February 2002, continued

She smirked at him and laid her hand on his arm. "I'm just having a bad day."

"I have a plan." It came out as a whisper. He was crossing an unspoken line of their friendship. They both knew it. But he wanted her to be happy.

To Hermione's credit, or possibly as a testament to how bad it was in MLE, she didn't look scared or surprised to hear that Severus had a plan involving her. "How long have you been thinking about this plan?"

Severus looked over Hermione's shoulder and then back at her. "A while. I can get you out of MLE, and possibly get myself out of this lab. I can't promise what would happen after that, but you would have options. But it's an all-in kind of plan. It's not for the faint of heart."

Hermione lifted an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"You would become a Potions Master."

Hermione let out a long breath. "Wow."

"That's the easy part."

Hermione's eyes got wide. "Spill it."

"You know my project?"

"Yes, rewriting the Potions Textbooks."

"It's an expensive project and it is as slow as molasses."

"And?"

Severus' heart started beating as he braced himself for possible rejection. "Move in with me."

He could tell that Hermione's head was spinning.

"We would need an infusion of cash to purchase the ingredients to teach you. I would be working on the textbooks at the same time. You would have to start over; it's been too many years since you've brewed even a simple potion. If we shared living expenses, we could make both things happen, and much quicker. Or you could save money by moving in with Harry and Ginny, I suppose."

"No thanks," Hermione replied quickly, "Ron lives there, too. There's a reason I moved out a year ago. Sanity is important."

"I know you like your flat."

"Yes, but it's expensive. It's too much for what I make. I haven't been able to save any money," she was thinking as she spoke aloud.

He stayed quiet and let her think. He was heartened that she didn't immediately reject his plan.

"You know I'm going to need time to think about this," Hermione said, distracted.

"And a color-coded chart."

She came out of her reverie enough to give him a dirty look. "Arse." She paused. "When do you want an answer by?"

"This isn't an assignment, Hermione. It doesn't have a due date or an expiration date. I'm going to keep going with my textbooks, no matter what you decide."

"Thank you, Severus," she said, and Severus could tell she was back to thinking, weighing pros and cons, making lists. He watched as she stood vacantly. She moved to the door and realized it was still locked. She looked up at him and smiled. "Have you determined that the sludge was safe?"

He nodded and flicked his wand and a click told her the door was now unlocked.

"We'll talk," she said, and she opened the door and left.

Severus went home that night and looked around his home. It was also too expensive for what he needed, and way too expensive to allow him to continuously buy the various ingredients he needed for his project. But Spinner's End had been burned to the ground right after the final battle - by Death Eaters or sympathizers, he supposed - worthless hovel that it was. When he found this cottage, the privacy it afforded, along with the space for a lab and garden, made it too tempting to turn down. It was large enough that Hermione could have her own room and maybe he'd let her have the little library for her own use if she needed. He would be happy with just his room and the lab. And Hermione, his traitorous mind added. But he could let her go. He could. He could apprentice her to Mastery and let her go. That caused no small amount of pain to admit, but he…and here, his mind couldn't supply a word. Loved? Liked? They were friends enough that he could help her then let her leave and go on to a better life.

When he went to work the next day, he kept his head down working. He could control his emotions, he reminded himself multiple times; he did not need to look at the frosted glass window of his lab's door every few minutes to see if someone was walking by. That worked for about an hour. He started cursing Hermione for keeping him hanging. How long did it take to weigh pros and cons for a witch that intelligent? If she hadn't stayed up all night thinking it over, he'd eat his hat.

At lunchtime, once Vaughn left to go to the cafeteria, Severus put a stasis on the potion he was working on. He reheated his leftover soup with his wand and had just started eating when Hermione opened the door, looked around for Vaughn, and not seeing him, went inside, closing the door behind her. She looked like a woman on a mission.

"I have two minutes before I'm supposed to go to an all-afternoon MLE training."

"What are you learning?"

"Probably nothing. I want to take you up on your offer. All of it."

Severus stood and smiled at her.

She smiled back, and it was a real smile. He realized he hadn't seen her smile like that in months, maybe longer. "Come to my flat at seven. I'll make dinner. We'll go over my notes."

Severus rolled his eyes at her retreating back. "I'll be there." He added, "bossy witch," under his breath after the door clicked. His heart was racing slightly with the prospect that maybe things were about to get better, for both of them.

"I put in notice with my landlord this afternoon," Hermione greeted him, holding the door open for him to come inside her flat.

"Hello to you, too," Severus quipped, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning up as he looked at her.

"Have a seat. I made Chinese take-out for dinner."

As they ate, Hermione gave Severus some hastily-written papers to look over with her.

"These are my monthly income and my monthly expenditures as they are now," she explained. "This is what I expect they would be if we were roommates," and she directed him to the next page.

"We make about the same." He brought out his wand and summoned some papers to himself. "Here are my numbers."

"Swot," Hermione joked, looking over the neat, concise papers. "Wow," she looked further down, "between the two of us, we would have quite a bit to put into funding our side projects."

"Yes, now the problem would be one of time instead of money," he warned. "We still, both of us, have to keep our day jobs. We'd only be able to make a few hours' progress each night after work."

"Then where are the next papers?" she asked with a knowing look.

He reached into his pocket and took out a tiny book. "Engorgio." He held the journal out to Hermione.

"Merlin," she breathed. "Are these the lesson plans for me becoming a Potions Master?"

Severus nodded.

She flipped through the journal. He could tell she was trying to guess how long it would take to complete her apprenticeship with the time constraints.

"Two years, give or take."

"But that's how long a traditional apprenticeship takes. Shouldn't it take longer if we have day jobs?"

"I'm factoring in weekends and the 'Hermione factor.'"

Hermione smirked. "I'm hoping that's good."

"It is. I wouldn't be willing to try this with anyone else."

"When do we start?"

Severus had thought the hard part would be convincing Hermione of the soundness of his plan. Apparently, the hard part was Hermione and Severus convincing their friends of the soundness of their plan. The reactions ranged from Ron, on the "reacted poorly and said some things that brought upon bodily pain and a quick retraction" side of the scale, to Draco, whose positive reaction surprised Hermione greatly and surprised Severus not at all. Draco's reaction was complete support along with another small stinging hex for Ron, just for good measure. He judged it as sound all the way around and asked if there was anything he could do to help. Minerva, Harry, Ginny, Lucius, Narcissa and the others were at various places in between. Harry was simply worried that they would end up hexing each other. Fair enough.

Severus himself was somewhere in between, even though it was his idea. He had just offered house space to the woman that he thought of more than any other so that he could torture himself and think about her some more.

Severus met Hermione at her flat the following Saturday morning. She had packed all of her belongings and shrunken them down. They were now residing in her beaded bag.

"Can I look?" Severus asked, looking at the bag on the counter in Hermione's kitchen.

"Sure."

He had heard of her bag, but never seen it; he lifted the light bag and opened the drawstring, looking inside. He could see the shrunken boxes. He stuck his arm into the bag and felt around. He withdrew his arm and closed it once more. "You are wasted in MLE. They will never understand you."

Hermione smiled softly at him. "You are wasted in Lab 5. They will never appreciate you."

"Let's go," Severus said, holding out his hand to apparate Hermione to his home.

What Hermione thought of his home was immaterial. He had said that to himself many times that morning. But he watched Hermione anxiously as she took in her bearings as they landed in his back garden. And he felt an irrational amount of pleasure when her eyes lit up.

"Severus," she whispered, walking down the nearest row to look at the plants. "It's a miracle you have to pay for any potions ingredients. This is amazing."

"These, as you well know, are the inexpensive ingredients. But every little bit helps. And of course, fresh is best," he added, finding himself at once too talkative.

But Hermione didn't even seem to be listening, taking in every detail of his potions garden. She gasped in all the right places and looked at him in amazement a couple of times when she found the plants that were rare and hard to care for. His concern that she would find his house lacking evaporated. Hermione would always care more about his lab and his potions garden than the color of his curtains.

"I wouldn't have been able to pass this house up, either," she said fifteen minutes later after she had toured both the garden and the house.

"I'll let you get settled in," he told her and then retreated to his bedroom. He found himself more content in this moment than possibly any moment in his life, and it at once made him smile and scared him. He knew then what he had really known for quite some time: that she could break him. Her presence in his life, her opinion of him, her friendship - it had all had become important, possibly the most important relationship he had in his life. And he just handed her the keys to his kingdom, literally.

March 2002

The first month of having Hermione as a roommate was not pretty. They both were too cautious around each other. There were too many, "if that's okay" and "if you don't mind" and "sorry to intrude" statements.

"Just do it!" Severus yelled one Sunday morning from his bedroom.

"I'm just trying to be polite!" she yelled back from the kitchen.

"By making a meal out of making coffee? You're driving me insane. Can't you just move about the house like a normal human being instead of trying to be a mouse?"

"You're the one who's not normal! You are pretending to be nice all the effing time!" She was now banging the coffee mugs down on the counter with a little too much force.

"And you're pretending to not be a bossy cow! Now stop slamming down my mug, woman, and bring me some coffee!"

"Get your own damn coffee!" And then Severus heard the door to her bedroom slam shut.

Severus scowled at her closed door as he dragged himself into the kitchen a few minutes later, but found his mug full of steaming coffee, kept hot with a stasis charm. He drank his coffee in silence and then went to face her closed door.

He was about to knock on her door when it opened.

Her face registered a moment of surprise and then she pursed her lips as she looked at him. "I don't like your brand of coffee. Let's go. We've got a lot of work to do today."

He smirked. "We'll go to the store after work tomorrow."

She nodded and led the way to the lab where he stopped treating her like fine china and started treating her like a colleague.

She took over the shopping. And reorganized the library. And pillows started showing up in his sitting room. He liked the new coffee, hated the way she reorganized the books and was ambivalent about the pillows. But they were finally able to work and live together without wanting to hex each other as often.

July 2002

Severus found Hermione to be a somewhat easy roommate but an extremely easy student to teach, which came as no surprise. His lesson plans were spot on to how quickly they could be tackled by Hermione. His textbook work fell by the wayside in favor of having more free time away from the lab. Between working in a lab during the daytime and teaching in a lab at night and on weekends, his desire to wedge in the third job of writing a textbook in a lab was nonexistent.

"It's not okay, Severus!"

"Trust me, it's more than okay."

"But your textbooks are important."

"Probably," agreed Severus, "but not time-dependent. I'm watching you and taking notes, but that's as far as I'm going right now. I'll pick it up later. My motivation is severely lacking." He didn't mention to her that his desire to spend an hour on the couch with her reading and talking each night far outweighed his desire to author potions textbooks.

They marched along each month, somewhat celebrating holidays, somewhat ignoring them as they were too busy in the lab. Time with friends was relegated to every other Saturday night. The first few months, Severus was glad to have the time to himself, but eventually he missed her presence and some of the time, they ended up together with their mutual friends anyway. He kept waiting for the shoe to drop and for him to start resenting her, or for her to tire of their arrangement, but it just never happened.

July 2003

Their second summer, two matching envelopes came via owl post; one for each of them. Severus handed Hermione hers as she sat on the couch reading an assigned potions book. She ignored it and set it to the side as she continued to read.

Severus sat on his end of the couch and opened his envelope. He nudged Hermione's foot on the cushion next to him. He had learned over the past year that Hermione couldn't sit on the couch with her feet on the floor. Her feet were always on the couch with her, sometimes under her but usually next to him. When she finally looked up at him, he said, "You might want to look at that."

"It's the wedding invitation," she said, going back to her reading.

"You've seen it?"

"Who do you think helped Ginny pick it out?" She looked back up at Severus. "You're going." It wasn't a question.

Severus grunted. It's not that he would skip Harry's wedding, but it was bound to be a media circus, much like Draco's, but without the ice sculptures, he presumed.

"I'll fill out the RSVP cards."

Severus furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're going together, aren't we? And if you fill out yours with a plus one and I fill out mine with a plus one, they'll plan for too many. I'll send both of ours in together so that we're seated with each other."

Severus was silent.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said tentatively. "Did you want to take someone else?"

"No," Severus answered quickly.

"You're my wedding date, remember?" She smiled at him.

He smiled back. "Will this one be fireworks or ice sculptures?"

"Something in the middle. But I'm a bridesmaid, so I'll be in a tacky dress." She wrinkled her nose.

"Is it too late for me to back out of being your plus one?" Severus deadpanned.

"Too late. You're the one going with the bushy haired bridesmaid."

He smirked. "Ahh well. Maybe we can convince George to sneak in some fireworks."

September 2003

The bridesmaid dress was delivered a week before the wedding and was indeed tacky. Severus supposed they would look nice as a group, but he was fondly remembering Hermione dressed for Draco's wedding. Living with Hermione had allowed him to figure some more things out about Hermione, more than just her innate desire to be right all the time. She also had range: she could go from looking ratty in muggle workout clothes on a Saturday of brewing ("why bother getting dressed if we're not going anywhere?") to looking like a model for Twilfitt and Tattings at Draco's wedding. It was the same as when she was a student, but now he was privy to her running commentary about her choices instead of just guessing. She also had range in other areas: her reading material, her friends, her interests, her vocabulary. She cussed like a deranged hag when potions didn't come out correctly.

When Severus first invited Hermione to live with him, he knew that he cared for Hermione. Now that he knew her better, he felt liked he had pulled off the world's greatest coup, and his regard for her had grown exponentially with his knowledge of her.

Escorting Hermione to Harry and Ginny's wedding was much less nerve-wracking than escorting her to Draco's wedding. By now, they were together so often in public, no one batted an eye as they arrived together with the other early guests who were part of the wedding party.

As the wedding began, Hermione smiled at Severus when she came out to stand at the front with Ginny, and Severus' stomach felt the familiar swooping feeling. He wondered if that feeling would ever go away, but so far it had not abated. He smiled back at her freely; she had effectively whittled down his armor over the last eighteen months.

He imagined a lot of people preferred the reception, but Severus' favorite part of weddings was the vows. They were all different and very personal. He pulled just short of imagining himself as a groom; he wasn't a masochist.

At the reception, when Minerva gestured for him to take her out on the dance floor while Hermione was dancing with Draco, he knew she wanted more than a dance out of him.

"How is the apprenticeship coming along, Severus?"

"Quite well, obviously. She could be apprenticing in anything. She should be apprenticing in something she truly enjoys."

"She doesn't enjoy potions?" she asked, surprised.

Severus shrugged slightly. "Potions is all I could offer her to get her out of MLE. But she loves learning, so she's happy."

Minerva looked at him like he was a concussed troll. "That's not why she's happy."

Severus scowled at her in return. "Don't."

"You make her happy, Severus. That's a good thing."

"Another six months and she'll be gone."

"Are you going to kick her out?" Minerva asked sarcastically.

Severus rolled his eyes.

"Why do you think so much less of yourself than everyone in your life thinks of you?" she asked sadly.

"I don't. I just think very highly of Hermione. I want the best for her."

"Well, then. You let her be the judge," she pronounced with finality. Minerva moved on to gossip about other guests until the end of the dance. "Off you go, young man. Aberforth gets the next dance, whether he knows it or not."

Hermione caught him before he could exit the dance floor for the next dance. He shook his head at her as they began to dance.

"Why are you shaking your head?"

"Because you Gryffindors have sullied my persona as the ex-Death Eater skulking in the corner."

"Poor you! You worked hard for that persona!"

"Exactly. But at least I'm better off than you. I hate to tell you this," he baited.

"What?"

He leaned in to whisper. "Someone else is wearing your exact dress. Quite the faux pas."

"Damn it. That witch lied to me and said it was an original." Hermione laughed and her smile was so genuine, so happy as she danced in his arms that Severus wondered if his stomach would ever feel normal again.

December 2003

Watching Hermione start to tick off the last three months' worth of potions from her chart in the lab started affecting Severus. All he could see was her leaving at the end of the three months. He could not talk to her about it. In his mind, every scenario ended badly when he imagined talking to her about staying with him after her apprenticeship. He should just let her leave and go on with her life. People don't start relationships because they're stuck together as roommates. He should get ready for her to leave and readjust to being alone. Maybe after she left, he could ask her out. Let her establish herself in a new career and see what happens after that. What was the use of holding her back after working so hard so that she wouldn't be held back? His mind was in overdrive and subsequently, Severus completely lost his footing on how to relate to Hermione at all. He could see himself acting like an apathetic idiot but couldn't fix it.

"Are you listening, Severus?"

"Hmmm?"

"I said that I think your modifications to this potion are useless."

"It's possible. You can use the original instructions."

Hermione scowled at him. "I don't think your ingredients are fresh enough." She waited until he was looking at her and then she picked up the almost empty glass vial of rose oil and purposefully dropped it onto the ground. The sounds of the glass breaking woke Severus from his emotionless stupor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he bellowed.

Hermione smirked. "There he is. I was afraid he was gone for good."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "What is this? You wanted me to yell at you?"

"Yes! You've been walking on eggshells for a month," she replied heatedly. "You've totally changed. You aren't sarcastic with me, won't call me out for being a bossy cow. What is wrong with you?"

"Fine. You're a bossy cow, Hermione," he said, turning his back on her, kneeling and picking up the glass by hand.

"But?" she prompted.

"No 'but.'"

She walked around to face him and bent down to help pick up the rest of the glass. He vanished it all before she could pick up a piece. She looked at him. "Then is there an 'and?'" she asked quietly.

He stood and watched as she stood as well, still facing him. "And I love you." He paused. "And I have no idea how to do this. And I have no idea how you feel. And I don't want to hurt you."

"And you don't want to be hurt," she whispered.

He nodded, finding that particular vulnerability the least of his problems after the last few minutes.

Hermione took a slow breath in. "I love you, too. And I'm afraid. And I think this is bad timing."

He nodded, looking down.

"And I want my Severus back while we figure all this out."

The feeling of her hand on his brought his eyes back up to look at her. He reached up and slowly drew her to himself with his hand on her neck. He kissed her slowly and memorized the feel of her lips under his. It wasn't the heated kiss of his fantasies, but it was a kiss of honesty. "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Hermione blushed, but he could tell she was pleased. She pulled out her wand and vanished her potion and quickly banished the unused ingredients back to where they belonged. Then she grabbed Severus' hand and started dragging him to the door of the lab.

"What now?" Severus sighed.

"Alcohol. Lots of alcohol. We're going to need some liquid courage. And we need a plan. I don't do well without a plan." She shut the door of the lab behind them.

"You don't say."

"No, it's true!" she joked. She motioned for him to sit at their table while she dug in a lower cabinet. Apparently, the wine from on top of the fridge wasn't going to do it today. She reappeared at the table with a bottle of Scottish whiskey that Minerva had gifted them when Hermione began her apprenticeship.

"You don't want to remember this conversation?" he deadpanned.

"I've missed you." She took a small sip and coughed. "Oh damn. I'm such a lightweight."

Severus chuckled and took a sip, feeling the burn as it traveled down his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm not good at this. I wanted to tell you how I felt but didn't think the timing was good. But I don't want to lose you. But I couldn't talk to you because you were going to leave me." He took another sip. "It doesn't make sense on this side of it."

Hermione shrugged. "Doesn't matter." She paused. "I moved in with you, Severus. Didn't it occur to you that maybe, just maybe, I liked you? A lot? That maybe I hoped this would be the start of a relationship?"

"No. Maybe. I can't think straight. I want you to be happy. Even if you were using me as means to an end, I would be okay. I want better for you."

Hermione looked at him. "That's why I love you. I've never had anyone want to take care of me."

"You don't need taking care of. You're," he paused, "you. You just needed a change but were too damn stubborn to ask for help."

"And you're too damn stubborn to look at the clues. Severus, take me to weddings; Severus, let me move in with you. Severus, let's spend every waking hour together." She took another sip and grimaced.

"So how do two stubborn people do this?"

"I have no clue, but I want my Mastery."

Severus furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Aren't there rules about apprentices and masters having a relationship?"

"No. You are evaluated by a panel. You've either mastered the material or you haven't."

Another sip, another cough. "Hmmm. So then what's your problem?"

Severus choked on his sip. "What?"

"My worry was that if we had a relationship, I couldn't be your apprentice. Why have you been so worried?" She placed her hand on his arm.

"I thought I'd bullocks this all up and you'd leave without your mastery. Or that I'd bullocks this all up and you'd leave with your mastery." He paused. "Or that you'd stay and we'd bullocks up everything together."

"We're pretty damn smart," she said, slightly blurry from the whiskey.

"All evidence to the contrary."

She snorted, making him laugh. "How about this? How about you believe that I want us to have a future once I have my mastery? How about I continue to flirt with you and you actually believe that I love you?"

"Mastery first?" he asked.

Hermione thought for a moment. "I think we need to focus and get done. I'm not sure I can navigate a mastery and a relationship. But I want both," she said, searching his eyes.

Severus could feel his heart rate increase. "I want both," he agreed quietly.

"Two more months. Status quo. Mastery and then we figure out 'us.'"

Severus blinked and nodded. He stood and took the drink out of Hermione's hand, setting it on the table. He then took her hand and drew her out of her chair. He kissed her and tasted the whiskey on her lips. She opened up to him so that he could deepen the kiss. He led her to his bedroom as he continued kissing her.

Hermione pushed against his chest as they entered his bedroom and broke the kiss. "What…"

"Say it again, Hermione," he whispered, kissing her neck.

"Say what?"

He could feel her heart pounding along with his. "Us. Say 'us' again. Let me have you tonight. I…"

"Yes…. Us…," her words faltered as Severus undid the buttons on her blouse and kissed every inch of exposed skin. "We're smart, we can do this," she whispered, followed by a moan.

"Very smart," he agreed as he lowered her onto the mattress.

Severus turned his brain off as he made love to her, and by the moans Hermione was producing, her brain was turned off as well.

Severus held her as she slept. He could not bring himself to regret one moment or one word. He couldn't even bring himself to start thinking about the next step. Between the alcohol and the sex, the only feeling he had was one of boneless contentment.

The next morning, he jerked awake, wondering when he had finally fallen asleep. He heard the sound of Hermione rummaging around in the kitchen, followed by the smell of coffee. He propped himself up in bed as Hermione came into the room wearing his robe and carrying two cups of coffee.

"It's after ten," she said, looking sheepish, handing him his mug.

"How's your head?" he asked.

"Are you calling me a lightweight?"

He raised an eyebrow in response.

"I found the hangover potion in your bathroom." She continued to stand near the bed.

"Is this the awkward part or the list of talking points part?"

Hermione chuckled. "Talking points."

"Thank Merlin. I can handle Work Hermione. Let me get dressed and we'll discuss to your heart's content." He stood from bed and watched Hermione's face turn scarlet.

"Okay, maybe a little awkward."

"Then give me back my robe," he said silkily.

Hermione rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. "Go get dressed!"

He acquiesced and walked to the bathroom, but caught her peeking as he shut the door behind him. He heard her giggle as she left his room, presumably to get dressed in her room.

Her discussion points turned being in love into a list of rules: kissing is ok, but sex only on the weekends, best behavior in the lab, nothing at all at work, and lessons must get completed on time. But Hermione wasn't Hermione without rules, and Severus loved Hermione. And Severus knew that she would be fine breaking her own rules, eventually, once she felt like she was in control.

After almost a week of being on their best rule-following behavior, sure enough, Hermione felt like it would be okay, "just this once" to surprise him in the shower before work one morning.

"Just this once," got them through the last stretch of her apprenticeship.

Feb 2004

The last week of Hermione's apprenticeship was a sleepless one for both of them. The potions she had to make were terribly finicky and long affairs that couldn't be put in stasis. Putting all of them off onto weekends would add another month, which they both agreed was not happening.

While Hermione finished assembling her portfolio for her examination, Severus put in inquiries with the Ministry for Hermione to be tested.

"You're ready," he said as he buttoned his cloak the following Tuesday. Hermione was already standing by the fireplace, nervous.

They used the Floo to travel to the Ministry where both of them had called in a personal day so that she could be tested and certified by a panel of Potions Masters that had been assembled by the Ministry.

Severus was allowed to be in the lab while Hermione was tested. Masters Benton, Flores and Stewart welcomed them, and the test began. Severus pretended to read a book while Hermione took the written examination so that she would be less nervous. He did, however, watch her intently as she did the practical examination. It was many hours long and he remembered how tiring it was when he went through his Mastery certification. The only good thing about the exam was that there was no waiting weeks for an owl to know your results. Three Masters tested you, watched you, asked you questions and discussed theory with you. But at the end of the day after a short conference, you sat down before them one last time to hear the verdict.

Severus sat next to Hermione and she smiled wanly at him.

Master Benton spoke and addressed Severus first, just as Severus knew he would, being the oldest and most senior member of the panel. "We are impressed, Master Severus, with your apprentice. Well done."

Severus bowed his head in acknowledgment.

Master Benton continued, addressing Hermione. "Congratulations, Master Granger. We find you to be excellent. Your reputation as highly intelligent precedes you, but needless to say, we don't get to see someone with your skills every day. You are our future. Thank you."

Hermione beamed at them and stood to shake their hands. They exchanged last words with both Hermione and Severus. They watched Benton, Flores and Stewart leave the Ministry lab.

Hermione hugged Severus and they held each other, letting the day's stress begin to ease away. After a few minutes, they left the lab. But instead of finding an empty hallway, it was a very crowded hallway and they could barely close the lab door behind them. The Masters were still there, looking like they had been struck dumb. It was hard to make sense of the commotion of Ministry workers, all talking in low voices. After a minute they found Harry making his way towards them.

"Slughorn is dead."

They were bone weary tired and simply looked at Harry, shocked and unable to even ask what had happened.

"Something with his heart, they think. He died in his sleep."

Severus took Hermione straight home and the next few days passed in a bleary-eyed haze of mixed emotions. From one owl to the next, they didn't know if it would be a letter of congratulations for Hermione, or someone in the Potions field writing to Severus about the loss of Slughorn.

That Saturday, Hermione emerged from her room wearing a black dress with red-rimmed eyes.

"You look beautiful, Hermione," he said somberly.

She kissed his cheek and held his hand and squeezed it when she was ready.

Severus apparated them to the road from Hogsmeade near the grounds of Hogwarts. They entered with a slow-walking throng of attendees. The funeral for Professor Slughorn was held on a slightly sloping lawn of Hogwarts, similar to where Dumbledore's funeral had taken place, and looked to be a who's who list of attendees to rival Draco's wedding. It was an amazing testament to Slughorn's ability to spot and grow talent. The speakers were effusive in their gratitude to Slughorn. Many laid crystalized pineapple at the plinth of the marble pedestal that held his urn.

Severus and Hermione meandered about the crowd after the ceremony, speaking with friends and acquaintances. Severus was supposed to feel sad, but he had so many warring emotions that had nothing to do with Slughorn. This was the first time he and Hermione had been anywhere public in ages, as they had been holed up working so many hours on her Mastery. Hermione apparently had no qualms to people knowing that they were in a relationship. Her hand was continuously finding his hand, or she would put her hand in the crook of his elbow, or she would snake her arm around Severus' waist and his arm would automatically come around her shoulders. A few people's eyebrows raised in response, including Minerva's, but otherwise, people seemed unfazed.

When they returned home, they changed out of their nicer clothes and Hermione flopped down on the couch next to him.

"I want you to take the job," Severus said quietly.

"What job?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Slughorn's. Hogwarts."

"I… What? No one is talking about that. It should be you, if it's anyone!"

Severus shook his head. "You would love being at Hogwarts. You could research. Students would love you. It's why we did this: to get you out of MLE and into a job you would love."

"No! I don't want to leave you. I can't be in Scotland while you are here stuck in Lab 5. I won't do it!"

"We can still be together," he encouraged her. It was a lie. He reached out for her. He made love to her on the couch and held her, letting her heat seep into his body and feeling her tears quietly make their way onto his chest.

Surprising neither of them, Minerva owled the following day. There were Potions OWLs and NEWTs coming in just three short months and tests were not respecters of grief. But to their surprise, the envelope was addressed to both of them. The letter just requested that they show up to her office for a meeting on Monday after work. Severus sent the owl back with a short response that they would both be there.

Going to work in Lab 5 the next day was horrible. He hated every minute of the dull work and wondered what Hermione was doing in MLE. They had discussed from the beginning that she would stay with MLE until she found the right job. He warned her that it might take months. Now, it could be within hours.

Hermione came into his lab when it was time to go home. She looked as careworn as he imagined he must look.

They traveled via the Floo in the Ministry Atrium straight to Minerva's Office. She beamed as they came out of the fireplace. "Severus! Hermione! Thank you for coming." Then Minerva looked at them. "This is not another funeral. Come and sit."

Severus and Hermione looked at one another and then sat in the chairs facing Minerva's desk.

"I would have thought you knew why I asked you both to come, but now I'm thinking my two smartest potential professors are dunderheads."

"Two?" Severus and Hermione asked at the same time.

Minerva smirked. "Well, that's up to the both of you. I am guessing that you two might be a package deal these days."

"Explain," Severus said, hope burgeoning in his chest.

"The Ministry requires that I hire an MLE Ministry-trained wizard, or witch, for DADA classes ever since the war. But I have the ability to replace them. They aren't under contract like my other professors. In fact, I've already had two different ones this year. And I have not been impressed. But as I said, my hands are slightly tied by the Ministry."

Hermione furrowed her brow. "You want me to teach DADA?"

"And you want me to teach Potions?" Severus added.

"Almost. It would be a waste, I think, for Hermione to get a Potions Mastery and not do anything with it. And it would also be a waste for you to not contribute to our DADA classes. I want both of you for DADA and Potions. I want Severus to take the NEWT Potions classes. And the Ministry would require that Hermione take the NEWT DADA classes. But other than that, you would be free to carve up the other classes as you see fit."

"Could I teach everyone except Gryffindors?" Severus deadpanned.

"Severus!" Minerva's voice of censure was only slightly louder than Hermione's.

He looked at Hermione, who was beaming and Severus decided he would be the voice of reason. "When do you need an answer, Minerva?"

"I can give you two days. But time is pressing. I'm sure you understand. Oh, and you would be Head of Slytherin again, obviously."

Severus nodded. They both rose from their chairs and thanked Minerva. Hermione hugged her and they traveled back to the Ministry via Floo and then apparated home.

Hermione let go of his hand when they landed in their sitting room and Severus found his arms full of an ecstatic witch.

"Please say you want this. We can be together. We can teach and research together. Please, Severus. This is for us."

"Us." Severus nodded and kissed her.

August 2005

A year and a half into teaching together and living in the same castle together and it was just like they were still at Severus' house. She was still a pretty easy roommate and an excellent student. She had learned those first few months, and especially the following full Hogwarts year how to be a successful, respected professor. Their students had learned quickly that they couldn't be disrespectful about their DADA professor when they were in Potions, and vice versa. The first student that called Professor Granger a "bossy cow" within earshot of Professor Snape regretted that moment of indiscretion for months in Saturday detentions with Filch. Only Severus was allowed to call her that.

December 2005

"Did all of the cretins leave on the Hogwarts Express?"

Hermione laughed. "Yes, but it brought in a few that call me, 'Auntie.' Minerva is letting them spend the night in the castle. Molly is helping chaperone them while Ginny, Fleur and Angelina kidnap me tonight." She smiled at Severus. "Will you dance with me tomorrow?"

"That depends. Will you be trying to break up with your boyfriend?"

"Not this time. I think he's safe."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Safe? I teach in a castle with magical teenagers and am marrying The Hermione Granger. I may never be safe again."

Hermione laughed and drew his head down so that she could kiss him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Severus and Hermione's wedding was not the event of the decade. Not even close. It didn't have fireworks or ice sculptures, nor did it have media coverage or tacky bridesmaid dresses. But it did have what they wanted: their friends and loved ones surrounding them and dancing in the castle that they called home. And the vows were still Severus' favorite part: "Until death do us part."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading!