CH 14 - Friday 'A Midsummer Wedding'

AN: A big thank-you to my beta, Anachronistic Anglophile, and to my readers/reviewers. I love you all.

As he lay in bed in the wee hours of Friday morning, listening to Hermione's steady breathing a few metres away, Severus reflected with great satisfaction on how well he had conducted their conversation after Hermione's little outburst. By forcing him to treat her as an equal, she had put him on the back foot. However, rather than doing her any disservice in his eyes, it amused Severus to realise that he now regarded Hermione's tenacity with something close to pride.

She's really not all bad. I'll have to teach her Occlumency, but just imagine the fun if I set her loose at a Slytherin alumni dinner or allow her to handle my correspondence with some of the more bigoted Hogwarts parents. Of course, no one will dare say anything about it. They wouldn't want to offend one of the most upstanding Slytherins in the wizarding community…

As alien as the idea seemed, Severus was also becoming accustomed to the thought of having a wife. Though long years of habit had made him accustomed to being alone, he was not so much of a sadist that he would hesitate to break the habit when the opportunity arose. Assuming that she did actually come to like him somewhat, Severus thought it might be nice to have someone around who cared.

And she would be his wife. After all, that was what they had decided.

*****

The minute Hermione had stopped her sniffling, Severus let her go with alacrity. It seemed that Athena had picked up that strange propensity to hug from her mother, and while it was not wholly unpleasant, Severus still felt a little uncomfortable with so much intimacy. While Hermione tried to regather her calm, Severus turned his mind to her other questions about how they were going to ensure Athena's existence.

We are both perfectionists, and botching this up may well end in murder…

Severus did not know Hermione very well on a personal level. However, from what he had gathered about her character in class, he knew that she liked to quite literally know it all. For this reason, he thought it might be best to keep her from realising that the complexity of the time-travel situation reduced his mind to mush. In fact, they would both profit from the illusion of control.

'About your earlier questions, Hermione,' he drawled, as if their argument had never happened, 'I believe the best way to approach the situation we find ourselves in is to act as if we do not know what the future holds. In particular, I do not think it would be wise to rely too much on Athena's birthday to time the exact day of her conception. What are your thoughts on the matter?' he finished very deliberately, regarding her closely to see how she would interpret this rather vague proposition.

If I'm going to be married, I have no intention of living my life as a bloody eunuch, other than strictly for the purposes of procreation!

To his surprise, she picked up on his little tactic for more information.

'Severus,' she said, a touch impatiently, 'would you please try a little harder not to completely shut me out? You can call it lack of subtlety on my part if you want to, but without some sort of facial expression or explanation, I find it ridiculously difficult to understand you. Are you worried that Athena will be born prematurely or very late?'

Hmm, that might have made more sense…

In truth, Severus had never given much thought to whether to let Hermione 'in' or not. Now, where he actually wanted to discuss something with her, he was a little chagrined to find that she found his communication skills so lacking that she needed to remind him to complete his sentences and use some expressive body language.

'Yes, that is part of it,' he grumbled a little ungraciously. 'I don't know whether we can accidentally miss Athena's conception, but assuming that we can't, it seems highly undesirable to force her into a premature birth because we failed to act quickly enough.'

When Hermione calmly nodded her understanding, he surveyed her for another long moment to decide how much she was ready for.

She's of age, and as she intimated earlier, she expects to be treated as such. But asking her opinion every five minutes is ridiculous. I'll lay my cards on the table and see what she says…

'Hermione, you asked me to be direct, so I will attempt to explain to you how I think we should deal with our fate,' he stated, waiting only for another nod before continuing. 'Even without the Oath, I would feel more comfortable marrying you before engaging in any intimate activities. Irrespective of Minerva's prudishness or concern for public opinion, I do not wish to knowingly father a child on a woman whom I have not acknowledged as my wife,' he finished dryly.

Now how's this for a plan…

'May I suggest we continue to spend some time getting to know one another while you are still a student? If you can prove to me that you are, in fact, comfortable with the entire N.E.W.T. Potions syllabus, perhaps we can work on some sort of extension project. We can move on to a formal… courtship after you graduate. As for the wedding, my preference would be for the summer solstice in June, but I suppose July would acceptable if you wish to wait a bit longer. Regardless of the date of the ceremony, we could always make the adjustments to our lives marriage would normally entail over a longer period of time. Does that sound acceptable?'

Wait. What?

By the end of that little proposal, Severus felt as if he had been trussed up and put on display for his worst enemies in his birthday suit, and he knew what that felt like. Without a doubt, that must have been the most insipidly emotional speech he had ever made.

Did I just ask Hermione Granger to marry me? No, worse. I assumed she was marrying me and told her my bloody fucking preferences for the date. The solstice? Really? I might as well borrow some of Minerva's robes and call myself Severina…

Severus sat helplessly in his chair with all the poise of a Flobberworm and called himself seven types of idiot while he waited for her answer. Unsure exactly what he was preparing himself for, he almost jumped out of his skin when Hermione finally broke the silence.

'The project sounds like a wonderful idea,' she said, eyes shining with excitement. Severus was not sure what to think about the fact that she had latched onto that point and not the other. Even though he hadn't planned it, the thought that he had failed at a 'proposal' because it had been completely unintelligible to the woman was mortifying. Hermione then added quietly, 'If you don't mind, I think I need to talk to some people before setting a date for the wedding. I… I don't think I'd be very comfortable living with my parents or at Grimmauld Place with the boys after we're married. Living together will help us get to know one another. I want to have a proper marriage.'

The memory of her sincere expression was the last thing Severus thought of before he drifted off to sleep.

She even managed a smile as she said it. Brave, brave little lioness…

*****

When she woke on Friday morning, Hermione took a few moments to wonder why on earth the hangings around her four-poster were green.

Oh! I'm still in Severus' rooms! she remembered, smiling broadly as she flicked through her memories of the night before. She wanted to giggle at the thought that over the space of a week, Professor Snape had become 'Severus'. The more time they spent together, the easier it became to see past all the general incivility and glimpse the fairly sensitive man with the wicked sense of humour underneath. She smirked a little to herself.

Sensitive when it comes to his pride, at least…

Though she was now sure that some of his evil bat persona was just that—an affectation he kept up for his own nefarious purposes—Hermione would not delude herself into thinking that, with a bit of help, Severus would be reintroduced to the world as an outwardly gentle, kind man. He was a grumpy git in fact, if not in thought, and Hermione had a strong suspicion that he actually liked to be misunderstood by most people.

At any rate, he creates half of his own problems…

As if trying his hardest to prove her point, Hermione's thoughts were unceremoniously interrupted when their subject flung the hangings around her four-poster wide open. He was fully dressed, but glared at her out of slightly red-rimmed eyes.

'Get up,' he snapped, stalking away before she even had time to wish him a 'Good Morning.' Hermione had to suppress a giggle at his antics. It seemed that Severus was not a morning person, and she was truly surprised to realise that his surliness could reach new heights over something so normal. However, embarrassment quickly followed amusement as she realised that perhaps she had subconsciously believed some of the stories about Professor Snape skulking about the castle at all hours like a deranged insomniac or other nocturnal creature.

A few minutes later, while Hermione washed the shampoo out of her hair, she wondered what other misconceptions about Severus Snape she might be harbouring. I wonder if he would consider doing a survey for me with questions similar to Gilderoy Lockhart's back in second year? She quickly dismissed the idea, shuddering slightly at the thought of asking him that. Even if Severus usually ended up answering her questions, inviting the sharp side of his tongue to comment on what he would see as impertinent prying did not seem like a very satisfying way of gaining information.

Hermione smiled smugly as she reached for the conditioner. It would be a far greater challenge to fill in her mental checklist based on nothing but her own observations and some very careful snooping.

Now here's a task to last me a lifetime…

*****

Overall, Friday passed in a comparatively more peaceful way than any other day that week. There was only one significant change of schedule. Instead of dropping Athena off with Severus in the afternoon, Hermione decided to skive off her last Charms class before the holidays and join their little jaunt around the grounds. Though Severus had frowned when she announced her intention to accompany them, he had not questioned her further, for which Hermione was grateful. She really felt like she ought to ensure that Athena was no longer upset with her, given the fairly impressive grudge Athena had proved herself capable of holding.

'Mummy, can I have a broomstick?'

'No,' Severus growled, before Hermione even had a chance to open her mouth. When Athena did not press the point, but merely pouted and kicked at the snow, Hermione realised that whether he knew it or not, Severus must have this conversation fairly often with his daughter.

'If I can't have a broomstick, can I have a Pygmy Puff?'

When Severus only snorted and muttered something under his breath about the things being a 'pointless waste of space', Hermione was pleased for this opening to finally take on the mantle of parental responsibility.

'If you're a good girl, perhaps the elves will bring one for you this Christmas,' she reassured the little girl. 'Did you know Aunt Ginny has one called Arnold?'

'No, Mummy, Arnold died last year, remember?' Athena replied solemnly. 'Uncle Ron accidentally kicked Arnold when you chased him out of the kitchen for tasting the soup with his finger, and Aunt Ginny cried until Uncle Harry promised to get her a new one.'

Hermione felt like laughing aloud. Ron and Harry would always be the little brothers she'd never had. It seemed that even marriage and children with Severus Snape, of all people, had not taken that away from her. Attempting to do her future self a favour, Hermione decided to try something.

'If we arrange for you to get a Pygmy Puff, maybe when we're all at the shop you can choose another one for Hadrian.'

As Athena appeared to deliberate for a few minutes, Hermione waited on tenterhooks for her answer.

'Okay,' she finally said, nodding. 'Mine is going to be green. Hadrian has to have another colour.'

Feeling immensely relieved, Hermione contentedly listened to her daughter's chatter for another fifteen minutes, not even noticing when Severus began to steer them both back towards the castle. Suddenly, not ten metres from the steps to the Entrance Hall, Athena began to glow with a bright, neon blue light.

Just as Hermione bent down and pulled out her wand to check what was wrong with Athena, Severus quite forcefully wrenched her hand from their daughter's and grabbed Hermione around the waist in order to drag her a couple of steps away.

'Severus? What are you doing?'

In the blink of an eye, the child was gone.

AN: *smirks* I couldn't help myself with the chapter title. I offer no defence for my terrible sense of humour. As you've probably guessed, this is finishing up soon. At this stage, I'll probably post the last bit as two chapters, but at the same time.