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Severus stood on the path looking back at Hogwarts with a traveler’s trunk in his hands. It was the start of the Christmas Holidays, and his time at Hogwarts had finally come to an end. He’d offered to teach for the first semester while Minerva got a replacement for Potions, but had been adamant that he wasn’t staying a day past then. He’d said goodbye to her and found himself now gazing at the place that had been his home since he was eleven.
He was ecstatic to be leaving. Sure, there was a small winsome part of him that would miss these great halls, but finally, he would be able to start anew and not be under the thumb of two masters, nor would he have to pander to insolent children who thought they deserved everything.
Bloody Purebloods.
He was about to turn to go when the doors opened and out ran Hermione Granger. He had avoided saying goodbye to her–well, to everyone–as he just didn’t want all the fake platitudes.
Hermione came up to him, somewhat out of breath.
“Oh, I’m so glad I caught you, Severus!”
“Hermione.”
“I hope you’re happy in your new life.”
He regarded her carefully. “Thank you. I would think that you would be happy to see the back of me.”
“Don’t be silly! You’ve been very kind and helpful as I acclimate to being a professor here. I feel we’ve…” she hesitated for a second, “become friends,” she finished.
His eyes raked up and down her. “Yes, I suppose we have.”
“I wanted to ask you if you had plans for New Year's?”
“I do not.”
She nodded. “I’ll be back from visiting my parents in Australia on Boxing Day. I wanted to invite you to New Year's at the Burrow.”
He scoffed and shook his head, “Thank you, but no. I have no intention to ever see or speak to the Weasleys, Potter, and any of your other friends for the rest of my life.”
She looked disappointed. “Oh. I see. Well, I can understand that, really. How about if I came to your place and we celebrated together then? I don’t fit into that long list of people you never want to speak to again, do I?”
He regarded her carefully. She had been a bright spot in this last semester, and he did consider her a friend—someone he’d maybe like to see now and again.
“No, of course not, but Hermione, you must want to spend your time with your friends and not an old, sour man like me."
“Well, you’re neither of those things, and I’m staying at the Burrow all week.” She hesitated. “I’d like for you to not be alone on New Year's, and it would be fun to ring in the New Year with you.”
“Have you drunk too much mulled wine? Fun? With me?”
She shrugged and gave him a determined look. “I said what I said.”
He thought about it for a minute. “Are you sure you want to spend New Year’s with me?”
“Absolutely!”
He nodded. “All right, then. You may come by around six for dinner.”
“I’ll bring some Muggle games for us to play.”
He gave her an odd look.
“You’ll like them.”
“I am familiar with Muggle games.” He paused. “Severus Snape lives at 2064 Bywater Street in London.”
Her grin was so big it made his insides happy.
“Brilliant. I’ll see you then.”
He gave her a quick nod, turned, and walked down the path to the gates. He Disapparated as soon as he’d exited them.
ooo
Severus tied his cravat and admired it in the mirror. Hermione had sent it as a Christmas present to him, and its black silkiness had made him smile when he’d opened the package and was doing so now as well.
He’d spent a quiet Christmas on his own, opening the couple of gifts he’d received. Hermione, Minerva, and Filius had sent things to him. He had picked up lovely raven feather pens for all three of them and hoped they had enjoyed their gifts.
Over the last two weeks, he’d thought a lot about Granger coming by today. His thoughts were filled with her upcoming visit again.
Why would she want to spend her time off with me?
He pulled a comb through his hair and had a conversation with himself.
“I mean, she’s my friend, and she’s lovely, but… I am rather shocked that she even offered to come by, let alone spend hours with me until midnight.” His eyes grew wide. “I wonder if she’ll want a kiss?”
His eyes narrowed at his reflection in the mirror. “Don’t EVEN get your hopes up!” he scolded himself.
When Granger–Hermione–had first tried to be friends with him, he’d looked down his nose at her and stalked off. The vixen never gave up, sitting next to him at meals and seeking him out for help with being a young teacher and keeping order in her classes.
He chuckled as he thought of it. She had been craftily worming her way into his life and making him see that she was a friend and not someone to roll his eyes at.
Lately, they’d been staying late at dinner to discuss the latest Transfiguration or Potions journal and what they thought of the newest findings. Their conversations had been stimulating for him. He’d been surprised that someone so young could be so well spoken. She’d changed since the war. No longer a parrot of information, but someone who could form an argument and come up with her own conclusions. When he first realized that, he’d found it quite invigorating.
Finishing with his hair, he stepped back and looked at himself. The black cravat went well with his trousers, and he wore a cream colored shirt with a green sleeveless jumper over it. He felt well put together. If only his face looked less… severe? Ugly? Gross?
He huffed. Enough of that. He wasn’t going to be morose this New Year's. He was starting fresh, and he was thrilled to be doing so. He wouldn’t let his surly disposition get the best of him, especially with Hermione coming over.
The doorbell rang, and he turned to let his guest in. Opening the door, he smirked at her, internally gasping at how lovely she looked.
Her outfit was a sparkly blue long-sleeved pantsuit with a flowing skirt wrap-around that was open in the front. She cradled a bottle of champagne in her arm. He looked her up and down as he moved aside so she could pass through.
“You look very nice,” he told her.
She spun around and smiled. “Thank you! I have to admit I expected you to be in your black cape and outfit, but this is so much nicer.”
“Thank you,” he told her as he took the bottle she had offered to him. Examining it, he arched a brow. “I’ve never heard of this champagne.”
“I brought it from Australia. It’s all the rage there.”
He motioned for her to move into his home and take a seat. “Would you like some now?” he asked.
“Let’s save it for later.”
“I have some wine if you’d like. Red?”
“Sounds lovely.”
Severus summoned two wine glasses and the wine and poured for both of them. Handing her a glass, he smiled at her. Touching his cravat, he gave her a grateful look. “Thank you for the Christmas present,” he told her.
“Oh, it’s lovely! I saw it and immediately thought of you. It looks so nice with your outfit.”
He blushed but nodded.
“Thank you for the quill. I was surprised to see it. I’ve been eyeing that very quill for several months now.”
“Have you really?”
She nodded.
“Well, I may have seen you looking at it a couple weeks ago. I hope Mierva and Filius like it as much, because they got the same gift.”
Hermione laughed. “I’m sure they will. It’s so very beautiful, and it writes so smoothly.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He paused before changing the subject. “The roast beast is almost done. We should be dining in about half an hour.”
Hermione chuckled. “Roast beast. I’m suddenly flooded with memories of the Grinch.”
Severus smirked at her. “Well, it’s somewhat apropos, right? I assume many at Hogwarts would think of me as a Grinch.” He ignored her frown. “It’s my favorite Christmas story.”
“I forgot you grew up in a Muggle home.”
“Yes, and I have a copy of the book on my bookshelf…” he pointed to a shelf along the wall. “Right there.”
Hermione burst from her seat and went up to the books. Looking back at him, she smirked. “Can we read it now?”
He shrugged. “Yes, if you’d like.”
She enthusiastically pulled it off the shelf and returned to the sofa. He settled in next to her so they could both read the book together. Hermione looked at him, and he motioned for her to read aloud.
She read the entire story and then sat back once it was done.
“I’ve always liked the way he turned over a new leaf,” Severus murmured. “Now that I’m not associated with the school anymore, I hope to be able to do so myself.”
Hermoine nodded, looking at him sympathetically. “I’m sure you’ll be able to, Severus.”
They were quiet for a bit, both absorbed with their own thoughts. Severus got up finally. “I believe dinner is ready.”
Hermoine rose and followed him into the kitchen. “What do you need help with?” she asked.
“The table is set. Let me get these veg into a bowl, and you can take them out to the table.”
Hermione nodded and watched him pull out the roast and veg from the oven. He removed the roast onto a carving board to rest and placed the potatoes, carrots, and parsnips into a bowl, handing it to Hermione.
“I’ll just whip up some gravy, and we’ll be ready,” he advised.
Hermione moved into the dining room and placed the bowl on the table. She went out into the sitting room and recovered their wine glasses, placing them on the table as well and refilling them with the lovely red wine. Severus came in with a gravy boat and then went back to the kitchen and brought in the roast.
“Roast beast and all the fixings,” he said with a grin as he placed the meat on the table.
Using a slicing spell with his wand, the roast was quickly sliced and ready to be eaten. They both filled their plates and began to eat.
“Mmm, Severus, this is lovely,” Hermione said. “I hadn’t pegged you as such a good cook.”
“My mum taught me how to cook as a child. Many of the things she prepared, she did the Muggle way so as not to offend my dad, but sometimes we would create something simply with magic.”
Hermione frowned. “Your father didn’t let you use magic in the home?”
Severus shook his head. “When he was at work, we did what we pleased, but we had to be careful when he was at home. If he even suspected that magic was used to do something, there would have been hell to pay.”
Hermione’s shoulders sagged, and she looked down at the table. “I’m sorry your childhood was unpleasant, Severus.”
Severus shrugged. “It was a long time ago, and I have moved beyond my father and all that he did.”
“He sounds evil.”
Severus mulled that over. “In a way, he was, but much of it was alcohol related. I often wondered what he would have been like when he was sober, as I can’t remember a time that he ever was.”
“I’m sorry.”
Severus looked disgruntled. “It is fine. I don’t want or need pity from you.”
Hermione frowned. “It’s not pity, it’s sympathy, but if you don’t want to talk about it, that's fine.” She took a bite of her roast, and they were quiet for a bit. “What are your plans now that you’re free from teaching?” she asked finally.
“I am heading to Germany for a couple of weeks. The German Ministry asked me to come and be a specialist on Mind magic. I’ll be teaching their Aurors about using Occlumency and Legilimency, and the whole visit will culminate in me being a presenter at the International Mind Magic convention.”
Hermione’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s… that’s amazing! How did they know you’re a Master Occlumens?”
Severus snorted. “I think that Skeeter’s write-up traveled farther than just Wizarding Britain.”
“Something she actually did for good!” Hermione cried.
Severus smirked and nodded. “Yes, they reached out to me soon after I was released from the hospital.”
“That’s exciting, Severus. What about after you do that?”
“I’m going to take a couple weeks to gather myself. This opportunity in Germany has sparked something within me. I thought I would just open an apothecary or supply potions, but I might just like being part of the mind magic community, and maybe I will pursue something with that.”
Hermione thought about that. “You could probably work at the Ministry as an interrogator.”
He nodded. “Or be a private investigator of some kind.”
“Finding wizards who cheat on their wives?”
“Or people who are trying to swindle someone.”
“Sounds intriguing.”
Severus was quiet for a moment. “Are you happy at Hogwarts, Hermione?”
She laughed. “Funny you should ask that, my parents asked me that, and so did Harry.”
“Is there something you are keeping secret?”
She shook her head. “No! My parents just want to make sure I’m doing well. As for Harry, I think he wants me to work at the Ministry. He feels I’m not living up to my potential at Hogwarts.”
Severus snorted. “And what, pray tell, is your potential?”
She looked disgruntled. Severus put up his hands in surrender. “I meant nothing by that. I believe you have plenty of potential. I’m just wondering what Potter thinks you should be doing.”
She nodded. “Becoming Minister for Magic ultimately.”
Severus arched a brow. “Do you have any interest in that?”
“I’d be lying if I said no, but the road to that position would be long, and to be perfectly honest, I want to make a difference now. Fetching coffee for some low level grunt isn’t my idea of making a difference. At Hogwarts, I can influence the future now by educating the students.”
“That’s a meritable outlook. So, you’re happy teaching?”
She snorted. “Well, it’s frustrating at times. You, of course, know that.”
He nodded.
“But overall, yes. I am.”
“Good. You can imagine that teaching has never been fulfilling to me. I’ve also had many colleagues who were just there for the paycheck.” He hesitated. “No one on the current faculty, mind. I’m glad that you enjoy it. You do a good job, and the students like you.”
Hermione smiled at him.
They’d finished up dinner and moved into the sitting room.
“I brought Monopoly and Scrabble. Do you want to play either of them?”
“I hate Monopoly. Takes forever, and it makes the winner a gloating idiot.”
Hermione’s mouth dropped open. “Err, I guess I see your point,” she chuckled. “Ok, no Monopoly. Scrabble, then?” She pulled the miniaturized box out of her pocket and enlarged it.
“Yes, that would be agreeable. Shall we break into that champagne?” he asked.
She grinned conspiratorially. “Sounds lovely.”
He rose and brought two glasses and the bottle over.
“So we don’t have to get up again,” he advised as he poured two glasses for them. Lifting his, he proposed a toast.
“To the future, and being happy,” he said.
She clinked her glass with his. “To the future and happiness.”
They both drank and placed their glasses down. They examined their tiles and began the game.
After a bit, Severus looked up at Hermione. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course,” she offered.
“Why are you here?”
She arched a brow. ‘To celebrate New Year's.”
“Yes, but you could have spent it with anyone. I don’t understand why you insisted on coming here.”
Hermione sat back and sighed. “Severus, we’re friends, right?”
He hesitantly nodded.
She leaned forward. “Right?”
He was the one to sigh. “Yes, but I’m always wondering why you bother being friendly with me as well. After the way I treated you as a student, I was surprised you even spoke to me in general when you started as a professor.”
“You said yourself that much of what you did was an act.” She shrugged. “I wanted to start anew. And I was happy that you seemed to want to as well. At least, with a little prodding.” She grinned at him. “I feel like we share a lot of interests. I mean, our chats at dinner covered so many topics!”
He smirked. “Yes, that is true.”
“So we grew closer, and I consider you a friend.”
Nodding, he went on. “I feel the same about you. I was surprised at first. As a student, you were quite the parrot. It was nice to see that you’d come into your own and had personal opinions. I guess aging does that to a person.”
She laughed. “Yes, and being on the run didn’t hurt.”
“Indeed.”
She met his eyes. “As for spending New Year's with you… As your friend, I didn’t want you to be alone. I assume you spent Christmas by yourself?”
He gave a clipped nod.
“Well, no one should be alone for the holidays. I wasn’t here to spend Christmas with you, but I am here now.”
“Wouldn’t you rather spend your evening with a group that’s more… lively?”
She gave him a determined look. “To be honest with you, no. The Weasley parties always get really loud and boisterous. It’s fun, but this year… after all that happened in the war… I kind of just want to ring in the new year with peace and hope. Not Fireworks and drunkenness."
“And you thought that being with me would bring that?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He was surprised that she held him in such high regard. He smiled at her. A genuine smile. “Well, thank you for wanting to do so,” he said with a bow of his head.
“Thanks for letting me spend the holiday with you.”
They both continued smiling at one another. Finally, they went back to their game.
ooo
After several hours, they had played four games. Hermione had won the first three, but Severus finally won the last game.
“Ah hah! Got you finally!” he said smugly.
Hermione smiled. “Good game. You’re a formidable opponent with your extensive vocabulary.”
“Said the woman who beat me thrice.”
They both chuckled at that. Gathering the tiles, the game was put back into its box, and Hermione shrank it back again and placed it in her pocket.
“More champagne?” Severus asked.
“Yes, please.”
He poured again for both of them. Helping Hermione stand, they both settled on the sofa. Severus set a tempus charm.
“Half an hour. What shall we do?”
“We don’t have long. I’m fine just sitting here drinking champagne with you,” Hermione offered.
He toasted her, and she clinked her glass against his. “To learning about one another,” he said.
She smiled before sipping at her champagne. They chatted for a while about the last Transfiguration chronicle, discussing the use of spells on animals and how they’re affected.
“So, do you have any New Year’s Resolutions?” Severus asked as he sipped his champagne.
Hermione’s eyes grew wide, and she looked away.
“It’s fine if you haven’t. I personally hate them and never set any,” Severus continued. She remained quiet and didn’t make eye contact with him.
“Hermione? Did I say something wrong?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Her jaw set, and she opened her eyes and looked at Severus again.
“Actually, it’s funny that you asked,” she said finally.
He arched a brow, but waited for her to continue.
“My resolution is to have you notice me as more than a friend. We’re not colleagues anymore. I was hoping maybe we could… you know.”
He said nothing. He was too stunned to speak.
She looked away. “But maybe not.”
His heart beat like a drum within him. “Hermione?”
She didn’t look at him, keeping her gaze on the fire.
“Hermione? You have feelings for me?”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say anything, but when you asked, I felt–in for a penny, in for a pound, yeah? But now you won’t want to see me anymore. I…”
“Hermione…”
She shut up. “Yes, Severus?”
“I would be honored to deepen our relationship.”
“You would?”
He nodded.
“Oh, thank Merlin!” Hermione cried.
The tempus charm Severus had set for the New Year began to chime. They both looked up at it before looking back at each other.
“Looks like the New Year is here finally,” Severus murmured.
“Yes, it seems like it.”
He scooted next to her. “Happy New Year, Hermione.”
She looked at him with big eyes, “Happy New Year, Severus.”
His kiss was loving and passionate all in one. She gasped as his lips touched hers, and he felt like the world was finally right. He worshiped her with kisses, begging entrance with his tongue. She opened up to him eagerly, and he found himself filled with wonder as she responded to him.
After a long while, they broke apart.
“Happy New Year,” Severus murmured.
“Happy New Year,” Hermione replied with a smile.
“I suppose you're going to need to set a new resolution.”
She grinned at him. “I know just what I want to do.”
He arched an eyebrow at her in question.
“I want to build this relationship until we have a bond that can never be broken.”
He grinned back at her. “Sounds brilliant.”
His kiss silenced any further conversation.