A Change Of Pace

A/N: This is another "adventures of Professors Snape and Granger" story. Severus and Hermione belong to JKR, but their adventure is all mine.

I´m not even supposed to be here.

I´m supposed to be in my office, finishing up some last-minute grading. Re-reading Moste Potente Potions for the hundredth time. Ruminating over the fact that I´m celibate and largely avoided. Thinking of all the curses I´ll cast on Black if I ever see him again. Drinking my nightly glass of wine, taking a shower and going to bed.

But instead, I´m riding the tube, listening to two amateur musicians playing off to the side. They´re actually quite good, considering they´re playing with barely enough room for a briefcase in here. Evening rush hour is over, yet it seems the entire city is holed up in here. It smells of sweat, stale crisps, and... perfume. Her perfume. A mixture of roses, jasmine, lilac and white ginger that suits her well. Our robes are gone and we are wearing only what we had on underneath; simple blouses and trousers.

She´s sitting next to me. She insisted I come.

I really hadn´t had much choice in the matter. But to my surprise, I find I do not mind.

We had a nice enough meeting in Hogsmeade, the usual place for us to gather--sip drinks, trade stories and engage in some good-natured one-upmanship about whose students were more insufferable this week. And at the end I was making ready to retire as usual.

But this time, she wouldn´t let me off so easily. "It´s not even eight o´clock," she said. "I´m not ready to go home yet."

"Well, I am," I said. "I have important work to do."

She then gave me a look. That look. The one that instantly told me she didn´t believe me. Then she confirmed my suspicions with a sigh. "You say that every weekend, every time we go out. Is your work that important?"

"It is, Miss Granger, and I´ll thank you not to--"

"What´s so important that you cannot try something different? Something new?"

I was fuming. She should have known better than to get impertinent with me, even if she is no longer a student. But somehow, I could not retort. Had she slipped Tongue-Tying Potion into my cabernet?

"Come on, Severus, you spend all your free time--when you´re not with me-- working, or sitting in your room alone. You know what they say about all work and no play..."

My rising blood pressure made me find my voice again. "I have responsibilities, Miss Granger..."

"...And I say tonight your responsibility is with me. I´m sorry, Professor, but I just can´t see you fritter away yet another beautiful Friday evening like this."

I could not believe her. The cheekiness! Fritter away? "So that´s all the respect you have for my time?"

"No, I say that because I respect your time, Severus."

I opened my mouth to ask her where she had so tragically misplaced that logic of hers, but I became tongue-tied again. Embarrassment sliced through me as I failed to grasp any more words, and she sat there with eyes that did not scold as her voice did, but rather looked almost... pleading.

Damn, I hate it when she´s right.

And judging from the golden light out the window, it indeed looked to be a beautiful evening.

"All right," I said, resigned. She looked relieved. "You win. Now, where did you have in mind?"

"Well..." She started to look deeply thoughtful... "I have the perfect place in mind, but you´re going to have to trust me."

"I don´t trust you."

Ignoring me, she deftly grabbed my hand, and before I could say anything more, she whipped out her wand and chanted the Apparating Spell.

In the midst of the rush of air I demanded, "What are you doing?"

"Wait!"

"No, I will not wait, Miss Granger!" The air now picked up to gale force.

"Don´t let go!"

"You´re damn right I´m not letting go--" then I felt the thud of my feet hitting concrete, and the air stilled. I closed my eyes and did not want to open them. Her hand still clasped mine. Then my nose twitched. The aroma of butterbeer and fried apples had given way to the stink of rubbish. I opened my eyes to find us standing in an alley, a large metal bin not ten feet away. I heard footsteps and conversation from behind.

"You think this is an improvement?"

"Actually, this isn´t the right place yet--"

"Miss Granger, take us back to Hogsmeade this instant!"

"Not yet, Severus. We just got here. And for the Gods´ sake, call me by my real name!" She raised her wand, and when she brought it down I found that our robes had disappeared.

The nerve of her! "And give me back my robes!"

"We can´t very well keep them, we wouldn´t exactly blend in the crowd with them on. Now come on!" She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the milling crowd.

This was a mistake from the beginning. After you´ve sent her to Azkaban, promise yourself that you will never be dragged around like this again.

"I will have some interesting tales to tell the Department of Magical Law Enforcement when we return, dearie."

Her lips curled for a minute. "Hmmm. I think I liked it better when you called me Miss Granger. Anyway, you can´t prosecute me."

"Oh yes I can. For kidnapping and detaining a man against his will."

"But it´s not against your will. You just said you´d come with me a few minutes ago." I swallowed. She was right.

What have I gotten myself into? "The least you could do is tell me where we´re going," I said.

She turned to me and smiled, her grip loosening a little. "Some place I haven´t been to in a long time... and I just had to show you, too, Severus." The crowd we were moving with had now entered a rather ugly building. I looked off to the left to see Saint Paul´s Cathedral illuminated by the evening light.

My Gods, she´s taken us to Muggle London.

I still could have prosecuted her for that. After all, her behavior was execrable.

But as we pushed through the turnstile and down the stairs leading to the tube, I felt my anger start to cool off. Maybe she was right, maybe I did need a change of pace.