DISCLAIMER: All rights awarded to JK Rowling and her affiliates.

Moments

By

Romantic Idiot

"Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable." Stacey Charter.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. She was freshly out of school, newly relieved from the terror of war, optimistic and energetic, and ready to start life in the magical world. Potions was the only subject she'd felt comfortable doing an apprenticeship in. Runes and Arithmancy were logical conclusions for degrees, and indeed she was partway through her Arithmancy masters, but potions were where she felt she could really excel.

Her mind simply got potions. She had such respect for the volatile concoctions and the quiet tedium of preparing ingredients that it only made sense for her to go into that field. Arithmancy and Runes were brilliant side-specialisations because they coincided and complimented each other all the time. Her knowledge of these subjects had given her numerous opportunities for research and development.

Their collaboration on the Wolfsbane potion had led to a significant improvement on taste, and had stopped transformations almost completely in some cases. They were working on this encouraging development to create a more reliable potion, and were making a significant amount of headway.

Except that she had to spend so much time with him and she had really had enough of it. They were a good team, she allowed, but his temper and attitude had not improved since the war. It was only the words 'Potions Mistress Hermione Granger' that kept her by his side in the laboratory. The world would open up for her if she could only qualify.

'Daydreaming again, Miss Granger?'

Severus's words sluiced through her thoughts, and she blinked.

'Just thinking,' she said sweetly, and his eyes narrowed.

'Presumably about potions,' he said venomously.

'Of course, sir,' she said. 'I was thinking about the Wolfsbane.'

It was true, after all. His eyes glittered.

'And what were you thinking about it, exactly? Considering you are preparing Veritaserum, which has very little to do with wolves.'

'How Arithmancy is so important in both,' she covered. 'I was comparing the formulas for the original creation of the two. They have some similarities.'

'Oh?' he said. 'How so?'

'Well,' she said thoughtfully, forced to seriously consider it now she was caught. 'They both force the drinker to go against their nature. Veritaserum forces them to tell the truth; Wolfsbane forces them to retain their human form or mind, despite their instincts to transform.'

'But is the instinct to transform really natural if it has been forced on the victim in the first place?'

Hermione wasn't sure if he was honestly interested or testing her.

'Well, I think we must accept that it has become so,' she replied. 'Otherwise it would simply be a matter of removing whatever it is that forces the person to change. But since it is in their blood, it has become part of their nature. It's not the same as Polyjuice, which gives the drinker back their normal form once the magic has worn off. The werewolf venom doesn't wear off.'

'Interesting hypothesis,' Severus allowed. 'Has there been any research?'

'I don't know,' Hermione said, but she was suddenly interested.

'Tomorrow you may begin to look,' he told her. She nodded. 'For now, keep your concentration on the task at hand, please, Miss Granger. You may not mind being covered in Veritaserum, but I do.'

'Secrets you'd like to hide, sir?' she smiled, but his sudden glare told her she'd gone too far.

'Don't presume,' he said coldly and she ducked her head.

'No, sir,' she murmured and continued to stir.

'Sir,' she whispered. 'I think we've done it.'

Severus looked up from his work at the table.

'What?'

'The potion,' she said, still whispering. 'It's … it's everything we thought it would be. Look.'

He swept across the room with his robes billowing as always, and stood close beside her, peering into the cauldron.

'You could be right, Miss Granger,' he said, and his voice was suddenly as soft as hers was. 'Well done.'

She glanced at him in surprise.

'It's your work, too, sir,' she said. He looked down at her, and she read surprise in his eyes.

'Do you not wish to claim this? You have worked hard on it.'

'Yes,' she agreed. 'But so have you. I couldn't have done it without you.' She smiled tentatively. 'Thank you.'

He held her gaze for a moment longer and inclined his head slightly before he turned back to the potion. She looked, too, and they stood for some time staring at their creation. His breath tickled the hair on the back of her neck and she shivered slightly but neither of them moved. Then with a movement she was never sure if she imagined, he brushed his hand ever so slightly against hers, and then he was gone, summoning bottles to start batch testing.

Her graduation was nothing special. Severus was there, as was the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shackelbolt and her witnesses; Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Kingsley swore her into the ranks, Severus sponsored her, and Harry and Ron did nothing but watch and sign her piece of paper. When it was over she was left for a moment alone with Severus.

'Well, Miss Granger, you have done what I did not think possible,' he said, his eyes focussed on the window behind her.

'Thank you, sir,' she said quietly, and inadvertently took a step towards him. 'I have greatly enjoyed the experience.'

'No, you haven't,' Severus said, and she laughed, a little sadly.

'I have, sir, believe it or not. You are a nightmare to work with, but … you are also the only man I would want to work with on research like ours. So … so thank you. I hope this is not the last time we meet.'

'With your aptitude for getting into trouble, and your refusal to let me live my life free from you, I am sure we will meet again.'

'You say that with such sarcasm,' she returned. 'But it makes me feel better. I … oh you're going to say I'm a foolish Gryffindor but I don't care – I will miss you. And if you sneer at me now, I shall never forgive you.'

She turned without another word, and fought back the tears choking the back of her throat. She left the room, heading blindly away from the past five years of her life, and the man who had dominated them.

Severus stood for a moment in the suddenly empty room, waiting for her presence to disappear.

'I will miss you too, Miss Granger,' he said to the silence, and with a sigh he gathered his heavy black robes around him and flooed back to his vacant laboratory.

Her presence lingered longer there than in the ministry. Her favourite of his instruments were in her corner of the workroom; fuzzy, discarded hair ties were hiding under chairs; hidden stashes of candies surprised him when he began to clean up; and finally, one plain, brown envelope with the name, 'Severus' written across the front in careful calligraphy.

He opened it.

Sir,

Forgive the familiarity with the use of your name, but I could not call you 'sir' at this last moment.

Unless I have suddenly grown a backbone in the last few years with you, I know that I will have been woefully inadequate in my parting words to you, and this is now my chance to rectify it.

Sir … Professor Snape … Severus … I know you did not want to take me as an apprentice. I understand more of why, now, when I have spent so much time with you, than I did in the beginning when you rejected my first enquiry. Your original refusal and consequent acceptance has made this so much more of an achievement than I could have imagined.

I will spare you the outpourings of a foolish Gryffindor, if you will indulge me in this one statement.

Nothing I can say or do can ever express what these five years have meant to me. Working with a master, sharing your workspace, experiencing the way your mind works, has meant more to me than an apprenticeship with any other mentor ever could have. I have striven to please you all of my magical life, and I only realise now, at the end of my time with you, how much of a difference that has made.

So thank you, sir, for being every part of the man you are. Sullen, cantankerous, venomous, sarcastic, demanding, unpleasable, wonderful you.

Your apprentice always (in many things),

Hermione.

He stared for a moment at the signature under her farewell, imagining the person who had written it. He pictured her expression as she signed her name for him the final time. She was probably smiling, he decided, but that sad, proud smile she wore when thinking of the war, or of people she loved. Her hair would be curling down over her face, as always, obscuring her deep brown eyes.

His hands tightened on the letter for a moment before he held it over the fire and let it go.

'You were right,' came a voice from behind him. He turned, glass of red wine in his hand.

'Excuse me?' he said, and the woman behind him laughed.

'Oh, well, I suppose I do look a bit different,' she allowed. 'You said we would meet again, sir, and we have.'

The words were familiar, and he looked at her more carefully. Suddenly he saw her, the features rushing back to him with all the impact of a stunning spell.

'Miss Granger!' he said. 'That's you under there, is it?'

'Couldn't you call me Hermione, after all this time?' she asked him. 'But yes, it is me. What gave it away?'

'The hair,' he said, shaking his head. But it was a lie. It was her eyes that had him reeling in surprise and wonder. Those same eyes, dancing at him, drawing him in.

'Ah, well, yes,' she said. 'You'd think I'd have made a potion for that by now, wouldn't you?'

'Yes, rather,' he replied. 'Why haven't you?'

'The truth?' she asked, and looked at him from under her eyelashes. 'I'm rather attached to it, now. I have had it for an inordinate amount of time, and it's quite a part of me.'

'I understand,' he said. 'I think.'

'Oh, you do, sir,' she said with a smile. 'It's like you and your surliness.'

He was almost angry at that statement, and when he made an effort to smile instead, he knew how terribly tightly wound she had him.

'Haven't you noticed I've toned it down?' he asked her. 'Look, I'm out of the bat cave, I'm wearing grey, and I've even spoken to three people voluntarily this evening.'

'I bet you weren't particularly polite,' she observed with another smile, but took a moment to give him a frank appraisal. 'Yes, sir, I concede that you have changed. You'll always be the grumpy potions master to me, though,' she added.

'Troublesome Gryffindor,' he said, and saw the delight in her eyes that he could no longer find cutting insults. In truth he was wondering whether that cold feeling inside was regret that she couldn't see him in a new way with his transformation.

'So what do you do with your days now, that has led to your emergence into the real world?' she asked, slipping her hand around his elbow and steering him towards a balcony. 'The Wolfsbane potion is still selling well.'

'I imagine it would,' he said. 'It does make life easier for them, after all. I am a solitary researcher at a very small institution called 'Spinners End'.'

'Oh, you're still researching?' she said with delight. 'What are you working on?'

'Something I'm sure is far below your interests now, Miss Granger,' he told her, dismissing his experimentation. 'Creator of the Anti-Imperius Potion.'

'Co-creator,' she reminded him with a blush.

'Oh, I had forgotten you worked with Ardovius, how did that work out?'

Her compressed lips said it all. Conversation dwindled after that, until he found himself standing on a secluded balcony, a shielding charm between them and the cold outside: a disillusionment charm between them and the dinner inside.

'The truth is,' Hermione finally said quietly, leaning on the balcony in her deep blue dress, her eyes turned towards the sea in front of them. 'I can't work with anyone. Ardovius drove me mad because of his disinterest. Harkov was so polite, and Notus got in my way.'

He heard the frustration in her voice and came to stand beside her. She glanced at him as he joined her.

'You have probably found the best way to create,' she said, and her mouth tightened at the edges. 'All alone in the middle of nowhere.'

'It has its … benefits,' he allowed, crossing his arms and wondering how to say what he had been thinking. 'But it has its flaws, as well.'

'Tell me some,' she said bitterly. 'Because I'm about ready to disappear from this myself and just leave. For such a remarkable field, the potions world is unbelievably uptight.'

'The biggest problem,' Severus said slowly, afraid of his phrasing. 'Is that you tend to reach a point in your research or experimentation when nothing works, and you can't decide why. When you have a research partner, you have a sounding board.'

'I think I'd rather the stalling,' she said with a sigh.

'Is there nobody you have ever worked with happily?' he asked her.

She was silent for a moment, and then glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

'Only one,' she said, and offered no more.

He looked at where her hand lay on the rail in front of them, and with careful deliberation he unfolded his arms and moved his hand to lie next to hers. But at that moment she sighed and turned away, running her hand through her hair and he slowly tucked his hand into his robes.

'I'm sorry, sir,' she said ruefully, looking at him. 'I haven't seen you in years and I drag you out on a balcony and complain.'

'I don't mind,' he said and hesitated. 'Hermione.'

Her smile was brilliant.

'And now it is worth it,' she said with a content sigh, and took a tiny step closer to him. She looked up into his eyes. 'I have missed you, sir.'

He bit his lip.

'And I you,' he said, and brought his hand up to finger a stray tendril of hair that was floating by her ear. 'And I think it's time you called me Severus.'

'I'll do that,' she said softly, and inclined her cheek into his hand. 'Severus.'

His name on her lips sounded better than he had ever imagined. He was confused and terrified, and so out of his depth it was only his training that prevented his hands from shaking. He took a step towards her, and the expression in her eyes almost overwhelmed him.

'Hermione,' her name burst from his lips in an exhalation of breath, and he was closing the distance between them before he knew it.

A loud burst of laughter erupted from inside the dinner room, and the spell was broken. Hermione dropped her eyes, and he stepped back away from her.

'I apologise,' he said stiffly, and she nodded.

'Me too. I was out of line,' she said and grasped her wine glass before leaving the balcony.

The memory of his name on her lips lingered in the air and he leant on the balcony and bowed his head for a moment. Then he straightened his shoulders and turned back into the warm throng of people come to celebrate the creation of the Anti-Imperius potion created by Potions Mistress Hermione. His apprentice. His … nothing.

Severus,

I would like to discuss the possibility of working with you on the creation of a potion to combat the effects of a stunning spell. The potion, taken prior to a battle, could reduce the drinker's reaction to the spell, either rendering them unconscious for a shorter amount of time, or eliminating the effect altogether.

Is there a time I could arrange a meeting with you to discuss this project?

I remain yours faithfully,

Hermione Granger, P.M.

The letter was direct and professional, and he could see the change in the colour of the ink where she had hesitated over her name.

Hermione,

If it pleases you to discuss this potion, I am available all day Wednesdays, as other days involve intense brewing.

Severus Snape, P.M.

-

Severus,

Two o'clock pm on Wednesday week is fine.

Hermione Granger.

-

Hermione,

I will be waiting.

Severus Snape.

-

Severus,

I shall need your address.

Hermione.

-

Hermione,

Use a map.

Severus.

-

Severus,

You want me to splinch myself?

Hermione.

-

Hermione,

Maybe my owl would get a rest.

Severus.

-

Severus,

Leave me alone I am very busy and important.

Hermione.

-

Hermione,

Gryffindor.

Severus.

--

She did, damn her, arrive precisely at two o'clock. He was still in his brewing clothes and didn't present quite the imposing image he had intended. Their letters throughout the week had been strange, both formal and informal, snappish and playful. He was unsure what to expect.

He opened the door to her wearing a burgundy muggle skirt, dark stockings, a silk emerald blouse underneath a black vest, and black robes.

'You're on time,' he greeted her, and she nodded curtly. He stepped back and let her enter. She followed him into the sitting room and said yes to a cup of tea. He tried not to blush when he realised he had remembered her preference. Her face gave nothing away.

'So, this project,' he prompted, once they were both seated and avoiding eye contact by staring into the fire.

'Yes,' she said, and sat up professionally, placing her tea on the table in front of them. 'Well, I was thinking about it because Ron was complaining about how many times he was stunned in training; he thinks he has permanent head damage from it,' she smiled briefly. 'I tried not to tell him he's always been this way.'

'Admirable,' he said.

'Quite.' She said shortly. 'And it came to me that life for Aurors would undoubtedly be simpler if they couldn't be stunned. I have already made some preliminary calculations using a complex arithmantic equation, and those results yielded an allusion to the aura that basilisk victims have, once petrified.'

'Petrification and stunning are very different,' Severus observed, and he gained a real smile from her at this point.

'I'm in the perfect position to know that, Severus,' she reminded him. 'But this led me to think about the properties of the Mandrake. Could we add that to a potion to negate stunning? The problem with that being that Mandrake, ingested by a non-petrified person is fatal.'

'Only the roots,' Severus interrupted.

'What?'

'Only the roots are fatal. And only then if you have them for dinner. What about the rest of the plant?'

'Oh,' she said quietly. 'I'd forgotten about that.'

'Still an interesting theory,' Severus said. 'Have you considered gurdy root?'

Hermione made a face.

'Briefly. But I couldn't see any real benefit apart from dissuading frivolous experimentation.'

'It does have neutralising qualities,' he said.

'But we don't want to neutralise anything,' Hermione said. 'At least, I don't think so.'

'We need to tone it down,' Severus said. 'Use the Mandrake for revival, but something to negate its lethality.'

'Point,' Hermione said thoughtfully, and they fell into silence again.

'Very well, Hermione. I will work with you on this,' he said finally, and almost missed the brilliant smile that swept across her face.

'Oh, I'm so pleased! I hoped you would, because I can't stand anyone else in the laboratory, and I really want to do this.' Without knowing how, he suddenly found that he an armful of Hermione as she flew across the room and threw herself into his arms.

She seemed realise what she'd done at the same moment as he did, and suddenly went tense.

'Oh dear,' she said, and backed away quickly. 'I'm sorry. I forgot myself. Let's start again.'

'I think you were thanking me,' he said helpfully.

'Oh. Yes. Thank you. There's nobody else – I mean, I would choose you anyway – but … oh help.' She sat down suddenly in her chair and put her head in her hands. 'That didn't come out right, did it?'

He said nothing for a moment, until she slid her hands away from her face and looked cautiously at him.

'Hermione,' he said carefully, knowing he was about to tread uncertain ground. 'That night – on the balcony –' he saw her tense. 'Was it me you meant, when you said you had only worked happily with one person?'

He saw her eyes widen, and she stared at him. Then she nodded mutely and sighed softly.

'Yes. Only with you, ever, have I been happy,' she said quietly. His hopes rose, and he saw the blush on her face. 'Er – in the laboratory.' She covered, but he had no doubt anymore.

'I think you were right before,' he said, and he stood up. She stood too, suddenly nervous, and moved towards the window. 'Don't walk away from me, Hermione.' He commanded. She didn't move.

'There's nothing you can do to me,' she said bravely, talking to the window. He moved swiftly across the room, and was behind her before she knew it. She gasped when she turned and found him there, so close behind her.

'Isn't there?' he asked her, and his voice was low, his eyes intense and glittering. She shook her head with a jerky motion.

'I have been in a war,' she said. 'There is nothing you can do to me that I haven't faced before.'

'Are you sure?' he asked, and saw her nod. 'In that case, Miss Granger – Hermione – you will have no problem if I do this.'

And he lowered his head to hers, and he kissed her. He moved up hard against her, catching her as she tried to pull away. He kept his mouth on hers, desperate for her to respond. And, slowly, she did. Her lips moved tentatively against his, and he pressed harder, not waiting for her to become comfortable. She involuntarily opened her mouth and he swept inside it. She gasped, and then gave a tiny moan, and her arms came up around his neck.

He gripped her tightly, and refused to let her go.

Finally he pulled back, his heart beating too fast, and his breath coming too shallow. He looked down at her, and saw her heart written in her eyes.

'Is this what would have happened on the balcony?' she asked him, and he loved the breathlessness of her voice. He shook his head, and her eyes dimmed.

'I've waited too long, now,' he explained. 'If you'd let me kiss you then, I'd have kissed you like this.'

And he took her lips again, this time gentle, soft, sweet. She smiled against his lips.

'Is this why you agreed to the project?' she asked. 'Because you knew I felt this way?'

'You?' he scoffed. 'I had no idea how you felt.' He looked into her eyes. 'I wanted you, Hermione. I do want you. I've wanted you since before you left the ministry. Since … I saw the look in your eyes on the night we made the Wolfsbane cure.'

Her eyes widened.

'Then I didn't imagine it! You did touch my hand.'

He nodded. And she laughed, happy, relieved, joyous. He smiled, all of those things and more.

Author's Note

This came … from the image of Severus against Hermione, with her saying, 'there's nothing you can do to me,' and Severus of course denying that.

My boyfriend lives up a mountain, which is rather isolated, and as I'm up here (as of the time of writing, I'll have come down when I post this because he doesn't have internet) and am stuck on my original fiction, I thought I'd write this.

Thanks for the comments on the last story, I hope this one is okay. Sorry to my Remus/Sirius readers who keep getting Severus/Hermione instead. I'm out of plots for them, not love. I will keep trying though.

Thanks all for reading,

Yours Lyrically,

Liz.

And thanks to AnetteCB for the tip off about the page breaks. These horizantal rulers are ugly and not my choice but they seem to be all that's working.

And thanks to Wild Spirit for her help in finally finding the right summary, and inadvertently making me rewrite badly phrased sentences.

Thanks also to silveredges for the info about the Mandrake. As with all theories of mine I make them up as I go along, so it's good to have someone let me know I'm being foolish!