Chapter Nine
When Hermione had sent the letter off to Harry and Ron, the most she had expected was an eventual reply. She knew that their friendship wasn't as strong as it once was, as they had all moved on with their lives. But she still cared about them, as they were a huge part of her life growing up.
So when Hedwig arrived with a letter for her, she was both shocked and pleasantly surprised to read that they were excited about her return, and couldn't wait to see her. Harry asked Hermione if it would be alright for them to visit and if it was, to ask Dumbledore to get the elves to prepare some rooms, as the whole Weasley tribe were to be expected. She was to send a reply with the answer straight away, so that they could make arrangements.
Stunned, Hermione had gone to visit Dumbledore in his quarters that morning to see how he felt about it.
On the one hand Hermione was excited to see the Weasleys again as she did genuinely miss them, but on the other hand she wondered if the whole Weasley tribe coming would be such a good idea. She had noticed how tired and withdrawn Dumbledore seemed lately, and knew that his heart condition was taking a toll on his body. So they took to spending time together in the mornings then after his afternoon nap, as he rarely left the safety of his quarters or the castle anymore. He didn't want to be a burden on anyone and hated it when everyone fussed over him. So it was because of this that Hermione worried about the Weasleys coming.
She also didn't know if they were aware of Dumbledore's health and knew how boisterous the Weasleys could be. She wondered if Dumbledore would be able to handle them, both mentally and physically. This, she knew, would be answered soon enough.
Knocking on the door to Dumbledore's office with an excited looking Morvin by her side, she heard Dumbledore's breathy sounding 'enter' before they stepped in. As always Morvin ran straight to him, wrapping her small arms around his neck before giving him a big hug. Every time Morvin had done this previously, Hermione tried to reach out and stop her, but Dumbledore always shook his head no. So she simply stopped trying now, as obviously he didn't mind and relished these precious moments spent with her.
Sitting down on the chair in front of his desk, she watched on as her daughter spoke to him as normal. She knew how much he enjoyed these times, as she could see the twinkle in his eyes sparkling brightly, just like before.
Hermione felt guilty at the fact that Morvin was yet to be told about Dumbledore's condition. But how could she possibly tell her daughter that one of the people she loved most in the world was dying and would soon leave them?
Even though she couldn't remember her past, Hermione still felt that Morvin had already seen and been through too much. She didn't want to add any more pain to her life, and wanted nothing more than to protect her. But as she looked at Dumbledore now, she could see his health deteriorating and saw the effect it was having on his appearance. It wouldn't take long for Morvin to realize that something was wrong, and start asking questions.
Hermione wanted to make sure that Morvin knew the truth before things got to that point. But when was the right time to tell a child news like that, she didn't know.
"And how is my little Mo this morning hmm?" Dumbledore asked, as Morvin firmly planted herself onto his lap.
"I'm great grandpa, mother said she's going to take me to visit Diagonally today."
Both Hermione and Dumbledore laughed at Morvin's slip-up.
"You mean Diagon Alley." Dumbledore corrected with a small smile.
Morvin furrowed her eyebrows and frowned at him.
"Yes grandpa that's what I said."
Hermione laughed at the matter of fact way in which her daughter spoke before saying,
"Sweetheart why don't you go and look at grandpa's books, there's something important that I need to ask him."
Kissing him on the cheek, Morvin hopped off his lap and skipped happily over to the books to see what she could find. Picking one out, she sat on the couch and quickly became lost in the book 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard.'
Noticing the book Morvin had chosen, a flicker of recognition crossed over Hermione's face as she remembered the importance of it from her vision. Seeing that look, Dumbledore reached over and placed a gentle hand on her arm, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Hermione what's wrong?" He asked tentatively.
She sighed then turned her gaze to him before saying,
"The book, it contained the Tale of the three Brothers and it was about the Deathly Hallows, and you wanted me to realize that in order to help Harry. So you left it to me in your will after you…." Her voice trailed away when she thought of his death then, and his possible death now causing frustration to burn inside of her. "Nothing Severus and I did mattered. You still end up…" She couldn't say the word 'dying', for she still held hope that they would come up with something, however unlikely it was.
Dumbledore sighed before squeezing her hand fondly, he didn't want to discuss this, not here and especially not with Morvin in the room mere meters away.
"Hermione my dear, remember we are not alone." He said looking pointedly towards Morvin, who was luckily still focused on reading the book.
"You're right." Hermione whispered, rubbing her hands across her face. "I'm sorry."
Dumbledore smiled then said,
"And how can you possibly say that nothing you done mattered. Of course it mattered. Look at the lives of everyone you care about now. Severus, Remus, Dora, Fred, mines." He held up his hand quietening her before she could say anything. "And before you argue with me, my life did change for the better. As I said before, without you I wouldn't have gotten the family I wanted. I wouldn't have seen the people I care about live. That is enough for me." He gave Hermione a small reassuring smile before popping a lemon drop in his mouth. Wanting to change the subject he said, "Now, I guess this wasn't what you came here to discuss." His baby blue eyes twinkled brightly, as if he knew something that she didn't.
Sitting back in the chair Hermione pulled out the piece of parchment from inside her jacket and said,
"Actually no it wasn't. I came here to discuss this with you. Remus gave me the idea to write to Harry and Ron, which I did and this morning this was delivered to me."
"Excellent." Dumbledore exclaimed happily. There was nothing more than he wanted to see before his death than the Golden Trio reunited, just like old times.
"Yes well in the letter, he asked me to ask you if it would be alright if they all came to visit for a while."
"They all?" Dumbledore inquired.
"Yes, erm all of the Weasleys I believe. Albus I know that its sudden notice and it's alright if it's too much, I can just tell them…"
He cut her off quickly before she could even finish the sentence. Frowning he said,
"Nothing will please me more than having them here, why on earth would it be too much?"
"Because of your health." Hermione whispered, chancing a quick glance towards Morvin, who was luckily still engrossed in the book and not paying attention to their conversation.
Again he frowned at her.
"Hermione, perhaps having my friends and loved ones around is exactly what I need right now, because Merlin help me the next time I see them again will no doubt be at my funeral."
"Albus, please don't say things like that." Hermione could feel a sharp pain in her chest at hearing his words.
"Why not it's the truth. I have accepted what is too come Hermione and I am not afraid. You shouldn't be either. Now I will let the house elves know about the Weasley's coming, goodness knows they will be happy to have something to do now that the students are away." He said with a small chuckle before sobering once again, as he looked at Hermione intently. "Please my dear girl, stop fussing and worrying about me. Enjoy your time here at Hogwarts and I shall enjoy what little time I have left, with the people I love and care about the most. It's all I want."
Hermione couldn't help but feel guilty at hearing his plea. She felt incredibly selfish at wanting to keep Dumbledore safe and away from all the people who mattered to him. It wasn't her intention to do this of course, she was only trying to look out for him after all. But by doing this, she was completely forgetting to put his wants and needs first.
"Albus I'm so sorry." She said, her voice a mere whisper at her mistake.
"Hush now, let us not speak of this anymore. I will let the house elves know about our guest's arrival, and you will write to Harry and let him know that they are all welcome to come whenever they wish. It will be good to see them again. Now," He said clapping his hands together with excitement. "You and Morvin go and enjoy your trip to Diagon Alley, but be careful. And I shall finish off some paperwork that I was doing. Honestly, you can't imagine how much I have to do, considering the school is closed for the holidays." He said with a small smile, though Hermione could see that it was more for her benefit than for his, as he was clearly hiding something from her. But she wasn't about to pry. "And Hermione, if you have time could you possibly visit Sugarplums Sweet Shop and pick me up a cauldron cake and a box of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans please? I feel my sweet tooth can no longer be satisfied by lemon drops only."
Hermione gave him a genuine smile and shook her head fondly at him. It was good to see that some things hadn't changed with regards to his sweet tooth.
"Of course I will Albus. I guess we shall see you later then." Rising up from the chair she turned towards Morvin and said,
"Little Mo it's time to go." Morvin was so absorbed in the book that she didn't even acknowledge Hermione speaking to her. "Honestly it's like she's lost all of her senses." Hermione said with an amused chuckle. She too had often found herself in that position, only to be yelled and shook by either an irate Ron or Harry. Walking over to her daughter, she placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed until she finally had Morvin's attention. "Come on my little bookworm it's time to go."
Morvin, startled by the sudden presence of her mother, looked from Hermione to the book she had been engrossed in, with a look of longing on her face, before sighing.
"Fine." She said, reluctantly putting the book back on the shelf before following her mother towards the door.
"See you later Albus." Hermione said with a small wave.
"I'll be counting on it." He replied with a chuckle.
"Bye grandpa," Morvin said, looking back towards the desk.
"Bye bye little Mo." He said fondly.
Once the two of them had left and the door had closed firmly behind them, Dumbledore pulled out a set of documents that he had hidden amongst the stack of parchment on top of his desk.
Sighing, he ran his fingers through his beard before picking up his quill to finish what he had started. Laying out his Will and Testament, he thought for a moment then chuckled slightly. He had already given Morvin a couple of things that were precious to him, but he decided to add just one more thing to the list. And that was the book she had just been reading.
Hermione said that in the vision she had, he had passed the book to her in his will, so he thought it was quite fitting that he should pass it down to Morvin instead.
He should have made these changes a while ago, but the truth was he hadn't come to terms with things until Hermione and Morvin had come to Hogwarts. Only now was he able to put quill to parchment.
After stopping by their quarters so that Hermione could quickly write a short reply to Harry. She sent Dante off with the letter attached to his leg, before they headed out of the castle. But just as they had walked through the large doors of the school, Morvin grew excited and before she could stop herself yelled,
"Professor Snape wait up please."
Following her daughter's gaze, Hermione looked to see Severus already in his traveling robes heading towards the castle grounds. He stopped and twirled around when he heard his name being called, and waited until Hermione and her daughter had caught up to him. Unable to look at Hermione just yet, he focused on the little girl by her side instead.
"You yelled." He said sarcastically, causing Morvin to giggle.
"Mothers taking me on a trip would you like to come with us?" Morvin asked innocently.
Severus felt a soft flutter in his chest, while Hermione couldn't help but feel impressed at how sly her daughter was being.
"I'm afraid I cannot, as you see I have some errands of my own to take care of." He said, glancing sideways at the look of relief that briefly crossed over Hermione's face. Despite the fact that he wouldn't mind terribly spending some more time with Hermione and her daughter, he didn't want to cause any discomfort to her either.
At his answer Morvin frowned then said,
"Where are you going too? Maybe we can come with you instead."
Trying to stifle his chuckle at the young girls Gryffindor brashness, Severus put on his best sneer, knowing already that it didn't faze her at all.
"Not that it is any of your concern, but I am heading to Diagon Alley to visit the apothecary there."
Morvin grew excited again at hearing his words.
"That's where we're heading to. Mother wants to show me around Diagon Alley, so maybe we can go together after all." She said with hope in her voice.
Severus looked up to meet Hermione's piercing gaze, and saw uncertainty flashing in her eyes. He didn't want to make the situation anymore awkward than it seemed, but they were all heading to the same place. He could use that as a reason to spend more time with them.
"What do you say Hermione? It makes sense since we are all heading the same way."
Hermione looked from Severus's expressionless face, to Morvin's excited one and felt herself relenting. How could she possibly say no?
"Alright then." She replied, smiling at Morvin's enthusiastic squeal. Rolling her eyes at her daughter, the trio set off across the grounds of Hogwarts and towards the apparition point.
While Hermione walked in silence, Morvin had engaged Severus in a conversation about the apothecary and what ingredients he was needing. After telling her his list, Severus then asked Morvin what each ingredient could be used for, and what possible potions he could be brewing.
Just like her mother, Morvin began to delve into a long explanation about each one and got them all correct, which was not in the least bit surprising considering who her mother was. If only all of his students could be that adept, he thought wistfully.
"Here we are then." Hermione said, breaking up the conversation between her daughter and the Potions Professor.
Severus looked at her with some confusion before saying,
"Diagon Alley is too far away for apparition; we will need to floo from the Three Broomsticks to the Leaky Cauldron. Have you forgotten this already Miss Granger?" Severus teased.
Hermione glanced at him and shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Of course I haven't Sir but I can side along with both of you. If that's all right I mean?" She asked hesitantly.
Even now, there were times Severus forgot just how powerful Hermione was. When she wasn't fighting a large army of vampires, or destroying a group of flea bitten werewolves, she seemed so normal and relatively harmless.
The haunting words she had said to him four years ago, suddenly came back to him. He had disbelieved her words then, but now he realized there was some truth to them. He hadn't fully accepted her, not then and probably not now either. Because if he did, then these small realizations shouldn't have surprised him still.
"Of course, that would be acceptable." He finally said, after breaking out of his musings.
With that decided, Morvin jumped up on Hermione's back, wrapping her arms around her neck, and her legs around her waist. Once she was comfortable, Hermione looked at Severus and waited to see how he would position himself.
He knew that for short journeys it was acceptable to just hold the person's hand or arm, but for longer journeys, such as this he would need to have a good hold of Hermione, to stop them from splinching or from him letting go. So with no other option he moved closer, before wrapping his arms securely around her waist below Morvin's legs.
He heard her small gasp and felt his own excitement grow at being this close to her. He also enjoyed hearing that he still had some kind of effect on her. He moved his head so that it rested on her shoulder and closed his eyes, waiting for the pop of apparition and the familiar pull on the naval.
It didn't come straight away, as Hermione found herself momentarily distracted. With Severus's hands around her waist and her nose buried in his chest, the pure scent of him filled her senses. At one point she had been driven almost to madness by his smell, wanting nothing more than to drink from him. But now the scent of him brought a different want to her. Now she wanted nothing more than to bask in it, to commit his own unique smell to her mind.
"Mother are we going now," Morvin's soft voice asked, cutting through Hermione's thoughts like a knife.
"What- yes of course let's go." Hermione said, clearing the fog from her mind. Concentrating hard on her destination, the three of them vanished off the grounds of Hogwarts with a small pop.
If she had waited to leave a moment or two later, Hermione would have seen a small group of people in black cloaks make their way towards the castle. But instead she remained oblivious as the three of them reappeared in a quiet area of Diagon Alley.
Reluctantly Severus let Hermione go, taking a small step backwards, as he watched Morvin jump off her mother's back. He knew this was where they would split up, but found himself not wanting to leave them just yet.
Looking around Morvin frowned then asked,
"Where are all the shops and the people?" So far she wasn't impressed and thought Diagon Alley would be much more exciting than what it was.
Hermione chuckled at her daughter and shook her head slowly.
"Honestly Morvin, you are so impatient. This isn't the main part of Diagon Alley silly, it's just a little street off to the side. I thought it would be quieter here than apparating straight there." Taking her daughter's small hand she said, "Follow me."
Not knowing what else to do, Severus walked beside Hermione and Morvin as they stepped into the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. Unable to hide his small smile, he watched as Morvin looked around with awe, her mouth hanging open with shock.
"Well." Hermione said, smiling down at her daughter. "What do you think now?"
Turning a beaming smile onto Hermione, Morvin whispered,
"It's amazing, it's so much better than I thought."
Although Hermione was focused on Morvin, she could feel the inquisitive gazes of the people around her. Although it was summer, the sky was overcast with thick heavy clouds, so she didn't need to worry about her or Morvin sparkling. For those who didn't know her, they probably wouldn't suspect who she was, which meant hopefully they would go unnoticed.
Sensing her thoughts, Severus put a gentle hand on Hermione's shoulder and said,
"If you would like, I could stay with you and Morvin. I doubt anyone will want to come near you both with me here." He gave Hermione his best intimidating Snape sneer, but she could see the amusement flicker in his dark eyes.
Giggling and feeling the awkwardness finally begin to melt between them, she nodded her head and said,
"Thank you Severus that would be lovely, but you really don't need us to slow you down."
He gave her a small frown before saying,
"I have no plans other than coming here, so you wouldn't be slowing me down."
"Thank you then, that would be nice."
Morvin looked between the two adults then smiled when her mother agreed. She liked the dark wizard, even though he always tried to look big and scary. She knew however that deep down he was a really a nice man and wasn't as bad as he tried to appear.
"Does that mean you can show me the apothecary?" She asked with excitement.
Severus looked down at Morvin and gave a mock sigh.
"I suppose that is only fair." He agreed.
So with that the three of them set off heading to their first stop which was the sweet shop for Dumbledore. Along with his cauldron cake and jelly beans, Hermione and Morvin also picked up some other delicious sweets for him.
Looking at all the different treats in their colourful packages, Morvin couldn't help feel a little envious. She had loved sweet treats as a human, not that she ever got many, so coming to a place like this knowing that she couldn't eat any saddened her.
Seeing the look of disappointment in her eyes Hermione squeezed Morvin's hand gently then said,
"I know how you feel sweetie. Before I first found out I was a witch, I was never allowed sweets or anything nice like that as my parents were dentists and strict on me. So the first time I saw the sweet shop here, I thought it was heaven." Hermione said wistfully, remembering that first time. "I was so excited I picked out so many sweets and after working my way through them all I became ill." She said with a slight laugh. She could still remember being sick for two days and having such a sore stomach. "I never gorged on that many sweets again. They look good yes but believe me, eating sweets is very bad for you."
Morvin sighed, before turning big eyes to look at her mother. She knew that she meant well but her story didn't help ease the longing.
"I know but I never got the chance to gorge on sweets before. My parents couldn't afford treats like that."
Severus, who had been watching the exchange between mother and daughter, lay his hand on Morvin's shoulder then said,
"My parents were the same Morvin. We were poor and what little money we did have my father spent all of it on other things for himself. I never had any sweets as a child, even when I went to Hogwarts"
Morvin turned her attention to Severus and took his hand in hers.
"You should treat yourself now then."
Severus sighed and turned to look at the sweet confectionary, a small smile quirking his lips.
"Perhaps you are right."
With that he paid for a small bag of sour sweets and popped one in his mouth, closing his eyes to savor the bitter, yet sweet taste. He hummed in pleasure, just as he hit the really tangy center.
Morvin looked on smiling before her smile turned into full blown laughter, as green smoke poured out of the Potions Master's ears and nostrils. He grimaced slightly as he crunched the rest of the sweet. With a soft cough he turned to Morvin, as the smoke began to disappear.
"Those are my favorite sweets, but I keep forgetting how sour they taste."
After visiting the sweet shop, the three of them headed to Flourish and Blotts, where they spent what seemed like hours browsing all the books. All three of them enjoyed reading and were devoted bibliophiles, so it was no wonder that after their trip to the book shop, they each left with a small bundle of books.
Until Hermione, Morvin was never really interested in books. This was partly because books were another luxury her parents didn't invest in, so she never got the chance to read anything. But when Hermione had introduced her to the world of literature, she got lost in the stories themselves and loved learning new things. Hermione always encouraged her to read, because she herself was a bookworm. Although normal muggle books were captivating to Morvin, magical books were so much better. The illustrations moved and the words always seemed to change on the pages' every time you picked it up to re-read it. The best thing of all however, was that magical books were full of information you could never have imagined in the muggle world.
Their next stop, after the book shop, was Slug and Jiggers apothecary. Even though Morvin was excited about being shown all the different ingredients by Severus, what she had not thought of, was just how badly it would smell. Before they had even reached the shop, Morvin could smell the rancid stench of all the ingredients get stronger the closer they got. Inside was worse however. Not only did the sense of smell assault her, but the sight of seeing jars full of pickled creatures and tubs full of crawling insects, was enough to make her stomach churn.
"Mother can we please get out of here." She begged, before she heaved the contents of her stomach onto the floor embarrassing herself.
With a grimace, Hermione told Severus they would wait outside for him and that he was to take his time. He could only nod his head as he watched with confusion as they exited the shop.
Once outside, Morvin heaved a sigh of relief before inhaling the clean fresh air, settling her stomach in the process.
Hermione knew what would happen when they entered the apothecary, so looked on at her daughter with some amusement.
"Not what you were expecting was it?" She asked with a chuckle. She too was glad to be out of there, as the smell was overpowering even for her.
"That was disgusting." Morvin admitted, a look of disgust etched on her face. "I never want to go back into another apothecary again. But poor Severus though, I was looking forward to him showing me all the ingredients." She said with a slight pout.
"Perhaps if you ask Severus nicely, he will show you around his own storeroom. It will still smell bad, but nothing compared to what it was like in there."
At hearing this Morvin beamed up at her mother with excitement.
"Do you think he will show me around?" She asked hopefully.
"Only if you're good and ask nicely." Hermione replied, squeezing her daughter's shoulders.
Looking around them again, Hermione's attention was suddenly drawn towards the store front of Ollivanders. Since arriving back into the magical world she had not thought of the wandmaker who had helped her all those years ago. Fingering the soft wood of her wand guiltily, Hermione took Morvin's hand and tugged her towards the shop.
"Come with me, there is someone very special I would like you to meet." She said with a soft smile.
Pushing the door to the shop open, she heard the familiar tinkling of the door chime, before looking around the empty room, at all the dusty boxes lining the walls.
"One moment please." An unknown voice said from the back of the room. Before Hermione could even form a reply, she watched in surprise as a young man in his thirties came sliding through from the back, standing on a moving pair of ladders. "Sorry about that, now how can I help you today?" The young man asked with a pleasant smile.
Hermione looked him over with a curious eye. He looked like a much younger, more handsome version of the Mr Ollivander she remembered, so wondered if he was a family member.
"I'm sorry but I was wondering if Garrick was around. I would very much like to catch up with him." Hermione asked, noticing the sad glint flash in the young wizard's eyes as she spoke.
"I'm sorry Miss but my grandfather passed away five months ago. I run the family business now." He said softly, looking the woman in front of him up and down. "May I ask how you knew him?"
Hermione was shocked to say the least. Mr Ollivander had died five months ago and no-one had thought to tell her. Here was yet another thing that had been kept from her.
"I'm so sorry I just can't believe no-one told me. I've been living abroad for the past four years and have only just returned." She said sadly.
The young wizard reached out and patted Hermione's hand gently, before withdrawing it quickly at how unnaturally cold she felt. It was because of that, that realization hit him. Moving quickly from behind the counter to the door, he put the closed sign up before looking at a small bronze statue that sat on the counter. Shocked and excited he looked from the statue to the woman, before saying,
"You're-you're Hermione Granger. Thee Hermione Granger aren't you." He said walking up to her with his hand extended out to her. When she only nodded her head, the young wizard smiled warmly at her and said, "It is such an honor to finally get to meet you. My grandfather spoke very highly of you Miss Granger. He told us how you saved his life from a deatheater attack. He also told us how it was you who gave him the money to fix his shop after it was almost destroyed. We owe you so much, which is why he commissioned the statue of you. So people wouldn't forget what you had done for him and for our family's business."
Hermione looked at the statue of herself then shook his hand graciously, giving him a soft smile.
"Please call me Hermione and believe me it was nothing. Your grandfather was a good man, and he gave me something that saved my life. Helping him with the shop was the least I could do."
The young wizard's eyes widened with understanding.
"Your wand." He whispered, with awe sounding in his voice. At Hermione's small nod, he ran a shaky hand through his chocolate brown hair and said, "May I see it please. Grandfather told stories about your wand and how you came to have it. Other than the Elderwand, which you know all about, it was one of the most powerful wands ever made." He said with excitement.
Hermione smiled and pulled out her wand to show him. Although he stepped forward to get a better look, he did not touch it. He could feel the power of the wand emanating from it, and didn't want to risk being flung across the room.
"So beautiful." He whispered. "I can feel its power and its loyalty towards you, it seems that you have used it well." He said with a small smile. "My grandfather would be pleased indeed." He spoke of his grandfather with so much pride and honor, that it warmed Hermione's heart to see.
"Yes your grandfather gave me so much good advice with regards to it." She caressed her wand lovingly one last time before putting it away. "I never thought I would be able to wield a wand again after what happened, until your grandfather helped me. He just seemed to know." She said fondly.
Once again the young wizard's eyes widened with realization.
"You were turned into a vampire." He said, with no hint of fear or disgust evident in his voice. "Grandfather told me about that, and about how you still went on to save us all from the Dark Lord. We all owe you so much."
Hermione gave a small sigh and shook her head,
"No-one owes me anything. I didn't do much, only what I could."
He gave her another small smile.
"So humble too." He whispered quietly. "You done us all proud regardless."
Hermione turned her gaze towards Morvin, who was looking at her with so much love and pride. Following her gaze, the young wizard gasped in surprise at seeing the small girl. It was obvious that she too was a vampire.
"And who might this young lady be?" He asked, his voice soft and kind.
Turning to look at the friendly young wizard, Morvin said,
"Hello Mr Ollivander I'm Morvin, Hermione is my mother." She said with a proud defiant tilt to her head.
The young wizard chuckled at her and held out his hand for Morvin to shake.
"I'm very pleased to meet you, and your mother of course. But please feel free to call me Geoffrey. Mr Ollivander was my grandfather, and I don't feel old enough to be called that yet."
Morvin giggled at his words, before something outside caught her attention.
"Look mother there's Severus." She said, tugging on Hermione's jacket.
"I'm so sorry Geoffrey but we really must be going now. I am so terribly sorry about your loss. As I said before, your grandfather was a good man."
Geoffrey walked over to the door, before holding it open for her.
"Thank you for your kind words Hermione, and please feel free to visit me again. It truly was an honor to finally meet you." He clasped his hand over hers, trying not to notice how cold she was.
"Thank you Geoffrey." She whispered, just as the sound of a throat clearing could be heard from behind. Turning to look at the newcomer, she was met by the angry scowl of Severus, as he looked disapprovingly towards Hermione's hand, which was still in Geoffrey's.
"I was wondering where you had gotten too." He said, his voice sounding icy cold.
She frowned at his odd behavior, then pulled her hand out of Geoffrey's.
"I'm sorry Severus but I came here to see Mr Ollivander only to find out that he had passed away five months ago. You can imagine how surprised I was since no-one seemed bothered to tell me." Hermione said her own voice sounding angry and clipped. Dismissing Severus, she turned back to Geoffrey, who was looking on with mild amusement. "Thank you Geoffrey, and again I am so sorry about your loss. We may pop by again some other day."
Picking up her hand, he kissed the smooth cold skin before saying,
"It would be an honor of course." Not failing to notice the angry jealous scowl of the feared Potions Master, Geoffrey had to contain his chuckle as he made his way back into the shop.
He of course had heard all about Severus Snape as well, although thankfully he had not gone to Hogwarts and faced the Professor first hand. So it was rather amusing to see him look so besotted and jealous over Hermione. She of course was stunning, and seemed to have a good kind heart, but he wondered if the dour wizard's feelings were returned. It was certainly an odd thing to witness, and he wondered if a relationship between the two of them was even possible. Only time would tell it seemed.
Severus and Hermione walked back to the apparition point in silence, both lost in their own thoughts as Morvin looked between them, wondering what had just happened.
Once they had reached the point Morvin climbed onto Hermione's back, just as she had done before. Without saying anything, Severus too got into position, his body much tenser and less relaxed than it was the last time.
"Hold on." Hermione warned, before the three of them apparated, re-appearing on the grounds of Hogwarts.
Climbing down from her back, Morvin skipped on ahead as Severus and Hermione followed closely behind. Not wanting the awkward silence between them stretching any further, Severus suddenly said,
"I am glad you came back Hermione, despite the circumstances. Your friendship does mean a lot to me, and it has been a pleasure meeting Morvin. You have done a wonderful job with her."
Shocked at hearing his kind words, Hermione stumbled only to be caught by him. He held on to her arm and steadied her back onto her feet, before asking if she was alright.
She tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and gave him a small smile before saying,
"Thank you for your words Severus, they mean so much to me, just as you do. I don't want us to be strangers, we've been through too much together." She felt almost shy as she spoke.
"I never asked you, how long do you plan on staying for."
Hermione looked sad and sighed, then said,
"As long as Albus needs me."
Severus nodded in understanding, but at the same time felt his heart sink. Of course she wouldn't stay at Hogwarts, she had only come here because of Albus in the first place. Without him, there was no reason for her to remain.
"What will you do after…" He whispered, leaving the question unasked, for they both knew what he meant.
"Morvin and I will head back to our home in Germany, maybe visit Charlie and Phil in Romania. Of course you are welcome to visit us there too, just like Minerva, Remus and Dora."
Before he could reply to Hermione's invitation, Morvin's excited voice suddenly cut through their conversation, drawing their attention to her.
"Look mother it's grandfather."
Stopping in her tracks, Hermione looked to where Morvin pointed too and saw Marcus, Felix, Demetri and Albus leave the main doors of the castle.
Feeling overwhelmed at seeing the people she loved the most here unannounced, she gasped out loud and took Morvin by the hand, before using their vampire speed to get them to the small group.
As soon as she reached them, both she and Morvin flung themselves at Marcus, who chuckled warmly at them.
"Hello my precious girls, I have missed you." He said picking Morvin up, before turning his gaze to look at Hermione
She smiled warmly at her father, feeling the tears begin to pool in her eyes.
"We have missed you so much too." Hermione whispered, her voice thick and cracking with emotion. "What are you all doing here?" She asked, turning to embrace Felix and then Demetri.
"Albus wrote to me, saying that you missed us." Marcus replied, careful of what he was saying as he knew that Morvin didn't know about Dumbledore's condition still.
Looking at Dumbledore who looked frail and tired, she hugged him as gently as she could, before whispering 'thank you' in his ear, loud enough for just him to hear.
"Think nothing of it my girl, it is the least I can do for you." He said sadly, covering her cold hand with his slim, pale withered one.
"So my little witchling, are you going to show us this amazing school you've told us all about then?" Demetri asked, casually flinging an arm around her shoulder.
"First we catch up, then I'll give you the tour." Hermione replied with a chuckle as the small group of people headed indoors.
Through all of the excitement at seeing her family, Hermione had completely forgotten about Severus, who was left walking across the school grounds alone.
He had watched the happy reunion from a distance, feeling slightly jealous at seeing the reaction the group had gotten from both Hermione and Morvin. He knew that she saw the other vampires as family, but they were a part of her life that he would never get to be part of.
As he made his way past the lake, he suddenly wondered if Aro was here too. He hadn't seen him with the others and he doubted that the leader of the Volturi would stay away from Hermione like that.
The moment that this thought had entered his mind, Severus felt his skin tingling as if he was being watched. Turning around he let his gaze wander over the surrounding area, before catching sight of two cloaked figures standing across the other side of the lake.
His eyesight wasn't great but from the distance he could make out Aro, and a beautiful tall woman by his side. So he had been right after all, the vampire was close by, but apparently avoiding being too close to Hermione.
He watched with interest as the female lay her hand on Aro's arm, drawing his attention to her, almost like a lover would do. With a backwards glance from both the male and female vampire, Severus watched as they used their vampire speed to disappear from view.
Curious, Severus thought, wondering if the male vampire had a new paramour. If he did then the next question was; did Hermione know? With this new information Severus once again began to make his journey back to the castle. During the whole walk across the grounds, he could still feel the tingling sensation of someone watching him. But when he stopped to look around, he saw nothing and no-one. However, the minute the doors to the castle closed behind him, the feeling of being watched suddenly vanished. Curious indeed, he thought.
