She felt like a broken record some weekends, but she definitely should have called in today. She was battered, cut, and bruised everywhere. Too many non-informed muggle officers saw her for her to use a healing charm last night. She'd sort of forgotten by the time everything had been cleaned up at the scene and she'd been able to go home. She hadn't done more than collapse on top of her bed when she had gotten there. She hadn't even taken off her coat or boots.

She'd overslept because she hadn't set her backup alarm so she'd had barely enough time to shower and dress before coming into work. Thank God she worked at a store that sold food because she hadn't even eaten breakfast.

She gave a partial smile to Austin when he came into the store almost as soon as she'd opened for the day. A full smile wouldn't happen today with her lip split the way it was. She hadn't even thought of healing it because until she'd spotted him she hadn't tried to smile.

He bought a box of cereal and biscuits before returning out the door quickly. He hadn't tried to talk to her or anything beyond his "Good morning, Miss Harmony" when he'd come in. That was very odd behavior for the boy. He usually chatted to her about something. If he wasn't six she'd almost say Austin was like a friend.

Was that weird?

She wasn't sure. She liked him though and his parents obviously encouraged him to read and do math beyond what his age group normally did. Whenever she told him the total of whatever he was buying, they always counted what money he'd given her together and the change. He seemed to like being included. She always gave him a receipt, too, though it seemed by the correct amount of money usually being sent with him his parents knew how much things cost in the store.

She wondered if he was all right. She couldn't remember a time for months now that he'd said so little to her. When she'd first started working here, sure. Since about her first month here anyway. It really was very odd behavior for him. Not that she knew what to do with that information. She didn't really get breaks. She ate lunch at her spot behind the counter. She didn't mind. The Bowdens had offered to relieve her for lunch each day but that seemed to defeat the purpose of her working at all if they were going to work anyway. It meant, though, she couldn't go find him in the building and ensure that he was okay.

He returned about thirty minutes later, eyeing the store suspiciously before he approached her behind the counter. He'd never come around the counter before. She'd never told him that he couldn't, but he seemed to recognize that this space was hers, or the Bowdens.

"This will help you," he whispered, handing her what was very obviously a wizarding potion.

Judging by the color and consistency she'd guess it was a healing potion of some sort. She was tempted to take the stopper off and smell it. She didn't need to, though, wherever he got this potion it was quality. Smelling it would only add to that opinion she was guessing not lessen it.

"Austin," she said cautiously.

So many thoughts were going through her mind. Was he magical? Did he know that she was or was he just handing her a magical potion? Did he know he shouldn't be doing that? First things first.

The potion.

She was about to ask him where he'd gotten it and why he'd given it to her. If he was magical he would have to be told not to do that. If a magical potion fell into the wrong hands that could be very dangerous. For a number of reasons, actually, with the Statute of Secrecy somewhat low on the list of potential dangers. She shuddered to think, for example, of a muggle taking amortentia and not understanding what it was.

A customer coming in prevented her from doing so. She placed a charm on it so that it would not break and slipped the vial into the front pocket of her hooded sweatshirt that advertised GAP. It had been her Dad's and she wore it on winter days like today when she was feeling kind of needy. The Bowdens were great, but they didn't stop her from missing her parents some days. In fact, some days coming here was almost worse because of all of the memories.

"Thank you, Austin," she said, stepping in to give him a hug.

She'd never done so before so she wasn't sure how he'd respond. Some people just weren't huggers and she knew children (and adults for that matter) couldn't be too careful these days. He'd thought of her, though, and obviously been concerned. She wanted him to know that she appreciated that. He let her, and that made her smile.

She felt his magic with that brief touch, which answered her question as to whether he was magical. It felt oddly familiar. Judging by his soft gasp he felt it, too. Maybe it was because it was his first contact with someone magical? Well, aside from whomever he got the potion from.

He drew away, touching the area near the split on her cheek. She smiled at the gesture. She couldn't help but admit she would love to have her mum take care of her sometimes. Last night was one of those times. That led to the GAP sweatshirt today. Sometimes being an adult sucked.

"You're welcome, Miss Harmony. I hope you caught the bad guy."

"We caught some at any rate," she said, drawing away with a partial smile.

He dashed to the back room, obviously already having enough change for the games he wanted to play.

"Sorry," she said to the customer at the counter. He was a regular, came in just for cigarettes and the occasional snack. Tom? Todd? "One or two packs today?"

"Two," he said and she reached to pull them out for him. "Bad day at the other job?"

It seemed everyone knew she was a police officer as her main job. She imagined that was the Bowdens doing. They were very proud of Hermione. She was glad someone was, and she knew that was selfish. Some people didn't have anyone to fall back on for support at all. She was pretty much all Harry had anymore these days.

"You could say that," she said, fiddling with her hair a bit because she knew that her face was quite a mess. She hadn't even thought to glamour it for work because she'd been so tired and talking herself out of calling out sick that the thought of how she'd look hadn't occurred to her.

Stupid.

Of course, she no longer glamoured anything anymore.

Scars. Visible. She had more than a few that had come as a result of the job the past few years, too. She realized that she'd likely have a new one on her cheek when it healed to add to the collection.

Mudblood "tattoo". Visible. (If people asked a coke'd out criminal carved it into her arm with a dirty knife.)

"You have to work until close?"

"Yes," she said.

She did every weekend. The store was open from eight o'clock to six o'clock these two days. During the week they opened earlier and closed later, but the Bowdens were able to split the hours up between them so it worked.

Todd? Tom? What was his name?

She couldn't remember and ultimately it didn't matter.

He'd asked her out a couple of times now. She'd declined. If someone truly appealed to her who smoked she liked to think she wouldn't hold it against him, but he really wasn't someone who sparked an interest in her from their few conversations here. So why tempt fate? The first time she'd pictured him trying to kiss her fresh after a cigarette made her a little nauseous. That didn't bode well.

"Well, I hope it goes fast for you."

"Thanks," she said. "I have my laptop so I can do work in between customers and stocking."

"See you next weekend."

"I'll be here," she said, handing him his change. She always was. She'd never called in sick because the Bowdens didn't deserve to have to work seven days a week at their age. Some could argue, she supposed, she was working seven days a week. To her, though, there was a huge difference between her doing it at twenty-five to their close to sixty now.

The day went by pretty uneventfully from there. Austin came down more than once, almost hovering over her. It was somewhat sweet. He cared even if he didn't quite know what to do for her.

She closed up for the night, putting the day's deposit in the bag and took out the till for the next day, putting everything in the safe in back. They always left two cash drawers for her, ready to go. Sometimes she felt guilty for making them do all of that work, but it was their money so they likely just preferred to do it. Her tills to this point had never come up short by more than a pound or two so they obviously weren't concerned she was stealing from them. She was fine with not having to worry about bank deposits, honestly she liked having little responsibility at this job. Saturday's and Sunday's deposits went into the same bag, each day's deposit wrapped in a rubber band with any notes of items that she noticed were running low for their next truck order.

There were times she wondered how the little store stayed open. Little was kind of a misnomer as it covered the entire first floor of the building, but that wasn't all store. It was convenient to the neighborhood, for sure, and they didn't gouge people on the prices. The days of going down to the corner store for milk just seemed gone to Hermione, but they were still here and had been in business for like forty years.

"Austin," she said, finding him in the arcade. She hadn't even realized he was still here. Showed how attentive she was, and that was not good. Yes, it was Austin this time, but the next time it could be someone scarier. She also hadn't had a chance to talk to him about the potion. She'd, in fact, forgotten about it until now.

"I'm sorry, Miss Harmony," he said.

She could tell that he did mean it and he wasn't in the habit of staying down here past close. His brown eyes were so expressive. She sighed. He probably didn't realize she'd closed. She usually kept better track of who all was back here and came back about fifteen minutes before closing to remind them of the time. She obviously missed him.

"It's okay," she said, offering him her hand. "How about if I walk you home. I wanted to talk to your parents anyway."

"Okay," he said, taking her hand.

They went through the storeroom to the door in back that led into the building. She'd never had to use it before as she came and went from the street entrance, but had a key.

She'd assumed there were apartments or something upstairs. The first floor belonged entirely to the store as this door opened up to the lobby. The second floor was clearly set up for offices or apartments she supposed, but it was dark and the doors were all open as if waiting for people to claim them. They went up to the third floor. She'd never been past the first floor. There was only one stairwell leading from the second to the third floor. At the top of the staircase was a small hallway. The elevator Austin obviously took to come and go let out here. There was another short set of steps, only like three or four it looked like leading to only one visible door. She didn't have a key for this one.

"Is this your home?" she asked.

He nodded. Clearly, he had a key then or they left the door unlocked as other than the store the only way into the building from the street was a locked entryway.

She knocked, not wanting to take his parents by surprise and just walk in. She felt wards on the door, not enough to stop her from knocking but clearly meant to deter the curious.

Interesting.

She looked at Austin then.

"What do your parents do, Austin?"

She'd never thought to ask before. Then again, her young friend had never given her a magical potion before today for her to be truly curious beyond wondering why he always came down by himself. It was a safe neighborhood and he did seem mature for his age, but times were just different than when she was a girl and her mum let her roam all over the neighborhood until the sun went down.

"Father is a master," he said.

Her brows arched up at that as the door flew open.

"Did you forget how to open the door?"

Dark eyes met whiskey colored eyes, she was sure hers showed surprise as much as his did.

Imagine.

Severus Snape surprised. The surprise was quickly taken over, though, and if Hermione didn't know better she'd think Severus Snape was scared.

Not angry.

She'd seen him angry before.

This was fear, but why on earth would he be scared of her?

"I'm sorry, Prof… Mr. Snape. Austin was in the arcade while I was closing. I just wanted to be sure he got home okay."

" You're Miss Harmony?"

"Guilty as charged," she said with a shrug. That meant Austin talked about her. That made her feel kind of good. She liked knowing she meant something to him, too.

"I should have known," she thought she heard him mutter. "If he got into trouble…"

"Oh, no, Sir, not at all. He's a delight. Truly. I just," she said and then stopped. "May I come in for a moment rather than stand out here?"

In truth, the conversation could be had out here just fine. There was no one else around to overhear them or anything. She just didn't like being at such a huge height disadvantage. He was taller than she was naturally, but her standing two steps down from the doorway didn't make that difference any smaller.

"Worried a non-existent resident will overhear us?"

"Well, no," she said.

She didn't say anything else to justify her request. Somehow she knew that he'd invite her in. Not doing so would be rude. She didn't think Severus Snape would set that kind of example for his son. Then what did she know? She just didn't think he would, based on Austin's behavior to this point always being well-mannered and quite proper. Even playing games in the arcade with other kids, he never talked back or got mad when others hogged particular games for hours.

He sighed, stepping aside. She could tell he didn't truly want to, but manners took over and made him let her in.

Austin dashed through the door and Hermione stepped through as well, gasping softly. It looked as if the entire third floor was his and he made use of every inch of it. The single door leading to this floor made much more sense.

"Close your mouth, Miss Granger, it's unbecoming. It is still Miss Granger, yes?"

"It is, and I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting. The second floor looked neat but not exactly clean. You know, dust and what not…"

Come to think of it, she hadn't seen any mice or other pests that reflected lack of care for a space. Did he use the second floor, too?

"By design. I don't want anyone thinking there's anything of interest up here."

So charmed to look that way. She wondered what the second floor truly looked like. Were there pests there and she just didn't see them? Somehow she doubted that. She'd have seen them in the Bowdens' store if they were in the building. Surely they'd eventually wind up where food was.

"Makes sense," she said, unable to stop looking at the wall that overlooked the street. It was basically floor to ceiling windows. The windows were tinted, no doubt no one on the street would be able to see in. She'd never noticed, and imagined he'd made it so people didn't notice.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to bother you and your wife, but like I said Austin stayed after close. I wanted to be sure he got home okay, which in and of itself does not require a conversation. He wasn't deliberately sneaky or anything, I just didn't catch that he was there so late. Yesterday resulted in a very long night, which led to a long day so I obviously lost track of him still being there. There is another matter that I needed to bring up, though. Earlier today he gave me this."

She reached into her pocket, pulling out the vial of potion her young friend had given her.

"He was concerned for me," she said, gesturing to her face as she handed the potion to him. He looked surprised. Yet another thing she never expected to see on Severus Snape's face. "I just wanted you to know he's handing out magical potions to people he doesn't know well. He didn't ask me, he just gave it to me."

"He knows you are a witch."

"He does?"

"Yes. Evidently one day when you thought you were alone he saw you using magic to organize shelves."

"Oh," she said, nibbling on her lower lip.

She hadn't realized. She was usually extremely careful. Evidently she wasn't once, or his son was exceptionally sneaky.

"He can be rather sneaky," he said.

Had he been in her mind to know she was just thinking that? Would he do that? Did he think she was here for some nefarious purpose?

"Like father, like son it would seem," she said and he laughed. Not just a small guffaw either, but the full-on, tilt his head back, and give a hearty chuckle type. Her toes practically curled in appreciation of not just his laugh but that she had been the one to cause it.

"So it would indeed."

She was caught so off guard at hearing Severus Snape laugh that she wasn't even sure what more she'd meant to say. If anything. Time to go Hermione, you're tired and need a good night's rest after a good soak.

"Anyway, I just wanted you to be aware. Whether he knows I'm magical or not is really irrelevant, Sir. Obviously from the appearance it's some sort of healing potion, but what if he grabbed the wrong thing? He shouldn't just be handing out potions to people."

"I will speak with him, of course. Thank you."

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"I was brewing," he said, pointing to a closed door quite a distance from here. That was obviously why it had taken him a while to get to the door.

"Oh, okay, well…"

"Miss Granger," he said. "Did you want the potion? It is a healing potion, no pain killer or anything. He knew what he was grabbing apparently. I have … aftereffects from repeated exposure to the cruciatus  as well as Nagini's bite so there are times I tell him which potions to grab for me. I didn't realize he knew, but I guess what I've been trying to teach him has taken fruit."

"I, oh," she said.

She briefly wondered what it would be like to have Severus Snape to teach her everything that he knew about not just potions but all the magical subjects. She had no doubt he was just as exacting in the other subjects as he had been with potions. And then she thought of the fact that this man over seven years later was still suffering aftereffects of his servitude and she felt really terrible worrying about a cut on her cheek and lip.

"I'm surprised you left your home looking like that this morning."

"Well, honestly, I barely looked at my reflection in the mirror after my shower this morning. I didn't get in until after two o'clock and laid in bed for about twenty minutes after my shower before getting dressed, debating about calling Mr. Bowden to tell him I couldn't make it today."

He chuckled. Somehow she sensed he knew that thought process, and the feelings that caused it, very well. "Well, I know Austin is pleased that you did not call out sick."

"You shouldn't insult a lady in such a fashion, suggesting they look anything but their best."

He tsked. "Have you actually looked in a mirror today, Miss Granger?"

She laughed softly. She was teasing him. He seemed to catch onto that fact, but she wasn't sure so rather than dig herself a bigger hole if he thought she was serious she shut up about it. "If you're sure it won't put you out. I can pay you…"

"Nonsense," he said, handing her the vial.

She took the stopper out and brought it to her nose, sniffing.

"Habit," she said at the questioning look he gave her.

He nodded, a glimmer of understanding and if she wasn't mistaken, respect in his eyes. "It is a good habit to be in."

She downed the potion, and handed him the empty vial. "Thank you, Sir," she said.

"You're welcome. Austin tells me that you are in law enforcement. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"In the muggle world?"

"Yes, Sir. Well, kind of, it's hard to explain. Ultimately, yes, I work with and among muggles."

"Well, this potion doesn't work that quickly. I presume that is why you didn't heal yourself last evening, people saw."

"Correct."

"I understand the mindset."

"I imagine you do."

"Anyway, you won't be completely healed come Monday morning, but it will heal faster and you should have no, or very limited, scarring on your cheek," he said, gesturing to the rather nasty split that was on her cheek. She knew the one on her lip would heal, albeit slowly.

"Well, I hope I didn't get Austin in trouble. I didn't know he'd seen me use magic."

"He's been instructed not to approach anyone. I'm surprised he brought you the potion, honestly, but it pleases me that he knew what he was looking for well enough to do so."

"He's obviously very bright, not that I'm surprised."

She imagined it wouldn't have mattered if Severus Snape married someone as dumb as a post. Well, maybe it would have mattered. Still, she wasn't surprised that the child of the smartest wizard she'd ever met had impressed her with how intelligent he was.

She eyed the room again. Austin had left them to their own devices it seemed.

"Well, good night then, Sir."

He sighed. "I am no longer your professor and have not been for years. I am also a free man as a result of your testimony and Minerva told me I have you to thank for my shared memories not going any further than they did. You may call me Severus."

"Oh, of course. Thank you. I'm sorry, again, if I disturbed your night."

"The potion is under a stasis."

"Good," she said. "I'll just go then. Tell Austin good night. Let him know I'm not mad at him, but it's not a habit he should get into. Staying past close, I mean. One day I might not work there weekends any longer and whoever replaces me may not check as thoroughly as I do that the store is empty and securely locked."

"Yes, well, I only let him go down there as often as he does because he is clearly fond of you and the Bowdens speak very highly of you. If you were to leave I imagine his interest in going down there several times a weekend would cease."

"Oh. Okay. Well, good night." She turned and walked to the door again, stopping at the threshold. She'd been wanting to ask his parents this question for a while and never had the chance before today. Who knew when it would present itself again? "Oh. Might I have permission to take him to the library one weekday after work?"

"I'm sorry?"

"He loves to read as do I. He talks about the books he's read and been read to all of the time. I go to the library at least twice a month. If he'd be interested and if you trust me I'd gladly get him some books."

He scoffed. He didn't seem upset by the question, but he also didn't know anything about her these days really. "We'll see, Miss Granger."

"Hermione, please."

"I shall work with him on saying your name properly."

"I kind of like Harmony, truth be told. Good night then, Severus," she said, crossing the threshold and taking the stairs back the way she'd come.

The store was already locked up for the night so she went out the building's main entrance and felt the wards wash over her as she crossed. Would she be able to get back in, she wondered? She had no reason to try tonight.

Story ©Susan Matthews/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com