2 May 2006 Gipsy Hill, Lambeth Borough, London

The Knotted Wand was a tiny, dingy, hole-in-the-wall pub at the dead end of a littered street in the wizard village of Gipsy Hill. The magic community itself was quite sparse; less than one hundred people lived there. A busy night at the pub saw around twenty people.

Currently, there were nine; all sitting alone. The interior was old with chipped paint on the walls, rips in the upholstery and dim lighting. It wasn't the type of pub one took a family or a date to; one went there to bathe in solitude and drink away his or her loneliness, sadness or whatever other melancholiness they were feeling.

The owner and bartender, Morven, made sure that his moody patrons were comfortable – or at least as comfortable as they could be – by encouraging a quiet environment. The only sounds ever heard were the squeak of the front door opening, the click when it closed, the tinkling of glasses, the liquor as it dispensed from the numerous taps and the slide of chair legs on the gritty wooden floor. Conversations consisted of ordering drinks and occasionally asking for the time.

From his usual spot at the back of the pub perched upon the last barstool that was purposely far away from the nearest flickering sconce, Severus Snape allowed the familiar darkness to comfort him like a warm blanket. He hated light; he always had. He hated the blazing sun, too, choosing to venture out from his rented flat down the road only on a cloudy day or at night. Shadows had always been his friends, ever since he was a child, and he purposely sought them. He sometimes felt like they sought him, as well, but he wasn't sure if that was his bruised egocentric perception or wishful thinking. The Knotted Wand was a welcoming haven for him, and that's all that mattered.

After tipping his head back to empty his glass, Severus placed it at the edge of the bar in front of him in a silent request for a refill. Morven, being the astute bartender that he was, noticed the move from the corner of his eye and flicked his wand, floating a bottle of Firewhiskey over to refill the glass.

A newspaper two barstools down from Severus caught his attention. He reached over and picked it up, quickly wishing that he hadn't. It was a copy of the Daily Prophet with a headline that read "Ministry of Magic Celebrates 8th Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts" with a smaller headline of "Emancipation Formal and Memorial to be held in the newly dedicated Fallen Wands wing of The Ministry of Magic at 8pm".

Severus rolled his eyes and snorted mentally as he dropped the newspaper to the top of the bar as if it had burned him. Taking a gulp of his refilled Firewhiskey, he thanked whatever gods existed that he'd chosen not to return. Thanks to Nagini, everyone assumed that he'd died. He mentally snorted again. Apparently everyone had forgotten what he was. Between being a potions master and working as a spy for two of the most devious men that he'd ever known – not to mention having to be around all the self-seeking, crazed Death Eaters that would cast a Kedavra at anything that moved the wrong way – Severus always kept a small arsenal of vials on his person that consisted of various antidotes, anti-venoms and other special cocktails of his own discovery and creation. It would take much more than a bloody snake bite to kill him.

Well, technically "Severus Snape" had died, but Seamus Shale had not. Severus decided that that was the only opportunity that he'd ever have to – pardon the Slytherin pun – shed the skin of his previous life and start anew. After fleeing the battle, he'd Apparated immediately to Gipsy Hill where he'd already rented a room and had – in anticipation of what would happen – moved over the few belongings that he couldn't bear to lose; certain potion books, all of his potion notebooks and parchments, extremely rare potion ingredients and some old family photographs and trinkets. Everything else he could replace.

Two days after the war, when Severus read his own obituary in the Daily Prophet titled "Severus Snape: Secret Hero of Hogwarts" (he'd mentally scoffed at that since the Ministry had never been anything to him but cross and mistrusting), he'd decided that he would not revive his previous life. Instead, he continued on with his plan of creating a new life for himself. He'd considered changing his appearance, but then he decided that it wasn't worth the effort. First of all, no one would come looking for him since he was assumed dead. Second, Gipsy Hill was known to be a bit dodgy, so no one from his world would ever consider spending any amount of time there (one of the reasons why he'd chosen the location, actually). Lastly, even if by some strange happenstance he ever saw someone he knew (not likely), he'd just Obliviate them and walk away. Simple really.

Contrary to the idea that Severus was wallowing in self-pity, upon fully healing from the bite, he promptly set up a small lab in his flat and created a mail order company called Shale's Potions and Tonics. He advertised in many nearby wizarding communities, and business was quite steady; he had more money currently than he'd ever had. Just recently, he'd considered moving to a two bedroom flat so he could expand his lab and, subsequently, his orders and income. It was perfect. It required very little dealings with the public, and Severus treasured that. He really disliked most people.

The door to the pub opening and closing stopped his train of thought briefly. Severus peered through the black strands of his hair that haphazardly dangled over his eyes and watched as a hooded, small-framed figure approached the bar directly across from him. The person sat down, but he or she didn't remove the hood of the cloak, and the shadows were thick, he could barely see the face.

Severus heard Morven approach the new arrival and ask what they'd like. He was only a little surprised to hear a female voice reply. Usually, the patrons were men; it was rare to see a woman there. Severus watched from the shadows as Morven spelled the Firewhiskey bottle to fill the glass in front of her. A slender hand reached for the glass and lifted it to her lips. She hesitated only briefly before taking a sip and grimaced immediately. Severus smirked. Whoever she was, she obviously didn't do much drinking. Her naivety amused him.

Severus couldn't help but watch her. She looked at no one; she just stared down into the golden liquid like it was a pensive as both of her hands cradled the glass. At least her behavior was appropriate. He'd considered Legilimancy, just to be a nosey git, but he honestly didn't care why she was there, and he couldn't really see her eyes, anyway. He cared about nothing but himself. He'd already given up too many years of his life because of others. No more.

Hand movement caught Severus' eye, and he watched the woman motion Morven over. She was asking – quietly, thank Merlin – about renting a room for the night. Severus tuned out Morven's reply, though. Something struck him about the woman's voice, but he couldn't discern why. He obviously didn't know her. More than likely, they'd been in the market, bookstore or some other business at the same time and he'd heard her speak then.

As Severus finished his third, and last, Firewhisky, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. The familiar tone of that woman's voice sung in his head like a bad Weird Sister's song that he longed to forget. Something in the recesses of his tortured mind told him that his knowledge of her was not from Gipsy Hill, but it didn't tell him where he knew it from.

Placing money on the bar, Severus stood to leave. It was no matter, anyway. He simply didn't care enough to waste anymore time on the mystery woman, quite certain that he'd never see her again. Pulling the hood of his cloak over his head, Severus stepped out into the cobblestone street and decided to stop by The Rusty Quill to see if the book that he'd ordered had come in yet.

Twenty minutes later, Severus was taking the narrow, squeaky stairs up to his flat. His book hadn't come in yet, so he'd stopped by the market for a bit of food for his nearly empty pantry. Balancing the bag in one arm (mainly because he hadn't felt like shrinking it), he reached for his wand to unlock his door when the door across the skinny hallway opened. The small, hooded figure walked into him before he could move – the hall was that narrow.

"Pardon," Severus mumbled.

When the person turned around and saw him, there was a gasp of surprise – or fear; he couldn't tell which – and a hand that he recognized from the pub earlier flew up to cover the petite, female mouth that had been grimacing at the Firewhiskey.

Unaccustomed to being responded to in such a way caused Severus to look more closely at the young lady. He couldn't believe who he was seeing as he stared into the haunted brown eyes that were devoid of the light that had once shown in them. To confirm his suspicion, he boldly reached for her hand to remove it from her mouth – her lips still parted in shock – and he pressed his lips together in annoyance.

"What's the meaning of this?" Severus hissed angrily, immediately looking around as if Dementors were going to swoop down on him at any moment. He pointed his wand at her as she retreated from him. "Who sent you?"

Wide eyes stared at him in disbelief, and she swallowed a couple times in an effort to find her voice. "I…I didn't…no one…I just left and – "

"Don't lie to me!"

In a split second, the shock of seeing someone alive that she'd known to be dead disappeared, and it was instantly replaced with deep seated anger.

Her eyes narrowed as she spat, "I'm not lying. What good would it do me to lie?" She pulled her cloak around her tighter. "And I don't owe you an explanation, anyway. In fact, I don't owe anyone any explanation about me anymore so bugger off!"

Severus watched as Hermione Granger turned away from him, stuck her chin up in the air defiantly and stomped away from him to head down the stairs that he'd just ascended. He listened to the slam of the door as she exited the apartment building.

Dammit. He didn't Obliviate her.

Finally entering his flat, Severus waved his wand around to shut the door, lock it, ignite flames in the fireplace and turn on two lamps before flicking it again to put his groceries away.

Reaching for a glass and the bottle of Ogden's already sitting on the dusty counter, while cabinets opened and closed around him, Severus couldn't help but be alarmed at his ex-student's sudden appearance in Gipsy Hill. He wondered if his location had been discovered and if his flat was being watched. Perhaps the Ministry was gathering a group to pay him a visit and request that he 'come home'. Certainly Hermione Granger's appearance meant nothing good for him.

Severus considered following her to see if she met up with anyone to report her findings, but he didn't feel like leaving his flat again. Draining the soothing golden liquid from his glass, he decided that he would sleep on the couch to stay close to the front door, put up some extra wards and protective spells and remain especially quiet, just in case. He didn't know why she was there, but he didn't trust her.

Dark eyes flew open in alarm. Severus scrambled from the couch, pointed his wand at the front door and listened. He'd heard something; it had woken him up.

Taking silent steps, Severus pressed his ear to the door; nothing. There was also no magical energy, which meant no wand was drawn and no spell attempted. That was good, at least.

Quietly releasing the wards on the door, Severus turned the knob slowly, keeping his wand at the ready. He opened the door an inch at a time, but nothing happened. The hallway was dark save for one flickering sconce near the stairs, and it was empty.

A soft moan startled him as he defensively pointed his wand towards the source.

"Oh bloody hell," Severus muttered with a roll of his eyes that no one saw.

Hermione was slumped over by her door. Either she'd stumbled up and passed out before being able to open the door, or someone had deposited her there. Severus wrinkled his nose. Guessing by the stench of liquor emanating from her, she'd gone out to do more drinking after their little meeting in the hall earlier. He wondered what possible reason the know-it-all could have to drink to excess like that.

Severus debated leaving her there, after all, if she cared so little for herself, why should he? Unfortunately, that damned honorable streak in him wouldn't allow it. A young lady passed out in the hall of a shady apartment building in an equally shady village was just asking for trouble, and trouble was the last thing that he wanted – especially right outside of his flat.

With an annoyed sigh, Severus waved his wand to levitate Hermione to his couch, re-warding his door behind them. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. What was wrong with her? She shows up in a town with a known questionable reputation and drinks herself to the point of passing out? Certainly her adventures in school had taught her just how much evil was in the world. The Hermione Granger that he'd known would never put herself in such a dangerous situation.

Severus decided that he didn't care. He didn't care that she looked older than she should. He didn't care that she looked thinner than he remembered her being. And what happened to her hair? Her long tresses were gone and replaced by what he thought of as a 'boy' haircut. He Accio'd his hangover potion from his lab in the bedroom and fetched an eyedropper. He filled it halfway, slipped the end between her pale, chapped lips and squeezed the potion into her mouth. It was only a few moments before her eyes fluttered open and she started coughing.

Upon seeing Severus glaring at her from where he sat in the chair, Hermione recognized the aftertaste of a potion and hastily stood from the couch. "What did you give me?" she shrieked, looking around in a panic and frantically wiping her mouth.

"I gave you an anti-hangover potion since you so brilliantly decided to drink yourself to bloody oblivion," Severus informed her, his clipped voice monotone and obsidian eyes void of any emotion. "Might I remind you that you are not at Hogwarts and that your little cronies are not around to rescue you?"

Sensing that she was not in immediate danger, Hermione crossed her arms. "No, you may not remind me of that," she snipped. "And who told you to give me that potion? I was drinking myself to bloody oblivion – as you so eloquently called it – for a reason, and now you've ruined it. I'll have to start all over again, thank you!"

"Why you ungrateful, insolent little half-wit," Severus snarled as he stood from the chair, pointing towards the door. "Do you have any idea of the fate you could have met if I'd left you slumped by your door?" When he noticed the slight widening of her eyes, his arm dropped, and he smirked. "Ah. You were not aware of where your childish drinking rampage had landed you, I see. Well, if you prefer, I'll just flick my wand and return you to your unsavory location then."

"Leave me alone!" Hermione shrieked, ducking a spell that was never cast as she rushed to the door and tried to open it. "Just stay away from me!"

Severus flicked his wand to release the wards temporarily. "Gladly," he replied as if he was bored as she scurried out and slammed the door behind her.

What a bitch the darling of the Golden Trio has turned into, Severus thought snidely. Next time, I'll just leave her to her fate.

For those that get notices of everything I post, don't yell at me. lol I *know* I have to finish my Harry/Draco story (just one more chapter to post there), and I *am* working on my pirate story with Barbossa and Elizabeth. This is something that I wrote a couple years ago, and for whatever reason, I feel compelled to tidy it up a bit and share it. It will only be a handful of chapters. Nothing major. If you like it, I'd love to hear from you.