The Librarian

Chapter 2

Just before nine o'clock, Hermione closed the main Floo in the magical part of the shop and rerouted it to her office hearth. She now sat at her desk, a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose, catching up on some correspondence. The reality sank in that she really didn't spend much time here at the shop anymore, devoting nearly all of her time to the consulting work.

She'd been serious when she'd told Harry and Ron that she hoped Luna and Blaise would buy the shop from her. Hell, she would just sign it over to Luna outright, but she knew her friend wouldn't accept it; she would see it as charity. Hermione had had a hard enough time just convincing Luna to move in and run the shop for her after she'd lost her magic.

Luna had been working in the Ministry's Charms and Spells Development Department when a spell she'd been developing had gone rogue. After being comatose for several weeks at St. Mungo's, she'd eventually come to. Although weak and fragile, she'd otherwise seemed fine at first, until they realized that her magic had been suppressed. The experts at St. Mungo's claimed she still had her core magic within her, but she was unable to access it. They'd never heard of another case like it and had no idea how to treat it.

Luna recovered physically, but aside from an occasional weak flash at random moments, her magic remained inaccessible. Within days of her release from the hospital, the Ministry sent her a letter that Hermione basically translated as: Thanks for your years of stellar service, but now you're of no use to us, so good luck with the rest of your life. Receiving that letter seemed to break even Luna's ever cheerful spirit and she got it into her head that Blaise would be better off without her. She broke up with him and tried to push him out of her life. That's when she'd accepted Hermione's offer to move to Thurso and help run The Bibliothecary's Corner.

Shortly thereafter, Hermione's regard for Blaise had multiplied tenfold. Unwilling to lose the love of his life, he'd resigned from the Ministry in a gory public display and immediately moved to Northern Scotland. His pursuit of Luna over the next few months was relentless as he persistently refused to accept her rejection over and over again. In truth, she was miserable without him and eventually he wore her down. Luna finally accepted that he was never giving up on them, and in reality, she didn't really want him to.

Hermione frowned as she pulled a thick file from her bottom drawer containing some research from years ago; she been reconsidering this lately. In the first few years after the war, Hermione had tinkered with creating amulets, hoping to find relief from her own issues.

She'd made a few with moderate success for various friends, but was never able to help with her own problems. Eventually she'd given up on the practice during the time when she'd taken a step back from the wizarding world. She'd been wondering lately, though, if this might work to help Luna, some amulet or talisman that would open up whatever was blocking her magic.

As she opened the file to review her notes, she was startled by the whoosh of the Floo activating. She'd been distracted from the real reason she was here. She noted the clock read exactly 9:35 and had to bite back a smirk. Was the professor trying to prove he was doing this meeting on his own terms, a little tit for tat so to speak? Sliding the file back into the bottom drawer, she removed her reading glasses and turned to face her guest as he stepped out of the hearth and brushed off a stray bit of soot.

He looked surprised at finding her sitting behind the desk. "Miss Granger, what a surprise. This appears to be my day for running into former students. As lovely"—his tone suggested he really meant awful—"as it is to see you, I am here to meet with the Librarian."

Hermione stood and came around her desk, putting forth her hand to shake his. "It's so lovely to see you as well, Professor," she replied, making her lovely saccharine sweet enough to irritate him. "Won't you have a seat? May I offer you a glass of water, some tea, perhaps some wine?"

"No, thank you," he replied brusquely. "As I said, I am here to meet the Librarian, if you will please let her know I'm here. I'd prefer not to dilly-dally socializing with underlings and just get on with it."

Hermione sighed. This did not bode well. "Daisy," she called, and almost immediately a house elf popped in. "Would you bring a pot of tea, please—the herbal blend. I'm going to need it." The last was muttered under her breath as Hermione rounded the desk and returned to her chair. Hands folded on the desk in front of her, she looked directly at Severus. "I fear that you're not going to like what comes next, sir. If you are here to meet with the Librarian, then you are here to see me."

"You... You are the Librarian?" His eyes widened just slightly as he spoke: he didn't give much away but she could tell he was shocked. "That's impossible."

"Sorry to disappoint you, sir, but I assure you it's not. Whom were you expecting?"

"No one specifically, but someone much older, someone much..."

"Wiser?"

"Wisdom? At your age?" he scoffed. "Highly unlikely. I did expect someone much more experienced than you could possibly be. That quality is vital to me. This particular job requires more than the ability to flail one's hand about in the air and regurgitate little known facts from textbooks."

Hermione sighed again. This was going even worse than she'd expected it to. "Professor, I'm nearly thirty. I'm not a child, although I can understand how you might have problems viewing former students as equals in the real world. But I can assure you that I love my job and I'm very good at what I do. My reputation speaks for itself. If you require references, I can supply them. I've been contracted by some of the finest universities and museums in the Muggle world: Cambridge, Trinity, Princeton, Yale, the British Museum, the Library of Alexandria, as well as several private collectors. I can also provide references for my work in the magical community, which has been mainly private family collections..."

She paused as Daisy popped in with the tea service, carefully levitating it to the desk. The elf bobbed a little curtsy and asked, "Is there anything else you's be needing, Missy L?"

"No, this looks lovely, Daisy, thank you. You may retire for the night. I'll send the tray down to the kitchen when I'm done."

The elf bobbed again before disappearing.

Hermione poured herself a cup, then asked, "Are you sure you won't have some?"

Severus leaned back in his chair and studied her closely. "Very well. With milk and one sugar."

There was silence as they both stirred their tea and took a sip. Hermione could feel her own tension easing with the soothing drink and hoped Professor Snape would chill out a bit as well.

"As I was saying, Professor, I have plenty of references should you require them. Also..."

"Miss Granger," said Severus, holding up a hand to interrupt her. "I fear we may have got off on the wrong foot, you and I. I would like to..." He seemed to have a hard time getting the next word to come out of this mouth. With gritted teeth he continued, "... apologize, for my earlier rudeness. Do you think it possible that we might start over?"

Hermione's face lit up with a genuine smile. Maybe this meeting wouldn't be a total loss after all, if he was willing to come around. "Certainly, sir. I would like that immensely."

Severus set his teacup down, then frowned. "Why did your house-elf call you Missy L? Does she confuse you with Miss Lovegood?"

Hermione chuckled. "No, not at all. For professional purposes, I don't use my real name in the wizarding world, except with those who already know me. I really do simply go by the Librarian. After a time, with familiarity, it usually gets shortened to L. Daisy has picked up on that."

"I'd wondered why there was no name on the business card I was given. It puzzled me. It was one of the many questions I had about you."

"One of the many? Well, if you do become my client, perhaps you will find the answers to those other many questions," she said with a teasing tone. "As for using my own name, I do in the Muggle world. There Hermione Granger is nobody special, just someone who's very good at restoring and organizing books."

"I wondered how you ended up doing business in both worlds."

"To be honest, I never actually planned to do my work in the wizarding world at all. I have more than enough Muggle jobs to keep me busy, but magical books do tend to provide an intriguing challenge. I was approached by a wizard when I was working at the Library of Alexandria—he was happy to learn I was a witch. I believe he'd secretly planned to hire me, then Obliviate me, but luckily for me that wasn't necessary."

She paused, seeming to lose herself in her thoughts for a moment. "At any rate, for the work I did for him, I only used my title—the Librarian—and it's been that way ever since."

"Being a hero of the war wasn't enough for you?" Snape asked.

Hermione sighed. "I'd much rather be known for my professional reputation, not as Harry Potter's best friend, or the brains of the Golden Trio, or whatever other label they try to put on me. That was a different life, and it's over. This is my life now."

Severus looked as if he wanted to say something, but instead simply grimaced and changed the subject. "Let us discuss the project I have in mind. It's going to be a massive undertaking. If you don't have the time to devote to it, please be honest with me up front."

Hermione's eyes sparked with excitement. "Was Luna right? Is it Dumbledore's library?"

The corner of his lip turned up with a satisfied smirk. "Yes, it is. How on earth did she know that? It isn't common knowledge how the estate was settled."

"It's hard to say with Luna. It could be as simple as her having heard a rumor from an old co-worker, or something much more complicated. Since she lost the ability to access her magic..." At Severus' blank look, Hermione took a few minutes to explain the bare minimum of her friend's situation. "...Anyway, she has these random flashes of magic and sometimes she just seems to know things. Whether it's coincidence or precognition, I've no idea."

"I also noticed an odd sort of communion between Miss Lovegood and Mr Zabini earlier. Neither spoke and yet they seemed to be communicating."

Hermione laughed. "I've seen them do that, too. I'm honestly not sure if that's something extrasensory going on, though, or just the fact that they've been together for so long. I remember my mum and dad used to do the exact same thing." A pained look crossed her face and Hermione looked away. This time she was the one who changed the subject. "So what do you need me for in regards to Dumbledore's collection?"

"I'm overwhelmed by it," he admitted, a little reluctantly she thought. "I am busy with my potions research and can't devote the time to organizing the collection that it deserves. I don't want it just sitting in crates for months on end. I want it sorted, and I want it done properly." He sighed. "I simply hadn't realized the how much one wizard could accumulate over the course of a lifetime. That's what I meant by it being a massive undertaking. I imagine it could take months to put it all to rights."

Hermione smiled. "It would be months well spent, I'm sure."

"A friend reminded me too that some of the collection may require special handling and possible restoration. And there's a rather good sized section of books on Dark Magic that not just anyone should handle. Your name... The Librarian that is... was recommended to me by this friend. I hope you'll tell me you're interested in the job."

Hermione grinned. "Oh, come now, Professor. It doesn't take a clairvoyant to know that any bibliophile would be chomping at the bit to get her hands on that collection. I'm no exception, of course I'm interested." She swiveled in her chair to pull some paperwork out a file cabinet. "I am curious, though, who was it that recommended me?"

"Lucius Malfoy. He gave me your card."

Hermione froze and turned to look over her shoulder at Severus with a puzzled expression. "Mr Malfoy? But...I've never done any work for him. Not that I wouldn't love the chance to get a look at the Malfoy library. It's legendary."

"He said you came very highly recommended by an acquaintance of his, a Bulgarian. I believe the name was Markovski. He said the man had raved about your work and gave Lucius your card, and he passed it on to me."

"Ahh... yes, okay. That makes sense then. Leo did have quite an eclectic collection inherited from his great-grandfather. I'll have to thank him for passing my card along to Mr Malfoy."

"If it's any enticement, I'm quite sure that if you take the job, I could arrange for you to have a chance to explore the Malfoy library," said Severus. "Anytime you like, really." The smirk on his face said he knew the offer was akin to waving a Honeyduke's lolly in front of a sugar-starved toddler.

"Are you offering me the job then, Professor?" she asked, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.

"I believe I am, Miss Granger," he replied smoothly.

"Well then, as we'll be working quite closely, likely for the next several months, perhaps you should call me Hermione, unless you prefer L. I answer to either," she said offering him her hand to shake.

He took her hand. "Hermione it is then. And since it's been a good many years since I've been anyone's professor, much less yours, you should probably call me Severus. Please."

"Very well, Severus," she said squeezing his hand in hers. "Let me just get you a copy of my contract to look over and we can discuss specific details later."

If either of them noticed that their hands remained clasped a little longer than necessary, or that a certain spark seemed to sizzle back and forth between them, neither acknowledged it.

Severus was just finishing breakfast when Lucius wandered in and helped himself to some coffee.

"You do know, I can have tea brought out for you," offered Severus, knowing that was Lucius' morning preference. He himself preferred a good dark roast to start the day.

Lucius waved him off, adding extra cream and sugar to his cup. "No. Thanks to you and Draco, you two heathens have forced me to adapt." Sitting at the table he eyed the papers in front of Severus "So, how did things go with your meeting in Scotland with the old crone? Is that some sort of contract you have there?"

"Fine and yes. And she's not an old crone after all. You'll never guess who the Librarian really is."

Taking a sip, Lucius pulled the contract over and began to skim through it. He usually looked these things over for his friend. "If I'll never guess, why don't you just tell me?" he said with a slight smirk.

Severus' eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Who would your first guess be?"

"Oh, I don't know," Lucius replied, seemingly disinterested. "Off the top of my head, I'd have to say... hmm... maybe... Hermione Granger?"

Severus smacked the table, making the cutlery and dishes jump. "Damn it, Lucius! If you knew, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't actually know, but I did suspect as much. I was going to share my theory with you yesterday before your meeting. But you were having so much fun ranting on about the old crone, I decided to leave you to your own devices."

Severus gave him a disgusted look. After a moment of tapping his finger on the table in annoyance as Lucius continued to peruse the contract, Severus' curiosity finally got the better of him. "Out with it then. How did you figure it out?"

Lucius put down the contract and took a sip of his coffee. "Several things, really. First, you mentioned seeing Zabini there. Draco told me months ago that Blaise had quit his job at the Ministry to pursue his long time amour, the Lovegood girl. He also said that the girl had left London to take a job managing her good friend's bookshop in Northern Scotland. I happen to know that Lovegood's closest friend is Granger."

"How could you possibly know that?" Severus was skeptical.

"After Lovegood's accident in the Department of Mysteries, she was in St. Mungo's for many weeks, on the spell damage ward. Granger was there almost every day. I saw her there myself: in the lifts, the hallways, the waiting rooms, the cafeteria. I was often there at the same times, visiting Cissy, you see."

Severus recalled with a pang of sadness the last weeks of Narcissa's life, spent sequestered in St Mungo's. She'd been infected by a latent spell cast on her years before by her own sister at the battle of Hogwarts, when Bella realized that Narcissa had lied about Potter being dead.

"Granger even came back and sought me out to offer her condolences... after..." Lucius voice faded.

Severus clasped his friend's shoulder briefly. It had been a difficult time for them all.

Lucius cleared his throat. "I also remembered that Leonid Markovski told me that he'd found the Librarian through his nephew, Viktor Krum, who is also known to be a friend of Granger's. And I'd heard she'd owned a bookshop several years back in Edinburgh. It made sense that someone in the book business might also develop skills in restoration and the like. Given all of that, I suspected she might be the Librarian."

"Well, I wish you'd shared some of your insights with me. I went in there expecting someone else entirely and was quite rude to her at first. I managed to pull my arse out of the fire and turn things around, though. Luckily, she seemed quite excited at the chance to work with Dumbledore's collection."

Severus waved his hand at the papers Lucius had gone back to reviewing. "What do you think of all that? It seems fairly standard to me."

"Yes it does, for the most part. Her fees are on the high side, not that she's not worth it, but perhaps we should try to negotiate some there," advised Lucius.

"She did mention that she's often willing to take a portion of her fees in barter. If there are books that she's particularly interested in and the client is willing to part with them, she reduces her fees accordingly. Being the bibliophile that she is, I'm sure we'll be able to work something out on that end."

Lucius nodded. "Yes, she is quite the clever girl, isn't she? I'm sure she's ended up acquiring books she never could have afforded to purchase outright." He turned to the last page of the contract. "Did you notice this clause?"

"No," replied Severus. "I hadn't got that far. What is it?"

"It states that for long term projects—which this will obviously be—the client will provide her accommodations. She would prefer something on-site but if that isn't a workable option, she would require something at least near-by."

"It does make sense, I suppose," agreed Severus. "She won't want to be Apparating back and forth to Thurso on a daily basis. And if she's anything like she was as a student, she gets so involved with her projects she'll probably want to work at odd hours."

"Snip," Lucius called. "A quill and some ink, please."

"What are you doing?" asked Severus, as the elf popped back with the requested items.

"I know how much you value your solitude, Severus. You must be dismayed at the very thought of that woman moving in, taking over your home. It will be disruptive enough that she'll be working on the collection here, but to have her constantly underfoot, asking you all sorts of annoying questions, interrupting your research time, taking meals with you, sleeping just down the hall from you—well, it's really just too much to ask, isn't it? I'm going to fix this for you, my friend," Lucius went on generously, as he dipped the quill in the ink. "I'll just put in the contract that she will be lodged at the manor. I'll provide her a suite of rooms and she can easily Floo or Apparate back and forth as she wishes. She's even welcome to take her meals with Draco and me. See, problem solved."

Lucius was about to put quill to parchment when Severus reached over and snatched the contract away. "I'm quite sure that isn't necessary," he said, smoothing out the papers. "While the dower house is no Malfoy Manor, there is certainly plenty of room here to accommodate the two of us easily."

"Well... if you're sure..." Lucius smirked.

Severus' eyes narrowed as he glared at his friend. "You arse. You did that just to aggravate me." He grabbed the quill from Lucius' hand and signed the contract as it was.

"Perhaps," replied Lucius with a grin. "Or perhaps to give you a shove in the right direction. I think the truth of the matter is, you actually like Miss Granger and won't be appalled at all to have her staying here."

Severus merely grunted in response. But he couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from tipping up in a half smile as he capped the ink bottle and called his owl to send the contract off to Hermione's home in Thurso.

Hermione wasn't scheduled to start Severus' project for two weeks. She had a few small restoration jobs to finish first, and a consulting job for a Muggle museum to assess a recently acquired ancient tome—which, unfortunately for the museum, was a forgery. Somehow she found herself stopping in at the dower house, to check on things.

She'd realized that Severus was going to need more space than his current library had available, so she offered to come back with some options for him to consider. He'd explained that the house actually belonged to Lucius, so they would need his approval on plans for permanent changes. They'd set up a meeting with him today to review her suggestions. Hermione arrived brimming with ideas, along with an armful of folders containing a myriad of pictures and diagrams.

"I had so many ideas it was hard to contain myself," she said with a laugh. "I have managed, though, to reduce them all to a few options. Mr Malfoy, I'm so happy you could come as we'll need your input on the final decision."

"Now, Hermione, it's Lucius, as I've already told you several times," chided Lucius.

She blushed. Although she'd easily adjusted to calling the professor by his given name, she was having a much harder time with Lucius. Although she would never admit to it openly, at first she'd been quite intimidated and perhaps even a little frightened by the man she recalled from the war. Now, though, she'd begun to see him in a different light. Through her friendship with Blaise, she'd often come into contact with Draco and could imagine Lucius through his son's eyes. And then there was the devoted and then grieving husband she'd witnessed at St. Mungo's. She'd also seen his interactions with Severus, as a true and caring friend. She'd actually seen them tease and joke with each other, something she never would have expected from the oh-so-proper pureblood and the straight-laced professor.

"I'm sorry, Lucius, I'll get it right eventually," she said. "Now, shall we get started?"

"Definitely," murmured Lucius.

"Yes, I'm anxious to hear your ideas, Hermione," agreed Severus.

"Well, the fastest, easiest option would be to enlarge your present library with magic. We could expand the walls and use a duplicating charm on the bookshelves and furniture. It could probably be completed in a few days and we could be ready to begin sorting the collection. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this plan is actually the least desirable in the long run."

"Why is that?" asked Severus, rubbing his chin and frowning.

"I concur with Hermione," said Lucius. "Although I would like to hear your reasoning, my dear."

"Some magical buildings such as Hogwarts, the Ministry, perhaps even places like Malfoy Manor have, over time, developed a certain sentience that enables them to take such magic and incorporate it into the actual structure of the building."

She looked to Lucius for confirmation and saw that he was nodding in agreement. Encouraged, she continued. "However, here in the dower house, that would likely not be the case. Therefore anything we created would have to stand strictly on the strength of the magic itself. Over time, it's possible that magic could weaken and fade, or perhaps be hit by an unintentional counter spell. It could even be eroded by some of the stronger magic of Dumbledore's books or yours, Severus. What would start out as a lovely library could one day suddenly revert to the structure we currently have and... POOF!" Hermione waved her arms around in illustration. "You'd be left with a mess, not to mention the potential damage to your highly valuable collection. Although it will take longer, I think it would be much wiser to do it through permanent structural changes to the house. That's why Severus requested your presence today, Lucius—as the owner, we need your approval of any changes."

Lucius gave Severus an irritated look. "I think that since you're the one who lives here, you should make whatever changes you want."

"But the house is not mine, it's yours. I just lease it. Any changes need your approval," Severus pointed out.

"Blast it all, Severus, this is your home and has been for damn near a decade. I've offered more than once to sell you the bloody house. It sits at the very edge of the Malfoy estates, it would be easy enough to separate the house and property and draw up a deed. All it would take is your consent and it would be done," Lucius snapped his fingers. "As easy as that."

Severus pursed his lips and made no response save an icy stare. He checked his watch, coolly stated that he had a potion to check and would return in an hour, then he turned on his heel and stalked off to his lab, his robes billowing—some things never changed.

"Damned stubborn Slytherin," Lucius swore under his breath. Hearing a snort from Hermione, he turned.

She was obviously trying to keep from laughing out loud. "It takes one to know one," she commented with a grin.

Lucius smiled back. "I suppose it does. Come, my dear. While we await Mr Grumpy's return from the potions lab, let us adjourn to the solarium and have Snip bring us tea."

They enjoyed tea and small talk for a bit, then Hermione finally asked what she'd been wondering. "Lucius, why was Severus so upset when you mentioned selling him the dower house?"

Lucius sighed. "I'm not certain, but I do have some theories. Back when he first came here, he truly didn't have the resources. He'd lost everything when the house at Spinner's End was destroyed, and he'd never amassed a huge savings from his years of teaching. I would have offered to sign this place over to him—it hadn't been used by the Malfoy family for years and had sat vacant, thus it had no sentimental value to me—but I knew he'd have seen that as charity and never would have accepted."

Hermione nodded. That fit with what she was beginning to know of Severus' character.

"Over the years, though, his circumstances have changed. He's done very well with his potions research; he has numerous patents to his name. He could buy it easily now, and yet he still refuses every time I bring it up. Perhaps after years of being bound to Hogwarts through Dumbledore, he doesn't want to be tied down to any one place... or person. If he doesn't own the house, theoretically he could leave at any time. He has no roots here." Lucius' face wore a sad expression as he stared through the windows at the small flower garden, lost in thought.

After a moment, Hermione stood and offered him her hand. "Come. Walk with me outside. I'm sure it can't compare to Malfoy Manor's formal gardens, but the flowers look lovely and it's a beautiful day to enjoy some fresh air."

After they had walked a bit, Hermione spoke. "I'm not sure that I agree with your theory, Lucius, about Severus not wanting to be tied to this place, or through it to you. It's possibly quite the opposite, in fact. You see, I've been giving it some thought since it seems that I have a similar problem."

"Really? How so?" he asked. They went up two steps to sit on a bench in a small gazebo.

"I'm very close friends with Luna Lovegood. Do you know anything of her situation?"

"I've heard rumors that she's lost her magic."

"Not lost exactly, but it is inaccessible. Because of this I was determined that she come manage my bookshop in Thurso for me. It wasn't just so I could devote my time to my consulting work either, although I'll admit I do like that much better than dealing every day with the public. I was truly frightened for her to remain among the magical community when she no longer has the ability to protect herself. The war is long over, but there are still those in the wizarding world who would do us harm, especially those of us who were closest to Harry."

"While that may be true, surely there are bad people in the Muggle world as well," replied Lucius.

"Yes, I'm sure you're right." She smiled nervously. "I never claimed that my fears were rational, far from it at times, but she's my best friend and I nearly lost her. That in itself terrified me. I believed that somehow she would be safer working with me and dealing with Muggles. Now, since Blaise has come, he handles most of the business from The Half-Blood Prints and she manages The Bibliothecary's Corner. They make a great pair. But every time I mention selling the shop to them, she refuses.

"Like you, in the beginning, I would have signed the damned thing over to her outright. But she would have considered it charity. Now that she and Blaise have become engaged, I know they have the funds available and he would do anything to make her happy. Yet she still refuses. She says she likes working with me, even though I'm rarely ever at the shop anymore."

Lucius half turned in his seat to study her. "So what do you think it is, then? Why won't she buy the shop? Why doesn't Severus buy this house?"

"I'm just thinking out loud, really, and it may not be the same situation for you and Severus, but I think Luna doesn't want things to change. It's not because she doesn't want to put down roots, but because she fears if she owns the bookshop outright then our ties will be broken. I suspect she fears that if I'm not officially part of it anymore, then I won't be connected to her either."

"I'm not sure I understand," said Lucius, his brow furrowed.

"It sounds odd, I know. There's probably a lot of background between us that you don't know. She and I weren't close friends while at Hogwarts. However, neither one of us were ever the type to make friends easily. I'm not sure that Luna had any close friends back then, she seemed to hover at the fringes. For me, it was really only ever Harry and Ron, I never had any other close friendships. Back then, I thought that could never change, but it did. After the war, as time went on, the three of us seemed to drift farther and farther apart, our friendship seemed to fade away."

Lucius nodded. "Well that's not at all unusual. Childhood friends often drift apart."

"It wasn't until I started working at the Ministry that Luna and I became close. I know you don't really know her, but most people find her more than a little odd. They don't bother to look any further than the surface, but there's so much more to her than the eccentric facade she presents to the general public."

Lucius nodded. "She sounds rather like Severus in that respect, as if they are masking their true nature. Only rather than being odd, he projects this aura of gruffness and negativity to keep people at bay. In reality that is not his true nature at all."

"I... hadn't thought of it like that," said Hermione hesitantly. "He doesn't seem like that to me now, at least not since our first meeting." She smiled to herself .

Lucius couldn't help but wonder if the attraction he'd suspected on Severus' part might be reciprocated. He needed to keep her talking. "You were saying... about Miss Lovegood?"

"Well, she was there for me through some very tough times..." Hermione stopped, unsure of how much to reveal to someone she didn't know that well. "Even after I left my job at the Ministry—after I left the wizarding world entirely—she still stood by me, even when others didn't. Later, of course I was there for her after her accident. Now we're the closest of friends, like sisters even. But I think she remembers that I was also just that close to Harry and Ron at one time and how, as our interests changed, those friendships faded and we drifted apart. I think she believes that might happen to us, even now, so she's clinging to the thing that she thinks connects us: the bookshop."

"As theories go, that's not half bad, my dear," said Lucius.

"Or maybe it's just a bunch of psycho-babble," she said with a shrug.

Lucius' gave her a puzzled look, and Hermione laughed. "That's a Muggle term. Basically it means I'm psychoanalyzing my relationship with Luna, probably without any particular accuracy or relevance." When he still looked confused she added, "Psychologists are Muggle counselors who help people figure out what their thoughts, feelings and emotions mean and why they do the things they do. Head doctors."

"Well, well. You two seem to be having a good time," Severus broke in, startling Hermione.

"Oh, Severus, I didn't hear you come up. Lucius and I were just passing time, enjoying your garden while we waited for you. Did your potion turn out all right?"

He looked closely from one to the other, then finally, as if satisfied with whatever he'd seen, he answered, "Yes, I had to add a few new ingredients and stir it for seventeen minutes. Then I had to monitor it for a while. It's back in stasis now."

"Wonderful," said Hermione. She stood and tucked her hand into his elbow as she steered him back toward the house. "Then let's all go make some decisions about your new and improved library."

Hermione had narrowed the choices down to three. Her presentation was complete with color coded file folders containing numerous diagrams and a myriad of photos to illustrate how it all would look in the end. When Hermione turned her back to retrieve something out of her seemingly bottomless bag, Severus mumbled to Lucius that now he knew what Potter and Weasley must have felt like back at Hogwarts.

The first choice was quickly rejected by both men. Hermione didn't seem to mind, as it involved converting the room across the hallway into a second library, which was her least favorite plan of the three anyway. They went back and forth for quite a while on the merits of the other two plans, and in the end they decided to combine them both. They would expand the library to the one side, taking out part of the wall to a small sitting room that Severus had never used anyway. That would become a study/office area for him where most of his Potions books would reside. Then in the current library, they would open the center of the ceiling to the room above, adding railings all around with access from the ground floor viaa circular stairway off to one side. It would eliminate one of the dower house's bedrooms, but that still left six others which Severus said were five more than he would ever need.

The decision finally made, Hermione declined to stay for dinner as she already had plans. Before she left though, she made them promise to find someone with experience to do the work and to not-not-not try to do it themselves. To ensure this, she told them several do it yourself horror stories regarding the dangers of removing load-bearing walls or using improper support beams for the ceiling.

Just before she left, Hermione announced that she'd be moving in by the middle of the following week.

TBC