A/N: Thank you to everyone for the reviews and follows and everything. Means a lot that people are enjoying this.

A/N II: Just a reminder to please bear with me re. uploading new chapters over the coming weeks! I have an exam coming up and literally no clue what I'm doing with it!

Chapter Twenty-One

The cafe had been chosen specifically so that Hermione and Harry may talk without either interruption or people eavesdropping. A quaint faux-Victorian Muggle tearoom in a Derbyshire village, with frilled doilies on the tables and mismatched crockery, provided the perfect sanctuary. It was a miserable day, which suited Hermione's mood, as she was greeted by a slightly taller, more muscular, hairier Harry than she remembered.

'Bloody Hell, Hermione,' were the first words to escaped his mouth as his eyes fell on her stomach.

'It's great to see you again too,' she muttered, sitting down at the table Harry had reserved for them and folding her arms over her front in an unsuccessful attempt to draw attention away from her pregnancy.

'Sorry,' Harry said quickly, sitting opposite, 'you never said you were pregnant, although I did wonder why you said you'd be coming by train and not Apparating. I suppose… it… it's Snape's?'

'They,' she corrected, unable to fully meet his gaze, 'twins. And yes, they're Severus', of course they are!'

'Of course. Sorry… ugh, this hasn't got off to a very good start already, has it? Shall we try again?'

She smiled at that. 'Yes, alright. Hi, Harry, long time no see. How are you?' she said, sounding as though she was reading from a foreign language translation book.

'I'm very well thank you, and yourself?'

'I'm great,' she said, then added 'really!' in response to Harry's unconvinced frown.

'Well you certainly look well,' he said, relaxing his features.

'I look like a hippogriff.'

'In spite of that… ouch!' he exclaimed, smiling broadly as she swatted him playfully on the arm. 'When are you due?'

'Mid-June.'

'Oh, they'll be the year below our James at school then.'

Hermione sighed, feeling suddenly overwhelmingly sad. 'Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry I missed your wedding, and, oh my God, your first child. I feel awful!'

'Hey! I can't say I wouldn't have preferred it if you were around, but what's done is done. Now you're back there'll be plenty more stuff for you to be a part of! Here…' he took his wallet from the back pocket of his trousers and withdrew a photograph of Ginny holding a baby, beaming up at the camera. 'James Sirius Potter,' Harry explained proudly.

'He's gorgeous Harry. He looks just like you… and Ginny, she looks so happy.'

'Yeah, she's a natural mum.'

'Maybe she can give me some tips then because I haven't got a clue! I've read all the books -'

'- of course you have!' Harry interjected, still grinning mischievously.

'But,' she continued, ignoring the interruption, but feeling her spirits rise no end at his light mood, 'I get the impression it's not really something you can learn from a book!'

'I'd say not,' Harry said, placing the photograph back in the wallet, 'and twins! You'd be better asking Molly about that!'

'Molly…' Hermione whispered. One of the hardest parts of ending her relationship with Ron had undoubtedly been forgoing her relationship with the rest of his family. Molly had been like a second mother to her throughout her adolescence but Hermione had not felt it appropriate to continue contact with Molly when she had broken her youngest son's heart. She had half expected one of Molly's shrill howlers in the post in the weeks after she had finally broken it off with Ron. 'How is she? How are they all?' she asked Harry.

'They're doing well. Molly and Arthur love being grandparents. Bill and Fleur, George and Angelica - you remember Angelica Johnson from school? - Percy and his wife Audrey, they all have kids now too.'

'Are they… mad at me?' Hermione asked, feeling childlike.

Harry laughed though. 'Confused by you more than anything. That's all anyone is. Confused and perhaps a little worried.'

'Oh,' was all Hermione could manage and she was thankful when the waitress interrupted them to take their order. Hermione hadn't even looked at the menu so just ordered cream tea, assuming that such an establishment would serve them. 'And Ron?' she ventured tentatively.

'Ah,' said Harry, with the air of someone who was unloading a heavy burden, 'he's doing OK… ish. It hasn't been easy for him though, if I'm honest. He sacked off the Auror stuff when you… ended it with him, and he's been helping George out with the business. I think it suits him better and he enjoys it more than he ever did being an Auror.'

'I hope he's happy,' Hermione said earnestly. 'Has he… found anyone else?'

Harry nodded noncommittally, 'he's always got some girlfriend or another, but it never gets serious. I think… well, to be honest, I probably shouldn't say this, but I think if you said you wanted him back he'd accept in a flash.'

'Oh,' Hermione concluded in a small voice, not sure what an appropriate response to that would be.

'Yeah… like I said though,' Harry continued, obviously as keen as her to change the subject, 'people are more interested in you. What've you been doing for the last five years?'

Hermione smiled weakly and, as their food arrived, began to regale Harry with tales of her time on the continent. He nodded and made affirmative noises in all the right places as she described her travels, but it was only when she mentioned her first encounter with Severus in Bolstrad that he showed any genuine interest; sitting up straighter and beginning to ask questions, and it was only when she'd concluded, telling him about their reasons for returning to England, that she noticed his expression.

'What?' she asked, rather sharply.

'Well, it's just… look, to be honest, and we need to talk about it at some point, Hermione, so we may as well get it over and done with… all this doesn't really seem like you,' he said, nodding in the direction of her baby bump. 'It was weird enough when you disappeared with barely a goodbye. You were always the smart one, and before you left you were doing well in work, they were going to promote you even though the bylaw wasn't passed, you had friends… you had Ron, your parents were back… and now you're just… I dunno… shacked up with Snape, a fugitive to all intents and purposes I might add, and he's got you lumbered with his kids…'

'Lumbered?'

'Yeah, sorry, that was a bit harsh, you know what I mean though?'

'Actually, do you know what, Harry?'

'What?'

'You sound just like him. Severus, that is. He's said practically the exact same thing to me God knows how many times. He feels like he's holding me back, restricting my opportunities, not good enough for me.'

'Maybe he has a point,' Harry mumbled.

'No he hasn't!' Hermione hissed, her voice raising slightly which caused a number of other customers to cast cursory, disapproving glances in their direction. She continued at a more civilised volume, 'we went through such a shitty time those last few years of the war and then for a few years afterwards. We'd had such a significant purpose all through our teenage years and then suddenly… I don't know, I was just drifting aimlessly…'

'Hermione, if you're trying to find a purpose that compares to what we were trying to achieve with defeating Voldemort, then you're always going to come up short.'

'I don't necessarily mean defeating Voldemort. That was the endgame, yes, but my role in all that was a lot smaller. A lot smaller but still purposeful! And I thought after the war, going back to school to get my NEWTs, getting a job at the Ministry where I might really make a difference, and even marrying Ron, I thought that would be my new purpose. But it wasn't working for me… the business with the bylaw was just the straw that broke the camel's back… I'd not been happy for a while.'

'But Snape gives you purpose?' Harry, looking completely bewildered by the concept.

'Initially searching for him did, yes, and now…' she hesitated and considered Severus' dark moods, one of which still persisted, his ill temper, and his penchant for social isolation. Then she thought about his caustic wit, his intelligence, his loving protectiveness, and the way they seemed to understand the intricacies of one another's psyches like no one she had ever met before. 'And now, he is my whole world. My very reason for living,' she said with an air of finality, looking up at Harry as if daring him to dispute it with her.

He stared at her incredulously for a long, silent moment then shook his head as if to wipe all his thoughts from it and said, 'I just want you to be happy, Hermione. It would be hypocritical of me to be angry about this, I mean, that's what we fought that bloody war for, isn't it? So that people could live their lives the way they chose to live them? So, if you mean it when you say Snape makes you happy-'

'-which I do!'

Harry nodded, 'then… and, I mean I can't really understand it yet, but… I'll try.'

Hermione nodded, not trusting her voice to remain steady if she spoke. She felt her eyes sting with unspilled tears as Harry reached across the table and took her hand in his. For him to try was all she had wanted.

'I… I'd like if we could be friends again,' she whispered, hopefully.

'Don't be daft! We never stopped being friends!' he assured her.

'And Ron, Ginny? The others?'

'I can't speak for them, but I'll have a word.'

'Thank you,' she sniffed, wiping her cheeks with her napkin and taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. 'I'm being silly.'

'Hormones I suspect,' Harry said with a dramatic roll of his eyes, 'Ginny was the same.'

Hermione smiled weakly. It felt rude to ask a favour of Harry after that, and she didn't want him to think that that was the only reason she had wanted to see him, but she had to ask.

'Harry?' she ventured.

'Yeah?'

'I… I have a favour to ask. I feel really cheeky, it's about Severus, but…'

'About his exoneration?'

'Yes, I… I hate to ask but…'

Harry gave a small shrug and chewed his bottom lip contemplatively. 'I can't stop a trial, Hermione, and, you know… the… climate is different now than it was just after the war. People are going to be as sympathetic as they might have been back then.'

'I understand, anything you can do… I can't tell you how grateful we'd be. I know… we don't deserve it.'

'I'd say if there's one thing the two of you deserve it's a bit of happiness. No, this is something I have wanted to do for Snape ever since we found out the truth, so… I'm just repaying him like I always said I would, but… look, I'll have to tell them he's back in the country. Now I know for sure, you know?'

Hermione felt her heart sink but couldn't pretend she hadn't been expecting it. Both she and Severus had known this was a possibility if she came to ask Harry's help, but Severus had determined it was worth the risk and certainly couldn't make matters any worse. 'Can you not give us a bit more time?' she asked.

Harry shook his head apologetically. 'My head'll be for the chopping block if they found out I knew and didn't say anything. As an Auror, I'm bound by oath.'

'Oh, of course. I wouldn't want to compromise your position Harry, it's just, well, with the babies coming and me not being able to work at this point, I'm sort of relying on Severus financially and-'

'-I can help you with money, if you need it.'

'No, I mean… we're fine,' she lied, 'and anyway, it's not just that. Obviously I could do without Severus being in Azkaban,' she said, pointing to her stomach.

'I could maybe levy for house arrest or something?' he said, but there was something in his tone that suggested he didn't think the chances were high.

'Do you think they'd go for that?' she asked, unhappy but knowing it was the best option out of bad bunch.

'One can but try.'

'Thank you,' she said breathily. 'I don't want to cause any, well, anymore trouble.'

'I made a promise that I'd help Snape with this way before you and he…' he paused and frowned, clearly unable to describe what it was he felt Hermione and Severus were doing.

'That's all it would be,' Hermione assured him, 'he doesn't want the Order or anything, in fact, he hates that I'm asking you for even this much, but if you wouldn't mind helping us with this Harry… just so we, well, our kids really, can live normal lives here.'

'Fine,' Harry said, though it didn't sound as though it was fine at all. 'I'll leave it 'til Monday and then I'll have to report it. They won't send me as I'm personally involved, I guess, but they'll send Aurors. They'll want to bring him in for questioning.'

'To be forewarned is to be forearmed,' Hermione with a brief smile, 'not that he plans to put up a fight or anything,' she added quickly. 'We knew this would happen, if we came back. You used to be quite optimistic that he'd get off though, Harry. What do you think now?'

Harry sighed and rocked his head from side to side, as though weighing up his thoughts on the matter. 'It doesn't look good that he went away for so long. It looks like he was trying to run from something, you know? But there is evidence… To be honest, a part of me was hoping that Snape might have come with you today.'

'So you could arrest him?' she asked, aghast.

'No, no!' he replied, 'I have something for him. Maybe next time?'

'Maybe. Like I said though, he's not overly interested in Orders of Merlins and money.' Though God knows we could use the money, she wanted to say, but was quite sure Severus would not appreciate her broadcasting their financial situation to Harry Potter of all people.

'It's not that,' Harry replied, 'I still have his memories.'