Dream A Little Dream Of Me

A/N: So here we go, part two! The actual birthday surprise, as it did occur to me that some of you thought the birthday surprise was him telling her about the restaurant in Venice. It’s not. It’s here in this chapter. But there will be one more after this. So please read, enjoy, and please leave a review! I live for the feedback!



Rich, creamy coffee swirled around in her cup and she smiled. The dinner at Vini da Gigio had been lovely, dry vintage red wine to match the fancy pasta dish and herb bread. She sat on a white cast iron chair of intricate design, just across a small glass table, smiling at her husband. The café was seated on the opposite side of the canal as the restaurant, but on the edge just the same, a gorgeous view of the stars above and the many lovely gondolas going by.



“Shall we go for a ride?” he offered his arm to her.



“After coffee and cannoli, yes.” She smiled and took another sip from her cup, and took the last bite of the succulent cream filled pastry. They rose from the table, Severus leaving a tip beneath the cups, and he guided them toward the edge of the canal. Venice by night light was a gorgeous sight and for a moment, Hermione just stood at the edge of the dock, taking it all in. “It’s so beautiful.”



“So are you.” He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, Hermione.”



“Thank you, Severus, and what better way to spend it then— oh my gosh!” she gasped. “Look! I think that’s— it is!”



Severus followed her finger across the canal to an adjacent dock and sure enough just at the gondola stood a woman who looked exactly like Dr. Calliope Torres. “So it is indeed.” He moved to the edge and signaled the gondolier, who stepped up out of the boat onto the dock. “My good sir,” he said in rather fluent Italian. “Fetch the lady from the other dock, if you would be so kind. Graci.”



“Severus!” Hermione gaped. “What are you doing? You can’t just beckon Sarah Ramirez like that. I’m not even sure it’s her.” She watched as the round little man with the mustache quickly ferried his boat to the other side of the canal, exchanged a few words with the woman, who nodded, and then stepped into his boat. A wave of shy struck Hermione and she ducked behind her thankfully tall husband as the gondola approached their side of the dock.



The woman smiled as she stepped out of the boat, aided by the small Italian. “Hi,” she said, brown eyes glittering. She wore a dressy top, and classic black pants, her makeup painted just as it was in the show. Hermione risked a glance from behind Severus’ shoulder, unbelieving of what she was seeing. “So the boat guy spoke some gibberish in Italian, which I don’t speak, but gestured to you, and it was a free ride to this side, which is where I was trying to get to anyway.”



“Charmed,” Severus said. He took her hand and kissed the top of it politely.



“Whoa, charmer,” she smiled and then quirked a brow at him.



“I am Severus Snape,” he said.



“I’m Callie Torres,” she said and tilted her head to the side, trying to see Hermione. “Who’s that?”



“This unusually shy creature using my shoulders as her hiding post would be my wife.” Severus took a long step to the side, exposing Hermione. “It’s her birthday.”



“Gotcha. Though that’s not really a good reason to be shy.” The brunette woman smiled and waved a greeting at Hermione.



“Hello,” Hermione managed. “So you’re really—”



“Sarah Ramirez, but my fans love it when I introduce myself as Callie—” she paused briefly. “You guys are fans, right?” Sarah gulped. “That was a bit presumptuous of me, but I figured since he called me over and all…”



“Extreme fans,” Severus interrupted before Hermione could speak. “Well, she’s an extreme fan,” he nudged his wife in the shoulder gently. “I get stuck watching the season five premier four times in one night, she’s so extreme.”



“Oh please, you were freaking out when you thought Derek was dead too.”



“We all were,” Sarah said. “The only people who knew were Ellen, Patrick, and Chandra. She didn’t tell Sandra, James, or Eric that he was dead until after the take, and the rest of us didn’t know until it hit the cut floor,” she laughed, sounding a bit nervous. “But you didn’t need to know that.”



“That’s actually really fascinating.” Hermione said.



“Intriguingly so,” Severus added, and offered his arm to Sarah. “Might I convince you to join my wife and I on a gondola ride? It is her birthday and you are, by far, her favorite character on the show—”



“Severus!” Hermione blushed. “I’m sorry, I’m sure a busy celebrity like yourself has much more interesting things to do…”



“Actually, I was waiting for Brooke, we were supposed to have a date tonight, but she canceled. We’re on location for a press conference.”



Severus narrowed his eyes at the woman. “Convenient.”



“You two—”



“Yeah, that’s what inspired the on-scene romance. Funny story, actually, we’d finished filming for the day, her and I had been dating for a while, before she joined the show as a regular, and we slipped off to the green room. Well Patrick had just finished defending T.R., stormed in and we couldn’t get off each other fast enough…” she blushed. “And when Shonda found out, she was so excited because she couldn’t wait to introduce it to the show!” Sarah laughed.



“Fascinating,” Hermione repeated, completely awestruck by the woman.



“That gondola ride, ladies?” Severus refocused them toward the dock, and helped Sarah and then Hermione into the boat. Again he spoke to the gondolier in Italian, telling him a long hour ride around the prettiest canals and some red wine would be greatly appreciated. When he returned to the woman, who had seated themselves on the cushions at the back of the long boat, with a bottle and three glasses in hand, he frowned to see that they had cuddled in quite cozily, Hermione engrossed in some story that Sarah was telling. “This is going to be an interesting birthday,” he muttered and popped the cork on the wine. It plunked into the canal with a splash.