A/N: As long as this chapter is, I didn't put in a quote. I got too into writing it, and I don't feel like re-writing just to get one in there.
And to those celebrating it tonight- Happy New Year!
They Apparated into the Granger's back yard, and Snape paused to straighten himself up. They snuck around to the front of the house when Hermione spotted her Grandmother through the window and rang the doorbell as if they had just pulled into the driveway.
"Peaches!" Hermione's father smiled, opening the door wide and hugging his daughter. Snape made sure he didn't smirk at the pet name. "Hope the trip wasn't bad for you."
"Of course not, Daddy," Hermione replied, a wide smile painted across her face. "Daddy," she started, releasing her father and taking a step back to stand next to Snape. "This is Severus Snape."
"Of course," her father held his hand out, and Snape shook it. "David Granger," he introduced before he stood aside so they could enter. "Call me Dave."
"Pleasure to meet you," Snapemurmured, entering the house. He carried his and Hermione's bags into the foyer and placed them in an out of the way corner. They followed her father into the sitting room, where Jane jumped up to greet Snape.
"Severus!" she smiled, giving him a hug. "Hermione's told us so much about you."
Snape shot a look at Hermione.
"Don't worry, they've all been good recently," Jane smiled some more.
"Severus?" Hermione's grandmother asked from an armchair. "Why in the world would your parents name you that?"
"Because that's what they chose, Grandma," Hermione replied, saving Snape the snide comment. "Sorry, Sev," she whispered to Snape. "Sometime's she doesn't have a filter between her brain and her mouth."
"It comes with age," he murmured back, causing her to snicker.
"Please, sit down," Jane said, motioning to the couch. Hermione and Snape sat together, and she took his hand in support.
"How is... school?" Jane said, careful not to say the name.
"St. Brutus' is doing good. The students are great."
"What do you teach at St. Brutus?" Grandma snapped at Snape.
"Chemistry," Snape replied without missing a beat.
"Think it's a useful subject, do you?"
"I'm sure it helps some students later in life."
"So, Grandma, how's Florida?" Hermione changed subject quickly.
"It's too hot in the summer."
"You can always come stay with us, Mom," David said. Behind him Jane rolled her eyes.
"I don't want to put my children out. But I might come and visit."
"Sounds lovely," Jane said, handing out glasses of wine. "Hermione, why don't you and I put yours and Severus' stuff in your room..."
"In my room?" Hermione asked, shocked looking. "I thought I could sleep in the den."
"Sarah and Eric are coming and bringing Danielle. They'll be taking the couches," Jane said as Hermione followed her from the room.
"But you're okay with me and Sev..."
"I'm not stupid, Hermione. I know you've been sexually active for a while now. I don't know for certain if you and Severus are doing anything, and frankly I don't care. We don't have the space to be picky. They're arriving on Christmas, so if you really want to you can sleep in the den tonight and tomorrow night, but I thought you'd be more comfortable this way. You don't mind sharing a room, do you?"
"Of course not," Hermione said as she placed the bags on her bed. She pulled her wand out, muttered a spell, and her bed expanded to fit two people more than comfortably.
"Just remember that Grandma and your family can't see into this room when you and Severus are here alone. If you do anything wave your wand and make sure they can't hear you," Jane smiled.
Hermione blushed. They returned downstairs to find Snape'sface had visibly soured, as he was being berated for being 'too old' by Hermione's grandmother.
"I can't believe you're letting them sleep in the same room," Grandma sulked. "When I was her age no unwed women shared bedrooms with men."
"Dinner!" Jane called, ushering everyone from the room urgently.
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"St. Brutus?" Snape asked later that night as he and Hermione were dressing for bed.
"I got the idea from Harry. That's where the Dursleys told everyone he went. So when Grandma asked where I worked it's the name I gave."
"Where did you tell her you studied?"
"I didn't. She moved to Florida the year I left for school, so Mum didn't bother telling her I went away for school. She thought I went to the local secondary school."
Snape nodded. He looked around her room. "You certainly have a penchant for pink," he smirked.
"I haven't redecorated since I was eleven."
"I can see that," Snape tore a picture of a Muggle band off the wall, crumpled it, and tossed it in the trash.
"I can always shrink the bed back to normal size and make you sleep on the floor," Hermione replied.
Snape shrugged. "A softening spell and it wouldn't be that bad."
Hermione playfully snatched his wand off the nightstand and held it behind her back. "Can't soften it if you don't have your wand."
Snape smirked and stood close to her. Without saying anything he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. When he withdrew from her he was twirling his wand between his fingers.
"You sneak," Hermione smiled, pulling him close for another kiss. They were interrupted by an owl pecking at the window. Snape crossed the room, opened the window, and took the package from the bird. The owl soared back into the night as Snape made to place the package in his bag.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, craning her neck for a look.
"It's a surprise," Snape muttered, shoving the package into the depths of his suitcase.
"Can I see it?"
"That would defeat the point of a surprise. It's your Christmas gift, you can have it on Christmas."
Hermione pretended to pout as she climbed into bed. Snape smiled as he looked over her.
"My mom and dad seemed to like you," she said, patting the bed next to her.
"Your Grandmother seems to think I'm the most horrible person who ever walked the planet."
"My Grandmother thinks that any man dating any of her granddaughters aren't good enough. But you got off lightly, she's worse to the women."
Snape rolled his eyes. "And everyone thinks I'm evil." He slid into bed next to her.
Hermione pulled him in for a passionate kiss. "Your attitude has been much improved recently."
"I have been getting, as Fred Weasley so crudely put it his fifth year, a good shag or two."
Hermione produced her wand. "Feel like doing something that would make my Grandmother really mad?" she smiled, placing a silencing charm on the room.
"Always," Snape responded before pushing her down onto the bed.
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Christmas Eve passed without much drama. Hermione and Snapehelped out around the house by walking into rooms where Hermione's Grandmother was not and cleaning using their wands. Grandma had stopped complaining about Snape when she saw him not only help with the cleaning, but managing to get it done in near record time.
Grandma, Hermione, and Jane excused themselves in the early afternoon to start cooking an elaborate dinner for that night, and get some advanced cooking done for the next day. Snape stayed with David in the sitting room.
"I'm sorry my mother was rude to you yesterday," Dave said, pouring each of them a drink.
"I'm used to it," Snape replied, taking the drink as Dave sat opposite him.
"She is very possessive of her family, and she feels like she should have some say about who enters into it."
"We haven't made anything official about entering into the family yet."
"Were you thinking about doing it at some point?" Dave raised an eyebrow.
"Hermione and I are alike in thinking that lifelong decisions are not to be taken lightly. Especially since a magical wedding ceremony is a little more binding than a non-magical ceremony."
"I have friends who would debate you on that," Dave smiled.
Snape returned with a half-smile of his own.
"When Jane told me Hermione was seeing another Professor I can honestly tell you I was a little shocked to find out it was you. She wasn't a fan back when she was a student."
"Not many were."
"She told us you were a member of..."
"The Death Eaters, and I was before I turned spy for Dumbledore."
Dave nodded. "She told us you almost died because of what you did for the Order of the Phoenix."
"Did she mention she was the one who saved my life?"
Dave looked a little surprised. "She failed to mention that part."
"I'm sure she gave the credit to the Healers who knew the right Potions that would sustain me once I was brought back."
"She did."
"But she was the one who thought of the device that brought me back, and used it successfully."
Dave was quiet for a few moments. "She visited you all the time before she returned to Hogwarts for her seventh year."
"I wouldn't have known. The next time I realized what was going on it was Halloween."
"She knew. But she felt that if you woke up there should be a friendly face in the room."
Snape nodded. When he had awoken there was no one, and he was too weak to call for someone. He was alone for the better part of two hours before a Healer stopped by. Having Hermione, or Potter, or even a Weasley would have been preferable to being alone and in pain.
"You have a very special daughter, Mr. Granger," Snape said quietly.
"I've known it since the moment she was born."
"As mean as I was to her and her friends while they were at Hogwarts she really is a clever woman."
"May I ask why you were so mean?"
"Everyone knew Hermione was smart except Hermione. She needed to prove herself, and it's hard for anyone else to prove themselves if she's constantly answering all the questions and making everyone else feel inadequate."
"Her teachers at her primary school said she had the same problem," Dave smiled. "And they weren't mean to her."
"She shouldn't have associated with Potter," Snape shrugged.
"I understand you have a history there."
"Old habits die hard."
Hermione appeared and sat next to Snape. "Talking about me?"
"Of course," Dave smiled.
"I got kicked out of the kitchen because I was cutting the green beans wrong."
"You know how your Grandmother is about how food is prepared."
Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled.
"I'm going to go see if there's anything I could do," Dave said, standing up and leaving the room.
"Alone at last," Hermione said, giving Snape a quick kiss.
"Weren't we alone all last night?" Snape murmured.
"Depends on your definition of 'alone'."
"Always have to make things more complicated than they have to be," Snape sneered.
"Not always. So, excited for tomorrow?"
Snape sighed. "I'm ready for it. Hopefully your whole family doesn't think I'm as charming as your grandmother thinks I am."
"Trust me, they're much more open."
Snape smiled at her. "Your dad said she's just being selective about those who are joining the family."
"Yeah. Engagements bring out the worst in her."
"It got me thinking..."
Hermione looked in him in surprise.
"I don't want to make anything official, but I was wondering if that was something you would be interested in at some point in our relationship."
Hermione look dumbstruck for a moment. "If that's where this is leading, I would love it if it got there."
"As I said, nothing official yet. I'm not sure we're completely there quite yet."
Hermione bit her bottom lip. As much as she'd love to walk away from Christmas with an engagement ring, she also didn't feel like it was the right time to be making that decision. But it was nice to know Snape had the same mindset.
____________________________________
"Wake up!" he heard her voice call a second before he felt a pillow collide with his body.
"What?" he growled, sitting up in bed.
"Presents!" she pointed at the foot of the bed. She and Snape had left the window slightly ajar and it looked as if several owls had visited them in the night. Hopefully none had woken her grandmother, it was difficult enough to coordinate getting their owls out with their gifts to friends the night before without her noticing.
"You woke me for that?" Snape grumbled, lying back down and covering his head with the comforter.
"Come on, Severus," Hermione pulled the blanket off him.
"Alright, though I'm sure none of those are for me." He sat up and watched Hermione. She picked up the first wrapped box and read the tag.
"This one's for you, Sev," she beamed. "From... Draco Malfoy?" she looked at him, a quizzical look on her face.
"He is my Godson," Snape muttered before tearing into the green wrapping. Inside was a pair of silver serpent bookends, a silver serpent paperweight, and a silver serpent name plaque for his desk. "The eternal Slytherin," Snape muttered, placing the gifts to the side.
"I didn't know you were still in contact with the Malfoys," Hermione muttered.
"Lucius is still in Azkaban. Narcissa spent her two years and got out, and seeing as most of Draco's misdeeds were prior to his becoming of age he just argued that he was coerced by his father and he never went to prison. I still speak to Draco once a month or so, though I haven't seen him recently. He's been off touring the world."
Hermione nodded before opening her gift from Ron. He had gotten her a book she had been craving on Magic in Ancient Greece. She picked up two identical looking packages and tossed one to Snape. "You're official. You've been knitted a Weasley sweater," she smirked, ripping open her package and holding up a beautiful soft blue sweater with enchanted sparkles that formed a large H on the front.
Nervously, hoping there weren't any sparkles on his, Snape opened his package to find a black sweater with 'SS' knitted in green where a breast pocket would have been.
"She knows you," Hermione smiled. "I wouldn't doubt it if you get one that looks just like that every year from now on."
Snape opened his mouth to make a snide comment, but no words would come. He was touched that Molly thought enough of him to give him a gift at all.
Neville sent Hermione a note saying that he was putting a water plant that would change water different colors according to the temperature of the room into her chambers as his gift. Hermione opened a Wizarding Chess set from Minerva and some home made cakes from Hagrid, both addressed to both of them.
"Harry and Ginny got you something, too," Hermione said quietly, handing over another box.
Snape opened it, and smiled at the contents. First there were a couple lion cuff links. Below that was... "My old textbook," he smirked, lifting the copy of Advanced Potion Making from the box and flipping through the pages where his much-younger self had scribbled so many notes.
"That damn book," Hermione growled, staring daggers at the tattered text.
Snape peered into the box and saw one more thing. On the bottom of the box was a small Muggle picture. He immediately recognized his ten year old self, sitting on the bank of a stream, the young Lily Potter sitting next to him staring at what he was pointing to in the water. A surge of emotions ran through him. Lily was his best friend for many years, and while he didn't miss her as the woman he loved, he did miss her friendship horribly.
Hermione appeared next to him and she gazed at the picture. She placed a hand on his shoulders and rubbed them supportively. He turned to catch her lips in a quick kiss.
"That was nice of Harry to send you that," Hermione whispered slowly, as if she wasn't sure it was the right thing to say.
Snape carefully laid the only memento he owned reminding him of the early years of his friendship with Lily in the old textbook to prevent it from getting damaged. He smiled at Hermione. Lily was his past, but his present and hopefully his future was sitting next to him. For the first time he realized that, if he would be given the chose between Lily and Hermione, he'd take the latter in a heart beat.
Hermione was looking over, with fear in her eyes, the broomstick Ginny and Harry had bought her. They had been trying to get her interested in pickup games of Quidditch, and her excuse had always been that she didn't have a broom.
"I guess now you'll have to learn how to catch the Quaffle," Snape snickered.
"They did this on purpose," Hermione said, placing the broom down as if it were a deadly weapon.
"Of course they did. You give the same excuse for not playing, they rectified your excuse, now you're going to have to either play or think up another excuse."
Hermione shook her head. She picked up a large box and walked over to Snape. "I'm going to give you this part now, as I don't want to have to explain anything to my Grandmother.
Snape opened the package to find the new set of Potioneer Instruments he had been coveting for a while. He thanked Hermione with a prolonged kiss and placed the equipment carefully aside. He reached into his bag and fished out the package that had arrived two days prior. He placed it gently into her hand.
"I guess since we don't want to give explanations before your Grandmother, I should give you this now," he smiled at her.
She excitedly ripped open the paper. Inside was a heart-shaped silver pendant set with different-sized chips of a red stone.
"It's beautiful, Severus," Hermione whispered, gazing at the necklace lovingly. "Are those rubies?"
"No," Snape replied. "They're the remnants of the Philosopher's Stone."
Hermione's jaw dropped as she studied the necklace more closely.
"Dumbledore entrusted me to destroy it, and I made sure it would no longer produce Elixir before magically destroying it beyond repair. But I didn't throw the shards away, I wanted to make sure that they were truly totally destroyed. I have convinced myself they are no longer of any magical use to anyone. It's obviously worked as it is still set in silver and not gold. And so I set some of the chips into a necklace for you, and had even more set into watches for Potter and Weasley."
"You got something for Harry and Ron?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"I also got young Ginerva an art set, as I knew she has taken a liking to painting recently. And Ms. Lovegood a camera as she mentioned wanting one."
Hermione threw her arms around him in a big hug. "You don't know how much it means to me that you're thinking of my friends as important."
"They're important to you, and I realize it's more important for me to make you happy than for me to hold grudges against Potter and Weasley."
"That's a great present right there, knowing you aren't going to constantly be butting heads with my friends from now on."
"We'll see about that," Snape smirked as he rolled his eyes. "But you do like the necklace?"
"More than anything, Severus," Hermione muttered before pulling Snape in for a kiss.
Please review. I've written some of the next chapter. The Christmas visit was just too long to stick in just one.