WLTM

When Severus walked into the shop the next day he had a slight spring in his step. He had slept really well, had nice hot shower and a shave and dressed in clean robes. He was ready for the day ahead and had all but forgotten the previous days’ debacle.



But Hermione hadn’t. She hadn’t slept a wink, her mind going over events again and again. Severus had upset her deeply. It wasn’t her fault she had been at Lonely Hearts Inc. She hadn’t known he was going to be there. It wasn’t her fault he had come to work stinking of alcohol and looking like a vagrant and it wasn’t her fault he was in a bad mood that had just worsened over the course of the day. Naturally, he had taken it out on her.



After the mug incident, she had walked into the lab to make another cup of tea and opened the door quickly, not realising that Severus was leaning against the wall behind it. He had heard her open the door a second too late and she had hit him squarely in the face. His nose had bled and she had searched in vain for dittany, only to realise they had run out. He had roared at her then, blaming her for not keeping the stock up to date. Hermione had pointedly checked their schedule for the week and smiled a little when she saw his name in his own spidery writing next to ‘Stock Check’ on the list. She had shoved the schedule under his nose and his eyes narrowed. Hermione realised she had made a mistake when his lifted his wand and incinerated the list before her eyes. She hadn’t needed to be told twice to get out of the lab.



They had spent the rest of the day in frosty silence, avoiding each other, and Hermione left the shop before him, tears in her eyes and a hurt, dragging feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was still there the next morning as she walked dejectedly into the lab, her hair pulled into a tight bun and dark shadows under her eyes.



Severus looked at her as she walked in and would have smiled had she caught his eye, but she didn’t. Puzzled, he watched her, expecting her to make his coffee as normal. She didn’t do that either. Instead, she walked over to the stock cupboard and walked inside and in a few minutes, her heard the familiar clink of bottles being shifted around. Severus sighed. He had been a real bastard to her and it really hadn’t been her fault. He should apologise, but he wasn’t sure how. A knot was forming in his stomach and he decided to make a coffee while he thought about how to resolve the situation.



He pulled his mug from the shelf and smiled a little. She had made this for him and he loved it. He went to get her mug and then remembered with horror that it had been smashed to smithereens. He took a plain white mug from the shelf and took his wand from his pocket. Concentrating, he pointed the wand at the mug and turned it Gryffindor red, edging the lip with gold and making the handle into the tail of a lion. The body and head appeared roaring on the side of the mug and as an extra flourish; he put her initials on the base of the mug, knowing she wouldn’t see them until she had finished her tea.



‘Miss Granger,’ he called to her, her back to him as she continued to catalogue the stock. He noticed with a pinch of guilt that she stiffened at the sound of his voice.



‘Yes, Sir?’ she turned to him, avoiding his eye and looking instead at his boots, which, she noted, were particularly shiny today.



‘You forgot to make your tea. Here…’ he placed the tea on the workbench and sat down in his usual space, watching her as she walked out of the cupboard.



‘I’m sorry, I forgot about your coffee…’ Hermione drifted off as her eyes fell on the new mug in front of her. She raised her eyes to his. She saw a glint there and a small smile playing around his lips.



‘A peace offering. My behaviour yesterday was….



‘…Unforgivable,’ Hermione whispered and her eyes filled with tears.



‘Yes… exactly that,’ he murmured. He had never seen her this upset since they had started to work together.



Hermione lifted her mug and drank her tea, not looking at him and not speaking. As she drained her mug, her initials appeared and she smirked a little. He always had to go one better.



‘Does that mean I am forgiven?’ Severus watched her as she relaxed a little and shrugged her shoulders.



‘Do I have a choice? I don’t enjoy feeling like this, you know.’ Hermione looked at him, her eyes wide.



‘I am truly sorry, it really wasn’t your fault,’ he replied.



‘I know that!’ Hermione snapped and before she knew it, all of her thoughts from the last two days came spilling from her mouth.



‘It wasn’t my fault you were at Valentine’s office on the same day as me! I know you were embarrassed, don’t you think I was too? I mean, you’re older than me and your reputation, well… not many women would be happy to date an ex-Deatheater, regardless of your being cleared of all charges and being a hero and a genuinely good person after all. At least you have a good reason to join a dating agency, of course you should if you’re lonely and you need someone in your life, why not? But me? I’m only 29, I’m not too ugly, I am a nice person, I can have intelligent conversations… but the only men I have ever met just want me for sex or to have their babies. Not one of them has wanted me for me, and I get lonely too, Sir… very lonely, actually….’



Hermione stopped talking, her bottom lip trembling slightly as the reality of her little speech hit her. She really was lonely and no amount of study or throwing herself into work could take away the fact that she went home to an empty flat and slept in a bed only warmed by her own body.



Severus stared at her, his mouth open. He had no idea what to say to her.



‘I’m going out front, ‘ Hermione mumbled and walked past him quickly. Without knowing why, Severus grabbed her arm as she passed and she stopped and stared at him.



‘I am sorry, Hermione,’ he whispered as he stared into her sad eyes.



‘I know you are, Sir.’ She shrugged her arm away and walked out of the lab.



***



At lunchtime, Hermione closed the shop and went to grab her cloak. Severus had the door of the lab open waiting for her and as she stood, fastening her cloak, he approached her with caution.



‘Where are you having lunch today?’ he asked her conversationally. It was normal for him to ask her and she smiled him a little.



‘I don’t know yet. I thought I would just go where my feet take me,’



Severus coughed. ‘I thought, perhaps… you may like some company?’



Hermione looked at him. They had never had lunch together, although in the beginning Hermione had offered. She had assumed he preferred to eat alone and stopped asking him after the first week. His eyes looked wary and a little desperate and she knew he was still feeling guilty. She smiled at him warmly.



‘Fine, lets go and eat. But do me a favour, Sir…’ she grinned at him a little.



‘Anything…’ relief washed over him as he grabbed his own cloak.



‘Stop giving me that guilty look. It’s worse than your detention stare!’ Hermione giggled a little and Severus raised his eyebrow at her.



‘Did I have a detention stare?’ he asked her as they walked out of the shop.



‘Yes you did… you had other stares as well, we got to know them all so well…’



Severus smirked at her. This was better, he thought. This was normal.







*****



Ahhh... bless him.