Chapter 11 – The Party
It seemed to Hermione that the time between her long-delayed interview with the Headmaster and Harry's birthday party compressed itself from the long three months she'd been anticipating to only a matter of days. She'd seen very little of Harry or Ron in that time – Harry being preoccupied with his new title of Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and Ron off playing Quidditch as usual. She glanced over the most recent letter he had sent and heaved a sigh.
It wasn't like Ron to send letters. He'd done so on occasion, back when they were still in school, and the summer breaks had seemed to go on forever. But for him to send a 'Hi, how are yeh' letter, when they had phones, and when they could Apparate seemed a bit odd. For him to send six in the last three months was downright frightening. Once again she allowed herself to wonder if he somehow knew that things weren't right with her, but she quickly dismissed the idea. Her abduction had not been common knowledge. It hadn't even been discussed in Order meetings.
The letters' topics were trivial enough – Quidditch, his newest girlfriend, Quidditch, a bloke he wanted her to date, Quidditch, today's party, Quidditch. Nothing at all to mark them as being out of the ordinary except, of course, for their existence in the first place.
The clock in her kitchen chimed, and she looked up, a bit unnerved to see that it was well after lunchtime. The letter had arrived just after breakfast, and she'd only meant to sit and read it for a moment before heading off to pick up some groceries. She shook her head violently, as though to clear a fog, although she felt as alert as ever. Dumbledore was right, she had to get this over with soon. Sitting at the kitchen table thinking about nothing for three hours was not going to get her those Masters degrees in Potions and Minerology that she wanted.
With only a few hours remaining before the gathering at the Burrow, Hermione took a deep breath, and popped out to get the ingredients she needed for all the food she'd promised Ginny she would bring.
She arrived an hour early to help set up, as promised, although she'd had to skip one of the desserts she'd originally planned to concoct, as well as a salad she'd intended to bring. The place was already humming with activity, and it seemed that no one noticed anything odd about her. Ginny turned from the stove and grinned at her just as Molly bustled back in from the living room, where Hermione could hear several deep voices talking animatedly.
"Anyone would think that we'd ASKED him to come early, he sounds so put out!" Molly exclaimed huffily. Ginny shook her head and turned back to what she was doing.
"He just wants everyone to realize that he's gone out of his way to do something nice."
"I'd be far more inclined to think well of him for it if he didn't make out like it was such an imposition!" Molly retorted hotly. Ginny only sniggered. It was common knowledge that Molly Weasley was not at all impressed with Severus Snape. She'd defended him staunchly during the war, as Hermione herself had done, but when he'd remained the same unapproachable bat he'd always been, even when it was over, she'd written him off as a lost cause.
"I should have known whom you were discussing from the beginning," Hermione said knowingly, stashing a few bowls in the icebox and opening others for immediate consumption. The comment earned her a severe look from Ginny.
"Keep away from him if you can't be nice to him, Hermione," she warned in dire tones. "Just because Harry can get away with putting his foot in it once in a while doesn't mean you can."
"Don't I know it?" Hermione returned good-naturedly. The three women laughed.
Ron, Bill and Fleur arrived shortly after Hermione, and were immediately sent outside to deal with setting up picnic tables. Before they turned to go back out the door, however, Hermione noticed that Ron seemed to be looking at her oddly. "I'll help," she offered quickly, removing the apron she'd just donned, and following them outside.
Ron fell back to walk with her as soon as she was out the door. "How've you been, Hermione?" he asked awkwardly.
"Busy," was her honest response. "I thought these correspondence classes would be a bit of a joke, but frankly they're more work than an entire course load at Hogwarts!"
"Well, most people only do one at a time," he pointed out reasonably. They lapsed into silence until they'd caught up with Bill and Fleur, who had already positioned the tables, and were now conjuring covers. The work went quickly, with all four of them helping, and it wasn't long before Bill and Fleur were slipping away for some time apart from the family, leaving Hermione and Ron to themselves again.
Ron, never one for tact, started in on what he'd meant to say in all his letters. "Look, Hermione, I know why you don't want to date anyone, and I – "
"It isn't that I don't want to date anyone at all, Ron, it's just – "
"No, hear me out," he said, cutting her off just as she had done to him. He held up a hand, and looked so uncomfortable that she remained silent. After eight years of being best mates, she knew that anything that could make him that uncomfortable was bound to be important. She had a sinking feeling that she knew what he was on about. "The summer after our sixth year, I was taken prisoner, too," he admitted quietly. She noticed him looking furtively over her shoulder, as if afraid that Harry would appear. She swallowed hard as he continued. "It wasn't as bad for me as it could have been. Snape was assigned to help the Death Eaters who abducted me, and he told the Order, so I was rescued after less than a day.
"The Headmaster told me that it was probably better if Harry didn't know about it, and I knew he was right. Then he told me that if they didn't find YOU soon, Harry would have to know, and that I would have to be strong for his sake, if you didn't come back."
This time Ron gulped audibly, and Hermione could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Ron continued quietly. "I'm sorry I've been pressuring you about finding someone. I just thought – it might be easier for you if you had someone to comfort you when you finally have to remember. That's all."
Hermione thought back on all the times she'd hollered at him for trying to force her into a relationship with one of his friends; all the times she'd been furious with him for being so overprotective of her, and felt a wash of guilt. He'd known all along, and had only been looking out for her.
"Oh, Ron," she sighed, half-exasperated and half-grateful to know that someone, at least, would know what she was going through. She put her arms around his neck and let him just hold her tightly for several long minutes.
"But since you've been so stubborn," he added as they pulled apart, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm around, okay?" His lopsided grin lightened the mood considerably.
"Thanks. But this is something I think I need to face on my own. Harry had Voldemort to deal with, and I've got Dolohov." She smiled bravely up at him, and he shook his head as he put an arm around her shoulders and headed back to the house.
Before they reached the door, he paused. "Just remember that Dolohov is already dead. He can't ever hurt you again." He said the words with such conviction that Hermione's brow furrowed as she looked up at him again. He didn't meet her eyes. She knew in that moment exactly what had become of Dolohov.
"Thanks, Ron," she choked out. He nodded once and opened the door for her to precede him into the house. By the time the eyes of his family fell on them, they had both resumed the roles they'd played so long, and no one had any inkling of the understanding that had just passed between them.
Draco came in with Harry, as Hermione had suggested to Ginny that he should. Naturally, everyone crowded around them to congratulate Harry. Arthur and Severus, who'd been standing near the door, were the first to shake his hand. "Mr. Weasley, you remember Draco," Harry said, releasing his grip and obviously expecting Mr. Weasley to shake Draco's hand as well.
No such gesture was made, and Draco had been well enough prepared to avoid offering his hand first. Still, he scowled when the older man failed to do so. Mr. Weasley nodded shortly. "Malfoy," he acknowledged coldly by way of greeting.
"Draco," Severus said smoothly, "I'm glad you're here. There is something I've been meaning to discuss with you, if I can have your attention for a moment?" He steered Draco away from Harry and Arthur, just as he'd intended to do. It was for this reason that he'd come early, after all.
Draco graced him with a wry grin when they'd attained the farthest corner of the room. "Why did I come to this again?"
"Because, whether you're prepared to admit it or not, you enjoy being around Harry Potter," Severus answered sourly. Defending his early arrival to Arthur had not put him in a good mood, nor had Arthur's curt manner with Draco. The boy's grin abruptly became another scowl, and he snorted derisively, but said nothing further. In silence, they watched everyone greet a properly surprised Harry.
Hermione, Ginny, and Molly came out of the kitchen upon hearing their arrival. After hugging Harry, and wishing him, "Happy Birthday," Hermione approached Draco and Severus. She nodded to the latter, but shook hands with Draco and welcomed him as warmly as she could. This was going to be a tough evening for him, and it'd been good of him to come for Harry's sake.
Draco, for his part, appreciated the sentiment, but wondered at the hostility she obviously felt for his Godfather. He was clever enough not to mention it until George had drawn her away. After giving Draco a look full of evil intent, he'd grasped Hermione's elbow, chattering about some new invention or other whilst dragging her back into the kitchen. The two Slytherins were left looking at the party from the sidelines once more. Draco decided, after a covert glance at Severus' stormy face, that now was not the time to ask about Hermione after all.
By this time, Severus was also wondering why he'd come. Obviously Hermione was still unhappy with his behavior half a year previous. He'd once thought that only Slytherins could hold a grudge so long.
Another few minutes passed. Around them the Weasleys talked and laughed. Red heads disappeared and reappeared from the kitchen. At one point Percy offered them each something to drink, however Severus declined for them both, having seen Fred handing Percy the tray. Whatever was in those drinks was probably not fit for consumption. The disappointed look on Fred's face as Percy retreated with the full glasses certainly leant credence to his deduction.
Severus came to an abrupt decision and excused himself from Draco. He strode toward the kitchen, and Ginny and Harry stepped swiftly out of his way as he did so. Everyone's eyes followed him, particularly Draco's. He could hardly believe he'd been left alone in this viper pit. He knew it was only a matter of time before the trouble began, and he wasn't wrong. Fred started towards him as soon as Severus was out of sight.
"Miss Granger, might I have a word?"
Hermione looked up from the Arithmancy equation George was questioning her about with an open face that at once took on a closed expression.
"Which word did you have in mind? Idiot, or girl?" she asked scathingly. George sniggered. Obviously he'd heard the story.
His humor was short-lived, however, as Severus' face darkened dangerously. "Er – I'll just get with you about these some other time, then, alright? We're not planning to launch the new products until September, after all," he said quickly, gathering his papers and practically running from the kitchen.
Fleur, standing at the stove idly stirring a thick chocolate something, kept her back to them, and said nothing. Severus spared her a glance, wishing she'd leave, but then decided it didn't matter. Word of his apology would surely be heard far and wide within hours.
"The word on my mind just now is contrition," he said carefully, seating himself in the chair across from Hermione. He got a raised eyebrow for his trouble, and he forced himself not to grit his teeth as he continued. "It seems I was mildly inebriated as I wrote the ingredient list for our experiment, and you were correct to blame me for the explosion. Naturally, I was mortified, and took my anger out on you. I apologize."
By the time he'd finished, Hermione had a bemused expression on her face. It was, by far, the most sterile apology she'd ever received. Yet it couldn't be anything but sincere. Severus was not the sort to bother with an insincere apology. She only considered for a moment.
"I will accept your apology on one condition." She felt partially vindicated by the narrowing of Severus' eyes, and graced him with a half smile. "In the future when we argue, you will continue to call me Hermione. Not Miss Granger, and certainly not 'idiot girl.' If you can agree to that, then I can accept your apology."
"I find that equitable," Severus responded formally, standing. Hermione smiled properly. The man was certainly not one for overt emotion. Before they had a chance to shake on it, however, there was a commotion from the other room.
Hermione made it out of the kitchen first, as Severus was frozen. He told himself later that it was his surprise at the sudden noise rather than his preoccupation with the expression on Hermione's face.
From the looks of the room, several things had happened at once. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore had arrived, providing the perfect distraction for Fred, who, when joined by George, had taken the opportunity to attempt to humiliate Draco.
Unfortunately for them, Harry was not distracted. Fred and George were rolling on the floor: Fred laughing even more hysterically than was normal due to an enthusiastically cast tickling charm; and George trying desperately to stand amidst all the fleshy tentacles he had suddenly sprouted. Even Arthur was laughing as Harry and Draco put their wands away and exchanged a sheepish grin.
Ginny was torn between laughing at Harry's tickling curse, which to her eyes appeared to have been cast in the most embarrassing place possible (something she intended to tease Fred about later), and annoyance with Draco over George's tentacles, which seemed to have a mind of their own. In the end she just rolled her eyes, and began attempting counter-curses.
She started with Fred, because she knew the fix for tickling. But when she turned to George, Draco spoke up. "No, wait, don't try – "
But it was too late. She'd already attempted to end the incantation with the usual counter-curse. George's tentacles sprouted suction cups and turned florescent orange. At this, Hermione joined in the laughter, and behind her, she thought she heard Severus snort amusedly as well.
Ginny turned helplessly towards Draco, who took pity on her, and spoke the three-part counter curse. A mumbled, "Thanks," was her only response as she turned back to George and helped him to his feet. The laughter had died down now, and the twins looked at one another, then at their mother. Molly Weasley's face had bypassed red and was nearing 'explode,' if, indeed, there is such a color.
In that uncanny way they had, the twins started talking at the same time. Everyone expected apologies to Molly, but instead they addressed themselves animatedly to Draco.
"That was WICKED!" Fred exclaimed, "Do you think maybe you could –"
"-teach us that spell? I'd be perfect for our new beach-theme line!" George finished, offering his hand to Draco for the first time.
Confused, Draco shook his hand. He cast a glance at Harry, who was shaking his head and laughing. It didn't escape his notice that everyone was looking relieved. "Yeah, alright," Draco said slowly. Before he'd finished agreeing, George was pulling him toward the kitchen, scooping up his papers from the floor as he went.
An odd silence remained in the room when Fred, George, and Draco had left. Severus caught Arthur's eye across the room and smirked, plainly daring him to say something unflattering about Draco. He thought the point had very clearly been made that Draco was not Lucius, who would surely have done some real damage and called it self-defense. It seemed Arthur agreed, as he lowered his head.
Within moments, Molly had cajoled everyone out the front door and around to the garden, where Fleur and Bill had begun filling the picnic tables with food. Dinner was a jovial affair, with the twins entertaining Draco, who was still a bit dumbfounded at his newfound popularity.
Hermione found herself seated between Harry and Severus. Naturally Harry was preoccupied with his wife, and so here she was discussing various potion ingredients with Severus once again. She was impressed that he'd had fairly good success with the trials he'd been working on in January, once the correct quantities were used. No request was made for her assistance, however, for which she was endlessly grateful.
Severus, who'd been intending to sit next to Arthur to gloat over Draco's success with the twins, found himself instead practically forced into a chair between Hermione and Molly. As he had no interest in Molly, and the sentiment was mutual, he directed his attention to Hermione. She spoke of the difficulties of her correspondence courses, to which he replied, very sensibly he thought, that most people only attempted one field of study at a time.
Hermione laughed at that. Neither she nor Severus noticed that Ron, who was sitting across from Ginny, had narrowed his eyes angrily. Harry, however, noticed at once, as he'd been keeping one ear on the conversation behind his head since the very beginning. Secretly he thought it was going quite well, but he knew that one outburst from Ron, especially so far ahead of schedule, would put him back months. And so he deftly headed him off by offering a 30 galleon bet against his Quidditch team. Ron was quite easily distracted, and the talk turned to Quidditch. Hermione and Severus' conversation was lost in the loud betting, and Ron didn't have a spare moment to think about it again until long after.
As dinner concluded, Hermione excused herself to help Molly clear up. She privately found after dinner chores fairly entertaining, now that she could use magic to accomplish them. By the time the kitchen was clean, and she came back outside, Professor Dumbledore, Severus, and Draco had gone. However, Professor McGonagall was looking at her shrewdly, and she had a feeling that she knew exactly why.
Sure enough, as soon as Harry was out of earshot, the brisk Scot said her piece. "The Headmaster has instructed me to bring you back to Hogwarts tonight, Miss Granger."
Hermione looked over to Ron for some support. "It's for the best," he added quietly. "I'll come see you as soon as you like. Just owl me anytime." His eyes were wide and sad, and it made Hermione feel sad as well. She looked away. The whole ordeal would be difficult enough without adding Ron's regrets to her own.
"I'd like to stop at the flat and get some clothes. I don't want to wear hospital gowns the whole time I'm there, as I'm not really ill," she said imploringly.
Professor McGonagall softened. "Of course, dear. Come along, and we'll get you all packed up." At that, Hermione stifled a snort. As if she was a first year, homesick over her parents and demanding to return to them! She rolled her eyes in Ron's general direction as she trotted passed him to shout her goodbyes into the house. Hugs were shared all around before she rejoined the Transfiguration Professor in the garden. Ron hugged her last.
"I'll talk to Harry," he offered quietly. "It'll soften the blow before your letter comes," he explained. Hermione nodded her acquiescence, though she tended to think it would be easier for Harry to hear it from her. Still, it was thoughtful of Ron to offer, and it would save her the trouble of re-living it all a THIRD time when the boys came to visit. She followed McGonagall without another word. It was time to face the music.
