Hermione could feel herself shaking, and when the warm air hit her face, it did not soothe her as she hoped it would be able to.

"You are nervous," the rich voice beside her supplied.

She looked over, and regretted the side view of his nose almost immediately. The rest of his face was admittedly handsome in its own aspect, but she dreaded that nose of his, and his eyes even more. He was... imposing, and old, and she wanted nothing to do with him. Hermione's astonishment at her situation only grew as time passed by.

"I am," she spoke to the air before her, spotting several of their workers weeding the plants and trimming the roses.

This sufficed as a proper watch?

"I have faith that you will be for a while, and my reassurance that you shouldn't be nervous will not help you either. I want us to get along, Miss Granger, despite that."

Hermione let out a breath, knowing what he wanted of her would not be easy on her part. He was a stranger! Coming into her life to take it over and change it like a red dye to fabric.

"As do I," she replied nonetheless.

"I admire your gardens... have they always been at your manor?"

"As far back as I can recall."

He replied with a hum, allowing her to guide them straight through to the back. She could not have cared less it was the path which was most boring.

"What are your talents?" Master Snape inquired.

She tried not to let her unsettled mind show at his question because it would be extremely unkind of her, not to mention a slight to his character if she began to refuse him. There was no slighting a family like either of theirs.

"I read, I am wonderful with children, and I can sew. Though, that is only a product of my caretaker when I was young."

He stopped moving, and in turn, Hermione ceased guiding him forward. He looked at her again, and she couldn't avoid his black eyes, focused on her intently and with doubt.

What could he possibly doubt about her abilities? The abilities almost every normal woman of her class held.

"There must be more, surely. I was assured by your father you have rare qualities."

Hermione wondered if she could actually speak of her intellect or not... especially because the same man who mentioned she was unique taught her to fall to Master Snape's intelligence.

"I know... things, I suppose."

"What's your favorite subject of study?" He encouraged, their contact no longer in place, but the connected gazes was still enough to unnerve her all the same.

"I enjoy arithmetic and studying animals. There is a fascination I take to the natural world."

"Ah, the way it seeds life in almost every corner."

Hermione let a smile pass her lips, "Bar the arctics."

"Ice is home to many creatures, in reality."

"But not us, we weren't fit for the North and South."

He looked at her with a smooth impression, "And you say you enjoy maths?"

Hermione heard the tone he held and wondered if she'd made a mistake revealing herself.

"Well-"

"That's a wonderful quality in which I am rubbish. If I ever am in need of help with the accounts, can I depend upon you?" Master Snape seemed hopeful, though she was worried still.

Would he tell her father that she was too smart? Would she be the cause of her family's shame the second time around when he decided he would not marry her?

"Of course, but my duties aren't as such, I have no place there, obviously, within your books and monetary associations," she began to stutter, hopefully recovering the muck-up she already imagined had occurred.

The ground was dry from the summer, and it was fascinating to look at it below her feet. That is, until a warm hand hooked under her chin and brought it up gently to meet black eyes once again. Hermione hated his eyes.

"You have a place anywhere you wish when my estate becomes ours. I do not wish to force down any natural abilities you enjoy. Do you play an instrument, or enjoy music at all?"

She'd played the piano proficiently for two years now, as her mother hadn't wanted her to live a life without music or some form of entertainment she could provide herself... when she was alone, that is.

"I suppose I have a talent in piano."

He smiled, it seemed to please him greatly as he looked quite impressed and finally dropped the hand that had kept their stare intact.

"I love the sound of a piano. I have one, but I do not play, it seems fate has aligned an opportunity for us both."

Hermione wasn't so sure fate was working in her favor in that moment.

She attempted a smile regardless, putting on a brave face for the sake of cordiality.

"So I will be allowed to play?"

"Allowed?" He echoed, stunned at the fact she had even asked the question, though Hermione had felt as though it were a most necessary inquiry. "You are allowed to do as you wish, I shan't keep you from any of your wants or occupations. You could study right under me if you wished, or barely see me while there is light to the day. I am not your captor, Miss Granger."

"Father told me I was to quell my education, as I was afforded one on the same level as yours," she told him, not entirely sure why she had. If he reacted badly to the news it could ruin the marriage and her entire reputation.

She only earned what could almost be considered a smile.

"I would be more than delighted to battle wits with my wife."

Hermione smiled fondly, "You have no idea how relieving that is to hear."

Snape nodded curtly in return, and she let him reach out for her arm so they could continue their walk. Suddenly, things were going better than she could have hoped for their future prospects. Was there a chance she could be happy? Not having to keep down who she truly was had to be one of the pro's to this situation, if there were no others.

"To an only daughter, I am sure it is much relief. Rumors, however, still must cloud your mind about who I am. Not all of them are nice."

Cheeks turning bright red, Hermione asked him if he'd heard all of the circulating rumors about himself that were none too kind. She could already have vouched that several of them were very untrue, though others would not be disproved until much later in their relationship.

"I have heard a few," he said with a mixture of distaste and disregard on his pale face, "All of them horrendously out of the plain of reality if you asked any sane member of society. I am a doctor, for heaven's sake."

Hermione genuinely laughed at this, which earned her an icy side-glance that was so juxtaposed to the smile creeping over his lips.

"My apologies, that was simply quite funny."

"I tend to have humor when I desire it," he said lightly, appeasing her with assurance that she had not offended him.

She couldn't help but smile this time, feeling as though a lot of her worries were slowly ebbing away. There was still the factor of their age difference, and his many years over her knowledge, but so far, things seemed to be looking up. There was freedom in her sights, and maybe even more so than the amount she had in her current home.

"May I speak freely?" She said curiously, wondering just how far this man's leniency would go.

A quick look from Severus Snape and she was assured she could.

"I was rather terrified today, meeting you. I had little idea of why we must be here or why it had to be me who fulfilled this odd Granger contract, but I do not think everything will turn out too horribly now that I have met you. Though I do have some questions I would like to pose if you wish not to cut me off of my free speech?"

"Not at all, for I was just as horrified as you today, if not more so. You are barely an adult, and I expected you to run in disgust at the sight of me. I know I lack the handsome quality most men your age do not, but I remained hopeful in the off chance you were as brilliant as I have found you to be," Snape replied with a chuckle and breath of relief.

It was good to hear that her fear was mutual, and so was her fright stemming from their age difference. She never would have run from him, it was not proper, but would she have thrown up that evening if he had been a disgusting, old, fat doctor? Possibly.

"Do you care that many of my friends are male?"

"As long as when you are my wife, I take precedence over them if need be. Though I hope not to have to call on you unless absolutely necessary when you are busy."

Hermione smiled.

"You should meet them, I enjoy their presence more than anything. One is a Potter, if you've possibly heard of that family? His parents died very young, giving him title."

"I... nearly married his mother." They'd stopped moving again, and she looked over to see why, having broken off of his arm to gaze upon a still and horrified visage.

She was feeling much more like she was going to be sick now.

Why hadn't she known that this man had almost been married to Harry's mother? That was information which nearly scared her silly. Of course, respectable families married, and the Evans were not hard-pressed, nor are the Snapes.

"You must be jesting."

"Hardly," he said with contempt, "She was swept off her feet by a Potter just before I had intended to ask for her hand. I had even had her parents' permission."

A small 'o' formed on Hermione's mouth, but no noise came from her shock. She didn't know what to truly make of such a revelation. He'd loved someone else once? That meant the chances of them being more than friends had just vanished before her eyes... not as though she had truly wanted intimacy beyond the necessary heir for the Snape name.

They were getting along rather well, and it seemed that there was no reason that they would not do so in the future. Hermione only wished she'd known such an earth-shattering factoid.

"I truthfully have no idea what to say." She'd forgotten any of the other questions she had wished to pose at that point.

"That pang is past, I have had some years to recover."

He seemed reluctant to mention his age, as if him wanting to marry Harry's mother had not been enough to remind them both harshly.

"Regardless, he is a lovely friend. Soon to be marrying my other friend, Ron Wesley's sister. She's getting a rather large boost society wise, if you understand what I mean about her status."

Black eyes looked even more disconcerting under raised eyebrows. How imperial this man was, Hermione wasn't sure how she would look on his arm as his wife. Would she even be able to compare?

The thought left her mind almost immediately as she walked up to him and ignored the crunch of rocks under her heels. Ignoring the warmth, Hermione took his hand, not caring about the gasp of one of their many gardeners.

"Will you come back again, before the wedding?"

"We have much planning to do. Though, if work calls, I have a duty to my patients to answer their needs. I have two expecting mothers on watch, and a few other sick elderly. They come first no matter the day or occasion. Can you accept that burden Miss Granger?"

He seemed to seriously want to try and make things work with her, and seeing that they had no choice, Hermione thought it meant a lot.

"Of course, Master Snape," she assured him, knowing that he may have been serious about the fact that on the other end of his question, he was allowing her refusal.

His smile was gone in an instant, and soon Hermione found them walking back towards the manor with their arms locked for a final time that evening.

When he said his goodbyes, Master Snape had gently risen her hand and placed a very tender kiss to the skin that was there, and she blushed when he made eye-contact with her and winked.

Hermione watched him leave with a lot more of a resolve than when he'd arrived in his self-driven carriage.

They were all standing in the main hall as they watched the carriage go off, and as soon as she could, Hermione turned on her parents and looked at them as disapprovingly as she felt she was allowed.

"Are you alright, dear?" Her mother asked, a knowing look much more covered than her father's.

"You both knew I had no need to quell my knowledge!" She said much more aggressively than she intended to, hoping they just brushed it off as her father broke into laughter.

"We wanted you to be pleasantly surprised when he inquired into you with interest. Your mother simply wanted you to be happier than you would have been if you had known. Are you not more grateful now than you would have been if we told you he was an amiable man?"

Hermione sighed, breathing deeply to cool down her temper. Her parents were too good to her, and now she was going to have a husband who also treated her with more fairness than society said she deserved. How lucky Hermione truly was.

"When will he be back?" She asked them dutifully, wondering if they had set up another time without her knowing.

"We'll know as soon as he returns a letter from you," her mother told her knowingly.

Hermione bolted up the stairs, not forgetting her manners as she told them both thankful words and dismissed her presence.

Her parents merely shared a glance of pride and continued on with their day. There was a wedding that needed planning, after all.

A/N

Happy New Year!

Hope you liked it!

Thoughts, guesses, inquiries?