, allies, colleagues he could handle. Friends – or more – didn't exist for him. And why the devil am I thinking of Hermione Granger and sex in practically the same sentence?

She was watching him evenly, waiting, as he sorted through these odd things called emotions. He deliberately kept as blank an expression as possible on his face. Finally the drive to touch her overwhelmed his internal need to keep away from emotional entanglements, and he reached his hand out and simply let it rest on her upper arm.

Hermione waited a beat, then covered it with her own, saying nothing. He felt the softness of the lightweight wool robes she was wearing. When Severus had picked her up, one of his first thoughts was that the colour looked wonderful on her, but now he kept his eyes on her own and didn't pay it any attention.

He watched her, and she gazed back, and the seconds stretched into a minute and then into two. Finally she broke the silence and blurted out, "Would you like to come in for coffee or tea?"

Hermione held her breath as she waited for Severus to answer. She was surprised at her own recklessness, asking him in. Between his hand, and their gazes, and now this, it was clear they had pushed beyond a collegial dinner and were in date land. While she waited for his response, she studied his face. No one would ever call him handsome, and his nose was – well, he and Cyrano would have a host to talk about, most likely. The limp, lanky, and yes, greasy hair was hardly a ringing endorsement either. Though it didn't look too greasy tonight, at least.

But his intelligence, and his passion, and his eyes – they attracted her despite the rest of the package. Hermione could hardly throw stones at his hair when her own frequently looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket – Muggle, that is. And she wasn't conventionally pretty, either, though she thought she could look passable with the right clothes and cosmetics. Men – with few exceptions in the Muggle world and even fewer in the wizarding one – weren't culturally allowed the fall-back of cosmetics.

And his voice – she felt her face flush as she recalled the dream she had had the night of the – her – Can-Touch Talc incident. She squashed the thoughts quickly and focused on the moment at hand until she was certain her face wasn't showing anything. But his voice was truly a very attractive feature.

She tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows. Severus hadn't broken her gaze, and eventually, slowly, he nodded. She let out her breath and smiled in relief before retrieving her wand from her robes and turning to unlock the door. She felt his hand drop from her arm as she did so, but then it ever-so-lightly came to rest on the small of her back as he stepped up behind her and guided her through the door. Another swirl of her wand as she muttered a soft incantation and several lamps sprung softly to life.

"Do you, um, did you want coffee or tea?" she asked, without turning to look at him.

"Tea, please," he responded quietly.

Hermione reluctantly stepped away from his hand, and she heard him turn and pull the door closed behind him. "Please, have a seat, I'll be back shortly," she said, waving in the vague direction of the sofa before ducking into the kitchen to prepare the tea.

As the water came to a boil, she stuck her head back into the living room and saw he had sat down stiffly on the sofa, at the end closest to the door, and was staring at today's Daily Prophet on the coffee table. He was clearly uncomfortable, yet determined to follow her request.

"Severus," she called. He flinched, but looked up at her. "I just wanted to know how you take your tea."

He nodded abruptly. "A bit of milk, no sugar, please."

She finished up in the kitchen and returned to the couch with two steaming mugs, setting one on the table in front of Severus before walking around it and sitting down herself. She carefully judged it so that she was technically on the opposite side of the couch, but was as close to his side as she could get. Since he was sitting right up against the edge at his end, she wasn't actually invading his personal space, but she wasn't defending her own, either.

The silence stretched between them as they sipped their tea. It began comfortably enough, but ultimately grew strained. Hermione didn't know where they were going, and she assumed Severus didn't know, either.

Finally, she put her mug down and turned to him. "At the risk of being too bluntly Gryffindor for your comfort, where are we?"

As she was half-expecting him to say something about her flat, it surprised her when he acknowledged what she meant without any verbal parrying. "I don't know, Hermione. I started the night with the strict understanding that we were going to work together to exact a bit of punishment for the Weasley twins, and I don't quite know how we got from that to this." He continued to hold his mug, staring into it as if he would find the answers there. Since she had made the tea from a bag, she thought it highly unlikely, Divination or not.

On impulse, she reached for his mug and pried it from his fingers, putting it down next to her own. Her hands returned to his and held them loosely, inviting him to take the next step. Slowly, he turned his hands palm-up and grasped hers, lifting his gaze at the same time. They sat for long moments before Hermione worked up her next bit of courage and slid closer to him.

She glanced down at his mouth and back up. That was apparently as obvious as a declaration or request because Severus immediately asked, "Hermione, are you sure? You can't – I can't – we wouldn't be able to blame the cantharis for this. There would be no going back."

Hermione pulled one hand from his and slipped it around the back of his neck, keeping her eyes trained on his to convince him of her sincerity. "The cantharis may have brought us together due to a chance meeting, and yes, we noticed its effects before, but no, this has nothing to do with it. I'm sure about this, Severus. Please, kiss me."

He drew his free hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and up to cup her face. Slowly, keeping his eyes on her own, he leaned down until his lips were just a breath apart from her own. "Last chance to say no," he whispered.

Hermione let her eyes drift shut and responded by closing the final gap. His lips were thin, and a bit chapped, but warm and so very gentle when they moved against hers. They stayed within the sweetness of their first kiss until Hermione sighed contentedly.

At the sound, Severus slid his hand behind her head and tightened his grip. His tongue touched her lips and she quickly opened them, darting her own tongue out to taste and explore.

They stayed that way for minutes, occasionally coming up for breath, but by mutual unspoken consent continued to explore, just mouth-to-mouth, until finally Hermione broke the connection and smiled. Then she pulled Severus back against the pillows on the couch and laid her head on his shoulder.

He responded by pulling his other hand out of hers and putting his arm around her. She snuggled in, and they sat together, content, happy just to be with one another, and not interested in anything else for the time being.

Tomorrow would be soon enough to discuss this development and to return to the other issues that they were facing. Tonight would be for beginnings, and for them.

Some time later, Hermione kissed Severus good-bye one last time at her door. He promised to talk to her if not the next day, then the day after. She watched him walk a little way away and then Disapparate with a tiny pop before shutting her door and drifting through her evening routine with a smile on her face.

Unfortunately, consequences do come back to bite you, as Hermione realised the next day. Ron and Susan clearly weren't the only ones who had been in the restaurant during the altercation and recognised them. She doubted even Ron's ability to spread gossip overnight could account for the number of looks and whispered comments during her walk from the Atrium to her cubbyhole in the middle of the Ministry administrative offices.

The Ministry staff wasn't particularly discreet, and she was fairly certain she was meant to "overhear" many of the whispered comments.

"I bet he slipped her a potion!" seemed to be a common theme, as did, "You don't think he'd dare use the Imperius Curse on her, do you?"

Less common were remarks such as, "Why would she want to look at that over a dinner table, project or no?" One person even responded, "Well, it's not like he was getting a treat to see, either." Hermione was absolutely certain she was meant to overhear that.

To top it off, it didn't help that Severus had invented his cover story on the spot and they had never talked about it afterwards.

"But Hermione, I didn't know Snape was working on anything that he'd need your help with!" her supervisor complained as he stood in front of her desk. Decimer Podmore was an ageing wizard in old-fashioned robes with a somewhat scholarly air, a look that was enhanced by the way he wore his spectacles just below the bridge of his nose.

"I believe he wasn't certain as to what he needed, and wanted my opinion, Mr. Podmore."

"He should have gone through proper channels for this!"

Mr. Podmore continued to drone on about procedures and channels and paperwork. Hermione tuned it out as best she could while keeping a smile on her face and hopefully indicating that she was paying attention. Thankfully, the idea of Severus not going about things the proper way apparently had driven all thoughts of what he might have asked her opinion on completely out of her supervisor's mind. Hermione wasn't quite sure what she could come up with on the spur of the moment that wouldn't be cause for further suspicion.

Eventually he moved on to more personal accusations, which brought Hermione back to the conversation. "And see here, a man like him taking a young lady like you out to dinner like that. It just isn't done! Does he have no sense of propriety?"

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes at the antiquated turn of phrase. Date or not, it had seemed perfectly reasonable to her. "Quite aside from any assistance he might need, Severus Snape and I enjoyed discussing the latest academic research and publications, Mr. Podmore. Is there something wrong with sharing a friendly meal?"

"But he was a Death Eater! Everyone knows he should really be locked up in Azkaban, Miss Granger. How can he think he's an appropriate escort for you? How could you agree?"

"He was acquitted at trial, Mr. Podmore," Hermione said icily, putting both hands on her desk and standing up to look at her manager eye-to-eye. "While I admit that he was a truly unpleasant and even downright cruel teacher, he had my respect for what he taught us and how he kept us safe despite the tendencies of some of us to do truly idiotic things. He still does have that respect, and when we bumped into each other recently, we managed to form a tentative collegial relationship despite past animosities."

Mr. Podmore looked taken aback at her comments. "Yes, well, fine," he spluttered. "But next time you make sure he goes through the proper channels!" He left quickly, his robes fluttering behind him.

Hermione took a deep breath and sank back into her chair. She had known, even before Severus had warned her, that there would be some fallout from her dinner with him. She hadn't expected it from quite so many people quite so quickly, however.

Traffic near her desk seemed particularly busy during the morning, and Hermione did her best to block out the noise as people shuffled past. It was distracting, to say the least, but she actually did have work she needed to get done for the International Magical Trading Standards Body regarding some compatibility issues between domestic and foreign import cauldron parts – Percy Weasley all over again. It didn't help that her mind kept wandering back to the previous night at her flat, and she suspected that more than one person got a view of her grinning foolishly to herself. She could only hope they thought it was because her work was going well.

Not that she was ashamed of being romantically involved with Severus, but they hadn't discussed it. Personally, she thought she would prefer to keep it quiet for a bit while they discovered whether they were compatible enough to pursue a more involved relationship. She would do the same for anyone she was involved with, because she simply didn't see the point of broadcasting her personal life to the entire wizarding – or Muggle – world.

She would need to break the news to Harry, Ron and Ginny first anyway. And probably Minerva as well. She thought Minerva would accept it, at least, and hopefully that would pave the way for others to do so as well. It occurred to Hermione that it might be best to give Minerva time to spread word to the rest of the former members of the Order of the Phoenix before going completely public. Even if Hermione and Severus never spoke to the Order members, Minerva's backing might ensure some additional supporters before the the Daily Prophet got wind of things and twisted them out of proportion.

She was finishing up an equation just as Ginny popped in at lunchtime. "Hello, Hermione, it seemed like the day to come by," she said by way of a greeting. "Everyone else in Broom Regulatory Control seems to be doing so, and I hate to feel left out."

Hermione snorted. "Come by, yes, but you're not supposed to actually talk to me, you realise. It's more important to whisper behind my back."

"Ah, well, I never liked sticking with tradition. Started at birth, you know, insisting on being a girl child in a family of boys, and all that." She grinned, and lowered her voice. "Seriously, are you okay? I don't really know what happened since I didn't get to talk to Susan, and I'm sure Ron's version of events is completely skewed."

"I'll be fine." Hermione shrugged. "It's a bit disconcerting, being the centre of negative attention like this, but it's not the first time. Remember the year of the Triwizard Tournament and Rita Skeeter's article about me jilting Harry?"

Ginny frowned for a minute and then her face cleared. "Now that you mention it, yes. I had fleeting moments of hating you over it. Not that I thought you were jilting Harry or anything; it was just the thought that other people saw you together."

"I'd be flattered if I didn't know how idiotically stupid he was about girls at that point."

"He was, wasn't he? At least he's a bit cleverer by now. He has me, right?"

"You bet." Hermione felt thoroughly cheered up by this turn of conversation, enough that she felt bolstered to return to the original topic at hand. "I assume Ron has inflicted his poisonous opinion on your fiancé, so I do appreciate you keeping an open mind."

"You're quite welcome. I actually came to ask you to go to lunch, if you're interested?" The invitation was clearly not just for lunch. Hermione sighed mentally. Better to start with talking to Ginny before approaching Harry, who would undoubtedly go ballistic. If he hadn't already. And she had no idea what to do about Ron at the moment.

"Of course," she replied. "Just let me finish up here."

A few minutes later they had left through the Visitors' Entrance into Muggle London, having agreed that it would be a better location for them today. They weaved through several streets to make sure they were far enough away from the Ministry that it was unlikely any other witches or wizards would be taking a lunch break in the vicinity. Hermione pointed out a pub that didn't seem to have a queue but was large enough to be bustling with people.

Ginny waited until they were seated and had ordered before taking up the conversation. "So, spill," she said simply.

Hermione back-tracked to fill in the gaps in what she and Ginny had already talked about. She explained how she had run interference for the twins, but realised she'd need to edit the rest of the tale in order to keep the so-called detention secret. She mentioned that she'd run into him in Muggle London unexpectedly, as they'd talked about before, and had enjoyed a surprisingly amicable conversation over drinks at the café. She didn't reiterate his reaction to the twins.

She fumbled a bit on explaining how she saw him again to bring about the dinner invitation, but settled on just saying she'd had another question about his projects and had rashly gone to his house to ask him. That he had looked as surprised at asking her to dinner – to talk – as she had felt at being asked, and that she had ended up agreeing to go, but put him off until after the weekend.

She wasn't sure Ginny believed the last bit completely, but since Ginny didn't say anything, she continued after their food had arrived and they had started eating.

"He was once again quite pleasant at dinner, actually. He seemed rather uncomfortable making small talk, but I could tell he made an effort. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the evening, at least until we were ready to leave and I noticed Ron and Susan."

"I'm sorry about that. I mean, I'm not sorry they were out together, but that I didn't warn you about it."

Hermione smiled weakly. "You had no way to know that I'd be out at that kind of restaurant for dinner – it's not a place I'd likely go by myself, and there was no reason to think I'd be out with someone else, either. Especially not Severus."

"You seem completely comfortable calling him by his given name now." Ginny looked at her quizzically, though not accusingly, while digging into her fish and chips.

"Well, I have seen him several times recently," Hermione said, but she could feel herself blushing. Dratted involuntary responses. "I may be ridiculously deferential to teachers, but even I can have it drilled out of me if I'm reminded enough times by the teacher involved."

"I suppose so. You always tried to keep Ron and Harry from insulting the teachers behind their backs, Snape included."

"They should be respectful! Even now. I know things were terribly painful for everyone during the war, but it's over, and he was acquitted, and you know the whole story there. It must have been terrible to have to do what he did during the war. They should get it through their heads that he did far more than they ever did, and give him some respect."

"Hmm, respect, really?" Ginny asked. "Is that all it is for you?"

"Well. . . "

"I'm not going to say anything if you have a crush on him, Hermione. It sounds like he's been thawing, to you at least. It makes sense, I suppose. He's not working at Hogwarts any longer – he must get tired of his own company, and you're someone he could talk to without making the person feel stupid," she concluded.

"Yes, well, he still does that occasionally. It's not possible for a leopard to change his spots overnight. Or should that be a snake to shed his skin? Except that might be possible overnight, I'm not sure how long moulting takes–"

"Hermione."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry," Hermione apologised. "Queen of tangential information and questions, I know. Anyway, he still snipes at me sometimes, but not constantly. Though the times we ran into Harry or Ron, things were noticeably less pleasant."

"No surprise there."

"No." Hermione's sigh sounded wistful even to herself. "I guess not."

Ginny stopped in the middle of eating and dropped the chip that was in her hand. "Hermione Granger, it is just a crush, isn't it?"

Hermione felt her cheeks flame again and couldn't formulate a response. Which turned out to be a response in and of itself.

"He likes you, too?" Ginny's eyes were as wide as Hermione had ever seen them.

"Apparently," Hermione whispered.

"Just how apparent is apparently?"

She was never going to turn back to her normal colour. "He kissed me last night, after he walked me back to my flat. Or rather, I kissed him, and he kissed me back."

If it was possible, Ginny's eyes got even wider. "Oh, Hermione." She sounded almost disappointed.

"I didn't expect it to happen!" she said defensively. "When we saw Ron at the restaurant we had just finished arguing about whether or not it was a date, with Severus saying it wasn't. Then Severus made up this business about my help with a Ministry project–"

"So that wasn't true, then?" Ginny cut in, pushing her plate aside. By now, both women had given up any thought of actually eating their lunch.

"No. It wasn't meant to be a date, either, and I knew that, but pushed him on it."

"You were already angry with Snape when you ran into Ron?"

"Yes. Undoubtedly that made the situation worse," Hermione admitted. "I stalked off home afterwards, and Severus actually tried to console me. I was surprised, and flattered, and I liked it. I like him."

"Are you sure it's not just a rebound thing, after completely severing ties with Ron?" Ginny prodded.

"No! It's not. The seeds of it were there that first night at Hogwarts, before Harry found me to tell me about Ron's injury."

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked. "Because it seems to me that you're playing with fire, Hermione. Possibly fireworks, and I don't want to see things blow up on you."

"I know," Hermione said glumly. "Neither do I."

"Just be careful, I guess. But if it makes you happy, we'll figure out a way to deal with it. I will, anyway. I can't promise Harry or Ron will. You do realise you might end up cutting yourself off from them?"

Hermione closed her eyes. "Yes, I do. I would hate to, but . . . this thing with Severus . . . I need to try. I can only hope that eventually Harry and Ron will come around. But if you don't mind, I'd rather hold off on telling them." She reopened her eyes to see Ginny looking very seriously at her.

"I agree," Ginny said. "Sort yourselves out first. As far as I'm concerned, you were talking about a professional project last night, and he walked you home. End of story."

"It's pretty much the truth, up to a point, as we did talk projects," Hermione hedged.

"Good, that will make it more convincing. But we'd better get back to work before they dock our pay." They collected themselves and ventured back to the Visitors' Entrance to the Ministry.

Hermione only frowned a little when evening came and Severus hadn't been by to say hello. Maybe it was for the best, but she had hoped to see him during the day and had thought perhaps him stopping by and deliberately having a mundane conversation would put the rumours aside.

On the other hand, the conversation – or rather, the confrontation – with Harry came much sooner than Hermione had hoped for. The morning after her lunch with Ginny, Hermione was feeling a bit cranky as she still hadn't heard from Severus, and she was afraid of pushing herself on him too much, too soon.

So when Harry ploughed into her as he entered and she exited her cubbyhole, she was more than a little dismayed and, subsequently, her words were quite snippy. "Watch where you're going, Harry! How on earth do you plan to pass Auror tracking if you can't keep from smashing into people?"

Harry raised his eyebrows and returned the insult. "I see the rumours are true about you and Snape – you're obviously channelling him already. Are you insane? Why would you have dinner with that trai–" He stopped when Hermione made a face at him. "–with the greasy git?" he concluded between gritted teeth.

"You know, Harry," Hermione said, tilting her head to the side, "I really don't feel like discussing this with you right now. I will grant that you have the right to dislike it, but I am actually enjoying his company, as it gives me the opportunity to converse with someone who likes the same topics that I do. So thank you very much for your opinion, but sod off!" She pushed past him and headed down the hall towards Mr. Podmore's office.