"I just don't know if I can do that," she said after relating the story to him.
He nodded and poured her another glass of wine.
"He's just a little boy. I can't tell him about all of this, what would it do to him?" she asked.
"I think that perhaps you may think differently after hearing about my day," and he proceeded to tell her about his afternoons with Alexander and Emiline.
"Empaths?" Hermione asked, sitting back. "You think my children are empaths?"
"I do," he told her, "that's the best explanation. The cauldron, the worrying, all of it makes me think that they are empaths."
Hermione thought for a moment, "It makes sense though. If it is genetic, that means that Ron has some sort of empathic gene. All of the Weasleys have been Gryffindors so it's not surprising that kindness and loyalty, great caring comes naturally to them. Maybe Ron's inability to harness that latent empathic power is what changed things for him in the forest. The locket tapped into it and made him…mad."
"Plausible," Severus noted, "that doesn't excuse him. You know that, right?"
"Of course," she said, "but it makes sense. Are there any empaths living today?"
"I've asked Minerva to look into it. She thinks there may be a few around that aren't mad as hatters that could assist Alexander as he learns to use this gift. I think the focus needed for potions is helping him. He will need that precision and control."
Hermione sat in silence for a few minutes. "And Lucius Malfoy?"
"Let me worry about Lucius," he told her.
"Hermione," he began, "I think that you need to tell Alexander what's going on and ask him to testify for you. He is clever and he's going to figure this out eventually. All of this," he said.
She covered her face with her hands for a moment. "I wonder how much he suspects already," she asked.
"There's only one way to know," he prompted.
She nodded. "I'll owl Ginny and tell her to get started. And I'll make a special dinner for Zander next weekend and we can talk."
"Emiline can have dinner in the Great Hall with me. I think you should let Ginny tell the rest of the Weasleys though," he told her.
"I don't know that I could anyway. I'll tell her to move forward however she sees fit. I'll need to use the pensieve as well."
"Of course. What's mine is yours. I hope you know that," he told her, reaching across the table to take her hand in his.
"There's one other thing I should tell you," Hermione said.
Severus looked at her expectantly.
"I told Ginny about…us," she said with a blush.
"I see. And what did Mrs. Potter have to say?" he asked.
"Well, Mrs. Potter says I've lost all taste and good sense but Barrister Potter says I should make sure that my friendship remains just that for the time being," she reported.
"I think they're both right," he told her with a smile.
Hermione smiled at him. "Perhaps. But I think once Mrs. Potter gets over the shock, she'll come around."
"I hope so," he said looking deeply at her, "I hope so."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Hermione sent a note to Alexander asking him to stop by her room sometime during the week. On Wednesday afternoon, he knocked on her classroom door and walked in.
"Professor Granger, you asked to see me?" he asked.
Hermione dusted her chalky hands on her robes and smiled at him.
"No, Mr. Weasley, Professor Granger didn't ask to see you so stop worrying. Your Mum however, does want to see her son," she said smiling.
He grinned back at her and gave her a hug.
"What's wrong Mum?" he asked.
"How did you-. Nevermind, Professor Snape has told me," she said.
"I'm not going to go mad, am I?" he asked.
"No, sweetheart. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall are working on it and I would never let anything happen to you. You know that right?" she asked him.
He nodded, "I know, but something's wrong."
"I want to talk to you this weekend about some things. Will you come over Saturday for lunch? Just you and me for the afternoon?" she asked him.
He looked down, "sure, Mum."
"What's the matter? Don't like spending time with your Mum anymore?" she asked him jokingly.
"No, it's not that. It's just… well, it's my first Hogsmeade weekend with school."
"Oh, I completely forgot about that. How about Sunday then?" she asked.
He beamed at her, "Sure! Can we stop by the house on Saturday when we're in Hogsmeade? I left my potions journal in my desk and I wanted to show it to Professor Snape."
"Sure," she told him. "We'll stop in early to get your journal then you can spend the day in Hogsmeade with your classmates."
He gave her a hug and collected his books. "I love you, Mum," he told her.
"I love you too Zander, now get to History of Magic before you're late," she said in her best teacher voice.
"Yes, Professor Granger," he said with a smile, sweeping out of the room with his too heavy bag slipping on his shoulder. He reminded her of herself those many years ago.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The rest of the week went without incident. On Saturday morning, Hermione bundled Emiline up and met the remainder of the faculty and students at the gates. Emiline was unusually quiet while they waited to get organized.
"What's wrong, Emmy?" Hermione asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't worry, we're going to stop by the house to pick up Zander's book and then we'll spend the day in Hogsmeade. I bet if we go to Zonko's, your uncle will have a surprise for you," she tempted.
The little girl remained unimpressed.
"Are you feeling ok?" she asked her.
The little girl shrugged her shoulders again.
"Emmy, what's wrong?" she said, bending down to speak to her at eye level.
She shook her head. "This isn't like you. Tell Mummy what's the matter," she encouraged.
Before Hermione could inquire further, Snape had joined the two of them.
"Good morning Hermione, Emiline. Are you ready for Hogsmeade?" he asked the little girl.
She shrugged her shoulders.
Hermione looked at him, "She's been like this all morning. She won't tell me what's wrong."
Severus bent down to her. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade today?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"We could probably find another book for you. Would you like that?" he asked her.
She looked him in the eyes, her chocolate orbs connecting with his black ones. "It's cold," she said.
"Don't worry, once we get moving you'll warm right up."
He stood up and placed his own scarf around the little girl's neck and she grabbed a fistful of the scarf in one of her hands.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I guess being three is more difficult than I remembered."
The group of students and faculty began to move toward town and the little girl slipped a hand into her mother's, holding tightly as they walked.
When they reached the crossroad into town, Hermione stopped.
"Severus," she began. "I'm going to stop by the house with Alexander and Emiline. He left a journal in his room that he wants to pick up."
"Do you want me to come along?" he asked her.
"No, thank you. We'll not be long. Just long enough to pick up the journal and we'll be back in town in just a few minutes."
"If you're sure," he told her.
"Of course, now off with you. There are students enjoying themselves, you better put a stop to that," she winked at him.
He separated from the three of them and watched them walk towards the houses on the outskirts of town.
When they got to the house, Emiline stopped on the sidewalk.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked her, "This is our old house."
Emiline shook her head.
"Emmy, it will just take a minute, I promise," she told her, but the little girl didn't budge from the sidewalk.
With some cajoling, the little girl finally continued down the sidewalk into the house. Alexander bounded up the stairs to his room and Hermione sat Emiline down on the sofa.
"I just need to grab something from my room and I'll be right back," she told her.
When Hermione moved closer to the bedroom, she heard sounds coming from behind the door. As if in a trance, she walked to the door and opened it to find her husband tangled in bed with an unidentified redhead.
"What in the-" she started.
Ron looked up startled, "Fuck," he cursed, drawing the covers up around them.
"Are you out of your mind?" she yelled "In our bed? Here? Of all places?"
The woman jumped out of bed and quickly dressed before rushing out the door.
Ron stood in the bedroom and glared at her. "What are you doing here?" he yelled.
"I thought this was our house," she told him.
"It's MY house," he yelled, moving closer to her. "If anyone should be angry, it's me! Everyone knows you're fucking Severus Snape!"
"What?" she said, "That's absurd."
"Then tell me what you were doing slipping around with him in Diagon Alley. I heard that you were all over him at Bill's, barely making it to the inn before shagging him."
"He's a friend, Ronald. We weren't slipping around in Diagon Alley. It was broad daylight, we were shopping. It's not like you can say anything. Everyone knows what you've been doing in Bulgaria," she spit at him.
She could see the anger brewing inside him and she began to back away. As she went to draw her wand from her pocket, he lunged forward and knocked the wand from her hand, knocking her off balance. The commotion had gotten the attention of the two children and as they ran to the bedroom, they only saw their mother being taken by the shoulders and thrown against the wall. Hermione had the breath knocked out of her and slid down the wall. He drew back a fist and it landed squarely around her left eye. As she struggled up, he grabbed her again and threw her against the dresser, her ribs hitting solidly against the structure. She looked up in the doorway to see her frightened children paralyzed by the scene before them.
She took a ragged breath. "Take your sister and run," she gasped out, "NOW!"
Alexander took Emiline's hand and pulled her away from the door as it slammed loudly shut. They could hear the commotion in the room behind them. Alexander placed Emiline in the floo and gave her a handful of floo powder.
"Go to Grandma's," he told her, "Say 'The Burrow.'" She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks and as she dropped the floo powder, he heard her call for the Burrow. Alexander could hear crying and yelling from the bedroom and felt powerless. He did the only thing he could think of, he ran out the door and into the village for help.