AN: Is my writing suddenly engaging where before it was brisk? Does it have more style and rhythm now? Less confusing parts? My thanks to the wonderful beta LumosLyra, who has made this 10x more readable and worth reading than it previously was. You are a star. Any mistakes are, of course, my own, since I do keep tinkering after I get it back!
I don't own anything or anyone you recognise, and make no money from these scribbles.
He could practically feel the assembled guests whispering as the minutes ticked by. Potter seemed to be permanently attached to Ron Weasley's ear, who in turn was glaring mutinously at Snape while clutching Lavender's hand against his chest.
Severus shifted his weight from one foot to the other and resisted the urge to sigh. Or pinch the bridge of his nose. Or run a hand through his hair, which would certainly ruin the charm he'd attempted this morning. Narcissa had tried to have him cut it in preparation for looking his "best", but luckily Severus was more than capable of intimidating the hairdresser - an old, abysmal student.
His eyes swept over the assembled again, pausing to note that Mrs Weasley, who had evidently invited herself, was rearranging one of the flower arrangements at the back. She had been studiously avoiding coming anywhere close to the stand since he had arrived. Arthur, who had offered Severus a firm handshake, was sitting with both arms and ankles crossed and his eyes closed. Waiting, no doubt, for the muggles to make their arrival and planning what to ask them.
Miss Granger was late. Given that this was rather unusual for the witch, his stomach was cramping insistently in panic. In addition, he was sweating profusely, despite the many layers of cooling charms with which he had surrounded himself. The perspiration kept running into his eyes, not only feeding the nerves but also a slowly simmering anger which was threatening to boil over with every second. How dare she?
If she stood him up in front of this many people he was abandoning it all - as soon as the fucking war was over he was moving somewhere remote and not leaving a forwarding address, especially as he was intending on residing in a secret-kept house. He considered becoming the new dark lord so he could obliviate every damn one of the attendees - even Frorge.
The sound of a bird chirping from atop of the fountain's statue caused Severus' wand hand to twitch.
In order to keep himself from making an absolute fool of himself and storming from the little archway serving as an altar, he took the deep, calming breaths required to sink beneath his shields, feeling them enclose him as though he were in a dark room. Closing his eyes, he took another long breath through his nose, identifying each smell that twined together, a technique he had been taught during his last year at Hogwarts by Lucius. It supposedly worked for Lucius' mother when she had to go out into Muggle London due to her overwhelming anxieties at being stared at as she walked down the street, considered the odd one out, or even getting dirty. These sentiments had resonated with the young Severus who felt the same damn way about being the center of attention.
And then Hermione was there from among the crowd, with her unique scent of summer and coconuts calling to him from among the roses. His eyes flickered open to watch the witch as she made her arrival. She was breathing hard, as though she had run here - which she bloody well ought to have done if she was going to be this late - and clutching a tall man's hand. Her father, if Severus' instincts were right, who was currently whispering into her ear as she gave him a death glare, partially hidden behind her simple bouquet of tiny forget-me-nots.
It seemed Severus barely had time to blink before she was walking down the aisle, colour still high in her cheeks from her previous exertion, the soft chords of music playing and the twenty-or-so people in between them rising to welcome the bride. She looked… well, Severus couldn't say she looked happy, per se, but satisfaction radiated from her petite form.
Severus was not know as a man with an eye for fashion, but even so, he could admire the vision before him. A fitted bodice showed off her adult curves, neatly contrasting the smooth skin with intricate lace. The cream skirt ballooned out and cut off just below the knee, somehow making her seem taller. She had no veil, but she had managed to plait her hair and, somehow, some diamonds into a braid over the crown of her head. She was stunning. Exquisite, even. Severus counted himself among the luckiest of men, even if it were all a sham.
"I am so sorry we're late." She hissed at him in an apologetic whisper as she slipped into position next to him under the archway of white roses. "My dad has a… a problem with time management."
He raised an eyebrow.
A blush stained the apples of her cheeks and chased it's way down her neck, threatening to disappear beneath the bodice of her gown. "I think you're right, he probably did it on purpose. But I don't want to fight with him today."
She slipped a smile over her features and glanced around the benches while Severus silently wondered if she would notice them in the same way as he did.
Minerva, with her hands tightly clasped, sat with her lips pressed together in distaste. Albus, today sporting his dotty old man persona with a lemon drop firmly twisted into his beard, practically twinkled. Potter rested a hand on Ron's shoulder to stop the young man from charging forward, his features more red than his hair. Lavender seemed as though she'd rather be anywhere else than here judging by the bored look on her face and the fact that she kept gazing down upon her nails every few seconds. She kept flicking her head around, throwing her long, blonde hair over her shoulder while she searched for an exit. Hermione's father sat near the others with his face set in stone, jaw clenched.
How dare all of these people sit there and judge him when he'd saved her? The anger tightened around his shoulders and coursed down the back of his neck, lighting a fire along his spine. Luckily, he spotted Luna Lovegood in the front row with charmed earrings dancing in the sun - literally, as they were both tiny brides with their dresses swishing about their knees. Nobody had seen the eccentric witch in six months, but this morning she'd just shown up at the wards and dreamily waved at him to be let in. Severus felt his anger drain, replaced by a dull thrum of irritation. They were a bunch of incompetent fools trying to save the world and keep it in the right place. Of course they blamed him. Of course he bore the brunt of their judgement - it was easier to blame him for all the darkness in the world, because the scope of the Dark Lord's crimes was too big to contemplate. At least the bat of the dungeons was a manageable darkness; one you could fantasise about solving.
Severus was a monster, but at least he was still a human one.
With a dry cough the officiant interrupted the din of conversation which had settled over the room. Francis. Or was it Frederick? No matter his name, the man made Severus' skin crawl. He may have been the dotty old man Dumbledore had based his dotty old man act upon. Francis or Frederick had offered Severus tea when he'd called around the Ministry to arrange the process and then promptly forgotten to brew it. Several times he had stood up, walked to the door, and then looked back at Severus as though wondering how the Potions Master had broken into his office.
Still, if his forgetfulness was genuine it would help. Severus couldn't really go around obliviating Ministry Employees, especially with all the lifts having been newly charmed to scan for the signs a witch or wizard had been, in fact, obliviated.
Francis asked them both if they were ready, and with a nod of his head, Severus took Hermione's wand hand in his own.
With the rustle of their leaves, the trees almost seemed to be whispering as a light breeze circled around them. Severus wondered if it was a blessing or a curse.
"By the power vested in me by the Ministry," Francis intoned solemnly, "I bind you together." A long white ribbon began to issue from the officiant's wand, wrapping their wrists together as he continued to speak. "With power and without, in sickness and in health, in happiness and sorrow, do you swear to protect, hold and cherish one another until death?"
With a nod of her head, Hermione's voice carried an undercurrent of something Severus couldn't quite identify as she spoke, "Yes."
"Yes." Severus agreed.
The ribbon tightened around their wrists as the officiant cut it with a flick of his wand. Hermione's gaze snapped to his, eyes wide while Severus inclined his head, knowing exactly how she felt. He could understand why Hermione might feel a bit squeamish, with the entire wizarding world feeling big and new all of the freaking time, especially living along the divide of muggles and wizards as a muggleborn. Hermione had placed her trust in the world she had entered at age eleven and had been bitten, both by teachers and books, one too many times.
"You are now witch and wizard, bound together for eternity." He rose his wand again to complete the next part of a standard witching ceremony. Severus jerked his head "no". Not yet.
And then it was over, just as quickly as it had begun. Hermione slipped her hand out of his when the ribbon fell to the floor, scooping it up and folding it neatly. Her mother was by her side before he could blink. "That was a bit short, wasn't it dear? No hymns?" Her father, standing stiffly on his bride's other side, bristled at Severus.
Severus sighed and turned towards the table full of champagne.
He was just picking up a flute of the bubbly liquid when he overheard his name. He focused on drifting out of the awareness of others as he stalked closer to them, his mind becoming as smooth as a river stone, worn down by eons of flowing water.
"It's just not right," Ron complained.. "Hermione may not be the love of my life, but she's one of my closest friends. What can Dumbledore think, forcing her to marry Snape, of all people?"
"I know," Molly said in an attempt to placate her youngest son as she patted him on the shoulder. "Tying such a sweet little thing to a Death Eater, well, that just begs the question."
Severus shuddered. Given that the woman had been screaming bloody murder at said sweet little thing only days earlier, he could admire how easily she hid behind what appeared to be a myriad of carefully crafted masks. He knew Dumbledore would never mistrust the ginger-haired witch, despite Severus' misgivings.
"Cheer up," Harry said, glumly. "It's done now. She's married to the bastard. At least she didn't have to wait until the automatic sorting. Who knows what sort of crone I'll end up with?"
"Harry what are you talking about?" Ron said, running his hand through his hair. "Dumbledore'll figure it out."
Why did everyone keep repeating those words as if by their mere repetition they would be counted as fact? Above all, Severus knew that the Headmaster was struggling, as did the majority of the Order members. Why else would they be asked to submit to marrying on Dumbledore's schedule.
"All I'm saying, Ron, that it's better the devil you know, you know?" Harry urged, a miserable expression still settled across his features. Severus almost pitied him.
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure that really applies here, mate. Snape's a right ugly bastard. Any random wizard would be better for her, don't you think?"
His magic bristled across his skin, drawn outward from his core by his anger. Severus realised with a start that his hands were shaking. He was torturing himself, listening to this nonsense. Miss Granger, no, Mrs. Snape, had made her choice.
The thought helped relieve the tension a little, although as his shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch, he felt a sharp pain behind his right eye.
Merlin, he needed to get out of here. He whirled and stalked through the little garden, past the wall of water just beyond the maze, toying with the stem of the champagne flute.
"Severus." Minerva uttered, placing a light, wrinkled hand on his arm just as he charged past the entrance to the little maze. Sometimes he thought she must be part bird, she seemed to weigh so little. "I just wanted to say congratulations."
He snorted.
"No, really. I think the two of you are unconventional, it's true, but you are both stubborn enough to make it work, if that's what you choose to do."
Severus stared down his pronounced nose at her, oddly touched by her words but refusing to let her see it. She sighed and clasped him on the upper arm with her long, thin fingers. "I believe I saw a bride heading that way." She said, tilting her head back towards the entrance to the small maze.
"Thank you, Minerva." He said, clutching her hand tightly with his own. "Have you spoken with her at all?"
"I have." She patted him where she had gripped his bicep with the other papery hand and smiled. "Have you?"
Truthfully, other than the whispered conversation before their binding was complete, he had not spoken to his wife since he'd proposed.
It had been a short engagement, to be sure, but even so. He stalked into the maze, Minerva's words boystering his steps. The whole world wasn't against them after all.
As if prompted by that thought, the next corner revealed Fred and George Weasley snickering to one another over a frog. "Watcha Professor!" shouted George.
Severus nodded a greeting.
"Thanks for inviting us." Said Fred.
"Great spread." Agreed George.
"It wasn't all for you." Severus said, his lips twitching. Their faces blossomed into grins in an almost creepy synchronicity. He went to walk past them, but George called him back.
"We've got something for you, mate." He said, handing Severus two parcels in white plain paper. He weighed it suspiciously.
"We haven't done anything stupid." Fred said. "We actually do want to work with you."
"Well, we were trying to sneak in a little surprise for the ceremony. But Mum found out and confiscated it."
"That was more for them than for you though."
"This one is great."
Severus wondered how fast his neck would grow tired as his gaze darted between the two of them like a spectator at a tennis match. He held up his hand.
"Enough. Just explain these."
"Well," George crossed his arms. "The big, square one is for you. You've got to promise not to use it outside the Potions classroom, though."
"And the small lumpy one is for Hermione."
"No tricks, we swear."
"What is my gift?" Severus asked, his voice colouring with annoyance. As charming as the twins were, they were also standing between himself and a long overdue conversation with his new wife.
"It's sort of like a foe glass." Explained Fred. "Only instead of foes, it shows you our beautiful little tricks."
"Well it wouldn't be much good if people kept trying to blow themselves up in your classroom, would it?"
"Wouldn't look good."
He frowned. "How are you so sure it will work?"
"We use it in the store, to spot thieves."
"Did you know people just go into stores and put what they want into their pockets, and don't even pay for them?" George looked scandalised.
"You realise that I can use this against your new product line during a fight?" He asked. How did children never think these things through? It was a war, people were dying…
"Well, not exactly. Different product range, so we sign it with a different signature."
"Clever, eh?"
The black haired wizard nodded his thanks to them and shrunk the packages, before stuffing them into his trouser pocket. "And Hermione's gift?" He prompted.
"Don't you trust us?" Fred pouted. "She'll love it, honest."
Severus shrugged, knowing that he was going to cast every diagnostic spell he knew at the little lumpy package before he even thought about turning it over to Hermione, and span on his heel. Without the cloak, he couldn't quite manage a billow.
A few turns later, and Severus found Hermione sitting behind a rose bush on a wooden bench, her nose buried in a book.
"Didn't fancy revelling in the love of friends and family?" He asked, plucking up his suit trousers at the knee and joining her on the bench.
"Severus." She glanced up at him, smiling despite his acerbic tone. She looked lovely, though the word radiant was frustratingly the descriptor that came to mind. This close, the scent of lavender and sunflower also mixed with her own subtle sweetness. Sleekeazy's, no doubt, which helped explain how her hair was neatly braided into a crown and not the frizzy mess it usually was. Her cheeks were still rosy with a slight blush, as though embarrassed to have been caught sneaking away to read. The overall effect was thoroughly disarming.
She covered her eyes with her forearm. "You made an excellent choice. This place is magical, but… do you think we can leave soon?"
"I suppose I could arrange it." He studied her closely for a second. "It is my understanding that brides are supposed to socialize, but if my lady wife must away." He shrugged, hoping that he'd masked his own unease well enough with the sarcasm.
She raised an eyebrow in parody of his usual gesture, and didn't deign to reply. She slipped a bookmark in between the pages - it was the novel he'd given her, he noted with a thrum of pleasure - and stood up.
"If you insist, I suppose I can return to them. For half an hour - no more."
He scrubbed at his eyes. "No, that's not what I meant to say." Watching Hermione as she stood before him expectantly, Severus attempted to clarify. "Come, let us go do a final round before apparating away."
She smiled again, her face lighting up and her eyes twinkling with joy. With a twirl of her hand and a muttered word that was definitely not Latin - sekuru - the book seemed to vanish.
"Where did it..?"
She tapped her wrist, where a charm bracelet rested along the curve of her arm. The chain was silver and a solitary, miniature blue book hung from it. "That is…" He brought her arm up to his gaze, studying the little metal charm. "A spell of your own making, I take it?"
She nodded, blushing again. "I have found it necessary on several occasions to secrete books so that certain persons do not try and take them away from me. I, ah…" She twisted her wrist so he could no longer see it. "I might be slightly addicted."
He grinned then, unmindful of the twenty minutes he'd spent contorting his face earlier in the day in front of a mirror, trying to make it appear less frightful. His smile reflected his pure and unadulterated delight at her accomplishment. "The charm and transfiguration work are very impressive."
"Thank you." She averted her gaze.
"Have you considered writing a piece on it? I'm sure Flitwick would love to try it out."
"Ah… no, not on this particular spell. But I have been working on-"
"Hermione!" A voice called, and a moment later the youngest Weasley stood before them. "I thought I'd come say goodbye. Harry and I know you hate these things so…" She hesitated, her eyes glancing to Severus' before continuing. "Thank you for inviting us. And… ah… good luck, both of you."
"Thank you, Ginny." Hermione said sincerely as she embraced her friend. "Nothing will… nothing will change between us, right?"
Ginny gulped. "No," she said, her gaze darting to Severus and back again to Hermione, her expression unreadable. "No, of course not. I really have got to go now."
Giving Hermione another quick squeeze, the youngest Weasley scurried off, blending back into the herd of redheads congregating around the canapé table. Severus took the moment to study the guests, who all seemed to be having a passable time now that the serving of food, wine and spirits had commenced. No sign of Frederick or Francis or whatever the ministry official had been called. Severus rolled his eyes and turned back to Hermione, only to find her standing in the hedge.
"Herm-"
She raised a finger to her lips, her face blotchy and red, though not from the pretty blushes he had become accustomed to rather quickly. She was blinking far more frequently than she had previously, he noticed, and she was clutching her wrists with white hands.
He moved to go to her side, but she held up her hand in command. And then he heard it. "Well, I think she's finally met her match." Lavender said in a shrill voice that brought to mind nails on a chalkboard. "Perhaps it will work out, Ronnikins. They're both as stubborn and frigid as each other. They'd rather hump books than each other, I'd warrant."
"Oh, do stop sulking," Lavender chided, clearly addressing Hermione's former paramour "You turned her down, remember?"
Hermione's frizz of brown hair was gaining a subtle, sparking blue tint as he watched, and he realised that it was her anger made manifest. Somehow, seeing her reaction kept his own anger in check, although when his fingers twitched he realised that he was clutching his wand, ready to blast the damn bush into pieces, though he didn't remember drawing it in the first place
"Hermione?" Potter called out. "Are you around?"
At once the blue seemed to dissipate from her hair as her shoulders slumped forward. She looked at Severus with mute appeal.
Potter's burst into their clearing with all of the grace of a newborn colt. "Ah there you are, Ginny said you were back here."
"I don't think she wants to talk to you, Potter." Severus intoned gleefully, knowing it was about time his wife put the boy in his place.
"Hermione." Potter was reaching for his wife's arm, but Severus batted it away with ease and glared at the boy through narrowed eyes.
"You can't control who she talks to." He protested indignantly.
Hermione chose that moment to speak, her eyes focused on the messy-haired wizard. "Harry. It has nothing to do with Severus controlling me, which he is not by the way. He's telling the truth. I don't want to talk to you."
"Why the hell not?" Harry asked, the volume of his voice raised a few decibels. "You say it's nothing to do with him, but you've barely spoken to me since he proposed. What the hell did he say to turn you away from us?"
"Turn away?" Severus winced at the volume and pitch of her tone - he would be surprised if any attendees didn't hear the altercation at this point. "Harry, you went behind my back and told my parents that I was getting married!"
"They deserved to know." He pointed out, his jaw sticking out obstinately.
Severus took a careful step to the side and adjusted his grip on his wand.
"They did." She agreed. "And I deserved to be the one to tell them. We'd arranged it an hour before you went off on your stupid floo mission, Harry. You robbed me of the chance to tell them myself, made it seem like this big secret thing, like I was ashamed of it. Do you know how hard it has been to…" Her face was flushed and blotchy while her hair sparked once more with the magical manifestation of her fury. She stopped abruptly mid-rant, distracted by the fact that the hedge had somehow grown a bit taller and was topped with brunette and ginger patches.
"Oh, like you told them about being cut up in the Ministry? How Dolohov managed to get close enough to cut you straight through?"
Hermione made a strangled noise of rage as she clenched her fists tightly at her sides.
"I'm…" Potter had the grace to look a bit ashamed of himself as he carded his hand through his hair, making it stick up at all angles from his forehead to the nape of his neck. "I'm sorry, Mione. That wasn't fair. But you almost died."
Hermione opened her mouth to reply, her face pale and her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Perhaps we ought to retire somewhere private." Severus cut her off smoothly before she could say something she would regret. He tucked her hand into the fold of his elbow and didn't even feel the need to bait Potter in farewell. They left Harry standing there, his mouth gaping like a fish and stuttering apologies which fell on deaf ears.
Hermione squeezed his arm. "Let me just do the rounds quickly and grab my folks."
He made to release her, but she simply squeezed her hand tighter around his elbow.
With a shudder, goosebumps chased down her arms despite the weather as Severus leaned down to murmur against the curve of her ear "Miss Granger." Noticing her discomfort, he angled away, keeping his voice low. It was a good reminder that he was losing himself in fantasies of married life, andin pride at the way she'd managed not to lash out at Potter with her wand, though she eviscerated the poor boy with her words. This was a match of convenience for her, and he was determined to be damned well inconvenienced by it.
It was then that he spotted Francis. "There is something I must do before we leave as well."
"Can't we do them both together?" She countered.
A sigh erupted from Severus and he fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Surely you are not so afraid of the people who have raised you for the first twelve years that you require my company." He stopped walking and caught her eye, tugging her around to face him. He cast a non-verbal muffliato with a nonchalant wave of his wand. "You do realise you have been standing in direct opposition to the Dark Lord for most of your childhood? They cannot possibly be more intimidating."
Her teeth caught her lower lip between them and she toyed with it, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "You may think so," she conceded. "But they have been so cold this last week. I don't know, they seem to think I ought to give up magic rather than give in to the Ministry's demands. I… I don't want them to be ashamed of me, Severus, but I can't tell them anything."
It seemed the witch was having a much easier time using his name than he was hers. His wife drew a deep breath, which made her dress shift over her bosom delightfully in ways that Severus was definitely not noticing, and puffed it out between pursed lips. "Harry was right, I haven't told them what happened at the Ministry, just that Harry lost Sirius." She darted her gaze around guiltily. "In first year, after the incident with Fluffy…"
Severus' lip curled. "Are you telling me that you haven't told your parents anything about the Petrification incident, or being a human-sized cat, or being threatened and almost killed by a werewolf?"
She tugged roughly at her lip with her teeth again and shook her head. "They were going to pull me out of school!" she protested. "Dumbledore lied to them about what really happened when he took me home after second year. He didn't want them to know about the Polyjuice incident because he thought they would follow through with their threats, and the warning was clear enough then."
No wonder the Grangers were so confused by their daughter's abrupt marriage to an older, former teacher. For them, it wasn't a war. In their minds, he wasn't protecting her with his proposal, he was only threatening her future happiness for decades, especially given the extended lifespan of wizards compared to that of muggles.
Suddenly, Potter's insistence on telling Hermione's parents made sense to Severus in a way it had previously had not. Not that it was forgivable, mind.
"Would you have told them we were getting married?" He asked softly, watching her carefully as she blinked up at him His heart squeezed painfully as he waited for her response.
"Yes, of course, but I wouldn't have explained about the stupid Marriage Law. Now they think they can persuade me out of it, whereas if I'd admitted to being head-over-heels about you they would have been supportive...ish." She paused and frowned up at him. "I don't want to play this game. I can't go back and tell them before Harry did, so asking that question is unhelpful."
He knew it was. He knew it was playing a game, trying to get her to admit that she at least didn't find him wholly repulsive. He even felt ashamed of playing the game, of stringing her along under false pretences, the same way he'd done with Lily many times, all those years ago.
But the tight band that seemed to have taken up permanent residence around his chest eased a little.
"Come on." She urged, recovering herself and squaring her shoulders. "Let's run your errand first, and then we can take my folks home by way of escape."
"They could just take public transport." He pointed out, cancelling the muffliato and turning his gaze back towards the Ministry official, who was currently loading a paper plate with cold cuts and various cheeses. "We're still technically in London."
"Severus!" She playfully raised her hand to bop him on the shoulder, and though he knew it was puckish and teasing, he flinched away by instinct. Luckily he disguised it smoothly by turning her to avoid a collision with a flower arrangement. This was going to be a problem. She hadn't noticed. At least he hoped she hadn't.
"You know they'll need to take a train in, to catch the DLR, to then get onto the tube proper. You can't pretend you know nothing about London or about Muggle transportation. It'll take them over 4 hours!"
He did not know the Underground as she did, that was for certain. Whenever he needed to get anywhere via Muggle means he used a charmed Underground map he'd made when he was fifteen. It took input and output stations and told you exactly which trains to take, removing from him the bother of needing to learn any of it. It even updated as new stations were added. Frorge would be proud.
"I certainly don't know what a DLR is." Severus said, sighing.
"It's the overground line. The one that looks like something out of a science fiction movie?" She tapped her foot against the ground in frustration when it was clear he had no idea what she was talking about. "Just think of it as another Underground line, then."
They approached the buffet table now, which was still, despite Ginny's warning, swamped by Weasleys. Severus firmly grabbed Francis' shoulder and pulled him gently away from the swarm - and the potato salad.
"I don't believe you have quite earned that yet."
The old man seemed nonplussed. "Ah, Severus. Congratulations to both of you."
He nodded at Hermione, who tilted her head like a confused bird as her eyes darted between them both.
"Discreetly." Severus cautioned again.
The man swallowed and put his plate down on a nearby vase, wiping his hands down the front of his cloak with a smear of greasy fingers. Delightful. Then, he rummaged through his pockets, turning each one inside out and putting it back the right way again Hermione glanced at Severus out of her peripheral vision in a glance that spoke of amusement and shared confidences.
Severus allowed his lips a slight twitch, but nothing more. He couldn't risk alienating the man, not when he needed him to keep this gossip to himself.
Finally, the man found his blessed wand. Frederick sighed, straightened up and grinned at the newly married couple. "Fidelius," he incanted, traversing his wand in an intricate spiral that started at Severus' right hand and worked its way up to his heart. Then he flicked it towards Hermione, like he was removing a drop of water from the tip, and Severus felt the spell settle into his shoulders like a cloak.
"Severus?" Hermione asked, glancing once more between the two of them.
Severus smiled and patted her arm. "There, dear. It's all arranged, as you asked for."
She smiled beatifically at Francis as he returned to the potatoes, but Severus could feel her vibrating at his side with an abundance of unasked questions. He was impressed she'd played along.
"Look," Severus grasped her shoulders and turned her towards one of the tables in an effort to distract her. "Your father is there."
Hermione's father wasn't all that hard to spot, as he was taller than the other guests by six inches or so, even taller than Severus himself. His face was contorting into a scowl as he listened to Molly nattering on about something or other.
"Oh dear." Hermione sighed, rushing towards the pair. "Who knows what she's saying to him."
Severus followed her, his longer stride allowing him to keep up with her without chasing. Or running. Even as a married man he deserved some dignity.
"How dare you?" Her father exclaimed rather heatedly, causing Severus to wince. If the question was directed towards himself, then his answer was short and honest - he had no idea how he had dared to ask for such a beautiful woman to share her life with his, but she had been in a bit of a bind at the time. Oh, and one of the most evil men of the last century had demanded it of him.
"Mr. Granger!" Molly's scandalised voice rose an octave or two. "I am merely telling you these things as a friend." She lay a hand on the man's arm as though to calm him, but he quickly batted it away.
"Woman, no friend of mine would make such disgusting insinuations about my daughter. I am quite done with this conversation. My daughter worked hard for her grades in every subject, and if she beat your son every year, I can only say -" he punctuated each word with a definitive wag of his finger, "bully for her."
Molly splutered. "But-"
"Whatever this is between the two of them, I'm certain it would have started long after she had finished his courses. The Grangers are an honest family, a hard-working family."
"Papa." Hermione placated in a soothing voice, coming to stand beside her father who was practically seething at the Weasley matriarch.
Molly harrumphed, and span on her heel with three glasses filled with prosecco charmed to follow her From the unsteadiness of her gait, Severus was willing to bet that she had already consumed four times that number.
"Papa, thank you." Hermione said, her voice thick with emotion as she slid into his arms.
"Yes, well." With an awkward pat on the tearful girl's shoulder, he pulled her back to look into her face, in a similar motion that Severus had himself employed earlier. Mr. Granger tapped her on the chin. "Nobody talks about my girl like that. I know the truth, I've watched you study enough to know you'd never jeopardize your future."
Hermione sniffled and practically threw her arms around the man in a warm embrace, before taking a step back.
"That's not to say," he continued, "that I think you're doing the right thing, marrying one another." Severus' insides squirmed at being dragged into the family debate. "Marriage is a commitment, it's hard work. It's not something you do because you're told to, not anymore."
Hermione opened her mouth to interrupt, but her father kept talking.
"But as long as you make one another happy, that's the best outcome anyone can hope for. It's a shame you've opened us up to speculation from the likes of her - " he said, pointing towards the retreating form of Molly Weasley, "especially after the stories we told you, but… well, what's done is done."
Severus made a mental note to ask Hermione just what stories her father had told her as they embraced again. Unexpectedly, the man reached out to pat him on the back.
He drew his wand before the thought had a chance to cross his mind, merely a reaction from years of practicing constant vigilance, although he managed to retain enough icy control to not cast anything. The move was nothing more than a friendly gesture, but he had suffered enough of this type of hug in his youth. Mr. Granger was hardly going to start beating him up here, after the wedding - even if he had wanted to.
"Papa…" Hermione said, entwining her fingers around her father's. "I would like to leave now. Would you like us to escort you via the Floo?"
"Yes please, honey." Mr. Granger squeezed her hand briefly and turned with Severus' wife towards the throng of people, leaving Severus to tail the pair. It left him feeling curiously left out. "Let's go grab your mother."