Chapter 6
The Great Hall was quiet, but the air was full of anticipation. The professors assembled in the hall prior to the arrival of students, but carriages bearing youth were on their way from the station and the boats of first years had pulled away from the docks. Hermione took the seat next to Severus and greeted him with a small smile. They had begun to establish a tenuous sort of friendship in the last week or so. It helped that Hermione was one of few who was allowed to see Severus interact with Zo. She was the one he turned to for help, unwilling to let any of the others know of his weaknesses concerning childcare. She was beginning to appreciate his way of doing things.
They were all settled as the students began to pour into the Great Hall. Some sat down and continued conversations with friends without so much as a glance at the staff table. Others looked up to wave at a favorite professor. Still others did a complete scan of the table before looking off into the distance.
"I remember how it felt my first opening feast from this table. How to you feel?" George Weasley asked from her other side.
"Excited… and a little nauseous." she replied honestly.
"You'll be fine Professor Granger. Just remember not to let them see that you are not on top of your ballgame." Severus added. Soon the two wizards were engaged in a conversation. Hermione paid some attention to the conversation, but still much of her mental faculties were buzzing away internally.
All too soon the doors opened again revealing McGonagall and the first years. She watched the youngest pupils make their way nervously through the long aisle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables to the front of the hall.
"This is where the fun begins." George whispered.
"Aberly, Allison!" McGonagall called. A small shy-looking girl stepped forward and sat on the stool.
"Gryffindor." George whispered.
"Hufflepuff." Severus mumbled.
"Ravenclaw." Hermione breathed.
"Ravenclaw!" shouted the sorting hat.
Hermione may have guessed the first student right, but that was not the trend of the evening. Overall, Severus was best at guessing the house. Hermione was not as bad at the game as George though, who guessed Gryffindor for every student. George clapped and cheered loudly for each new Gryffindor, while Severus applauded politely the new members to his house. Hermione clapped quietly for each new student. Finally the last student was sorted, and the Headmaster rose to deliver the announcements.
"Good evening. To those of you who are new, welcome. To old friends, welcome back. As usual there are a variety of reminders I need to address. New students, please be advised that the forest on school grounds is expressly off limits. Some of you older students would be well advised to remember that fact. There is to be no magic in the corridors and no experimental magic of any kind outside the supervision of a faculty member. We have one new addition to the Hogwarts faculty this year. Professor Hermione Granger is now on staff to teach all levels of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I hope you will all make her feel very welcome here." Dumbledore said. There was a round of applause for Hermione who nodded gracefully in acknowledgement.
"Also, we have two further additions to the Hogwarts family who are not present this evening but will require some care on your parts. This year, for the first time in many years, Hogwarts has two small children in residence. The two little girls belong to Professor Granger and Professor Snape. While precautions have been taken for their stay in the castle, I hope you older students will take care around any unusually small students and, should either little girl be found wandering, return them promptly to Professor Snape, Professor Granger, or any convenient staff member. With all this addressed, please enjoy your meal."
The food at Hogwarts was always wonderful, but the opening feast was particularly amazing. Hermione was glad that she had followed George's advice and eaten a very light lunch. She dined on roast chicken, tavern carrots, green beans, warm yeast rolls, and hot apple pie all washed down with pumpkin juice. The overall effect was calming and tiring for Hermione. After the feast, Dumbledore bid goodnight to all the students and sent them off to their dormitories.
Hermione, Severus, and George all walked to Hermione's rooms together. They had all decided that a bit of tea before they began the nightly routine sounded grand. Hermione agreed to host since the girls were there and Winky needed relieved of her duties as babysitter. Her rooms also happened to be the closest.
The girls were busy playing back in Lil's room when they arrived. Hermione poked her head in to tell them that the grown ups would be having tea and Winky was going home before heading back out to the tea that Severus and George were serving already. A cup of hot tea turned out to be just what Hermione's full stomach needed in order to help it settle and digest. The three had a conversation about an article printed in that morning's Daily Prophet about a string of magical kettles being sold to Muggles as electric kettles. After about a half hour, George excused himself, and Severus went to coax Zo into going home.
"Mummmm! Can Zo sleep over?" Lil whined.
"Not tonight, dear, but I'm sure we can arrange that for another time. Tomorrow is a big day for all of us, so you and me and Zo and her daddy have to get a good night's sleep." Hermione explained.
"Okay." Lil pouted. Zo gave Hermione a hug and let her daddy lead her out the door.
"Alright Lil, it's time for your bath." Hermione announced. Lil trudged back into her bedroom. Hermione followed her into her own bathroom, which was decorated with frogs and started the bathwater.
About 20 minutes later, Lil and Hermione were curled up in Hermione's bed reading the next chapter out of their book. Zo and Severus were in a similar position reading a children's book in the armchair in Zo's room. Both girls had their stories finished and were promptly tucked into bed. Hermione then tucked herself into bed with the latest issue of Witch Weekly while Severus changed for bed and settled down with the latest issue of the Annals of Alchemy. Before long they were both asleep.