At one memorable Christmas gathering at Grimmauld Place, Hermione Granger went to Severus Snape to offer him something too good to refuse. By that time she had long ago broken free from the chains that had bound her to the Weasley family, had found her own style and corner in the world. Every argument he had she prove invalid with self-confidence in her voice and with an ease that showed how much thought she had given the matter.

And so they went upstairs, and not even one questioning glance followed them, because the party was loud and chaotic. And on this very night, she showed him heaven and hell, and when he left in the morning, it was a sad leave, because he was sure that it had meant to be a one-off thing, the outcome of a suggestion spoken out loud by a drunk woman, a night without a chance of repeating.