Author's Notes:

Dearly Beloved, I come before you today with something a little different. Today is, of course, Independence Day (well nearly) for all my lovely US readers, but it is also my housemate's birthday. And it was on New Year's Day that I received an email from...you know who you are...suggesting that it might be nice if I write something for her birthday (and thanks for nagging me when I needed it, love).

So, here it is...and I hope that she, and you, all enjoy. Just so you know, anything in italics is a flashback.

As always, I own nothing but my imagination. My beautiful muses belong elsewhere.

Let me know what you think.

Chapter 1

Severus Snape looked out across the empty conference room. It had taken five years of research, a few trials and far too many errors for his liking to get here, and yet in six hours his Dragon Pox vaccine would be revealed to the wizarding world. And then the idiots would start to stick their two knuts worth in just because they liked the sound of their own voices.

Of course, he wasn't bothered about that. He hadn't become the youngest ever Potions master for nothing and he was certainly now the best. Everyone was in agreement, which was nice, but he didn't need anyone to tell him what he already knew. But something was bothering him. Quite deeply as it happened.

At first, he had tried to convince himself that she wouldn't attend. But, of course, she would be there. He couldn't deny how highly she ranked within the circle of Potions masters, but then again he wouldn't have expected anything less considering he'd trained her. She would be there and he would be as cold and as aloof as he always was to those who were beneath his contempt. He wouldn't let her know that he was still hurt by what had happened when she upped, left and moved to New York after she had graduated. He wouldn't let her know that he had any feelings whatsoever. He just wondered if she'd be there with that fatuous idiot that Lucius had told him about. Not that he cared, of course. He'd stopped caring five years ago, and one day he might just believe that.

After all, she was the one who couldn't wait to get away from him. But, as fate would cruelly have it, here he was standing in a conference room air conditioned against the extreme New York heat on Independence Day. Lucius couldn't have chosen a worse time of year to host this symposium, and knowing how much Severus despised hot weather, he wouldn't have put it past him to have set the date deliberately.

He looked down at the papers in front of him and sighed. He'd wanted to work on this with her. He'd known Lucius was expanding into the US. He and Hermione had even discussed it when Draco had informed them that he was heading out to New York. But when Severus had joked that Lucius would more than likely try to tempt her away, she had given him the impression that she wasn't interested. Then again, she'd given him an impression about a few things that he had obviously been wrong about.

He'd spent years wrestling with his feelings for her and was finally on his way to ask her to become his research partner...and make things more official between them...when Lucius caught him and said that she'd already left. Her reasons for leaving had Severus staring at the bottom of several crates of Firewhisky for the next month. He'd always known that being with her was too good to be true, and she'd proved him right. And as he was always right, he shouldn't be angry with her over that, but he was. He really fucking was.

In fact, had he not been trying to control the familiar ball of anger that threatened to engulf him whenever he thought about her, he might have heard the door open at the side of the stage.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone was in here." And at the sound of that voice, Severus closed his eyes: Fate had just decided to shit all over him.

"I can assure you, Miss Granger, that had I known you would be disturbing my moment of contemplation, I would have vacated the room long before you could have done so. If you will excuse me."

"Oh come on, Sev," she said, her voice laced with exasperation.

As if she had just lit the touch paper, he exploded with rage. "Don't you dare call me Sev. You lost all right to call me that when you...in fact, don't even call me Severus. In fact, don't call me anything or ever speak to me personally again. Good day, Miss Granger."

And with that Severus Snape swept past her and disappeared out of the room before Hermione could open her mouth to respond.

"Your lord and master said you would be in here," Pansy Malfoy announced as she walked into the room ten minutes later. She was about to say something else when she realised Hermione, who was now sat on one of the chairs on the stage, had been crying. "Are you alright?"

"What?" a startled Hermione snapped, wiping her eyes hurriedly. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Uh, no you're not."

Hermione knew there was no point in fighting it. Pansy had a habit of nagging until she got the answer she wanted. Everyone...well Lucius Malfoy...was convinced that was how she'd got his son to ask her to marry him.

"No, I'm not. I'm really not," Hermione admitted quietly. "But it doesn't matter. It was stupid of me to think that Severus might still care."

"Ah, so you've seen him then?" Pansy asked, sitting down next to her friend.

At first, theirs had been a tentative friendship. They'd hated each other at school, but as Draco was in charge of his father's US interests, when the pair married four years ago, she had moved out there with him. After a few months of ignoring each other, Pansy, who was fed up with Draco's American friends had taken a leap of faith and asked Hermione if she would like to meet for coffee. And now the two witches were frequently seen buying shoes together.

"Yep," the curly-haired witch confirmed. "He was in here preparing for his lecture. Lucius asked me to make sure that everything was set up properly and..."

"...There's a surprise," Pansy muttered. "I didn't realise that it was in the Head of Research's remit to check a conference room. What did you say to him?"

"Nothing really...I apologised for disturbing him."

"And what did he say?"

Hermione felt her lip begin to tremble, but she managed to control it before Pansy noticed. "He all but said that he didn't want to be in the same room as me and he doesn't want me to speak to him ever again."

Pansy gave her friend a sideways glance. "And he said all that because you said you were sorry for disturbing him. For someone who felt that you'd served your purpose that seems a bit over the top."

Hermione snorted softly. "He can be quite over the top especially when he doesn't like someone."

"But he used to like you, Hermione. He more than liked you."

"I thought he did, too, but obviously I was wrong."

Pansy shook her head. "No, you weren't. Despite what my beloved father-in-law tells you, my lovely ex head of house wouldn't shag someone for three years if he didn't like them; if you meant nothing to him."

"Maybe not, but whilst I was studying under him, I was a convenient shag and let's be honest after Ron told me that he dumped me because he couldn't stand the sight of my scars, I was quite happy for anyone to shag me."

Pansy erupted into peals of laughter. "I'm sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on this. First of all, Ron couldn't stand any woman who looked at him sideways. It had nothing to do with your scars and you were certainly not a convenient shag. You do know why he turfed Romilda Vane out on her arse don't you?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Well, gossip travels fast over the pond and after what happened to you, she was under the impression that he shagged all of his apprentices. So, she gave it a go and after he'd hexed her, he booted her out. Which leads me to the same conclusion that most of us, including Draco, have had since you moved out here: Lucius had a reason to split you two up. And if you won't listen to me, for fuck's sake, listen to Harry and Ginny.

"They have no love for Snape, but they think Lucius was behind it. It's common knowledge that he wanted Severus to head up Potions research out here, but he always refused to work for him. So, once you graduated, he turned his attention to you. If you'd stayed or even if you'd parted company on friendly terms, you'd have ended up working with Severus eventually. And you and he together would have proved to be too much competition for the precious Malfoy empire.

"How many times do we all need to say this to you? Are you seriously telling me that Severus shagged you for three years without mentioning your scars and then all of a sudden he couldn't stand being with you because of them."

"He did mention them," Hermione protested, "but whilst I was just a shag, he knew that whatever we were had an expiration date so he could overlook them. But once he suspected that I wanted to continue seeing him after I graduated, he pushed me away because he didn't want to marry someone who reminded him so much of his past."

"And I thought you were intelligent. It's more Malfoy bullshit," Pansy sighed. "I mean, you never actually heard this from Severus did you? And Lucius knew which buttons to press and you fell for it. And like I said, if it were true, Snape's reaction just now was totally unwarranted. Which also makes me wonder what Lucius told him. If he could lie to you, he could certainly lie to Severus, too."

"I thought you Slytherin's stuck together," Hermione chuckled softly. "You shouldn't be speaking ill of your husband's father."

"That doesn't mean I have to like him. I married his son, not him, and as long as he pays Draco enough to keep me in the way to which I have become accustomed then all will be well."

Hermione pretended to look shocked. "I didn't think you were that shallow, Pansy?"

"Oh I can be far shallower than that when it comes to Lucius Malfoy, believe me. Anyway, why are you getting upset? I mean, I can understand you being upset because he was a prick just now, but if he means nothing to you anymore...after all you do have a boyfriend...then you'd have been sitting here calling him every name under the sun rather than crying. So, this leads me to an obvious conclusion: you're still in love with him..."

"...I am not."

"Whatever you say...forgive me for not believing you," Pansy huffed, checking her nails. "So, if in your highly professional and over qualified opinion, everything is alright in here, why don't you bugger off for the rest of the afternoon and take doggy out for a walk before you need to get ready for this evening. And you are coming to our little party afterwards, aren't you? Draco wanted to have another BBQ but after last year's debacle I told him it's champagne and cocktails or nothing. Is Jonathan coming with you?"

Hermione gave her a wry smile and nodded, thankful that Draco wouldn't be setting fire to the house again by attempting to light a BBQ, in what he had heard was the Muggle way, with a whole can of lighter fluid.

"I would like to say that Severus will be in for an unpleasant surprise when he sees you with him, but I suspect he already knows that you've allegedly moved on."

A little panicked, but ever so slightly hopeful, Hermione wanted to confirm whether that meant Severus would be attending the party as well, but thought better of it. Pansy was already starting to see right through her and she didn't want to become completely transparent.

Saying nothing, she stood to leave, but Pansy noticed something and walked towards the lectern. "Are those his notes?"

Hermione's eyes widened as her friend held up a pile of papers.

"Well, I know they're his notes," Pansy informed her, flicking through them, "because who could forget that handwriting, but my point is, you've rattled him if he's forgotten these. Go, you!"

Hermione practically snarled at Draco's wife, who was smiling sweetly at her. "You better give them here. I'll make sure he gets them," she tried to say as professionally as possible.

"I'm sure you'll make sure he gets something," Pansy teased as Hermione snatched the notes out of her hand.