Evening Schnapps

A/N: J.K. Rowling is the owner of all except specific characters, situations, and plot bunnies that are unique to this story. I make no money, but lots of satisfaction from taking out her characters and playing with them for a while before putting them back.

Many thanks to my ubber-beta SignoraAligheri, and my sweetie Evan! They just prove that you really can’t do anything in this world without people looking out for you.

So, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and here we go!

Chapter 4


Hermione woke up in the morning with Professor Snape’s arm still draped over her waist, his hand resting lightly on her belly. She turned over and studied his face. The frown and scowl that were such familiar features in her youth were absent. His thick black hair had a sheen to it that she hadn’t noticed before, but as she looked closer she realized that it had always been so. It was only the unthinking cruelty of childhood and the influence of her friends that had lead her to believe that his hair had ever been greasy. In the soft morning light filtering in though the snow and cloth walls, his face looked kind.

‘Hmmm…’ she thought, ‘that’ll last until he wakes up. Then he’ll open his mouth and be a right foul bastard again.’

She pulled away from him and out into the cold morning. She quietly reached above the bed and pulled down a dry turtleneck and long stretch running pants. Quickly she dressed, pulled on her heavy skiing pants, and slipped into her boots, she reached into a crate and pulled out a pan. Donning her jacket, she stepped out into the morning.

As Hermione stood up outside the alcove, she stretched and inhaled the crisp morning air. The storm was over and she looked up to the nearby peak, she could see the morning sun ignite the tip of it, sending a blinding light reflecting into the valley below. She locked into her skis and moved along through the fresh snow until she was a few minutes away from home. She stepped behind a tree and relieved herself. Then she moved back to the yurt, pausing long enough to pick up her pot and fill it with fresh snow, before clicking out of her bindings and stepping back into the yurt.

Severus was dressed, once again sitting on her stool and glaring at her.

“You foolish girl!” He snapped, “What, precisely, do you think you are doing up here in the freezing wilderness, with no way to warm yourself and being alone besides?”

Hermione frowned at him. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘right back to his usual foul demeanor.’

Taking a deep breath, she decided not to argue with him until she knew why he had suddenly shown up at her place. She knew he had been exonerated in Dumbledore’s death, and she did feel bad that he had been placed in such an unhappy position, but his snarky attitude remained as prickly as it was during her first year at Hogwarts. Even after Voldemort’s death, when she had been ready to forgive him all the slings and arrows of meanness he had hurled at her over the years, he had still been incredibly unpleasant. She had just given up, preferring to simply dislike him, and then finally, just not think of him anymore.

So instead of getting into an argument, she stepped around him and drew back the curtain of cloth that hung around the foot of the bed. She reached in and started pulling out dry firewood, and took a box of waterproof, strike-anywhere matches off of the little shelf hidden there and set them on the floor. As she stood up she noticed the look of surprise in Professor Snape’s eyes. Ducking her head, she smirked as she realized that there had not been a fire going last night. Snape hadn’t found the firewood.

She set about starting a fire and once it was going, she walked back over to the door and picked up the pot of snow. Returning, she placed it on the rapidly warming metal stovetop, and moved over to the crate with the pans.

-------

Severus watched Miss Granger as she moved about the small space, pulling a coffee press out of the crate with the pots. He found himself quiet, thinking about his oversight of the below-bed storage of firewood and experiencing the remaining awkwardness he felt about having seen young Miss Granger naked and having had that naked body pressed against him all night long. He just watched her. She reached into a box on a shelf and took out two coffee mugs and a spoon. The she reached into the crate with the food and extracted a small paper sack of coffee. She moved with a quiet confidence.

Severus relaxed as she scooped coffee into the press and poured the now boiling water into the container, and set it aside to steep. Severus arched an eyebrow at her as she paused and looked at him.

“Do you have any needs to take care of this morning?” She blushed slightly as she asked him.

“Needs?”

“Umm… If you need to use the restroom…” She blushed harder.

“Oh, yes. If you could direct me to it” he said, his curiosity roused about this rather practical aspect of living out here.

“Well, that’s just it, there isn’t one, and I need to ask you to take care of your needs away from the area. Not far, but if you wouldn’t mind it would keep things tidy.” She said as she reached into another crate and handed him a roll of toilet paper. “Please bury anything in the snow, it’ll degrade when the snow melts in the spring.”

“Ah, of course. How quaint.” He sneered as he stood and pulled his heavy cloak tighter around his chest. He stepped out into the snowy alcove and his heart caught in his throat as he looked out into the shadowed, deep soothing woods. The dark green trees were covered with snow, their branches bowed under the pressure. The peaks above were shining brilliant silver, reflecting the bright morning sun. He breathed in the cold fresh air, tasting the faint sweetness of pine. He looked up and saw the perfect dark aquamarine sky above. He hadn’t remembered the sky having ever been that deep blue before. He stooped to strap on his snowshoes, and then he began walking out into the woods along the ravine. After a suitable time hiking through the forest, he stopped behind a large tree to relieve himself.

----------

Returning to the small structure, he stepped inside and was surprised by the warm air and smell of cooking. He saw that Miss Granger had removed her jacket and was only wearing a white turtleneck and heavy black pants held up by large red suspenders. Following suit, he removed his heavy cloak and hung it on a peg. He smoothed down his tunic and moved over to his stool, that Miss Granger had moved away from the desk, to the other side of the stove. As he sat, she handed him a mug of coffee.

“Sugar?’ She asked.

“No,” he said, “Do you have any cream?” laughing at the notion of cream up in this remote place.

She gave him a measured stare for a moment, then said “Yes, but I also have something a little stronger, if you like.”

He looked up at her and nodded silently, holding out his cup. She turned back to her shelves and pulled out a bottle. She poured a dollop of cream liquor in his mug, and then her own. He sipped his alcohol-laced coffee, nodding with approval as he watched her fussing over the stove. She pulled two plates out of the crate, and two forks out of the box on the shelf. Scooping out the contents of the pan onto the two plates, and pouring the last of the hot water into the pan, she turned and handed him one of the plates silently. He was aware of her moving to sit on one of the crates as he examined the meal.

He sniffed at the eggs, and tried a bite. He was pleasantly surprised. ‘Yet again.’ He thought, ‘At this point, I really need to stop being surprised by her.’ He settled in and enjoyed the scrambled eggs, with sautéed onions, fresh cilantro leaves, a little salt and melted cheddar cheese. A simple and satisfying combination.

“How do you keep the cilantro from freezing?” he inquired of her.

She pointed to a large backpack sitting on the floor. He looked down at it and remembered her taking it off when she had first come in last night.

“I had bought some for breakfast and it was insulated enough for a few hours to keep from freezing.” She said quietly, “I can’t keep it for more than a few hours in the deep winter though. Eggs thaw, cheese melts, and onions cook down just fine after freezing, but fresh greens turn to mush. The cream is frozen solid, but I just chisel off a chunk and it melts into the coffee.”

Nodding, Severus sighed, crossed his legs and balanced his empty plate on his knee, as he finished his coffee. He had been hungry, the energy from the scone he ate yesterday morning had long since been used. Miss Granger stood up, took his plate off his knee and set them both on the little desk. She took the pot outside and returned a moment later with another load of snow. She set it on the stove to melt the snow and Severus listened to the crackle and hiss of the wet bottom against the hot metal stovetop. She moved around him again, and made the bed, pulling each layer flat and smooth. He worried that she might choose to make a comment about the previous nights sleeping arrangements, but she just moved on about her chores. She offered him a refill on the coffee and he nodded. She poured the last of the coffee into their mugs and added more liquor. Handing back his mug, she turned and began washing the dishes in the now hot water. He watched quietly as she moved about, drying and putting away the few dishes from their simple meal. Finally, she took her coffee and sat on the crate facing him.

------------

“Why are you here?” she asked with a look of curiosity mingled with the familiar distrust he had grown to resent so much.

Severus sighed and sipped his coffee to prevent himself from snarling at her.

When he felt his manufactured calm settle over him like a cloak, he looked at her and said, “Minerva asked me to come, she’s not doing well.”

He steeled himself for the emotional outburst from the Gryffindor. Amazingly, it never came.

“Is she dying?” Miss Granger asked in a quiet voice.

His eyebrow shot up. “No.”

She sighed and he watched the relief wash over her. She looked up at him and asked, “Then why did she send you? This isn’t exactly an easy place to find. Hey! How did you find it anyhow?”

He smirked at her. There was the same old Miss Granger, talking as fast as her brain worked.

“I ran into Michael and Raf.” He sneered, “Your friends were quiet eager to betray your whereabouts.”

“They wouldn’t have told you where to find me, if you meant me harm.” She laughed, “And they would have known in an instant if you were lying to them. Raf’s quiet, but an excellent judge of character. But, I am surprised that they didn’t have you wait until I came back down into town. It can be very dangerous up here.”

Severus thought about that. “Yes, they had suggested I wait, but I told them there wasn’t time.”

“Not time to wait out a storm? What can be so pressing as to risk traveling up here?”

He sighed, “Minerva is not dying, but neither is she well. Her body has never truly recovered from the attack all those years ago; she is not a young witch. She has decided that she can no longer teach and run Hogwarts. Which is why she asked me to find you.”

He looked up, but Miss Granger was only looking at him, with no expression on her face.

He continued feeling annoyance at her lack of reaction, “She has asked that I convince you to return to Hogwarts and teach replace her as the Transfiguration professor.”

Miss Granger still remained silent.

“So that she may concentrate on running the school,” he finished, prompting her to make a response, any type of response.

She took a deep breath. “All right.”

He squinted at her for a moment, “All right? Just like that? You leave the Wizarding world, move all the way to America to attend a Muggle university, move further away from the life you knew by living in a shack in the mountains, stare at me as if I’m going to bite you, and then just agree to return to the Wizarding world as easily as ‘all right?”

She laughed again. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

Severus found himself without an answer.

“I only left because of the bloody press. They would never leave me alone, ‘When will you and Harry get married?’ ‘Why haven’t you had babies with Harry, yet?’ ‘Why isn’t Harry good enough for you?’” Miss Granger’s face became red as she got louder and louder, “They just couldn’t leave well enough alone. I love being a witch, but I won’t live my life according to the expectations of people I don’t even know.” She finished her outburst and just sat there for a moment.

Severus eyed her cautiously, wondering if she was really that upset by the Wizarding press. ‘Of course she is,’ he thought with a sneer, ‘they certainly know how to make ones life a living hell. They certainly haven’t pulled any punches with me. Still, bitterness shouldn’t mar one so young.’

She turned a small smile towards him, “Of course, I’ll come back to Hogwarts. There I can live my life and have a modicum of freedom from the press. I’m sure Minerva wouldn’t let them disrupt the students lives.”

“Agreed,” said Severus. “Well, we need to get going. Are you prepared to travel?”

Miss Granger looked at him as if he were daft. “You’re joking?! We can’t travel today, not with the storm last night. The risk of an avalanche is just too great. Tomorrow, perhaps, but not today!”

Severus scowled. He really didn’t want to waste another day of his holiday in Miss Granger’s company. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingertips.

Finally, he looked up at her, giving her his nastiest glare. “No,” he said as he drew himself up, “we must get back. We are traveling today, I insist!”

The girl stared at him for a moment. “All right,” she said levelly, “we’ll go today. But I cannot stress the danger enough. You must be prepared to do exactly what I say, exactly when I say, without hesitation. I understand that you are accustomed to being in control, but in this environment, you are the student. Do I make myself clear?” Her voice had risen towards the end, until the last question had come out as a command.

Severus closed his eyes, trying not to start yelling. ‘Insufferable girl!’ he thought, ‘but still, she may have a point. She is definitely more comfortable in this world than I.’

“Yes, of course. Let’s just get going.”

--------

Hermione moved about the room, tidying up as she went. She hadn’t stoked the small fire after breakfast, and had instead let it die, knowing that the hot rocks would continue to heat the small, insulated space for a while. She packed a few things into her backpack and thought about Professor Snape. He had taken her tone well. She felt confident that if there were a slide, he’d listen to her and not panic. She had noticed his snowshoes in the alcove.

‘So, he doesn’t ski,’ she thought. ‘Well, that doesn’t surprise me. It was quiet the feat to not only get up here, but to actually find my place. Mike must have given him very detailed instructions.’ Once again, she found herself thankful for that particular friendship. ‘It wouldn’t do to have a visitor, even such a nasty one, get lost out here.’

Finally, she was ready to go, and turned to Professor Snape.

“Well,” she asked, “shall we?”

------------------------------------

A/N: OK, so I’m making faster progress on chapters that I thought I would, so chapter 4 is going up sooner than anticipated. I know it’s a bit shorter, but the next is very long, so this forms its own natural stopping point.

Estella- Haahaa! Sorry, I NEVER said there wouldn’t be cliffhangers. In fact, I’m pretty fond of them, so brace yourself. Upcoming in chapter 5 has the cliffy to end all cliffies. I got a book thrown at my head over that one! You’ll love/hate it. The delay time is because the fall semester is about to start up. I wanted to get ahead, just in case I couldn’t write for a week or two. When the semester starts back up, I’ll most likely drop back to publishing once a week, but I really don’t want to fall behind and leave people hanging. Not with my predilection for dropping a cliffy at the end.

Vampire_Exotica- How very Slytherin of you! *evil grin* Actually, I pulled that particular stunt once, worked great! Yum!

Megan Consoer- I already have. ;)