Hey! This idea hit me like WHAM! So, here I am, posting it for all you wonderful SS/HG fans! I absolutely LOVE this pairing, but, as you will soon see, it will… take a while for them to get together. I mean, come on, it's following Hermione all through her years at Hogwarts! It's not like they're going to start snogging in her 2nd year! Or is it…HA, no—eww…
Please review after reading this, I LOVE FEEDBACK!
Oh, and thank my wonderful beta, Chris! Without her, I would be in a mess of…. USAGE MISTAKES!
--Alianne
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Chapter One: Meeting the First
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Hermione Jane Granger, a mere slip of a girl at age eleven, held onto her parents' hands tightly as they walked down the cobbled streets through the hundreds of tourists. The Vatican rose up above the other buildings of Rome, and the people milled about St. Peter's Square, taking pictures and ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the sights and sounds of the Eternal City. Her bushy brown hair was hanging wildly down her back, almost an exact replica of her mother, whose slightly less bushy hair was tied into a braid.
Rupert Edward Granger was a tall man, no shorter than 6'2, with sandy blonde hair and a ruddy complexion, and a mustache that would tickle Hermione's cheeks when he kissed her affectionately and twirled her around in the air. Wendy Elmira Granger, a lean, willowy woman with bright brown eyes and a pretty face, loved books as much as her daughter did.
Wendy and Rupert Granger were dentists, and very proud of their daughter, who always flossed and brushed her teeth two times a day and wore her retainer every night like a good girl.
The eleven year old looked around and saw other children her age not holding their parent's hands, but instead of letting go of her parents, she held onto them even tighter, just to show them that she cared more about hers. She rotated her shoulders to get her backpack into a more comfortable position, and then felt air where her backpack was. Her head whipped around, almost giving her whiplash, and saw a boy quite a bit older than she racing away into the crowd, struggling with her heavy bag as he tried to get away. Hermione looked up at her parents quickly and saw that they were busy observing one of the street artists painting the marketplace. The girl huffed and slipped out of her parents' hold and took off after the boy thief.
She made her way through what seemed liked millions of sunburned tourists, and was roughly pushed aside by a man who was wearing the oddest outfit she had ever seen.
Was that a cape? It was!
All she could see was his rigid back and shoulder-length limp black hair. The cape billowed behind him and it reminded her of a bat, or some dark creature from a nightmare.
Then she realized that the boy was retreating out of her sight, and that the man was in her way!
Hermione sprinted towards the boy, and barreled right past the rude man, shoving him to the side like he did to her, or at least tried to, not slowing until she was mere yards away from the ruffian who stole her backpack. She didn't notice the death glare the dark-clad man was giving her as she yelled after the boy.
"Give me back my backpack, stupid head!" she called out.
The boy turned around, his dark brown hair flying into his face as he did so, and he had to blow it out of his eyes so he could see the tiny mass of bushy hair before him. He looked confused, and the girl realized that the boy didn't understand English. She huffed and walked towards the boy slowly, holding out her hand to him.
The boy turned tail and fled, and the eleven year old groaned loudly and chased after him. She shouldn't have expected that he would actually give it back!
The man in black watched the girl with a sneer of disgust on his face. "Muggles," he muttered, and resumed his swift pace, which happened to be in the direction of the two dunderheads.
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The brown-haired thief had seen the small bushy-haired girl with the large backpack with her preoccupied parents in St. Peter's Square, and even though it was in a holy place, he couldn't resist. That bag must have been full of stuff he could pawn off, and his mind was made up; the boys would be getting a decent meal again tonight! He saw the girl adjust her backpack and made his move. Lorenzo snatched the girl's backpack and ran off, but was unprepared for its weight. It must have been filled with stones or something! He hefted it over his shoulder and pushed his way through the crowd, intent on getting to the Thief Lord's hideout before the girl realized her bag was missing.
He barely avoided running into a man clad in black who was emerging from a wall, but paid no attention to the man's sudden appearance, as he was already running for all his worth, and couldn't pay any heed to the mysterious man with the billowing black cloak and glaring eyes.
He would have just ended up running away from him, too. Then he heard a shout in some other language, and he turned around in confusion and saw the girl with the bushy brown hair. She stepped towards him slowly with her hand outstretched after giving a sound of annoyance. He knew that she wanted her bag back he wasn't stupid. He had lived in Rome all his fifteen years, never had someone been able to catch him, and by God he wasn't going to let that happen now!
The Muggle boy ran away from the girl, but then something strange and remarkable happened, stopping the thief in his tracks. He turned around when he felt the bag tug him back towards the girl who had her hand outstretched again, but she was at least thirty meters away from him this time.
"Give it back!" she called again. Lorenzo grabbed the bag tighter and tried to run away again, but found he was rooted to the spot, and the bag was yanking his arm in its haste to get back to its owner.
The man with the billowing cloak came to a halt when he saw the scene before him- the same bushy haired girl and the Italian Muggle thief boy were now in the middle of a narrow bystreet, and some other Muggles had stopped to watch the two children.
"Give it back!" the girl cried, her hand outstretched. Severus Snape's dark black eyes traveled to the struggling backpack and realized with a start that the girl was a witch, whether she knew it or not, he didn't know.
With one last forceful tug, the backpack freed itself from the thief's grasp and flew over to the young witch, knocking her down to the cobbled street with a soft oof!
The Muggles in the vicinity all gasped, and the dark wizard whipped out his wand and bellowed, "Obliviate!" A bright white light flashed and encompassed the crowd and the thief, and when it disappeared, it left dazed faces in its wake.
The Head of Slytherin stepped towards the young girl, who was dusting herself off from her fall. She finally looked up at him and realization dawned on her.
"Hey, you're that rude man from before!" she cried. The 'rude man' looked affronted, but since she was the ever-wise age of eleven, she kept on. "It was very impolite; sir, to just shove me aside like that and not even say 'excuse me'! People will think you don't have any good manners if you keep doing that!"
Her face was so set and indignant that the evil Potions Master had to bite back a smirk. One dark finely arched eyebrow quirked oh so slightly during her little speech.
"Do you realize that performing magic in front of Muggles is a bad idea, hmm? Or in your infinite wisdom did you think they would not be able to see?" he asked her, the arched brow ever mocking the girl.
Hermione frowned instantly, "Magic? What the heck are Muggles, or whatever you said? I couldn't have performed magic—it's not real! That boy threw my bag at me! That wasn't magic, was it? You're very odd, sir. Are you feeling alright?"
She saw the look on his face and quickly mended her words. "Of course it was magic, why wouldn't it be? Hehe…umm…I have to get back to my parents…so, bye!"
The bushy haired eleven year old shouldered her heavy yellow backpack and started jogging away, until a thought hit her like a brick and she turned around and trotted back to the caustic Potions Master.
"Ohh…how do you get your cloak to billow like that? Oh yes, magic again, I almost forgot! What's your name? Why do you wear those weird clothes?" she asked, all in succession, her curiosity getting the better of her. The tall, greasy-haired man rolled his eyes and glared at the girl, hoping she would just get the message and leave.
Severus Snape took a long look at the girl who was staring intently at him and sighed.
"You'll be getting your letter any day now, blasted Gryffindor…" and he strode off into the crowd. Hermione stood for a moment and mulled everything over before rushing after him.
"What do you mean, 'my letter', and what's a Gryffindor?" she asked, having to jog in order to keep up with his long strides.
The Head of Slytherin glanced down at the girl and gave off an air of long-suffering before coming to what appeared to be a perfectly normal brick wall near the bridge where Hermione's parents were enjoying the sights and sounds of Rome.
Hermione frowned again in confusion. "A brick wall?"
Snape rolled his eyes and elegantly took out a long, thin piece of black wood and waved it intricately, muttering something underneath his breath. When he was done with the incantation, the bricks started to shift into an arched doorway, causing the eleven year-old's frown to turn into an expression of wonderment.
The grumpy thirty-one year old Potions professor nodded curtly at the girl before disappearing through the magical portal, leaving a thoroughly perplexed and intrigued Hermione Granger staring at the now un-magical brick wall.
"'Mione, what are you doing, dear? Let's go back to the hotel for lunch, hmm?" her mother put a hand on her shoulder and steered the girl away to where her father was conversing with one of the street artists.
"Hermione, pumpkin, this is my good old friend Rosmerta! We went to primary school together, and now look at us! Unbelievable! 'Mia, dear, come here and introduce yourself!" he said jovially. The bushy haired eleven year-old looked at the woman her father had known since he was a little boy, and immediately liked her.
Madam Rosmerta was a vibrant woman with a Gypsy-like air about her, with long, dark, beautifully curled hair and dark eyes. Her figure was curvaceous in all the right places, and her style of clothing was almost as strange as the rude man Hermione had met not ten minutes before. However, Rosmerta did not wear the odd robe or cape—splashes of bright colors covered her blouse, and she wore a bright red skirt with beautiful embroidery along the bottom. Hermione looked down at the woman's shoes and saw that they were high-heeled bright turquoise ones! She looked everything like a wandering Romany heathen to Hermione, and the girl couldn't get enough of the woman. She was so…different from everyone else she had known! Back in England, she never would have met this woman in her whole entire life!
Hermione stuck out her hand and Rosmerta clasped the girl's hand warmly.
"Such a beautiful young lady you have, Rupert!" Rosmerta crowed happily. Hermione blushed and heard herself giggle in embarrassment and slipped her hand from the intriguing woman shyly.
Wendy Granger clapped her hands decidedly and smiled at her husband and Rosmerta. "Let's go to lunch, shall we?" The two women instantly fell into step together and began chatting about everything they had missed. Wendy and Rosmerta had also gone to the same primary school along with Rupert, and the three had been the best of friends before Rosmerta went to a boarding school when she turned eleven. They had heard from her very little after that, except for summer breaks, and Rupert and Wendy had grown closer ever since then, leading to their marriage and then their daughter Hermione.
Said daughter trailed behind her parents and Rosmerta, deep in thought.
Is there really magic?
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WAHOO! Yessss! I love these little plot devices! They make the story sooo much more interesting!
PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHATCHA THINK! THANK ERIANNA ABYSS, my wonderful, marvelous beta! Oh, and go check out my Phantom of the Opera story "Who Wants to Live Forever"!
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-Alianne