Severus drew the camera away from his face at the sight of Hermione Granger through the lens, certain he was seeing things. He shook his head, expelling a deep breath when he realized that he was, in fact, not seeing things. Their first encounter yesterday could be chalked up to a random happenstance. That had been at a different police precinct, too.

What were the odds?

She'd crossed his mind more than once the past few hours sitting here waiting and watching, wondering what she was doing in Chicago. Why had she been at the police station yesterday? Why hadn't she asked him any questions other than how he was? And why did he find she was pleasing to his eyes? Was it just seeing someone from magical Britain for the first time in a while? Those questions were the reason he thought he might be seeing things. Sitting in his motor car alone, his mind was prone to wandering on occasion.

It had never wandered to a witch before today. Merlin, he couldn't remember the last time thoughts of any witch had passed through his mind, even Lily. Thoughts of Lily were usually instigated by his former boss and sometimes friend. It had taken Severus a long time to realize that he probably would have gotten over her in a normal manner if the other wizard hadn't twisted the memory of her into his mind and soul like a knife. Albus had kept Lily's memory fresh in his mind on purpose, of course. Severus realized now the reasons the headmaster had behind it. He thought he'd lose his spy (untrue). It had been quite a few years since errant thoughts of that particular witch had happened. A sure sign that he was in a much better place now than he had been for a very long time. (The lack of a Dark Lord and war might have something to do with that.)

He certainly hadn't been thinking of Lily when his mind wandered - more than once - to the fact that Miss Granger looked rather nice when he saw her yesterday for the first time in four years.

And there was no other witch who had drifted to his thoughts over the years when he had time to daydream. Enhancements to potions. Ideas for potions. New spells. Yes, those were where his thoughts went when he had time to dally.

A woman? No.

Until now.

In part, yes, it was due to the shock of her not bombarding him with a million questions about his presence. Or his health. Or his service as a spy. Or any number of things she could have nattered on about. He hadn't really registered that he'd run into her to begin with until she'd left. He'd expected it as soon as he recognized her voice, instinctively braced for it even.

And it hadn't come.

She hadn't asked him anything really, other than how he was doing. So … normal. As if they were old friends and how he was doing was actually something she was curious about.

It had taken him a good ten minutes after she'd left to realize that fact. And when he had, another ten minutes or so to get over the … shock at not being asked to recount every detail of the past four years of his life. (Three really, she was aware of the events leading up to the final battle and his role in them by now he was sure. He was fairly certain portrait Albus told him she and Harry had testified on his behalf at his trial. Being unconscious at the time he had no recollection of that happening.)

It was also in part due to the fact that he realized she had looked … fetching. He'd say nice but he'd come to the conclusion this morning (when his mind wandered to thoughts of their brief encounter yesterday) that undersold her appearance a ton. Gone was the seventeen year old swot he'd seen last. In that witch's place was a confident, attractive woman.

She'd shaken his hand, offering hers first. That was unusual as well for people who knew him from that other life.

After the shock of seeing her and not being quizzed to death wore off, he hoped to run into her on the sidewalk outside the precinct. He might have even been inclined to ask her to join him for a drink. Because he was curious what the witch was doing in Chicago of all places, of course. There would absolutely be no other reason he'd ask.

The irony in that.

She'd been gone. He hadn't looked overly hard for her, but he had glanced along the sidewalk in either direction to see if she was there. He could admit, now, he had been slightly disappointed that she hadn't waited for him.

Seeing her again today, the very next day, at a different precinct in a city as large as Chicago had him questioning the coincidence. What was she doing here? Had she been sent here to gather information on him? Why was she the first person he'd encountered since disappearing from wizarding Britain three years ago?

They had been talking marriage laws and other such nonsense then. Kingsley knew better, or Severus had thought he did at any rate. He was obviously being pressured by someone. Or influential someones. (No doubt the same influential someones who hadn't believed Potter when he'd announced the Dark Lord had returned.)

Severus was having none of that.

He wouldn't say he'd go so far as to take his own life to get out of it. He had been told by Albus that as long as he was out of Britain before the decree was handed down he would be exempt.

It wasn't even Kinglsey who had told him that bit of information. Not a word (and he likely wasn't going to forget that if he ever saw the man again.) Albus had also assured the wizard that no permanent address remained on file for Severus linking him to Britain if he were to leave. (Proof Albus felt some guilt? Severus would never know, but he hoped so.)

Severus' being pressured and indentured status had come to an end May 2, 1998.

When Severus had asked the Minister of Magic about this development - wanting to be sure that Albus wasn't having a bit of fun at his expense one last time - Kingsley had said that he would try to get Severus exempt from any such laws that were forthcoming. He didn't want to flee his home country for nothing!

Severus knew full well how that would turn out. They'd realize at the end they did require it of him, and he'd be shackled with someone who was the female equivalent of Percy Weasley because they were at the bottom of the barrel.

Not that he was any great prize. He realized this. However, he could at least hope for intellectual compatibility in a match. (Not that Percy himself was a moron, but an intelligent idiot was not who Severus wanted to spend the rest of his days with either.)

After that conversation with Kingsley, assured this truly had the potential of happening, he had packed and closed up the Spinners End house so it was prepared to be empty for a while. He thought about selling it, but the taxes weren't that much so decided to leave it for a while to ensure leaving was what he truly wanted. As good as the idea of being elsewhere sounded to him, Britain was home when all was said and done.

Three years later, he was pretty sure he wasn't going back now, but he'd still made no effort to list his childhood home on the market. He didn't consider himself a sentimental man by any means, but something stopped him from taking that final step at cutting all ties with his past.

Ten years ago he would have been certain he would have sold that house as soon as he'd had the chance and would have laughed at anyone who told him he'd do differently. Yet something made him hold onto it.

His last stop before leaving Wizarding Britain was to turn in his wand to the Ministry of Magic.

The twit at the Ministry had been shocked he'd turned in his wand. He'd gotten a good chuckle at that. No doubt it was reported to Kingsley almost immediately, and the Minister would know precisely what message Severus Snape was sending the man.

Honestly, turning it in had not been as much of a hardship as he'd expected. He'd had it for twenty-seven years. It was familiar and yet, it no longer suited him or his needs. He had gotten a new one as soon as he got to a place in America he'd wanted to call home. Besides, he was capable of doing most magic wandlessly.

So here she was again today, obviously not a figment of his imagination yesterday. She was dressed very much as she fit right in here in muggle Chicago. She also looked as fetching as she had yesterday.

Put together.

A women's business suit with a skirt instead of trousers, which fell just above her knee. Not too short as to be indecent, just short enough to be … fetching.

Or enticing.

A nice pair of heels that accentuated a shapely pair of legs completed the outfit.

Her hair was contained nicely even. As if she had put forth some effort. He couldn't help but wonder who the effort was for. Was there a wizard in her life? She hadn't corrected him when he'd addressed her as Miss Granger, and he was pretty sure he would have heard if she'd married.

He took a couple pictures of her and realized he'd gotten lucky that the reason he was here today hadn't left the building without Severus noticing.

Stupid to let her gain his attention so fully. He didn't usually get distracted. Until now he had nothing to be distracted by. It was one of the reasons he had become as successful as he had the past couple of years.

People seemed to know he wasn't going to fuck around on their dime.

It also helped that due to his … abilities he always got the money shot as it were.

These days, the bulk of his work was for corporations whose employees claimed they were injured on the job. Some were really hurt, most were not. Oftentimes, he was what stood between the claimant and a hefty settlement.

That wasn't what he started doing, though. He initially worked out of his home. He'd done just about every cheating spouse, lost child, estate dispute, and divorce settlement case that had money to pay him. Eventually, he got a small office in a building where quite a few lawyers and insurance companies rented space. The companies started paying attention to his success rate and happy customers. (Who knew Severus Snape could make people happy and be thanked , nay, appreciated for his work.)

He didn't have to do cheating spouse or divorce cases anymore. He avoided them as often as he could, but he still had bills to pay so if it was a lean month and someone needed help who was willing to pay his retainer fee. Well, he took the job. He had savings, but to this point had avoided needing to dip into them other than purchasing furnishings for his flat. He wanted to keep it that way because if he wanted to be ready to leave on a moment's notice at all times.

He was here today because he'd been hired by the city. They believed one of their police officers was helping smuggle drugs and guns into some of the city's worst streets and neighbourhoods. He'd just started today, so was here to get the lay of the land, see what the officer's routine and habits were. He'd watch him for a few days on and off to get a feel for his schedule before starting any actual surveillance.

He didn't always have time to do pre-surveillance, but he happened to be in between cases so it worked out well. This was a potentially huge job for him.

If he was successful with it. Well, he liked to think he would be pretty well set. If one police precinct spoke highly of him in a situation like this, others would fall in step. He would like very much not to have to do another cheating spouse surveillance again.

He saw her again a short while later, talking with what Severus decided had to be a plainclothes police officer. He'd come to know "the look" by now. He took in the area, assuring himself that Officer Coopersmith was nowhere to be found. That confirmed, he took a few shots of Miss Granger and the officer as they talked. It didn't seem to be a business discussion, but nothing about their posture suggested an overly personal one either.

Until the man set a hand on her shoulder. The gesture suggested familiarity. She didn't look pleased with that turn of events.

At all.

He sat there for a minute or two at least, waiting for her to get him to remove his hand from her person. If she was trying to tell him to get his hand off of her, he wasn't listening.

Men like him rarely did in Severus' experience. Severus did not need to know this one because he fit the type. He'd seen hundreds of them at Hogwarts over the years.

The man was not proving to be an exception. With a deep breath, Severus set his camera down on the passenger seat and charmed it to look like a bag of rubbish before exiting his vehicle and walking in the direction of his former student.

He hoped this wasn't a mistake.

People were acting first and thinking later right now with yesterday's events so he figured it was better to be safe than have something happen to her (or the other man).

"Miss Granger," he called when he was close enough that he wouldn't draw too much attention to himself. He was still here on a job so it wouldn't do to be noticed. "Is that really you?"

"Miss? Since when are you a miss?"

So, she wasn't a miss any longer? That surprised Severus. He was pretty sure he would have heard about Hermione Granger getting married. He didn't pay the Daily Prophet any mind, but she was a big enough name that, had she married, it would have been a headline everywhere. Even in Chicago. And he recalled again she hadn't corrected him yesterday when he'd addressed her as such.

He saw a look of relief on her face, fleeting as it was but he was rather adept at reading this witch even if it had been a few years since he had reason to. Gratitude was in there, too.

"Mr. Snape. How lovely to see you again."

Now that hadn't been the response he expected. She actually sounded as if she … meant it.

"You as well of course," he said, giving a slight bow of his head.

"Hermione? You know this man?" Experienced and street-wise eyes assessed him. No doubt realizing that Severus was turning the same experience and street-wise glance back to him. This was a police officer so he was mindful to not overdo his don't trifle with me look. It wouldn't do to be arrested or have attention drawn to himself when his subject worked out of this building.

"I do, Officer."

Oh. There was a brush off if Severus had ever heard one. He'd called her Hermione. She'd called him officer.

The officer in question did finally relinquish his hold on Hermione's shoulder, so he had accomplished what he set out to do.

"Can I call you?"

"I don't think so."

"I don't understand. We had a connection."

Severus scoffed, the officer glowered at him. Hermione, for her part, looked irritated. At the officer, not Severus.

"You're married," she said.

"You are, too. I assumed…"

"Incorrectly. I don't cheat."

"Fine," he said.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but Severus wasn't budging. The officer didn't seem to appreciate that. Eventually, he turned, heading back indoors leaving the two of them on the sidewalk.

"Thank you. I don't know where you came from or how you knew I was trying to get out of that without using magic or causing a scene. Man can't take no for an answer."

He almost said obviously, but that seemed apparent so he kept his mouth shut.

"Are you all right?"

"I am. Just a bruised ego. He wasn't wearing his ring when we first met. I didn't ask. Stupid of me. It wasn't until I realized that he never called me from home and I only had his pager number that I thought something was fishy."

It took him a moment to realize what she meant by pager number, but he sussed it out. He knew police officers and medical professionals used them rather prominently even with cell phones becoming rather common.

"Were you and he? Did you?"

He wasn't sure how to ask the question without sounding accusatory, or worse jealous. It sounded as though he was deliberately misleading regarding his marital status. It certainly wasn't any of Severus' business really.

"No, we never got past the talking stage, thank Merlin. I don't have a lot of time or patience for dating honestly, and I'm glad. I would have felt bad. I met him early one morning at a coffee shop down the street. We were both coming here so we talked as we walked. Evidently he forgot to put his wedding ring on that day."

"Well, that's a relief I'm sure."

"Yes. Thank you again. That's twice in a matter of hours really that I've seen you. It's going to become a habit soon."

"I will do my best not to disrupt your routine."

She smirked a bit. She seemed … amused and not upset about encountering him twice in less than a day's time. He couldn't say he felt put out by it either.

That word fetching flashed through his mind once more, but he shook it off.

"Anyway, I have to get going. Thanks again."

"Sure," he said.

She offered him her hand, which he took. "It's nice seeing you again."

"You as well," he answered politely.

Oddly, it wasn't just a platitude or a lie. He had liked seeing her. Certainly an improvement over who he usually saw from magical Britain these days. Of course, there was only one person.

He watched her as she walked down the sidewalk, away from the precinct. Away from him.

What on earth was she up to that she appeared to be a somewhat regular visitor to police stations? Was she, in fact, married despite (subtly) telling the officer she wasn't? He understood what she'd been saying. I'm not married, but regardless I don't cheat. He could have misunderstood. If so, why was she still Granger? He didn't see Ronald Weasley allowing her to keep her maiden name.

He didn't see Weasley moving this far away from his mother's apron strings either.

So whoever he was, probably not Ronald Weasley.

He returned to his vehicle, walking a bit of a different route so he wouldn't risk passing anyone outside the precinct a second time. He had no idea how long this case would run. The current assignment was for fifty-six hours of surveillance. That could change if he actually got Coopersmith doing something. Regardless, it wouldn't do for him to be seen walking in front of it more than once on his first day on the job. He could glamour himself he supposed, but that was such trouble when all that he was doing the bulk of his time was sitting in his vehicle.

He slid back into the driver's seat of his vehicle.

Stupid.

He should never have gotten out of his car. He could have jeopardized his case to assist a witch who he knew when it got down to it didn't need his help to get a muggle to remove his hand from her person.

Stupid.

He had to go and get chivalrous and risk his mark seeing him lurking around the precinct.

He moved his vehicle then to a different spot when he saw one come open that would still give him a view of the entrance with a sigh. Once parked again, he grabbed his camera .from the passenger seat. He had charmed it before getting out, hadn't he? Merlin, he couldn't remember.

Fetching indeed.

He looked through the few pictures of Miss (Mrs.?) Granger he'd taken and saw no wedding ring. So why did the officer seem to think that she was married? Then he remembered - again - that she had told the officer she wasn't. He seemed to believe she was, though. Severus certainly had no idea what the witch had been up to the past three years to know the officer was wrong in what he said.

Curious.

None of his business.

And yet.

He'd seen her twice now and she hadn't bombarded him with questions or apologies. It was refreshing. Nice. Ordinary. He hadn't expected ordinary or nice from his first encounter with the wizarding world of Britain in three years.

The first couple of months after he left St. Mungo's before he decided to leave Britain, he'd been on the receiving end of an avalanche of apologies.

Groveling.

People abasing themselves. He liked to think it was because they were scared of him, of what he might do to those who had crossed and abused him. In truth, he realized they were embarrassed and felt … abused themselves that Albus had not told anyone the truth about Severus' role. They didn't want to be taken in again.

She hadn't been among them, though. She had thanked him, yes, and said she was relieved he'd survived. That was as far as she went. Her manner had been refreshing then, too. (Not that he'd spoken to her. She'd left a muggle card for him at St. Mungo's, the only sign she'd even visited. For whatever reason he hadn't tossed it into the rubbish bin unread. The simplicity of it, written contact versus verbal, with a simple thank you and the offer of assistance if he ever needed it, had meant something to him at a time little did.)

He'd been released from St. Mungo's, went home for a little while to collect his thoughts regarding this new lease on life he'd been granted. Alive post-war. Not just alive but no more spying, no more working endlessly to save Potter's hide. Once he'd decided he truly didn't want to go back to Hogwarts in any capacity he'd gone to collect his things (long overdue anyway). That was when Albus told him of the marriage law.

He knew he didn't want to return to Hogwarts, regardless of the offered position. Staying in London seemed unwise. His godson's father was imprisoned and his mother was clutching at past ideals that Draco didn't want to get sucked into again. (Severus had hoped she'd change her mind and therefore her ways.) So, he and Draco had taken off shortly after when his godson realized he wasn't going to get a break from anyone and thought a new start sounded promising.

Being informed of a potential marriage law had merely cemented his decision.

Of course Severus could have told his godson that and saved him the effort of even trying to do anything without the stigma of being Draco Malfoy following him.

The wizarding world was slow to forget.

Anything.

He wasn't sure he'd tell Draco about seeing the witch yet. He wasn't sure anything good would come out of his godson having such knowledge. He might want to leave, which wouldn't be a bad thing exactly. Severus, however, liked living here by this point and liked the little life he'd carved out for himself thus far. He was succeeding and gaining a name for himself on merit and hard work alone. The name Severus Snape meant nothing to muggles and he had yet to cross into wizarding Chicago. He had encountered a few magical people when he'd chosen to apparate, but no one recognized him. He certainly wasn't introducing himself to those he encountered.

He hadn't expected to still be living with his godson three years later. He wasn't sure who he thought would end their living situation. Well, he supposed he assumed Draco would get tired of living with his boring godfather and get a flat of his own closer to downtown and the action his godson seemed to crave.

So far, neither seemed to want to change their situation, and it worked for the most part. Severus felt as if he was at least ensuring Draco ate and took care of himself to a reasonable degree. Draco prevented Severus from living alone and doing nothing but dwell and feel sorry for himself that he couldn't even die right.

He no longer wished he'd died that May day, but it had taken him a while to get there. It didn't mean he didn't still think about the fact that he should have and was content to do so.

Draco knowing another witch or wizard from Britain was in the area might make him want to pack up and go. Severus didn't think his godson was ready to stand on his own two feet without the safety net of support from someone. So that would mean Draco would pressure him to leave.

He didn't want to leave.

The thing was, if she could forgive him for all that he'd done as he took her polite and respectful to be an indication of, Severus thought the witch might just be able to forgive Draco, too. With the proper apology and show of sincerity on his godson's part at any rate. If he was a pretentious pratt, no she wouldn't.

Something to think about for another time. There was no telling he'd see the witch again anyway. Two times in less than twenty-four hours was merely a fluke, fate reminding him that one day he'd have to at least dip a toe in the magical world again.

***

"Mrs. Granger?"

Hermione startled at hearing her name called. She'd been looking out the window at today's view, which was Navy Pier. The perfect choice in settings after the events of the week and given it was going to reach ninety degrees today. (Thinking in Fahrenheit rather than Celsius was an adjustment for her in the months since she'd been here.) Anyone who was anyone would want to be at Navy Pier on what was likely to be one of the last nice days of the year.

She looked at her assistant who from appearances had been trying to get Hermione's attention for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry. Yes, Merrie?"

She'd been so deep in thought she hadn't heard her. How embarrassing!

Thinking of Severus Snape.

Thinking of the fact that Severus Snape had come to her rescue. Yes, she could have gotten away from Ben on her own. Yes, Severus would have known that given he was aware she was a witch. He'd helped her just the same, though, evidently seeing that she hadn't wanted to use magic to get out of the situation. There were too many people walking around the area of a police station. There were cameras everywhere. She had no idea where he'd come from, how or why he'd been there.

She'd seen him twice now in less than twenty-four hours. Both times he'd been polite. Clearly surprised to see her but polite nonetheless. She'd been surprised he hadn't said more. Scratch that, no, she wasn't. She was surprised she hadn't said more.

What in the hell was he doing in Chicago? What was he doing hanging out at police stations? And why had his being nearby made her want to correct Ben's assumption that she was married? It had been months since she'd bothered trying to correct that assumption. For some reason being a single parent brought some very creepy men out of the woodwork. (Ben being an example of that.)

And yet today she had again. She had not wanted him to think she was married.

Why?

She huffed, realizing she hadn't heard a word Merrie said.

"I'm sorry Merrie. What?"

Merrie smirked a bit. No doubt amused at having to repeat herself. Hermione didn't get distracted often.

"I said that woman from the Art Institute is on the phone for you."

"Oh, yes," Hermione said. They were supposed to have their appointment yesterday but that had been called off. "Thanks, Merrie." Hermione was quickly learning that really her position in this job was jack of all trades.

Pick up errant police reports. Try to settle (or at least defuse) familial disputes. Property line questions. Domestic disputes. Inappropriate uses of magic. It was all about working better with the muggles. The Statute of Secrecy wasn't going anywhere anytime soon or anything, but things like Herbert Willis' police reports needed to be in their magical files as well. Her department was trying to ensure that better record keeping of muggle area disputes or incidents were kept track of.

She liked to think this was something good coming out of the war. No one was spying on anyone or anything, but if more attention had been paid to the rise and increasing viciousness of muggle incidents people may have believed Voldemort was back long before they did.

Name it, she oversaw it.

Severus' name hadn't come up in anything she'd heard or read the past few months. So, was he just visiting Chicago and they happened upon one another at two different police stations in a matter of twenty-four hours? That seemed more than a little odd. If they'd run into one another on State Street or something it wouldn't have seemed so strange.

She eyed her phone, clearing her mind of thoughts of anything but talking to Mrs. Standish-Bender. This wasn't the first time she'd wondered how muggle telephones worked so far underground as she picked up the receiver. Technology truly was wonderful at times.

"Hi, Mrs. Standish-Bender. Thanks for getting back to me. I wasn't expecting to hear from you again so soon."

In truth, she assumed she wouldn't get an appointment for this particular errand - one Hermione considered completely ridiculous - for quite some time.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com