"We did it," Hermione gasped, throwing herself at the lean, dark-haired figure. He lifted her with athletic ease, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him into a breathless kiss.

"Hermione?"

"You said it correctly!" She grinned at Viktor and kissed him again, as if this minor feat was an achievement on par with the destruction of another of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

"Hermione, this is not proper. We are in the open."

By way of reply Hermione ripped his shirt open all the way to the waist. "We're in a Fideliused garden, and Moody knows better than to interrupt."

---

"You are shameless," Viktor gasped as Hermione pushed him onto his back on the lawn and straddled his thighs.

She tugged impatiently at his belt buckle. "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" she asked, wasting no time in stripping off his shoes, socks and jeans.

Viktor's dark brown eyes glowed with amusement he allowed few people to see. "In private, it is a very good thing."

Hermione smiled the secret smile known to every alluring woman as far back as Eve. "Right answer," she agreed, as she left a trail of butterfly kisses across his abdomen and chest.

---

"I have to go," Hermione whispered almost guiltily. "I wanted you to be the very first to know, but now there are other people I need to tell I'm okay."

Viktor's fingertips skated down her arm to her bare wrist. "Him?"

"Him." She grimaced at the sight of his downcast gaze and rushed to reassure. "I won't be long. I could have told him first and you would never have known, but I don't want to sneak around."

A fleeting, painful smile visited Viktor's face. "I will clean up and start cooking."

"I'll be home before it's ready. Obicham te."

---

Thanks to the Time-Turner, Hermione arrived within minutes of when she had left. She retrieved her note and the bracelet. Then, she set about brewing some of Severus's favourite coffee. She filled a pair of matching porcelain mugs, adding milk to her own.

She paused in the doorway to watch him, savouring the rare unguarded moment... or so she thought.

"Are you going to bring me that coffee or just torture me with the smell?" Severus asked in an acerbic drawl.

"I'm glad to see your sleep improved your mood," Hermione teased.

"Right up until I read your love letter."

---

"You were awake?" Hermione demanded.

"I'm a spy," Severus spat, as he rose gracefully to confront her. "Do you think I'd have lasted this long if I slept when people are moving around in my vicinity?"

"Well, no. I suppose not."

"Then what the hell were you playing at, you idiot girl?" Snape snapped back, but he didn't give Hermione a chance to reply. "I can understand why you might not want to wear such a distinctive piece of jewellery openly, but if you are to be believed, no one should have known it was magical. Don't you have pockets?"

---

"Of course I have pockets!" Hermione protested, "but, if I'd been arrested, I could have been questioned using Veritaserum. I assessed the risk, and I decided that if I were caught with the bracelet, there would be little if anything you could do and wearing the bracelet was an unnecessary risk."

"You have no concept of my capabilities. Leaving that behind was both arrogant and illogical. If you truly are the brightest witch of your generation, then wizardkind is doomed!"

"My logic is perfectly... logical!"

"You made that bracelet, but what if someone asked where you got the Time-Turner, nitwit?"

---

"If things went badly, there was always the possibility I could use the Time-Turner to get myself out of trouble," Hermione insisted. "All I could do with the bracelet was get you into trouble with me, and you're too important for me to do that."

Severus's scowl made him look like a fifteen-year-older Viktor. "That makes your watch fob a rather selfish gift. You rest safe expecting me to call for you if I have problems, but when you are most likely to need my help, you worry me to death."

"Don't be a drama queen!" Hermione commanded. "I'm replaceable."

---

"A drama queen?" Severus whispered scathingly, taking a step forward and resting a hand on the wall to either side of Hermione's head. "What about you? Leaving that note and then sneaking off on your super-secret mission. How do you think I felt when I discovered that you weren't simply returning to your Quidditch star, but sloping off to risk your freedom and your life?"

"The same way I feel every night." Hermione's voice rose shrilly, and their faces were almost touching. "When I wonder whether tonight will be the night where you don't come back. Whole nights, not minutes."

---

"Whole nights where I carry your gift with me," Severus answered in a barely audible whisper, his breath on her lips. "Whole nights where you and Krum test the mattress in your shiny new home. I'm sure you're worrying about me as you shriek his name, or while you sleep peacefully beside him."

Hermione could feel the tears building in the corners of her eyes. If he hadn't rejected her outright, she would have said he was jealous. "You tell me you want me to be happy, but then you start acting less like a friend than a Victorian father."

---

She ducked under his outstretched arm and opened the front door. She stepped out onto the landing, looking back over her shoulder. "It's hard enough dealing with the petulance of two teenaged boys," she said, her voice trembling as she tried to maintain her fractured dignity. "I don't need more of the same. Perhaps it's time you considered using another intermediary between you and the Order."

Severus reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her close. "I don't want another intermediary." His right hand dropped to her waist, pressing their lower bodies together as he kissed her deeply.