A/N: So this will be a look into a future Snape/ future Hermione situation, which will also be published as a longer oneshot called "New Year, New Beginnings" that includes Snape traveling back in time again.

New Year's Eve, 2002

Severus Snape raised the champagne flute to his mouth while he was watching the attending guests over the rim of his glass. How he hated these Ministry of Magic parties, full of empty talk, overdressed people and tiny snacks. He guessed if he stayed for an hour that would be enough for the others to have noticed his attendance. He'd be waiting for the New Year's countdown to make his exit. And then he'd finally go home and enjoy a good book in front of his fireplace.

His eyes perused the room, looking for familiar faces in the mass of chattering, stuck up guests. He almost choked on this champagne when his eyes came to rest on the entrance hall. Hermione Granger swept inside, a dark green dress clinging to her curves, her long, curly hair flowing behind her. She was quite a sight, he had to admit. A fact that did not stay hidden from other guests, either. Several men kept their eyes on her lithe figure as she moved towards the buffet.

He was instantly sucked into his memories (pun not intended, he thought) of his visit to the past and everything that had happened on December 19th, 1995. He recalled the way she had looked up to him, her eyes full of desire, and the way she had slid her lips over… STOP IT RIGHT NOW! He snarled at himself. It was wrong to indulge in those memories, although he often found he could not help his thoughts wandering that way.

That memory confused him more than anything else. He was absolutely sure that she had always resented him, and still did. He had treated her badly enough at school, and his interference of late (although he had done it to keep her safe, unbeknownst to her) had cost her the one job that she really had wanted to have. That she had spoken at his trial was just proof of her Gryffindor morals – always taking the high road. She could not be interested in him, he told himself. He did not know what had been her motivation to please him that day in 1995, but after he had taken away her memories, nothing of the past had changed – she had disliked him just as much as before, so he figured that it must have been some aberration in her usual behavior. Maybe, that day, she had been under the influence of a potion or a spell.

His musings were interrupted by an official announcement: a special treat for the guests. A Divination Master from the Far East had arrived for a visit. His specialty was to unlock hidden truth of the subconscious, which he was able to reveal by touching someone. It had been the Minister of Magic's idea that he should provide entertainment for tonight, showing off his little party trick. It was a catastrophe waiting to happen, Severus thought. Whatever had the Minister of Magic been thinking?!

In a desperate search for an exit, he spied doors opening to a balcony and decided to slip away from the main event. He had not yet made it there when the Divination Master found his first victims in an employee of the Department of Magical Law enforcement, who was attending the party with his wife. The Divination Master simply touched his shoulder, and the husband turned to the wife and pronounced clearly for all to hear: "Actually, yes, this dress does make your butt look fat!" His wife's embarrassed squeal rang through the hall as he continued: "But I love your fat butt, I would not have it any other way. I don't know why I should pretend otherwise. To fat butts." he announced happily, raising his glass to the shocked faces around him.

Severus shuddered and was glad to be able to slip out on the balcony unnoticed. He should leave right now, he reasoned. With Granger here, things could only get worse. There was no one that could get under his skin the way she did. He put his hands on the balustrade, breathing in deeply. The crisp, icy air carried the promise of snow, and he closed his eyes to savor the sensation. He heard someone slip out on the balcony, then a drawn-in breath of shock. He turned around to see Miss Granger, her eyes darting between him and the door to the ball room, where most likely she had been trying to escape the Divination Master. A tough choice to make, he thought sarcastically. He was surprised, though, when she stayed instead of moving back inside. She crossed her arms across her chest to keep herself warm, and glared towards the doors to the ballroom. "Who in all of the world had this asinine idea to use a Divination Master as a party trick?! It's a catastrophe waiting to happen!"

Severus snorted in agreement. He could not help himself and replied: "Seeing that you are even willing to accept my company to escape him, the situation must have taken on dramatic proportions."

She glared at him. "Well, as I have signed my new contract with the Ministry of Muggle Affairs last week, and my job is secure, I think I'll be taking my chances with you. Also, we don't really need to do any small talk. I'm fine with waiting here for a couple of minutes in silence." She crossed the balcony to rest her hands on the balustrade, staring out over the grounds. Her pose was rigid, and she seemed upset in a way.

He wanted to say something to her, but he did not know how to approach her. There just had been too many things gone wrong, too much time gone by for them to have a chance. So he just let his gaze lovingly travel over her body, her back to him, and looked his fill as long as he was able to do so.

He felt someone squeeze his shoulder, and suddenly, the world froze to a stop. He felt a deep thrumming in his body, strings being tugged here and there, bubbles traveling up his throat, and before he knew what he was doing, he said to her: "You like me. You've always liked me. You think I'm a very fascinating man, and you once wished there was a future for us. And you've kept thinking of me that way, no matter how many mean words I hurled at you in class – deep inside of you, there was always this flame of desire, this need to be with me."

He was shocked at those words – he had no idea where they had come from, he did not believe that – why had he said that? Could he have said anything more ludicrous?! As if she would be burning with desire for him?! He felt a hot wave of embarrassment flow through his body and was about to apologize when she whipped around, her eyes dark with hurt and fury. "You knew? You knew?! Did you use Legilimency on me, you bastard?! How could you?! Did you see everything you wanted? Did you see me in bed with Ron, after our first time, in the dark hours of the night when I cried my heart out because it had been him and not you? Did you revel in that?! Did it give you a perverse sense of satisfaction? Why do you need to punish me so? What have I ever done to you?!"

She pushed at him and ran through the doors inside the ball room. He stood there, frozen in shock, trying to comprehend what she had been telling him. It could not be true. She could not have wanted him that way. She could not really have wanted him to…

His mind discreetly pointed out that he should not forget about the proposition Miss Granger had made to him in 1995 (not that she would still remember that after being obliviated). She had asked him for just that – to be her first. And he had thought she was mad, that there was some potion or spell or teenage crush impeding her judgement. And now – this.

He snapped out of his frozen shock and took off running, trying to locate her in the ball room. She was gone, with no trace as to where.

…..

Back home, he slipped the time turner around his neck, adjusting the dials to show May 25th, 1996. He slipped a vial, filled with silvery mist, into the pocket of his robes, then took a deep breath and spun the time turner.

A/N: Warning, smut ahead: Go right to the story "New Year, New Beginnings" if you want to read the story of how Snape went back in time to grant Hermione her wish.

If you're wondering why Snape said the things he said when the Divination Master touched him, it was something that Hermione had told him herself - in the story "Retrieving the Book", which was: "I like you. I've always liked you. You're a very fascinating man, and I wish there was a future for us, because I know I will keep thinking of you that way, no matter how many memories you will erase or how many mean words you'll hurl at me in class, deep inside, there will always be this flame of desire, this need to be with you. Never doubt that. Maybe one day you'll allow yourself to open up to me."

At this point in the story, though, neither of them is aware that had happened, because both no longer possess the memories of that night.