Severus stared at the portrait in the headmistress' office. Minerva was kindly giving him some privacy to gather his things. No doubt hoping Albus could talk him into what she couldn't to this point. She was hoping being back in this castle would make him want to stay.

She was wrong. He was pretty certain there was nothing she - or a portrait - could say or do to convince him to extend his tenure in this castle. Twenty-seven years give or take was more than enough. Hogwarts could make do without him from here on out.

"What did you just say?"

His voice was almost panicked. Getting excited would not do right now as he was still healing and had to be careful not to overextend himself. He had to have heard wrong. He had not served as a spy for almost two decades only to be forced when the war was over to marry. It wasn't possible that the new Minister of Magic would do this! He liked Kingsley Shacklebolt. As much as he was able to like anyone anyway. Well, not anymore he didn't if that fool was thinking this was the way to go about things.

"You heard me, Severus."

So, his former boss and sometime friend spoke the truth and was … warning him. That begged to question, though, as Albus Dumbledore was not known for being forthright or honest.

So…

He scowled at the portrait and then finally asked the question he had to.

"Why are you telling me this?"

He was suspicious of this particular man, regardless of being merely a portrait, telling him anything useful.

"Because you have earned your freedom."

Severus scoffed at that. He had more than earned his freedom in his mind.

Okay, so it was going into effect, which meant it wasn't yet. That meant Albus was giving him a way to avoid it. That way being, leave. That made him suspicious. His eyes narrowed as he regarded the portrait.

"And they will let me leave?"  he asked.

"As long as you are gone before it is passed. What can they say? You are a free man. I doubt there are many who'd question your desire for a change of scenery, at least for a while. There were no charges brought against you for them to attempt to keep you here. I'd be quick about it. Time moves … differently for me, so I have no idea how long you might have."

Could he truly be sincere? Merlin, Severus hoped so. He truly wanted to believe that the man this portrait represented had cared for him after all. That it hadn't all been a ruse, a game, to get them to the end they did.

"Thank you, Albus."

"Good luck, Severus."

Good luck, indeed. Where in the hell could he go? Where in the hell would he want to go? The thought of being able to leave, of being free to do anything he pleased. Those were things that never occurred to him. He assumed he'd end up in Azkaban or dead. He still wasn't entirely sure how he'd survived.

He gathered the last of his things from the headmaster's office and left then. He'd stop and warn his godson. He deserved to know, too. He'd barely escaped an arranged marriage to Pansy Parkinson. The wizard was in no more a state of mind to deal with a marriage forced upon him than Severus was.

Chicago, Illinois, USA

September 9, 2001

Herbie Willis realized as he arrived in the park via apparition that he'd messed up. He meant to arrive near the shelter he noticed was closed all summer long.

He'd obviously focused on the wrong thing.

There were people everywhere.

That was not good.

Not good at all.

Most seemed busy with barbecues and whatnot so probably - maybe - no one would notice. He'd arrived very close to what was obviously a child's birthday party, though. In his experience, children noticed things adults didn't sometimes.

He could only hope they were all too preoccupied as to pay any attention to the fact he suddenly appeared. Or if they did pay him any attention they'd dismiss it as seeing things. It wasn't possible for people to appear out of thin air after all.

He stood for a moment, getting his bearings about him. Maybe he shouldn't have had that last shot before heading home.

Home was an apartment complex about two blocks down the street from the park. The park wasn't an official apparition point, but it hadn't been a problem until today. He had a magical roommate who had a muggle girlfriend so apparating into the apartment was out.

Thus coming here.

He left then, not walking too fast. He didn't want to draw attention to himself a second time by looking suspicious. A lone man at the park in and of itself wasn't suspicious, but appearing as though he was fleeing the area of a child's birthday party. That could be.

He would remember to focus better next time. With as hot and heavy as Greg was getting with his latest girlfriend, Herbie was assuming he'd be apparating to this park more often than not for a while.

He had to end up with a roommate who liked muggle women but never stayed with one long enough to tell them the truth.

September 11, 2001

"Mrs. Granger," her assistant Meredith Gaughan said.

If she had an American dollar for every time she was addressed by missus or madam she'd be on her way to being rich by now.

Hermione didn't bother correcting anyone anymore. It seemed to make others uncomfortable when she did, so she just let them call her madam or missus. It didn't hurt anything. Even though here in Chicago the magical community clearly had to know she'd been Hermione Granger as a student at Hogwarts during the war. Yes, it was another country and continent, but they still knew things.

She glanced at her assistant who was looking a little uncertain. Being a new division so many things fell on Hermione's shoulders that might not ordinarily. Couple that with her being new to Chicago and America as a whole. Well, they were still working things out. She was the only one as familiar with muggle practices on her team, too. Some had better knowledge than others, but all were pretty clueless. (Even more clueless than someone who'd just gotten here from Britain a few months ago.) So dealings with muggles and muggle officials fell to her. For now. That would change. Eventually she would ensure everyone was trained so that she could actually act like the head of the department.

God help her, she hoped that was what happened! And soon.

"Yes, Merrie," Hermione said.

"We're still waiting on that muggle police report for the Willis situation from Sunday."

Hermione sighed. Right. Herbert Willis. Apparated into a park he shouldn't have and been seen. She'd asked for that report at least twice yesterday. She understood Merrie's uncertainty now.

After the events out East earlier today, Hermione expected everything would be delayed now. She glanced at her watch and then out the magical window in her office that offered a faux view of downtown Chicago. Like London's Ministry of Magic headquarters, Chicago's was underground. The parking garage that sat above their building was hugely convenient for her when she elected to drive into work. (She did most of the time right now because she had to travel to muggle areas more often than not. She hoped that would change and driving would be required less.)

Her windows, however, (thankfully) weren't subject to the whims of maintenance workers. The view did change, but they always offered a view of something Hermione enjoyed seeing.

Today, she had a view of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium if she had to fathom a guess. She had to admit, Chicago was a lovely city. Fortunately, the magical world seemed rather … largely unaffected by what happened in America today. At least judging by the reaction to the news by those in her department. That didn't mean people weren't scared and nervous as well as sympathetic. Of course they were. These feelings - the fear and nervousness in particular - led to people reporting anything they deemed suspicious. It also meant some weren't thinking about that being the case and were doing stupid things. There were also some people who lived so completely as magical that they were basically unaware of muggle happenings.

Today's events were pretty major. Something she imagined would be featured prominently in tomorrow's Chicago Wizarding Herald . One thing she really liked about Chicago so far was that their magical paper actually strived to be a legitimate news source. Even the name just seemed to bring that point across.

Herbert Willis had been seen "suddenly appearing" at a park near a child's birthday party over the weekend, which meant it was prior to today's events. Any other weekend it would have been dismissed by those who'd seen it; brushed off as seeing or not noticing things.

He must have been behind a tree - o r something that dismissed the fact they knew they saw someone suddenly appear somewhere they weren't a moment ago.

The afternoon of September eleventh, however, after the morning's events in New York and Washington, DC, several calls had poured in evidently from people who had been at the park at the time. Their calls were easily handled because they were magical people, calling to report someone's misuse of apparition. Muggles were calling the police, too, wanting to report seeing something they deemed suspicious, even if it hadn't seemed so to them at the time. This led to her department being contacted.

This meant Herbert Willis would receive a violation of the Statute of Secrecy letter. It and the reports, both muggle and magical, would be in his file for seven years.

They weren't aurors. What Herbert Willis had done wasn't illegal or a crime, which was what her department was supposed to do. Ease the pressure of the aurors being called out to every single thing that happened. In a city the size of Chicago, that could be a lot of things.

Memories of many were altered and a plausible excuse given as to why Herbert had not been there one minute and then there the next. Being a public park, however, people made reports that went beyond those the DMLE had found. For that matter there might be some out there who used regular, non-digital, cameras who wouldn't see Herbert's sudden appearance until after they developed their pictures.

The local Chicago Police Department precinct had a few reports on the issue that needed to be filed with Mr. Willis' magical report in their department. Along with the reports would be a formal written warning. The public park he'd appeared at was not a recommended apparition point. Had it happened a week prior, this probably wouldn't have been an issue at all.

Stupid.

Not that she could blame people for reporting it. Especially when people still, this afternoon, didn't seem to know what had actually happened out East. Well, they knew what happened, they didn't know what it meant. Or if something was going to happen here.

It was close to the end of her day, but if they hadn't sent it by now it meant they'd forgotten. Or more likely, given events, gotten busy with things that were, when it got down to it, more important. She could call, but there was no telling she'd actually get the reports. She could just imagine the reaction of the person on the other end of the line for Hermione calling for copies of those reports today. There was no reason for something like this case to remain open any longer than tomorrow. They couldn't formally warn the wizard, though, without the file being complete.

"Fine. I guess I'll go down there and get the reports they have myself and then call it a day. I'll bring them in with me tomorrow morning."

"Have a good night," Merrie said, clearly relieved at this development. Merrie seemed to expect Hermione to have a fit or yell at her. Hermione slid out of her robes and grabbed her lightweight muggle jacket before heading out. It was almost eighty degrees Fahrenheit so she didn't need it, but tomorrow it would be closer to sixty when she started her day.

She stopped by her friend Annie's desk, glad it was on her way out. She almost forgot to confirm their girls date for the evening. "I have to go fetch a police report or two. Are we still on for dessert later?"

"Yes. I was hoping you still wanted to. Bruce and I are looking forward to it. I would understand if you want to cancel, but I think it will be good for both of us not to be home by ourselves all evening."

She doubted Bruce knew to be looking forward to anything since he wasn't three yet, but Hermione appreciated the sentiment. Annie was right. Today was not a day to be alone, thinking and watching the news on an endless loop.

Annie was Hermione's only friend here these days. So far anyway. She was working at putting herself out there, but it wasn't easy. They weren't quite to best friend level yet, but that bar was set rather high. Hermione imagined it would come with time if it was supposed to. For whatever reason, though, they'd clicked. It helped, she supposed, that Bruce and Cade got along. As Hermione had never experienced that before without trolls involved she was a little suspect at first. It seemed, though, that Annie really liked her.

"Excellent. See you around seven then."

Dinner during the week didn't work very well due to their schedules, but once a month they tried to get together for dessert. Wine was usually in there, too. Tonight was that night.

It took her nearly thirty minutes to drive to the precinct in question. Sometimes she apparated to and from work, but she liked the commute. It gave her a little break most mornings and evenings that she found she needed and welcomed most days. It provided her time to collect her thoughts before she got to work and put them away before she arrived home. Not everything she dealt with was apparating to the wrong spot. Plus, she never knew when she was going to have to go somewhere muggle for work, and arriving without a car where there wasn't a bus or train stop nearby was suspicious.

She also didn't know the city's apparition points well enough yet in conjunction with other landmarks to feel comfortable getting to the right place in a timely fashion (and without her name showing up in a Chicago police report like Herbert Willis'!).

She'd get there, Hermione imagined, with time and familiarity. It was one of the reasons that she did these errands. So that she would get familiar faster with the area. She could have sent someone else, but it gave her an excuse to see the city that was now her home.

She got to the office in the precinct building where she'd be able to get a copy of the police reports in question, flashing her badge that allowed her access. She still wasn't sure how she felt about having a badge.

"Hi. I'm looking for a police report involving Herbert Willis. I think there might be a few actually," she said.

She slid a piece of paper across the countertop to the clerk. It had Herbie's information on it as well as the date and time of the suspicious behaviour.

"They were supposed to be faxed to my office this morning, but haven't arrived yet. I'm sure you're extraordinarily busy today, but I can't do my job until I get them."

It took a few minutes for the clerk to get and put them together for her. The woman was clearly ready for her day to end (Hermione didn't want to imagine the type of calls and customers she'd had to deal with all day). With that in mind, she made sure to sincerely thank the obviously frazzled woman.

She stepped aside, thumbing through the reports before leaving to ensure she didn't get one that wasn't regarding Herbert Willis. There were four here. There was no way for Hermione to know if this was all of them, but four was enough to show he'd done something he shouldn't have to warrant the warning letter he'd get. She slid the police reports into her briefcase with an undetectable extension charm on it. She did not put anything in it but work papers, but still getting her feet under her, there were days she had a lot more paperwork than would fit in the briefcase normally.

That done, she turned and literally bumped into someone. A very tall, not easily moveable somebody. She had heard the door open and close, but hadn't paid attention to someone else coming into the office after she had. Showed how attentive she'd been, which was unusual for her. She had to remind herself that this was a police station. She was safe here. No one knew she was in Chicago. Well, her friends did, but they weren't going to tell anyone. What happened today was muggle not wizard centric and was not someone trying to call her out. (Never mind she was in the Midwest, hundreds of miles away from today's events.)

That had been one of the conditions of her taking this position. It was not to be released as a headline. The American Ministry, try as they might, didn't understand rogue Death Eaters or their hangers-on who might still want to harm her. She wasn't hiding exactly, but she did not want to be a headline or the poster child for any new things the magical world was attempting in their rebuilding efforts.

She wanted anonymity if she hauled her arse to another continent. It was one of the reasons, too, she'd kept to herself somewhat thus far. She'd explored muggle parts of Chicago but hadn't gotten deep into the magical parts yet that weren't job related.

Her thoughts returned to the person she'd bumped into.

"I'm terribly sorry. That's what I get for not watching where I'm going."

"And it's a day that ends in Y. Good to know some things never change."

Her eyes shot up to his face, but it was totally unnecessary.

She knew that voice.

An argument could be made she supposed that she'd possibly think any voice with a British accent would sound familiar after a few months of only hearing her own and Cade's. That wasn't the case with this one. She definitely knew it. She'd even dreamt of the man it belonged to a few times over the past couple of years.

She knew his scent, too, now that she had time to process it. It had been three years since she heard or smelled him. Four really.

Seeing him unconscious at St. Mungo's didn't count. Nor did seeing him at his trial. (Of course he hadn't even been conscious for his trial, something that she found absolutely abhorrent. The man hadn't had a chance to defend himself! He hadn't needed to between her and Harry, but that wasn't the point! It was absolutely barbaric. She knew, too, that he would have loathed being on display like that.)

She cleared her throat, wanting to hide her shock, but she was failing. Damn being a Gryffindor sometimes.

"Mr. Snape. To say I'm surprised to see you here has to be the understatement of the decade."

"Mm. I could say the same about you, Miss Granger."

"Yes, well," she said, trying to discreetly take him in.

He'd been in a magically induced coma the last she saw him to allow his neck the best chance to heal. Certainly, today was a vast improvement over that last image of him. Her breath caught when she met his eyes, assessing her no doubt.

"I'm running a bit late, and really have to get home. Rush hour traffic. Who knows how brutal it will be today!" She said the first thing that came to mind to get out of this encounter. If she was better at small talk perhaps she would have had something witty to say. He didn't seem any more comfortable than she did seeing one another like this.

He frowned a bit at that. Ha! She surprised him. She stood a little taller at that realization. No doubt he expected her to babble his ears off. (Not to say that she couldn't, but she really did have to get home.)

"I'm glad to see you appear as though you are doing well, Mr. Snape, and hope that you have a good evening."

"You as well," he said, sounding polite. Certainly, it was a more … civil conversation than she'd ever had with Severus Snape. She gave a slight smile at that idea.

She shifted her briefcase from her right hand to her left before offering her hand to him. He took it after a moment's pause. She nodded a bit before letting go and making her way out of the office so she could get out of there. She couldn't stay. She would do something absolutely humiliating like invite him for a drink or dinner to "catch up". As if they had anything to catch up on. (And as if she didn't already have plans for the evening.)

She was dreadfully curious, though!

She made it home, pretty sure she'd never be able to tell anyone who asked exactly how she managed or even which route she took.

What was Severus Snape doing in Chicago? Forget Chicago, the police station!? She should count herself lucky. If there was anyone she could run into and assume he was not going to run off and gossip about it, well, it was Severus Snape.

"Mummy," the excited cry took her out of her thoughts.

She stooped down, placing one knee on the floor as she took her son into her arms. She gave him a big hug, kissing the top of his head and then his cheek. She hugged him extra tight given all that had happened today. She breathed in, taking in the scent of him and assuring herself that he really was okay even though she knew nothing had happened near them.

"How are you today, Cade?" She brushed back a few of his unruly locks of hair. She'd thought about giving him a military type cut, but she kind of liked his hair.

"Good."

"And school?"

He rolled his eyes. She asked this question every night. He wasn't thrilled about it every night. "Fine," he muttered and she chuckled softly, ruffling his hair.

"I'm going to see about dinner. Annie and Bruce are coming later so you can tell me all about it while we eat before they get here."

School at this age consisted of learning his numbers, letters, colours, body parts, and things like that.

She found Pispy in the living room, cleaning up from the day's activities with Cade. Cade could be busy so some days there was more to clean up than others.

"Good evening, Pispy."

"Goods evening, Madam Granger."

She had balked at using a house elf, but she came with adopting Cade. She'd thought about letting her go (discreetly), but when she'd seen the cost of actual daycare. Well she'd had to rethink her stance. Pispy was a free elf and had been with them since the beginning. She loved Cade, and the feeling seemed mutual.

"I'm going to see to dinner."

"Yes, madam I will keep Master Cade busy."

"Thank you."

Thoughts of her day, and seeing Severus Snape, were forgotten as she prepared dinner. It was something she'd gotten more than a little adept at, and it was relaxing in a way. She was never going to be Molly Weasley in a kitchen, but she and Cade didn't starve. She also ensured she actually had a dessert and bottle of wine for Annie coming over with her son Bruce later. That would be just her luck, her friend coming over and having nothing to offer them. Well, nothing to offer Annie. Bruce and Cade would be happy with a couple of Oreos each. And despite her upbringing of little sweets in the house, Hermione always had a package of cookies on hand.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com