I can't thank my beta enough for her thorough work on this story. Dacian Goddess, you're the best.
I make no profit with this humble contribution to the potterverse.
Hermione and Severus got up on Saturday in what was already starting to look like a routine. Severus made note to have another shower and another sink installed in his bathroom in a not too distant future so that Hermione could go through her morning ritual in his—their—rooms.
The gossip about the state of their relationship at the staff table had dwindled, eclipsed by the automatons hovering over the students. The teachers could see them better than the students thanks to the position of their table; all except for one scene, which was surrounded by a fog.
"Was it necessary to hide one of the scenes?" Milestone asked.
"I think Severus doesn't relish the idea of witnessing his 'death' while eating," McGonagall answered him tartly. She probably did not like the man either. Her outburst at least had an interesting result: a silence that could have rivalled a monks' refectory fell over the staff table.
For the second time that week, Minerva found herself sitting stiffly in the headmaster's office. However, having been reminded of what Severus had gone through earlier had mellowed her a little regarding his liaison with his aide.
"Hermione and I are all ears, Minerva, and we have all the time to address your concern."
Minerva glanced at the couple in front of them and could almost physically feel the solidarity between them. She knew then that her cause was lost in advance, but opted to fight all the same. She crossed her fingers on her lap and started. "I worry about the school. You know it's been difficult to convince a not negligible part of the parents to let their children attend Hogwarts this year. They know that you're not a Death Eater, not anymore, but they were afraid that the school wasn't safe enough, that Death Eaters might be able to enter the school and harm their children to get at you, who had betrayed your master. After all, the Lestrange brothers are still at large."
Severus nodded to indicate he was listening to her. Hermione was utterly immobile; she was giving her previous Head of House her full attention.
Minerva continued, "However, I intend to retire next year. I'm not young anymore—don't try to protest, Hermione, you know it's true. My replacement will need to be a person with authority but fairness." She gave Severus a pointed look over her glasses. "Someone who can organise the functioning of the school with efficiency and be a teacher at the same time, and you're both aware that none of the other teachers has the inclination or abilities to be a Deputy Headmaster."
Hermione had an idea of where Minerva was going.
"I had hoped that you, Hermione," she looked the young woman into the eyes, "would be my replacement. You certainly have the abilities for the position in spite of your young age. But then, there are witches my age who haven't done in their entire life half of what you've done."
Hermione—and Severus—felt the warmth of pride at those words.
"What I want to say is… you're certainly very close, the both of you. What would happen if you became the Deputy while being the Headmaster's dear friend, Hermione?" She paused a second to let her words sink. "People would get the wrong idea of how this school is run. Worse, they would imagine that good grades could be obtained by…" Minerva turned a bit pink at the suggestion, "doing favours for the teachers. Most parents would be very tempted to home school their children. It'd be a blow to wizarding education!"
Hermione smiled at her old teacher to reassure her. "You worry too much, Minerva. Who said I was striving to be the next Deputy?"
Minerva's jaw dropped. She started so violently that Severus believed for a moment that her bun would come undone. "What? You wouldn't accept to…"
Hermione shook her head. "No, Minerva. I have every intention of taking a job at the Ministry. So, you see, your concern was unfounded."
"Ah, er, well… I'm glad the school's reputation won't be tarnished. But what about your handi—health trouble?" she asked Severus.
"Your interest in the school's reputation has been noted, Minerva, and I thank you for it," Severus answered smoothly. "As for my 'health', you needn't worry about it. The symptoms are not as dire as they were at first. And be assured you will be consulted about the choice of your replacement. Actually, if you have people you'd like to recommend, next week, after the celebration, would be the right time to contact them."
"Yes, I'll think about it. Now, I'll leave you to your work. I have essays to mark." She fled out of the office.
"Have a good day, Minerva," Severus and Hermione said in unison to her retreating back. That brought a silly smile on Hermione's face.
"I don't know why you're smiling, but I like it."
"I just feel happy, very happy."
"I'm glad to hear it. You make me happy too, Hermione." He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips to give it a light kiss. "Since there isn't much to do until Monday except for a bit of paperwork, I suggest we get over it now, and we'll have our afternoon and Sunday free. How about a stroll into Hogsmeade?"
"That'd be great!" She withdrew her hand and started to sort out the scrolls on the desk in two piles. "You take care of this," she pushed a stack of parchments towards him, "and I take care of this," she finished in an authoritarian way.
"Who is in control here?" he asked, but it was a rhetorical question for he bent over the parchments, quill in hand, without another word. Hermione did not even respond.
When Severus announced at lunch that he would be absent that afternoon and that any problem should be taken to his Deputy, the teachers cast him funny looks. They obviously wondered what emergency could urge the Headmaster to leave the castle not two days before an important event. It never crossed their minds that romance might be an emergency.
The sight of Hogwarts' Headmaster walking arm in arm with his personal aide around Hogsmeade on a sunny day barely raised an eyebrow among the village's inhabitants. It was not the first time they had been seen together, after all, and people here did not know them enough to recognise the change in their relationship—or maybe they were simply too busy with their lives to notice the happenings in others'. Hermione and Severus visited several shops at a leisurely pace. They bought chocolate at Honeydukes, and Hermione bought a new dress at Gladrags Wizardwear. The shopkeeper was very professional, but she noticed with curiosity that Severus Snape, who had never graced her shop with his presence until then, seemed very involved in his aide's choice of a dress. She thought they were lucky she was not a gossip.
"Professor Snape! Hermione!" Rosmerta greeted them enthusiastically.
"Hello, Rosmerta. Could you bring us two Butterbeers?" Hermione told her.
Severus chose a remote table at the far end of the inn. The couple spent a full hour conversing about Hermione's projects. She was full of ideas on how to go and change some of the laws of the wizarding world. Then, they reluctantly made their way back to the castle for dinner. Their bright eyes and cheerful expressions—Severus could not help it; he looked cheerful, in a Severus Snape way—did not lend any doubts to the nature of their relationship. From her seat, Ginny caught the enamoured look Hermione gave Severus when he held her chair out. The elbowing and whispering going on at the Slytherin table indicated that the look had not gone unnoticed there either. As for the teachers, they did not disapprove of the relationship per se, though they were a bit disconcerted about the age difference, but they wondered if they should acknowledge it. Hagrid unwittingly put them out of their misery. "Headmaster! Hermione! How was Hogsmeade?"
"It was lovely," Hermione answered, while Severus gave himself something to do by sipping a bit of pumpkin juice.
"Got to Madam Puddifoot's?" He accompanied his question with a wink.
Severus looked horrified at the suggestion.
"No," Hermione said. "We went to the Three Broomsticks."
"Ah, nothin like Rosmerta's Butterbeer!"
The food appearing on the table put a stop to a conversation that could have become awkward. The cat was out of the bag now, and there was no way Severus or Hermione would be able to put it back in it, not that they wanted to. To go public, even in small doses, meant serious, long-term commitment, and they were very much aware of it.
Hermione and Severus slipped out of the Great Hall as soon as they could. Once they were sitting on Severus's sofa with their arms around each other, Hermione murmured, "By Monday evening, everyone that counts will know about us." She withdrew from his embrace a little to watch him in the face. "I don't care one bit. Actually, it'll be a relief to have that part when people get indignant, or sympathetic, behind us as soon as possible."
Severus had a small smile. "I've never been one to broadcast my feelings, as you very well know, but in this case, I'm very willing to make an exception. You're important to me."
Hermione looked at him tenderly. "You mean you've never been one to broadcast your positive feelings. And how important am I to you?"
Oh, tricky question. Would he give her the full answer? "Very important. Important enough for me to be glad that I'm an invalid. If not for that, you wouldn't be in my life now."
This coming out of Severus's mouth was tantamount to a declaration of love in due form. It prompted Hermione to give him a deep, heated kiss, with battling of tongues and scalp scratching included. "The same for me," she finally said. "I mean," she added hastily, "I'm not glad about your handicap, but I share your feelings."
"Oh, Hermione," he moaned and hugged her tightly.
It would be a while before they would be able to utter the very words their hearts were singing, but those words were present in the very core of their being and would be there for a long time. Hopefully.