Old Sins, Long Shadows

Square One

"Where are we?"

"My London flat. Rather the apartment Olivia gives me to use. I forgot about the time difference, Seoul Noon-ish, London Four-ish in the morning. I don't keep track of time normally."

She glanced out the large windows at the front of the space,

"Nice view of the River, even in the dark. There's something about the night. Everything intensifies."

He mused,

"Dreams feel more real at night. Probably why nightmares scare us so."

She agreed.

While Hermione threw off her jacket and put her carpetbag by the door Severus was at the cook range pouring ingredients into a pot.

"What are you brewing? Sleep aid? More motion sickness remedy?...Poison?"

"Hot chocolate. Want a cup?"

"Cocoa and a sunrise? Quaint."

"Yep, 'quaint', that's me. (They both had to laugh at that.) Anyway, it's for the jetlag...or rather the portkey-lag. Losing hours going forward across time zones is not at all bad on the system. Arriving before you left in the going-back can be rough."

"Ok. Right now I feel fine. But whatever you suggest."

Her tone was suggestive in itself. Severus felt the shiver of her words through his entire being.

"My...recommendation...is to take this time to allow your body to catch up. It should only take a few hours."

Hermione accepted a mug from Severus taking a sip of the steaming cocoa. There was something warm and comforting about hot chocolate and being back in London. Maybe it was the familiarity of it, the memories conjured up of her parents and home, life before Hogwarts. And there was something comforting in being with Severus...on a different level. A mature level. Her adult life.

"Sounds reasonable, especially since it's only Four in the morning. Do you have a view from your bedroom?"

As they lay together watching the sun rise fully over the Thames Hermione needed to put the day in order,

"I'm seeing my Director at Ten to return the prophesy and brief her on the progress in apprehending the Dolohovs. Are we seeing Olivia about our progress?"

There was a long pause before Severus answered,

"No. I'll deal with the rest of it."

Hermione raised herself onto an elbow,

"Wait a minute, Snape. I have to arrest these bastards."

"No, Granger. You don't."

That uncomfortable stirring of anxiety began in the pit of her stomach,

"What are you going to do?"

His head rested on his arm behind it as he stared up at the ceiling,

"I'm going to kill them."

He was calm. Too calm. She wasn't,

"You can't!"

"Yes, I can. License to kill, remember? Dolohov is a disease and if he refuses to die, I will end him myself...one way or the other."

'One way or the other'? What the fuck did that mean?  Hermione was frightened,

"That's not your decision, Snape."