I don't own Harry Potter
Toda is Severus's Birthday so here we go
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Chapter 2
"We need money and a house." She chattered after her professor. She was busy, her mind thinking of things they would need before they retrieved Tom from the orphanage. It was what she needed now; if she were busy she wouldn't have time to dwell on the past day and a half. She needed to be active; her mind needed to be working, just because if she remained idle, she would remember. Hermione would then see Harry with that lifeless look in his eyes. She would remember Ron's lifeless eyes too. He had looked resigned to not walk again. He told her he loved her. Hermione loved him too and knew he would never forgive her or himself if she stayed back to take care of him.
She shook her head. Hermione looked ahead, professor Snape walked quickly, leaving her behind.
"Professor." She said loudly. Some people looked at her with reproachful eyes. She lowered her voice but called out to him in whispers.
The man finally stopped when they were to cross a street. "Mrs. Cole expects us to pick Tom the day after tomorrow. We need to rent a house and money."
Severus turned back to her and offered his arm when the lights changed. "Where are we going?" She asked when they turned a corner.
"I don't know. Somewhere where you can set that damned tent up." They turned to a park and he motioned for her to set the tent once more.
Hermione magicked the tent open. This time professor Snape performed the protection spells. She went inside the tent. The table looked the same as when Harry, Ron and her shared their last meal together. "Evanesco." She said with a small voice. Hermione did not want to remember then. She needed to prepare and think about the future.
She placed the bag by one end. Hermione heard as professor Snape closed the flap on the tent. The young woman overturned her beaded bag and classified what would be useful for their stay.
It was frenetic the way she discarded clothes and books. It was as if she was trying to get rid of old Hermione and the memories she had.
Professor Snape sat across him. "What do you have of use?"
She looked up, "I have 500 pounds and 600 galleons." Hermione said first, financially speaking they could survive for a good month in their time. The girl was convinced they would live comfortably for at least 5 months at least.
Snape nodded. "600 galleons, that's a good start. We shall find employment once Tom is given to us. We need a background story; I do not believe anyone would give jobs to people who do not have any record of existing. We can say we were educated in the continent since we never attended Hogwarts." The professor rambled on.
Hermione looked at him and spoke up. "We can't go back to the wizarding world."
"What are you saying foolish girl? We are wizards; Tom is a wizard. He will go to Hogwarts. Can you imagine that raw power unchecked, untrained?"
The young woman capitulated, "I understand that professor but Tom can only know we are magical when he's eleven years old." The man threw an incredulous look her way.
"Tom Riddle never had a family, he doesn't understand love, and he despises muggles. If we raise him to understand muggles then he has one less reason to grow up to kill his father and become evil. He needs to be unprejudiced toward muggles."
Professor Snape laughed, "Silly girl, do you really think we can hide our nature? What we are?"
"Yes, you have done so for many years professor. I have the outmost trust in your deception skills." She said bitingly.
The man glared at her, some surprise could be seen in his dark eyes. "Professor, I'm not suggesting we uproot Tom. I am suggesting we raise him muggle until he receives his letter to Hogwarts."
He didn't let her continue with her idea. "And what happens when he realizes we lied to him? What happens when this boy understands we lied to him from the beginning?"
Hermione hadn't thought about that. "Fine, we don't lie but we don't outright tell him or use magic in front of him. We have to encourage him to understand muggles. We are muggle borns. That would also explain why we did not go to Hogwarts. We were trained privately in some village or somewhere in the continent. Not all witches go to Hogwarts."
"No, but they go to Durmstrang of Beuxbatons. I have never heard of young muggle-born wizards learning through masters, it is very implausible Ms. Granger."
"I went to Beuxbaton and you went to Durmstrang. We'll forge documents." She said exasperatedly.
Snape hissed at her, silently and then she knew he was really angry. "What is your reason then for not joining the wizarding world?"
"We can't, not yet, not until Tom realizes muggles can be good." Hermione felt as if raising Tom within muggles was the best option they had at hand and would voice it until professor Snape understood the importance of her views.
"Ms. Granger, what do you propose we do then?" He asked still glaring at her.
She wanted to break eye contact and flee but she steeled herself. She used her best admonishing face, the one she used to scold Ron and Harry on occasion. "We rent a house in London, find work as muggles and raise Tom with as much muggle influence as possible."
"He has some control over his magic. Granger, we are dealing with a dangerous child."
She looked at him and rebuked his worries. "We will be cautious. We are pretty smart and talented aren't we?" She said almost willing him to agree to her and just follow her lead. Hermione felt the need for him to trust her instincts.
"Let's try my way. We live as muggles; we raise him as muggle born. If it doesn't work we do it your way. We'll have our fake documents and reintegrate into the wizarding folk. We'll do it your way. I promise." She said.
"Fine, but we tell him when he asks why we adopted him. He will ask, I know he will." Snape grabbed the bag of money and separated the notes into different piles.
"Hide those, we can't use them yet." He then duplicated the money.
"You can't do that." Hermione said outraged.
"Oh spare me Granger." Snape hissed and continued his work.
"We will follow your plan for the time being. I will change the approach if I see it fit. I require you to trust me right now. I will find a job but for now we need money until then."
Hermione frowned. "I can get a job too." He harrumphed. "Fine, you will do so but we still need income."
"We need documents, both muggle and wizarding." She said and took out a brown leather bag. She couldn't part with this; she had taken out of her home, some scrapbooks and different mementos. She would have never thought her great grandparent's passports would help her in the future but here she was using them.
"My mum used to say I looked like her." She showed professor Snape the old passport.
"You do." He waved his wand and her name appeared instead of Catharine Hughes.
"I, however look nothing like him." He waved his wand at the other passport and the features changed to his. William Granger became Severus Snape, the dates changed to match the professor age. "January 9th. Is that your birthday?"
"Yes." Her professor said shortly.
"Change my birthday too." Nana had been twenty-five when she had her passport issued.
The man grumbled but did so. "You have to put Snape next to Hermione." She did not meet his gaze but saw his uncomfortable stance.
"Do you perhaps happen to have a marriage license in that bag of yours?" The professor meant to mock her but Hermione merely nodded. "As a matter of fact I do." She said with a small smile and grabbed a scrapbook. Once again Snape changed the names. Hermione looked it over. "We can't have married in 1930. According to my certificate I would have been 14." The man switched it to 1933.
"We need clothes."
Hermione nodded. "I have pictures. I can change the clothes I have." She said quickly. It was her clothes and the guys' clothes."
"We should rest." He said wearily. Hermione could not agree more but there was so much to do. She needed to at least transfigure some clothes. Professor Snape had transfigured her clothes but the dress was much too loose.
He looked out of place, there in the middle of the tent. She suddenly remembered, "You need a haircut."
"What?" He asked and did the thing with his eyebrows and then scowled. Hermione looked back at him. She would not be cowed; she wasn't his student anymore. She realized she would be his partner until Tom was older.
"I said you need a haircut. The bathroom is through there. You also need a shower." She remarked. They both needed showers. Hermione could wait until he was done with the shower.
"Are you insane?" He said menacingly.
"You have called me insane at least three times today. I would prefer if you desisted. Now, you will eventually have to shower and get a haircut." She stared back, refusing to show weakness.
"You have a choice as to whether you get a haircut from me or somewhere else. That is the only choice you have right now." She said tiredly.
"You may use the shower first." He said then. The young woman moved quickly before he could withdraw his assent.
She ran to the bathroom with some clothes she grabbed from her beaded bag. The bathroom looked exactly like she remembered. She saw Ron's dirty shirt and almost wept. She didn't have time to cry, not now. Hermione shed her clothes and turned on the hot water; maybe the steady stream of water would erase some of the weariness she felt.
She decided to finish sorting clothes while Snape showered. He had asked for some clothes, apparently he needed to have regular pieces of clothing to then transfigure them into 1930's fashion. Hermione gave him mismatched pieces, socks from Harry, boxers from Ron, a black T-shirt, Harry's and faded blue jeans, Ron's because he was taller. He nodded to her and went to the shower.
Soon enough professor Snape was sitting in front of her. He wore black slacks and a black dress shirt. Hermione remembered giving haircuts to the boys and being terrible at it. She did not disclose this to the man in front of her. She put a towel around his torso. She started by combing through his hair. Never in a billion years would she have thought she would touch professor Snape's hair. It was soft to the touch and so black, blacker than Harry's at least. She started cutting his hair and remained on task for another twenty minutes. The girl found it relaxed her.
Snape thanked her briefly and then went to Ron's cot. It was clear he intended to sleep. Hermione could not stall any longer and decided to follow into his footsteps. She was happy her flannel pajamas were still clean and curled to sleep for a few hours.
The girl woke up disoriented but rested. For a few minutes she thought all had been a nightmare, she could see Harry's black head, only it wasn't. It was professor Snape who was still asleep.
She performed a simple time telling spell. How silly of them, they could have used this same spell when they arrived to this time period. She had been to out of sorts to suggest it. Maybe professor Snape did not know about it.
Her spell determined that it was early in the morning; they had sleep for almost a day. She approached the sleeping man and tried to shake him. She stepped back when she felt bind around her wrists. "It's morning. We need to get the house and settle." She said immediately.
Snape had her wand out. "Never do that again. I could have killed you." He hissed.
Hermione nodded and lowered her gaze to his t-shirt and jeans. The spell must have worn off.
Snape noticed and glared at her. It was hard to keep a straight face when your professor who picked on you wore jeans too small for his height and a rather tight shirt. She wanted to laugh but decided it wouldn't be the best course of action.
"I'll go dress." She said quickly and left him to arrange his clothing.
Hermione transfigured her pajamas into a beige dress. She combed her hair back and managed to get it to a simple hairstyle. She would have to learn to style hair differently from now on.
She stepped out ready to face professor Snape who looked ready to play his part.
"I'm hungry." He said first thing. "We'll eat breakfast and then search for a house." She agreed, sometimes she forgot to eat.
They ate a nearby restaurant. She noticed the people around her giving her looks, especially women. "Why are they looking at me?"
Professor Snape replied with a bored tone. "Your hair, I assume."
She frowned but kept quiet. They ate in relative peace. She followed him out of the eatery and he offered his hand when they crossed streets.
Hermione suggested a place, the first that came to mind. "Hammersmith." Snape shrugged and apparated them.
It seemed neither Hermione or Snape had ever visited Hammersmith; they had some difficulty finding their way around but finally found a neighborhood and some houses that had sale signs. After a rather tense meeting with a landlord, they found their house. Well, Hermione did, since she was the one doing most of the talking. The landlord did not appreciate that and was hell bent into getting Snape to converse with him.
Hermione finally had it when the man refused to show her inside the house. "My husband is a man of very few words. I suggest you listen to me and answer my questions."
The man continued to ignore her. "Say something." She finally caved in.
"Show us inside." The professor said tersely and the landlord acquiesced. It was a decent house, two floors, a cellar and an attic, three bathrooms, two upstairs, one in the ground level, four bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, living room, dining room and a small den.
"We'll take it." Hermione said at once. The man ignored her and looked at professor Snape who nodded and signed contracts and more papers.
Hermione was frustrated. "The nerve of that man." She exclaimed as she looked around the living room. She thanked whatever deity the house was furnished. All they needed to know was to buy clothes and essentials for daily living.
They explored the house, Snape insisted on performing protective spells around the property.
She picked the master bedroom and magically cleaned it of any germs or other traces. It had been easier than expected; at least they had a home now. She cleaned the entire house and then returned to the master bedroom.
It would take more time to make the house theirs but for now Hermione thought it was enough. She unpacked her things and separated clothes for professor Snape; she even had time to transfigure his clothes into 1930's clothes.
She went to the kitchen and made a list of things she would need. She had seen a market three or so streets before they found this house. She would have to go there and buy food. They also needed cutlery and towels.
Hermione looked for Snape. "Professor." She called out and wandered around the house. She found him in the den browsing through books. Why didn't she think of the den? "Have you found anything interesting?"
He barely looked up from a black book. "These muggles were quite read. Hide those." He pointed to a pile.
"Why?" She asked but grabbed the books nonetheless.
"They are politically subversive, and some of them are sexually graphic. You would think 1930's literature would be more restrictive." He said distractedly as he read the pages on the book. "Exiles."
"Oh, I read that book." She chirped.
Snape closed the book immediately. "Excellent. Have you cleaned our new abode?"
"I have. We need food and clothes."
He nodded and they left the house. Hermione chose to get the clothes first. "We should go to Harrods. It's the only place I know."
He grumbled but followed her lead. She bought at least twenty-five dresses, new underwear and ten pairs of shoes and sleepwear. Hermione was a practical woman, if she bought all these dresses she wouldn't have to go back for at least another eight to nine months. She managed to even find a coat for the winter. The saleslady was helpful. Snape decided to buy his clothes on his own. They were to meet in the ground floor with all their purchases. Hermione had a nice boy carrying her bags for her.
She saw him approach her. He only had a medium size parcel on his arms. "You need to get more clothes."
"Roger, would you be a dear and come with us to the gentlemen's store?" She said while giving the boy a dazzling smile. The boy nodded eagerly and followed her. Snape looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
She did something bold, "what are you waiting for dear? Come along." She grabbed his arm and forced him to move along.
"Release me at once." He hissed.
She smiled sweetly at him. "Roger is watching, I suggest you play along professor and stop behaving like a sulky five year old who doesn't want to shop for clothes."
He looked around. They were sure to make a scene. Snape did not do well in social awkward situations, neither did she but she was sure she would fare better than her professor.
The man glared at her but submitted. Hermione shook inside but it was another accomplishment for her. Apparently Gryffindor courage did work. She advanced purposely into the gentlemen's store and made him buy at least 10 suits, different sets of sleepwear, more underwear and ties. The lady in charge smiled benevolently, "Oh dearie, he was here not twenty minutes ago. I tried to find him more pieces but he refused."
Hermione chuckled, "he can be difficult." She tried to say it affectionately.
Professor Snape glared at them. "Oh, I daresay he's cross with me."
The saleslady chuckled along and was very pleasant.
They hired a cabbie to take them home. Once they were comfortably seated the man grabbed her arm and squeezed. It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable and tense. "Never again do something like that." Hermione remained quiet, as did the professor.
She decided to buy the food on her own. She had poked the bear and it was easier to leave him be. Let him sulk inside the house. She would be productive, cook some dinner and leave a cold sandwich for him.
The young woman bought the food. She was so confused at first; thankfully an older woman helped her. "Good God girl, didn't your mother take you with her to buy food?"
Hermione shook her head. Catelyn Granger did take her, but to modern supermarkets. She bought mostly vegetables, breads and fruits. She did not know how to really cook meats. She bought some pasta and called it a day.
She cooked the pasta; she was somewhat disappointed that the food was not as edible as she thought.
Snape graced her with his presence. Hermione noted he wore some of the new clothes they had bought today. He glanced at the pasta and smirked nastily. "It seems Ms. Know It All, really doesn't know it all."
"Evanesco." He said with relish.
"Hey, I was going to eat that." She said, not really believing it herself.
He laughed. "I think not."
He grabbed the pasta and set it in a pot. "Dice some tomatoes and vegetables.
She glared at him but did so. Twenty minutes later they were eating pasta with tomato sauce and vegetables.
"How come you're so useless in the kitchen?" He asked as he sipped some wine. She did not ask where he got it.
Hermione wiped her mouth. "I'm not useless."
He raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I can't cook that well. Not like you're so better yourself." She said spitefully even though the pasta was very good.
"No need to get that offended. I only ask because you were a partially decent potion student, not particularly talented but able." He continued to mock her.
She was an adult now and couldn't let professor Snape get to her. He wouldn't belittle her anymore. Hermione remembered wishing his praise more than anything those first years at Hogwarts. She ignored him and continued eating, no sense in wasting good food.
They stared at each other for a while. Hermione was surprised when he brought it up.
"What is our story?"
Hermione knew exactly what he meant but played dumb nonetheless, "what do you mean?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean. The dark lord was a powerful wizard even as a child."
"Tom, get used to calling him Tom." She said correcting him.
The man looked at her expectantly. So far he had gone along with her plans, even if reluctantly. The young woman assumed he expected her to come up with their story too.
"I don't know." It was too much; she couldn't do that to Ron or Harry for that matter. He killed Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall claimed he had been a double spy all along. Why had he killed the Headmaster? She needed answers all of the sudden.
"We should keep most of our personalities. We can't completely disguise ourselves from Tom. Let's try a simple game before we agree on a plausible background story." The young woman said phrasing 20 questions as a research endeavor.
The man leaned back on his chair as if waiting for her to start the activity. Hermione once again started the efforts. "What is your favorite color?"
"I don't see why that would be relevant but I will concede, green." Snape said and poured more wine.
Hermione sipped her wine glass. "Now you ask me something."
The professor smirked. "Did you steal boomslang skin from my stores your second year?"
She blushed, "I did."
He scowled, "I knew it had been you and your little friends."
Hermione did not want to smile so she asked another question. "What is your favorite book?"
"The Count of Montecristo." He said without hesitation. Revenge at its finest.
"Why did you decide Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw?" He asked curiously.
"How did you know that? Never mind." She stood up and went to their living room.
She sat down on the sofa and tucked her shoeless feet in the cushions. "I wanted friends. Lavender and Seamus were already sorted and they seemed all right at least Seamus did." She remembered Lavender did not pay much attention to her.
"What was your favorite subject at Hogwarts?" She asked
"Charms." He said as he settled in an armchair next to her. Hermione craned her neck and changed positions to see him better.
"You have to elaborate." She said and offered her empty glass.
"You know about the Half-Blood Prince's book. I have a gift; I can create spells. I enjoyed Charms." He said simply and poured her some wine.
"When did you have your first kiss?" She asked cheekily.
He raised that eyebrow. "Not that it is any of your concern but I was thirteen."
She nodded. "I've never been kissed." For a moment she thought Ron would kiss her and then Yaxley cursed him and he twitched in the floor. She shook her head and asked him something else. The wine was working wonders in her. "Why did you kill him?"
He stiffened. She swore to herself she wasn't going to ask but she did.
Snape looked at her and answered. "He was dying, the ring held a powerful curse. He knew Draco had been tasked to kill him and decided I should be the one to do it."
Hermione smiled, "thank you for telling me." She said, flushed from the wine. She extended her hand for more.
"I think you've had enough. We have to pick Tom tomorrow and have not figured out our background story." Snape stated.
She sat up straight. "I don't think I can come up with anything."
"We're muggleborns. We met at work." He said casually.
"What do we do? What are your plans for the future?" She asked, quite intrigued.
"I have a master's degree in mathematics." He said as if he was telling her that tomorrow would probably rain.
"You do? How? When?" She asked excitedly.
"Don't sound so surprised. I always liked maths. I was bored during those years of relative peace after the Dark Lord fell. I enrolled and got my degree. I can teach."
Hermione laughed, "You hate teaching."
He did not glare. "I do, but only immature and foolish children. I could teach young men in any University."
"Fine, so we met at the University. You were a maths professor and I was a nursing student." She said carefully.
"Not a doctor, why?" He asked. She guessed it was a fair question; she had always been an overachiever.
"I want to watch over Tom so no school, not until he goes to Hogwarts."
"You are between jobs, we moved from..."
"Cokeworth." He offered.
"Yes, we've been married for a year." Hermione supplied.
"I think we have some semblance of our story professor." She said, relieved that it hadn't been an excruciating experience as she thought it would be.
"Severus. If we are to continue with this charade we need to start addressing each other by our given names."
"Very well Severus." She said, the name sounded foreign to her ears.
"Good night Hermione." He replied and retired for the night. She headed to the master bedroom and was glad he wasn't there. Snape had probably chosen one of the other bedrooms.