Unexpected Encounters

Disclaimer: This story's universe and characters were created by J.K. Rowling. I make no profit from it, and no copyright infringement is intended.

A:N: No deceptions, no lies. I desire to finish this story, and regular updates shall commence. =)

The Auror looked around approvingly at the buzzing main lobby of the Ministry of Magic. She nodded to Severus Snape, released his arm, and made her way to the lifts to head back to her department. When the lift doors closed, Severus Disapparated.

Severus reappeared in the Ministry's lobby one hour later.

Hermione glanced around her new office, feeling satisfied. All signs of Slughorn's pouffy extravagance were gone, vanished, Evanesco'd. There remained nothing antique or Victorian-esque. Nothing fluffy, lacy, velvety, or frilly in all of the room. The only plush piece to be found was Crookshanks' large, red and gold sham-covered pillow with trills.

The room's sparse furnishings consisted of her desk, her chair, two guest chairs, and a small desk and seat in the corner that would serve well when she had a student in Detention. Simple, neat, and uncluttered.

A few indoor plants whose leaves would lend ingredients usable in certain potions hung on hooks in the ceiling. And unlike frills, fluff, and old ladies' aromatic balm, these would be appeasing to both the ocular and the olfactory senses.

One side wall that had previously housed pictures of various members of the Slug-Club was now shelved and held her collection of books. A last bundle of magically shrunken books lay upon her desk, waiting to be put away. These, the books she was currently studying, on the subjects of invisibility and understanding the magical energy of inanimate objects, she would keep in her living quarters.

Hermione continued to survey her set-up. At the back, behind her desk, was the entrance to the Potions lab where she and Severus had been working each week. Through that door and adjacent to the lab was a storage and supply room. Moving her eyes to the other side of the office, there was what she had already discovered to be a heavily warded door, which Hermione was certain led to the Potion professor's living quarters. Her quarters. Sure it had been an oversight, Hermione decided to ask Minerva about having it unwarded before returning home.

Hermione smiled and sat down behind her new desk, running her fingers along the length of a quill set next to a stack of fresh parchment atop the huge slab of cherry wood. She felt accomplished. She was pleased by this opportunity to develop her skills as a potions-maker. The mastery Severus had was incomparable. She had now successfully employed Severus' technique to improve three different potions: the Draught of Living Death, the Skele-Gro potion remake, and the Polyjuice potion she had begun working on at home for the past two weeks. It was not finished yet, but Severus had assured her there was a way to enhance it to make it stronger...strong enough for just a small drink to go a long way. And though he would not verify it until her potion was complete, she was hopeful she would find a way to strengthen it significantly.

Severus had taught her to never be careless. Any new idea to enhance or create a potion must be considered objectively and compared to her knowledge of known ingredient interactions along with all possible variables. A master should always be able to predict the consequences of any action taken while brewing, Severus had told her. Her Monday lessons were now being spent compounding, reviewing, practicing and fully integrating her potions knowledge. Brilliance could not simply be discovered by accident; one must intuit brilliance by integration.

Hermione smiled again. She loved the challenge. The quest for excellence. If she could master this, she could master anything. How fortunate she was to have the opportunity. If the circumstances hadn't necessitated it, would Severus have refused her request for an apprenticeship had she thought one even possible? Would she ever have had the chance to realize her feelings for him? Have had the opportunity to act on them?

No, she would definitely have noticed her surfacing feelings for Severus eventually, even without the help of the Mirror of Erised. She smiled. The desire she felt for him definitely meant something. The intensity of it simply required that it mean something. In her mind, feeling such immense desire was associated with what she thought love should feel like. Did she love him? Could she be in love with a well so deep that plunging down into its depths would take forever for the fall? If she could not but skim the top, seeing only the waters that reflected nothing of him at all? Seeing the reflection of her own perceptions and tasting what few offerings might rise to the surface? Could she love the mystery while hugging only the well wall?

After the unease and anger between them earlier, Hermione admitted to herself that she had perhaps been pushing Severus too hard. She wanted to know him. Wanted to know what it was that caused these feelings she had. What it was that could bring her the love like what she had experienced in the Mirror of Erised. She should not let a taste of what was possible for them stop her from savoring their budding relationship just as it was.

She should be patient, and maybe he would let her in without her having to knock (okay, pound) so much. Slowly let her draw up some of his deepest waters. Maybe their mutual desire really was the first stirrings of love. It was love she had seen in the mirror. A fine mixture of the carnal and the spiritual, of lust and devotion that all spoke of one thing: love. But, what did Severus desire of her?

Hermione pocketed in her robes the bundle of books and set the excess, precautionary wards she and Severus had designed together for the Potions lab. She headed out into the dungeon corridor, running her fingers along the stone wall, fingers dipping into a groove, which she realized was the latch to a door. She had found the corridor entrance to her chambers. Hermione lifted her wand to cast the first unwarding spell.

"Harry! You're early." Rufus Scrimgeour said with the effected politeness of a seasoned politician.

Severus glared at the source of the meeting's interruption (not that the meeting had been going at all well) while inwardly appreciating the manner in which Potter had just burst into the Minister of Magic's office without knocking, successfully annoying Scrimgeour, always a delight.

"Er...we finished earlier than expected...." Potter looked at Severus questioningly.

"And I had moved Professor Snape's appointment up to four o'clock just for you," Scrimgeour said, motioning at the other chair with an embellished gesture. "Well, do sit, Harry. It so happens that your Black Flame-casting partner-in-crime is here to make the same entreaty you said you wished to discuss with me in person."

Potter's eyes met his own. While it did not surprise Severus to learn this, it clearly was astonishing to Potter. The boy nodded and returned to look at Scrimgeour with a strong, steady gaze.

"I won't allow this," Potter said simply.

"Now, that's enough, Harry. No, let me make this very clear right now so I won't have to repeat myself to both of you," Scrimgeour said roughly. Potter seemed to have a gift for shattering the Minister's diplomatic persona whenever he spoke with him, Severus noted.

Scrimgeour leaned forward, his hands curled in fists atop his desk. "As I was just beginning to explain to Mr. Snape, the Wizengamot voted unanimously on the new security plan and signed it into law. You also gave the bill your public endorsement, I would remind you. It cannot be changed."

"Yes, I did, and I don't endorse new laws without reading them," Potter countered.

Severus thought bemusedly about how abhorrent he would normally find a situation such as this...being trapped in a room with two people he disliked profusely...one that he actually hated. He certainly had never thought that if such a repugnant situation were to actually occur, he would find himself... mildly... entertained by Potter.

"And I do remember clearly that the bill specified that the new system wouldn't be official until after a trial run, and that if..."

"A simple disclaimer," Scrimgeour interjected.

"That is of rather little consequence," Severus said. "It still allows for the law to be reevaluated if information comes to light about its ineffectiveness."

"I would hardly say the system is ineffective." Scrimgeour glared at Severus and then at Potter.

"Semantics." Severus said. "The purpose of the security is to hold prisoners hostage. To keep them from their lives. Not to literally take life."

"If a prisoner elects to take his life, that's hardly..."

"Listen, Scrimgeour," Potter said in a low, serious voice. "You need to honor my request to have Auror teams take prisoners out into the courtyard, in small groups, at least once a week. I insist."

Severus wondered where Harry had got the gall to be so frank with the Minister of Magic. It must be an irrepressible natural tendency of his as countless detentions had certainly never dampened Potter's contrary attitude.

"Don't speak to me that way, Harry. I'm the Minister. I could..."

"You wouldn't do a thing, Minister, if you don't mind my saying so. You'd never allow anything to mar the public's perceptions of the Ministry and the Chosen One being in such good graces. You wouldn't want to risk upsetting me enough that I'd let information slip out about certain... Ministry doings... of the past..."

Rufus Scrimgeour schooled his frown and regarded each of them calmly. "Severus Snape, Harry Potter, you each hold a unique relationship with this Ministry. You are both of great value to us. Therefore, if it is your professional opinion that the new Azkaban security plan needs tweaking, then we shall present it before the Wizengamot this very week."

"Thank you, sir." Harry said with affected grace. "I knew that I could count on you to see that justice is always a priority."

"Justice would be seeing dead everybody who had served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in any way," Scrimgeour growled, pretenses flung far out the window.

Potter narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but Severus spoke up first. "There are innocent people inside Azkaban, Minister. You value glory, not justice."

"You may have escaped Azkaban's fate yourself, Snape, but if you knew what was good for you, you wouldn't still be attempting to excuse the crimes of your Death Eater pals."

Potter watched the exchange, frowning. He said, "Minister, whether innocent or guilty of the worst crimes, no prisoner at Azkaban is going to crumble away in that solitary, deadly darkness. Until Friday's Wizengamot gathering, then." He nodded sharply to Scrimgeour, caught Severus' eye, and moved to the door.

"Until Friday," Severus also said to Scrimgeour, rising and moving to the door behind Potter.

"Take... care," he heard Scrimgeour say as he closed the Minister's door behind him.

Their brief alliance in Scrimgeour's office just before had been a singularly random event. It did not mean that Severus Snape would accede to having Harry Potter be the Auror to protect him while he returned to Hogwarts. He refused Potter's offer with a disdainful sneer, but walked with him to the Aurors' Headquarters to find the woman who had been assigned to him that day.

"Potter," he said in farewell before she whisked him away.

Leaving the Auror at the gates, Severus headed into the castle. It had been a long and stressful day. He wanted to quickly make his way down to his chambers, take a Headache Cure, and lie down. When he arrived at the bottom of the steps, however, he saw a figure casting spells at his door near the far end of the corridor.

"Just what are you doing?" he bellowed, making his way down the hall swiftly.

The figure jumped and dropped her wand. As soon as he got closer, he saw it was Hermione.

"Oh, it's you. Hermione... what are you doing trying to get into my rooms?" he asked, perplexed.

"Oh!" she said. "Sorry, Severus. I thought they were mine." She frowned. "Er...why are your rooms still down here if your office and classroom are now upstairs?"

"Because," he answered, "these rooms had been my home for seventeen years before Slughorn came along. I was comfortable there and not at all inclined to move everything for the simple convenience of having my office right next door." Severus smirked slightly. "Besides," he added, "I thought I might actually be doing a favor for old Slughorn, providing for him daily exercise."

Hermione smiled. "So, that's where my rooms are. I have my belongings packed and ready to move-in tomorrow."

"Good," Severus said. "The sooner you are residing here at Hogwarts, the safer you will be. Why don't you come with me now? I will show you the entrance to your chambers."

"All right." Hermione smiled brightly. Severus had not expected to see Hermione again today. After their unpleasant exchange earlier, this felt awkward, but they were managing to converse as if it had not even occurred.

They headed up the first flight of stairs. "I hope you do not mind having to travel the five floors between your office and bedroom," Severus said to Hermione, too conscientious of the fact that he was now thinking of Hermione and bedrooms in the same sentence.

"No, not at all actually. I wasn't looking forward to trying to stay warm down there in those dungeons. Too drafty."

"I could..." He trailed off, having just realized he had started thinking of Hermione in his bedroom. He coughed. "I could show you some shortcuts," he said to redirect the conversation.

"That would be appreciated."

They walked in silence up the last flight of stairs. They seemed to have exhausted all relevant mundane topics, and he certainly would not allow himself to engage in small talk just so something was being said.

Still, the silence weighted heavily given the lingering unease from their heated exchanges earlier. "I should apologize," Severus decided to say, "for ending your lesson early. The Ministry had sent me a note while you were in the Pensieve, requesting that I arrive at three for my appointment instead of the five o'clock appointment I had planned around."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, it's not your fault they changed it. Uh, the lesson wasn't going well anyway."

Severus huffed quietly.

After they reached their destination, and Hermione had found her chamber door behind a tapestry, she leaned against the wall next to it, sighed, and said, "Severus? When was it that you first... took an interest in me?"

Severus watched her.

She continued, "I mean, did you have any idea of it before I first kissed you?"

"Y...yes." Severus hesitated. "Yes, it was before."

Hermione smiled slightly.

"And might I pose to same question to you?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Yes, I had already realized I desired you."

"Hmm, I see we have returned to that word. Desire."

"So when was it, then, that you knew?"

Severus sighed. Hermione was intently awaiting his answer. "In truth, I cannot pinpoint when it began exactly, but it has been building since we started working together."

"It's the same way for me," Hermione said. "Then I knew it completely when I saw..." she trailed off. She looked suddenly shy and shifted her weight to her other foot.

"The Mirror?" Severus offered.

"Yes," she whispered. "Us. In the Mirror."

Looking at her carefully, Severus brushed his hand through her hair and brought it to rest on her shoulder. "What if it was a trick?"

Hermione stepped closer to him, carefully, as if unsure he'd allow it, and wrapped her arms around his waist. Wrapped up in how good it felt when he held her in return, she said distantly, "Mmm, what do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know exactly what you saw, Hermione. But the desire you saw fulfilled in the Mirror satisfied some emotional need or another, and perhaps you simply drew in the added details to fill it in. Conjured me up, so to speak, since we had been working together."

Hermione unwrapped her arms from around him and slid her hands into his. "You are not an added detail, Severus. Besides, the Mirror doesn't work that way. It shows you what you truly do desire even if you did not know it consciously. Harry once saw all his extended family. He couldn't have 'conjured them up.' That's the magic of the Mirror. That it knows exactly."

She took a breath and said softly, "I desire... I want... I want us to try this out. Let's not worry about if we can make it work or if we have enough to go on. Let's just do it."

Severus released her hands and moved his own up her arms and around her shoulders, drawing her close.

"Sounds... interesting."

Hermione laughed. "Are we okay, then?"

His eyes glowed, and he dipped his head, kissing her softly.

It was a successful day after all, Severus noted to himself. Potter would ensure more leniency in Azkaban's security, he had hope of keeping his promise, and he could better understand Hermione. He was taking a lot of risk, but when was there ever anything gained without risk?