Disclaimer: Alright, I definitely don't own Harry Potter and am really not making any money off of this…J.K. Rowling is.
Alright, so I'm really sorry about the delay; my teachers apparently thought that it would be funny to give three research projects in a row. Yes, if you haven't seen already, this chapter had to be split up into two parts too (I really didn't want to do it though); I didn't want to give out another fifty-something page chapter all in one go. So, without further ado, here's the next part:
---
"Are you done yet? Your mother has already called for you four times," Severus said, currently standing with his arms crossed, in Janie's dormitory. "We told you the beginning of break."
"Then why doesn't she come up and help me?" Janie asked, walking into the bathroom. "Besides, break doesn't officially start until tomorrow…which is Friday."
Severus ignored Janie's last comment. "Because she doesn't feel well," he replied, still receiving weary looks from the two girls, who hadn't made it out of the room in time.
"She sure seemed well enough to yell at me," Janie commented, throwing a bag towards her father, who raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not carrying your bags," he said. "You've known for almost three weeks when we were going to leave; that's plenty of time to get your things in order," Severus said, as Lyss ran into the bathroom to help Janie.
"You and Mum said that the wedding would be during Spring break; I thought it would only be two days – you didn't tell me that we'd be at the hotel for four," Janie said, bringing out another bag and then shrunk the two down to fit inside of her pocket.
"How'd you do that?" Lyss asked amazed.
"I read it in a book and it also really helps that I've heard my mum say it enough times," Janie replied simply, picking up her bags and sliding them into her pocket.
After bidding her goodbyes, Janie followed her father out of her dormitory and through the Gryffindor common room, earning many stares; Janie just looked around proudly at the room, daring anybody to say anything. When they were finally out and in the safety of the corridors, Janie finally decided to ask the question that she had been wanting to, since her father had arrived in her dormitory.
"Is mum alright?" Janie asked, looking up at her father.
"She probably would be, if she didn't eat that entire box of chocolate last night," he replied.
"Is she on one of her chocolate kicks again?" Janie asked, like it was nothing new.
Her father raised an eyebrow, "'Chocolate kicks?'"
"Yeah; she'll go on a chocolate-eating frenzy and will eat it all day, but she usually doesn't get sick afterwards," Janie said, as they began their descent into the dungeons.
"She's not sick; if she was, then we wouldn't have to go – it'd be a bloody miracle," Severus said.
"Yes we would," Janie said. "I'm the flower girl; I have to go! If mum doesn't go, then you'll still be able to come with me; she's been sick before, I'm sure that she'll be alright by herself," Janie finished as they arrived at her parents' quarters, but Severus made no movement to open the door.
"Why aren't we going in?" Janie asked, looking up to look at her father and stopped dead when she saw the look that he was giving her.
"You better be careful with what you say to her or you'll find yourself at Hogwarts for the rest of break," Severus said warningly.
Janie's eyes widened, "That's not fair! Everyone I know will either be at the wedding or have gone home for the week!"
"I'm sure Filch wouldn't mind an extra helper," he said, taking down the wards on the door and entering the room, receiving a glare from Janie.
"Did I miss something?" Hermione asked, when her daughter walked into the room, wearing a very bitter expression.
"No," Janie said, her expression suddenly turning to normal. "I heard that you weren't feeling well; are you alright?"
"Much better," Hermione replied. "Those potions really do work wonders."
"Potions?" Severus asked.
"I brewed them while you were gone and yes, before you ask, I did remember to write down that you're almost out of billywing flies."
"When are we leaving?" Janie asked, glancing up to look at the clock.
"As soon as I finish getting our bags together," Hermione replied, leaving the room.
"Aren't you going to help her, so we can leave already?" Janie asked, looking up at her father.
"I'm done already," he countered.
"Yes, but mum's not feeling well; you ought to go and help her out," Janie said, as her father turned around to leave.
"And please, don't do whatever you did on Christmas morning; we were almost late for the party!" Janie pleaded, as her father disappeared through his doorway.
"Good; you're done," Severus said, as Hermione closed one of her bags.
"I would have been done sooner, but you packed all the wrong clothes," Hermione informed him.
"I did not pack the 'wrong clothes,'" he defended.
"You packed all winter clothes," she stated.
"It's the end of March; it's not exactly summer now, is it?"
"You do know where we're going, right?" Hermione asked.
"Am I supposed to?" Severus looked at her.
"Did you read the invitation that I gave you a few weeks ago?" She asked, shrinking down her belongings.
"Was I supposed to? You and Janie read it; I didn't think that I would need to too."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "If you would have taken the few extra seconds to glance at the announcement, then you would have known that Harry and Ginny are getting married in the tropics."
"It's called charms," Severus replied, crossing his arms.
"Charms are not going to help when everyone is staring at you, because you are dressed in long, black clothing," Hermione said.
"It shouldn't matter; people should mind their own business," he said.
"But they don't, which is why you should check your bags before we leave; you might find a few things…changed," Hermione said, as Severus shot her a cautious glare and hesitantly walked over to the side of the bed that his things were occupying.
"Why is there nothing with long sleeves in here?" He asked angrily.
"Because the clothes that we're wearing during the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, have already been sent to the hotel-"
"So what did you do with everything else?"
"I transfigured them-"
"You what?" Snape asked, taking out an article of black clothing.
Hermione looked him right in the eye, "I transfigured them; you're not going to be stared at all break, because you refuse to wear what is considered 'normal' clothing, for where we are going. Now, before you start ranting, I only changed your shirts and got rid of your cloaks," Hermione said, as Severus held up the black object and let it unfold itself, to reveal a black t-shirt.
Right as he was about to tell her off for deciding to "fix" his clothes, they heard Janie yelling from the living room, "Mum, Dad; Ginny's here – and I'm not joking this time!"
"She's early!" Hermione exclaimed, quickly exiting the room.
Grumbling something to himself, Severus threw the shirt back on top of all the folded clothes, shut his case sharply, and shrunk the bags down so that it could fit into his pockets, and then left the room.
"Hi Professor," Ginny greeted, when she saw her former Professor enter the room.
Severus mumbled something in reply, earning an admonishing look from Hermione.
"Don't mind him; he's a little cranky at the moment," Hermione said.
Ginny nodded, having to bite her tongue to prevent herself from immediately replying with a smart comment.
"So, are we ready then?" Ginny asked.
"I think so," Hermione said and glanced towards Severus, making sure that there were no objections. "Yes, we're all ready; just let me make sure that Matches is alri-"
"Why?" Severus asked. "The house elves are here-"
"Because-"
"And you already have Doby enthusiastic about being able to take care of a kitten-"
"Hermione, he'll be fine," Ginny said. "Janie was just playing with him. So, now we're good, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"Alright," Ginny said. "Now that that's all settled, I'll take Janie with me, and then you two will follow; the name of the hotel is the Prestigious Pelican Paradise-"
"Why couldn't you tell us the name before?" Hermione inquired.
"Because I want when I take you, to be a surprise; knowing you, you probably would have gone there to check it out the day after I told you."
Hermione crossed her arms, "Not the day after-"
"Can we go yet?" Janie asked impatiently, walking towards Ginny, with a smile on her face.
Ginny nodded, "And once everybody who's coming tonight is there, we'll hand out the room keys and everything-"
"We're not payi-" Hermione started to question, but Ginny put a hand up to silence her.
"We've got it all covered; Harry insisted on it, especially after how much you've helped him out and everything."
"It was nothing, really," Hermione replied, her face starting to turn red.
"Yes, it really was; Harry and Ron probably would have gotten themselves killed at least a dozen of times, if you hadn't been there-"
"You're exaggerating-"
"Harry told me some of the things that he had been up to and they definitely count as more than one offense against him. Now, there will be nothing more said, because my mum will have a fit, if we don't show up soon; she might start thinking that we ended up flooing somewhere without any floo powder," Ginny said with a smile. "Besides, from the look on Snape's face, you're going to be interrupted as soon as you're alone. Alright, Janie; let's go," Ginny said, after she saw the look that Hermione was giving her.
As soon as Ginny and Janie disappeared in a whirl of green flames, Severus turned his head to look at Hermione.
"Alright then," Hermione said quickly, walking over towards the fireplace. "I think we can go no," she said, gathering a handful of floo powder. "Well, aren't you coming too?" Hermione asked Severus, seeing as he hadn't moved a muscle.
"They're gone," he said.
"We're supposed to be following them," she replied.
"We don't have to go," Severus continued, in the same, steady voice.
"We can just close the floo-"
"Janie-"
"Is gone for four days with the Weasley's; it'll be an absolute vacation for her," Severus replied.
"They'll come looking for us-"
"Not if they can't find u-"
"I can't believe that you're suggesting this," Hermione said, some of the floo powder falling from her enclosed hand. "You just don't want to go."
"Mum! Dad!" Janie's head exclaimed from their fireplace. "Get your – I'm not saying that to them, Uncle Ron; that's a bad word!" Janie said, as she turned her head away from her parents, "If you want it said, then say it yourself; I'm not stupid."
Severus smirked; his daughter just called Weasley 'stupid.'
"Mum, Dad; please come before Uncle Ron has me say something that's going to get me into trouble – he's daring to tickle me!" Janie's head soon disappeared, only to be replaced by Ginny's.
"Hermione Granger, I swear; if you decide not to come, I'll hunt you dow-"
"No!" Janie's giggling yell was heard from somewhere behind Ginny.
"Don't you dare chase her in here, Ron…not over the couch!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, after Janie had jumped over the lobby's couch.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, walking over to the fireplace.
Ginny turned her head, "Ron's chasing Janie, who jumped over the cou-"
BAM!
CRACK!
"RONALD!"
"THE TABLE!"
"THE COUCH!"
Hermione poked her head through the fireplace, while Ginny was busy laughing herself to death. Apparently, Ron had decided to follow Janie up and over the backend of the couch, but instead ended up toppling the couch over backwards, while he flew forwards into the coffee table, which cracked right in half.
"Janie!" Hermione exclaimed, right before Severus shoved her through the fire, and she came tumbling out on the other side.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked, pulling her head out of the fire.
Hermione stood, "He pushed me through!" She said, pointing at Severus, who had just emerged from the roaring, emerald flames.
"You were taking up the entire fireplace; I couldn't see what was going on," he said simply.
"Get back here!" Ron yelled, chasing Fred out of the lobby's back door. "I told you no pictures!"
Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and immediately started laughing.
Trying to subdue her laughter, Hermione tried to fill in Severus, who was looking slightly confused, "Ron tried…tickling Janie, who ran…and jumped over the couch…and Ron tried, but didn't make it…because the couch tipped backwards and he fell forwards…and broke…the table…" When Hermione finished, if it was even possible, Ginny started laughing even harder.
"Ginny," Hermione said, walking up and tugging the older girl's sleeve. "It'd be best for you to stop laughing; people are starting to look at you, like you're completely mad."
"Hey Mum!" Fred called, walking proudly up to his mother. "You're just going to love the pictures I've taken; Ronnie fell into the pool!"
Shortly after Fred came prancing into the lobby, Ron came in soaking wet and Mrs. Weasley groaned, "I don't think I've ever been this publicly humiliated before."
While Ron dried himself off, Mrs. Weasley went to the front desk and after apologizing over and over again for her sons' "rude" behavior, she picked up the room keys and handed them over to Ginny. While Ginny thumbed through them all, Harry walked over to Hermione.
"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted. "I'm really glad that all of you could make it."
"Harry, I wouldn't miss this for the world," Hermione replied, hugging him. "Although, you really didn't have to do-"
Harry held up his hand, "It's nothing; really. You and Ron are my best friends; besides, everybody who's in the wedding are getting their own rooms. Ginny's been arranging this thing nonstop and has almost every detail planned out; we even rented out the private pool on the roof until after the wedding-"
"Pool?" Janie asked excitedly.
Harry nodded, "It's a really big one too."
Janie's eyes sparkled, "There's more that one here? That's awesome!"
"There are beaches too-"
"I love you, Uncle Harry," Janie said, hugging him and then turned to her mother. "Can we go swimming later?"
"We'll see-"
"Janie!" Patrick exclaimed, waving his arms above his head, immediately sending Janie running off in his direction.
"You know," Harry started. "Ginny might have put your room right next to Patrick's-"
"What?" Hermione asked.
"I think so; so don't be too surprised if any loud booms wake you up during the middle of the night…I hope Fred and George don't have anything planned… You should have been there while Ginny discussed the hotel arrangements with her mother; it was funny."
"Only because you were upstairs with Ron, listening through a vent," Ginny said, pulling out three card keys.
"Here are your room's keys," she said, handing one to each Severus and Hermione. "I have one for Janie, but I don't know if you want her to have it. I would have gone with wand locks, but there are kids here, and they're not old enough to use their wands yet."
Hermione took the key and nodded, "If Janie was to get a key, it'll be after a long talk."
Ginny smiled, "You're just going to love your rooms; we decided to get just everybody who was in the wedding, suites-"
"Really?" Hermione asked.
Ginny nodded, "Yep."
---
"Ooo; I want one of those!" Janie said, as Hermione opened their door with her card key.
Hermione just smiled and pushed the door open, letting Janie in first.
"Potter and Ms. Weasley certainly went above-and-beyond again…but usually, it doesn't have a good purpose," Severus murmured and Hermione knew that he was right.
To the right of the door, sat a couch, table, and an armchair, which was all sitting before some kind of entertainment center; beyond that, divided by a short wall, was what looked like to be a small kitchen. Across the room from them, was a door and to then to their left was a round table, surrounded by two chairs, and then down a little way, were two more doors.
Janie had walked over to the entertainment center, with a wide smile on her face. There was a stand next to the center, with a small metal-looking box on the bottom, which immediately caught her eye.
"Aw cool; we have a mini-bar!" Janie exclaimed, after she had opened up the mini-fridge and the cabinet.
"Don't touch it!" Severus and Hermione said at the same time, making Janie's hand freeze in the air.
Severus walked over and took the Pumpkin Pastries out of Janie's hand and put it back where it had belonged and then closed both the doors. When Severus had looked back down, Janie was already gone.
"I call this room!" Janie exclaimed, from one of the rooms. "You know, why can't I have a bed this big?" She asked her parents, as she started jumping on the bed.
As Janie continued to jump higher on the bed, she almost hit her head off of the ceiling, while her parents stood watching her, both with their arms crossed.
"Janie, what happened the last time when you tried jumping on the bed?" Hermione asked.
"When you caught me?" Janie asked, doing a flip in the air. "I fell off the bed."
"And then what happened?"
"I landed on the floor," she replied, doing a twist in the air. "And broke my arm."
"Then why are you doing it now?" Hermione asked.
"I wouldn't have fallen, if you hadn't yelled," Janie said, jumping onto the floor and slipped, but luckily kept her balance.
"Oh my God," Hermione said, as she covered her eyes and left the room.
"Aww man; I picked the wrong room!" Janie said, right after she opened the other room's door. "This one's totally nicer than the other…I feel cheated."
"Janie?" Ginny called, poking her head into the room.
"Hi Ginny!" Janie exclaimed.
"We're all going down to the beach in a few minutes, to check it our; you're more than welcomed to come," Ginny said cheerfully.
Janie turned around to face her parents with sparkling eyes, "Can we go; please?"
"Of course, she has to ask Janie," Hermione mumbled, stealing a quick glance at Severus. "Sure; just get your things ready and we can go-"
"Thanks Mum," Janie exclaimed, running into her room, and loudly shut the door, while Severus left the room to change; not even three minutes later, Janie was completely ready.
"I don't even know why we have to go; there's going to be plenty of supervision down there," Severus remarked, as they left their room.
"Do you really want her to be supervised by Fred and George?" Hermione countered.
"Absolutely not, but Lupin will mostly be down there and although Potter may appear to be a complete and utter dunderhead at times, I doubt that he will let anything bad ever happen to Janie," Severus said. "Or is there another reason as to why you made him her godfather?"
"I don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult," Harry said from behind them, while Hermione looked appalled at Severus's last comment. "As for the godfather part, I still find myself questioning her judgment at times, but you're right on one thing, Professor; I would never let anything bad happen to Janie, ever."
Severus nodded his head and as he went to reply, Hermione clearly cut him off, to change the subject, "So Harry; where's Ginny?"
"Ginny had to make sure that she was one of the first people out on the beach, even though we've already spent an entire day here, going over all the plans," Harry said, smiling.
"Yes, but this is your's and her's big weekend; it's almost completely different," Hermione supplied.
"See," Harry said, leaning over towards Snape's ear. "I still can't understand the way they think."
"It gets harder as you go along; especially around the holidays," Severus replied.
Hermione turned around, "I heard that."
"You know," Harry began. "I don't think that it's our problem, I think that it's them, who have to become clearer with what they want."
Merlin; I can't believe he just said that, Severus thought.
"No we don't," Hermione defended, sounding offended, pressing the "down" button on the elevator.
"I couldn't even figure out what to get you at first, for Christmas; you're so fickle," Severus said.
"I am not-"
"All I could think of to get you was a year's supply of chocolate, which would have only lasted you a few months," he added, stepping into the elevator.
"Where'd Janie go?" Harry asked, finally noticing that she wasn't with them anymore.
"Took the stairs," Hermione said absentmindedly, turning back to Severus. "You were going to get me chocolate? See, I'm clear in getting across what I want," Hermione said. "I'm glad that I didn't get the chocolate though; the necklace is so much better," she finished, as the elevator's doors opened up.
"What took you guys so long?" Janie asked. "Patrick and I have been down here waiting forever."
"How did you get down here so fast?" Harry asked. "We're all the way towards the top of the hotel…"
"I don't want to know," Hermione said.
"The railings," Janie stated simply. "Patrick has gotten so much better; I think he's been practicing," Janie added proudly.
"See; I really didn't need to know that," Hermione said, as she opened the hotel's front doors and looked around.
"Harry, I just realized something; where are all the reporters?" Hermione asked.
Harry smiled, "They think that the wedding is back by Hogwarts. If they figure out that they've actually have been fooled, the hotel manager has agreed that he will not let any reporters near the wedding; we don't really want any publicity."
Hermione nodded, "Neither would I; luckily though, the reporters aren't as bad as they were during the war. What are you going to do for the wedding pictures?"
Harry's smiled broadened, "Remember the Creevy brothers? Well, Colin now owns his own photography studio, Creevy Enterprises, and I hired him and Dennis. They may be annoying at times, but their pictures are absolutely amazing."
"I think they sent me a business card one day; it was a busy week, so I really didn't pay too mich attention to it," Hermione replied, and then turned towards Severus. "I think I've found the photographer for our wedding-"
"If that boy still thinks that popping up out of nowhere and flashing a camera in your face is photography, then I have other plans," Severus replied, stepping onto the sidewalk.
"When are you getting married; if you don't mind me asking," Harry questioned.
"After school gets out – sometime in June preferably, but if not, then July will work just as well," Hermione replied, looking around for any sign of Ginny or Janie. "How far did they go down, anyways?"
"Far enough where there are probably aren't a lot of people." Harry said.
"There's hardly anybody out here now," Severus stated.
"Here; on the other side of the hotel is where a lot of the people are – I believe that there are a lot more lifeguards down there…"
"Lifeguards?" Severus raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Harry replied. "it's some safety regulation, even though we are all witches and wizards."
"That's probably what they're afraid of," Severus said. "People being drowned, because of someone cursing someone else, while they're underwater."
"There they are!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing at Ginny.
"Thank God; my feet are really starting to hurt," Harry said.
"That's what you get for wearing those…flip-flops?" Hermione asked. "Since when do you wear those?"
"Since Ginny took me shopping," Harry mumbled.
Severus gave Hermione a warning look, "If you packed me any of those, you'll be sleeping with Janie-"
"Woah!" Harry said. "My ears! I don't need to know who sleeps with who! That's way too much information!"
"If you will just let me finish my sentence, Potter-"
"And you're telling me that you and Ginny-"
"Hermione! Please!" Harry exclaimed.
Hermione looked at him quizzically, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Harry; that's not what I was going to ask you."
Harry's face started to turn a dark red, when a bright flash blinded the three of them.
"That was priceless," Fred said. "I thought that I'd never see those looks again! And don't worry; there will be copies for everybody who wants them!"
"Please don't tell me that you go me in the picture too," Hermione groaned.
"If I said 'no,' then it wouldn't be very honest of me," Fred said, disappearing back onto the beach.
"Great; that means that he got me too," Severus replied, rather ungratefully.
Hermione smiled, "You'd better get used to it; we're taking pictures at the wedding."
"I'm only taking pictures at our wedding," he corrected.
Hermione stopped walking, "Severus Snape, you're going to be in pictures, whether you like it or not; there are absolutely no pictures with the three of us together and I…want…them," Hermione stated, poking his chest between the last three words and then started walking again.
"What are you looking at?" Severus snapped at Harry, who was staring blankly at him.
"Er; nothing, Professor," he said as Snape pushed passed him.
---
"Please?" Janie whined.
"Not now," Hermione replied, from her position on the beach.
Janie looked upset for a brief moment, before turning towards her father, "Please…Daddy?"
"No," Severus replied instantly.
"Oh, c'mon!" The young girl exclaimed.
"Hermione, come play with your daughter," Ginny yelled from a distance.
Hermione shook her head, "Last time I tried, you both turned around and tried to pull a prank on me; it's not going to happen."
Janie folded her arms, while Ginny started to swim forwards.
"C'mon Hermione, you can drag yourself away from Snape for just a little while; it's not like you're not going to see him later," Ginny said.
Hermione shook her head, "I'm comfortable exactly where I am and I'm just finally starting to dry off, from you two."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine; have it your way then," she said and walked out of the water and over to her belongings, briefly stopping to whisper something to Fred, who quickly turned the flash off on his camera and hid somewhere close to Severus and Hermione.
"Ginny," Hermione said worriedly, after the younger witch pulled her wand out. "Ginny no-"
"Windardeum Leviosa!" Ginny said and flicked her wand at Hermione.
As soon as Hermione felt herself being lifted up into the air, she started screaming.
"Severus! Ginny, stop! Sever-" Hermione stopped as Severus quickly wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her on the ground.
"So the counter-charm!" Hermione exclaimed at Severus.
"sure; I'll just let go of yo-"
"No!" Hermione blurted out, as Severus also left the ground and immediately let go of her.
"Severus!" Hermione shrieked, frantically trying to grab him.
"I'd help you, but I'm not going into the water; have fun, Hermione," he said and gave her a little wave.
Hermione gave a frustrated growl, but it was soon silenced as Ginny flicked her wand and sent her flying into the water; Severus following shortly after.
As soon as Severus and Hermione's heads popped out of the water, they heard Ginny's voice, "Oh my God; Snape's still alive!"
If looks could kill, Ginny would have been well over ten feet under, from the looks that both Severus and Hermione were giving her.
"Aw; you did end up deciding to come and play with me!" Janie exclaimed, swimming over. "Let's see…what to do first? Ooo; we can play a game, or we can see how long I can hold my breath under water…or, we can build a sandcastle!"
Severus looked wearily over at Hermione, "Or, you can play tag or teach your 'adopted' brother how to swim."
Janie looked at the shore, "Naw; Patrick's dad is trying to teach him how to swim – I want to spend time with you guys. Now," Janie said, grabbing her father's hand and started pulling him towards the sandy shore. "I want to build a sandcastle…a huge sandcastle."
---
"She doesn't even care anymore," Severus commented dryly, over an hour later.
"And yet you keep shaping that doorway," Hermione replied, after Janie had run off to play catch with Harry and Ron.
"And you're adding another tower," he shot back, taking out his wand.
"What are you-" Hermione stopped when Severus made a sweeping motion with his wand and finished the sandcastle.
"Professor!" Harry shouted, making Severus whip around and see a Frisbee flying right at him and Janie running at full speed towards their castle; her eyes apparently everywhere but in front of her.
"Janie!" Hermione exclaimed, as Severus reached up and caught the Frisbee with his hand; Janie looked up just in time to run right into her father and almost fell over, had it not been for the hand that reached out and grabbed her.
"Watch…the…castle," Severus said warningly.
"Woah," Janie said, finally looking at the completed castle. "You finished it! It looks so cool; hey, there are even moving sand people!"
Hermione smiled, "Nifty little charm; isn't it?"
Janie eagerly nodded, "Yeah, it is. Hey Dad, want to throw the Frisbee back? I wasn't to see Harry and Ron try and catch it."
Severus smirked evilly.
"Severus," Hermione began tiredly. "Don't-"
"Awesome!" Janie said, as her father threw the object and it sent Harry and Ron running. "Thanks, Dad!" Janie exclaimed and ran off.
"You didn't have to throw it that far," Hermione said, her arms now crossed.
Severus smirked, "Janie asked."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Besides, with all that eating that Weasley does, he could use the exercise-"
"He's not unfit!" Hermione defended.
Severus quirked an eyebrow, "Are you looking at other men now?"
"No-"
"I got it!" Ron exclaimed, as he jumped up and caught the Frisbee and on his way down, he plowed right into Snape.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, after the two went down, right on top of the sandcastle.
"My sandcastle!" Janie shouted, earning an "oh-please" look, from her mother.
"Ron, get off of him!" Hermione shouted. "You already knocked the wind out of him and now you're suffocating him," Hermione said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up.
"Uh-oh," Ron whispered, as soon as he realized who he had landed on.
"Weasley," Severus growled.
"Why is it always me?" Ron whined to no one in particular, but made sure that it wasn't loud enough for Hermione…or Snape to hear. After muttering a quick apology, Ron quickly started inching away in the opposite direction.
"Oh no you don't, Uncle Ron," Janie said, running off after him. "You just ruined my sandcastle!"
"Never mind your father," Hermione commented.
"Her sandcastle? She left us to go and play catch," Severus said.
"She did that once with homework – only it was to watch a movie. I was showing her how to do something and when I looked back up, she was on the couch, with the remote in her hand," Hermione shared with him.
"I remember Harry and Ron doing something like that, back in Hogwarts to you," Ginny said, after she had walked up to the pair. "If they did that to me, I would have brought them back and chained them to the chair – or glue; whichever one seemed better at the moment."
"You could have avoided it all, by not helping them in the first place," Severus added.
"Yes, but it would take all the fun out of gluing their butts to chairs and watching their reactions," Ginny said with a smile. "So, did you like your rooms?"
Hermione nodded, "They're lovely."
"I'm glad you like them; wait until you see the bathroom," Ginny replied. "It's huge! Anyways, there are three things that I need to go over with the both of you; first, there's the mini-bar-"
"The first thing that Janie found," Hermione mentioned.
Ginny smiled, "It's free; the hotel manager was so thrilled that 'the famous Harry Potter,' as he put it, has decided to have his wedding at their hotel that the mini-bars, among other things, are free.
"Then, I bet you're wondering why there's an entertainment center in your rooms – it's for Janie; she has to be able to keep herself occupied if she's stuck in your rooms, like tomorrow. Tomorrow is Harry's bachelor party and my bachelorette party, which won't be until later, so I thought that you and I could go shopping for a little while before it," Ginny said, looking hopefully at Hermione.
Hermione looked at Severus, who motioned for her to go ahead, "I promised Janie that we could spend the day together anyways; she wanted to see more of the islands."
"Awww, Severu- wait," Hermione stopped. "All day?"
He nodded.
"But I thought you were going to Harry's party; I told him-"
"It's alright," Ginny butted in, earning two sets of raised eyebrows. "You see, we've actually run into a slight problem – there's nobody to watch Patrick and we don't…Katie doesn't trust any of the other kids, beside Janie, to watch him. It would be really nice Professor, if you and Janie could watch from when the parties start, until Katie or my Mum comes back; I wouldn't trust George to be 'able' enough to watch him."
Seeing his only opportunity and deciding that it probably wouldn't be to hard to watch over the boy, Severus agreed.
"Yes! Thank you so much, Professor; now Katie can go," Ginny said joyfully. "Could you both please excuse me? I need to go and tell her."
As soon as Ginny was out of earshot, Hermione turned to Severus, "For a moment there, I thought that she was going to hug you."
Severus looked out of the corner of his eyes to make sure that the Weasley girl hadn't changed her mind. "So did I," he admitted.
---
After everyone had left for the parties, Janie had gotten her father to take her and Patrick to a small restaurant, where they could either eat along the beach or go inside and eat with an array of tropical fish; Severus didn't have to guess which one the two would pick.
Getting Patrick to eat was an entire task of its own, because the small boy was so intent on watching all the colorful fish swim around and completely ignored Janie, who was wagging a mozzarella stick in front of his face.
"Patrick," Janie said. "Don't you want a cheese stick? Patrick!"
Patrick's head snapped away from the tank that they were currently sitting next to, "So'wy Janie; what's a cheese stick?"
Janie smiled widely and handed him the appetizer, warning him not to burn his mouth while eating it.
Dinner was finally nearing its end and Severus had just given into letting Janie and Patrick have dessert, to avoid a waterworks display, courtesy of Patrick Weasley. Janie had gotten Patrick all excited over a brownie that was shaped like a whale and if he had denied the small boy the treat, there would have definitely been a scene (for his eyes had already started to shine as Severus started to say 'no'), and the last thing that Severus wanted to do, was to cause a scene. Although, he did have to suppress a small laugh when Patrick started to eat his cheese stick, until the boy learned that the cheese stretched and started playing with it. Janie was laughing so hard at the small boy's facial expressions, which only encouraged him, and to get Patrick to properly eat his food again, Severus had ended up promising the two that after their meal, they could go and feed the fish.
Nearly two hours later, the three were finally on their way back to the hotel; Patrick was chasing Janie around with his new, huge, stuffed, animal shark, while Severus walked behind them, keeping a close eye on the two, seeing as it was now getting dark. Not that he would actually tell anyone, but Severus didn't have that bad of a time with the two, but he was glad that they were finally walking back to the hotel.
While Patrick was feeding the fish (which had also consisted of baby sharks and sting rays), he leaned a little too far over the ledge and nearly fell in; luckily, Janie had screamed and gotten the staff member's attention, while Severus's quick reactions enabled him to grab the boy, before falling into the water.
Then, by three different people (the waitress, fish-feeding staff member, and a complete stranger), Severus had been complimented on what "cute," "adorable," and "lovely" children he had. By the second time he was complimented, Janie had gotten the idea to play along, by giving Patrick a small hug and replied in a sweet voice, "Isn't he?" When the third person had said something, Severus beat Janie to the punch by responding with something along the lines of, "Now, if only they would ever behave themselves." As soon as the lady had smiled and turned away, Janie had done an excellent impersonation on her father's glare and earned a smirk in return.
Back at the hotel, Janie and Patrick were given the choice of either swimming or watching a movie, and to Severus's pleasure, they were both too tired to go swimming, meaning that the movie had won out. Before Janie had left with her father for the day, they took a trip back to Hermione's house, where Janie had loaded her arms with a ton of movies, making sure to bring some for Patrick to watch.
"What's this one?" Patrick asked, holding up one of Janie's DVDs.
"You wouldn't really like that," Janie replied, briefly looking up to see what he was holding.
"This one has a huge boat in it!" Patrick exclaimed, holding up another movie.
Janie looked up, "I don't think that you would really like that; it's not really all about the boat. Besides, you're too young and I highly doubt that my dad will let us watch it anyways and I don't want my mum to walk in while we're watching it; she cries every time at the ending."
Severus walked up behind Patrick and read the back of what he was holding, "Your mother lets you watch this?"
"Yeah, but she tells me to close my eyes at certain parts," Janie said, as Patrick put the DVD back into the pile.
Finally, the two had decided on their movies and because there was nothing else to do, Severus had been stuck watching it with them. The movie that Janie had picked was actually entertaining and was filled with action; something that he was surprised about. Patrick's however, was a little more geared towards his age and Severus soon found himself asleep, halfway through the movie. Due to the fact that her father was sleeping, Janie knew that he had no control over what movie they watched next and took the opportunity by putting on a scary movie (one that her mother would never let her watch), after Patrick's movie was over.
As she was watching the movie, she could tell why her mother would never let her watch it and when she went to turn it off, Patrick hastily told her "no." After watching the movie for a little while longer, Janie became glued to the television screen (periodically covering her eyes with her hands) and completely lost track of time, until her mother came home.
Hermione had entered quietly with Katie, unbeknownst to Janie, until she had shut the door and turned the lights back on. Apparently, Hermione shut the door at a point in the movie that was scary, because Janie screamed and when the lights went back on, she took a pillow off of the couch and put it over her head.
The scream had immediately awakened Severus, who flew upwards at an amazing speed, annoyed Patrick, and called Hermione's attention to the movie that as now being played.
"Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, as Janie ran up to her mother and hugged her.
"What!?" He asked, in a confused anger.
"Why are they watching that scary movie?"
"What scary mo-" Severus stopped when he saw what was being displayed on the television and gave the movie an ugly look. "I didn't say they could watch that!"
"You were supervising them!" Hermione said, giving him a nasty glare, making Janie quickly run back to the couch.
As soon as Katie saw what was being played, she hastily turned the television off, getting a foul look from her son.
"Hey!" Patrick shouted. "I was watching that!"
"Not anymore," his mother said. "Weren't you scared watching that?"
"No, but Janie was; she kept covering my eyes with her hand too," Patrick replied.
"Thanks Patrick," Janie grumbled.
"I fell asleep!" Severus defended. "Last time I checked that wasn't a crime. They only picked out two movies: one with pirates and the other was a cartoon; I've never even seen the third one before and I looked through them all."
Hermione's glare was immediately directed at Janie, "Janie Elise Snape!"
"Uh-oh; full name," Patrick whispered to Janie.
Janie cringed; she was in trouble now, "Yes?"
"How dare you take advantage of your father, while he's sleeping! You know better than that and you knew better than to put that movie on! Now, I bet you're going to have nightmares!" Hermione reprimanded.
"No I won't," Janie said stubbornly.
"Remember that tonight, when I'm sure you're going to wake up during the middle of the night," Hermione said, looking sternly at her daughter.
"I won't have to remember it, because I'm not going to have any," Janie said, shocking both Katie and Severus with the way she responded to her mother, while Patrick pulled at her sleeve, whispering for her to stop.
"Janie-" her father started sharply.
"And what's worse is that you put the movie on, while Patrick was in the room!" Hermione said, clearly appalled with her daughter's decision.
"Auwnt 'Mione, I liked the movie; it wasn' sca'wy," Patrick said, tugging on her hand. "An' it wasn't Uncle Sev-wus's fauwlt; he fell as'eep and Janie wanted to turn the movie off, but I said 'no.'"
Hermione crouched down so that she was level with sincere-looking boy, "It's alright Patrick; it's not your fault." Hermione turned her head towards Janie, "Janie knows better; right Janie?"
Janie hastily nodded, while Severus made a mental note to not anger Hermione for the rest of the trip; there was no way that he would be the one on the receiving end of her new-found quickly-changing attitude.
"Well," Janie began. "At least I didn't watch your favorite movie that you cry at them end of all the time; it has those…scenes that my poor, little, virgin eyes can't bear to watch yet."
"Your eyes aren't pure anymore, especially after watching that – and I only saw a few seconds," Severus commented.
Janie crossed her arms and mentally sighed; she knew that she had definitely lost this one.
"I'm tired and going to bed," Janie announced to the room. "Goodnight Patrick; goodnight Katie," she said, before closing the door to her room. "Goodnight…Parents."
---
At three AM, Janie woke, twisted in her blankets and immediately fled from her room, being careful not to look at anything else. As she arrived at her parent's door, she almost ran into it, but found it just in time and pushed it open.
Quickly walking into the dark room, Janie almost tripped over her father's shows and then almost ran right into one of the wardrobes, before finally finding her mother.
"Mum," Janie said, shaking her mother's shoulders. "Mum; wake up!"
Hermione opened her eyes to see Janie intently staring at her and then narrowed them, "Nightmares?"
"You're alive!" Janie exclaimed in a whisper, throwing her arms around Hermione. "I had a dream that you were murdered by this scary man, and dad and I were looking all over for you…and then dad was taken too!"
"Janie?" Severus asked.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"We're fine; go back to bed."
"Severus!" Hermione scolded, turning around and smacking him on the shoulder.
Turning back around, Hermione was immediately cornered with one of the most-convincing puppy-dog eyes that Janie had ever given anybody.
Hermione sighed, "You don't have to go back to your room, if you don't want to."
"Thanks, Mum!" Janie whispered, giving her mother another hug and ran to the foot of the bed.
"If your father won't move over, then just push him out of the way; if he falls, then maybe he'll hit his head and gain some of his common sense back," Hermione said, as Janie started to climb up onto the bed.
---
The next day, Hermione went out shopping with Ginny, leaving Severus with Janie, on a rainy afternoon. After all of the kids ran around the hotel for nearly an hour, they finally became bored and started nagging the adults for something fun to do.
"Why don't you go swimming?" Mrs. Weasley suggested. "Harry reserved the pool on the roof-"
"But it's raining out," one of the kids interjected with.
"There are charms protecting the pool, so that you can go swimming; just as long as it's not lightening out, you'll be fine," Mrs. Weasley replied with.
The second after all of the children left to get ready, Mrs. Weasley stopped Severus, "Severus, could I ask you a for a small favor, please?"
Severus inwardly cringed; he knew what was coming, "Molly?"
"I need to run something by the manager for tonight; you wouldn't mind taking the children up to the pool and make sure that they don't kill each other? It would only be for a little bit; I'd have someone else go up with you, but it has been impossible to find anybody all day – it was lucky that I even caught you," Mrs. Weasley asked politely, with pleading eyes.
Severus sighed; he knew that he had no choice, "Alright, Molly."
"Thank you so much, Severus," she said, patting his shoulders in a very motherly way.
"Ready," Patrick exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down on the spot.
"Me too!" Janie replied, running to join them.
Severus raised his eyebrows at the two.
"Can we go yet?" Patrick asked enthusiastically, bouncing from one foot to the other.
"No; Michael's not here ye- there he is!" Janie said, pointing at Charlie's son.
As they were on their way to the elevator, Patrick looked up at Severus, "Thank you for taking us, Uncle Sev'wus."
Severus looked down at the small boy, as Janie pushed the "up" button for the elevator.
"You're welcome," Severus replied, getting a huge smile from the auburn-haired boy.
Following the rest into the elevator, Michael spoke for the first time to his Professor, outside of Hogwarts that didn't include some sort of greeting, "Why can't I call you 'uncle,' Professor? Patrick gets to call you 'uncle' and I get to call Professor Granger 'Aunt Hermione,' as long as were not considered 'in school.'"
Severus looked at the boy; he didn't know if he was being smart or serious, because the expression on his face wasn't very convincing.
"I hope this isn't a joke, Mr. Weasley," he replied.
"I mean, Janie gets to call you 'dad-'"
"That is an entirely different matter-"
"But Janie's practically like my cousin, so you'd be like my uncle. You call Patrick by his first name too; why do I have to be 'Mr. Weasley,' there are already too many 'Mr. Weasley's' out there," Michael said, stepping out of the elevator.
"You are my student-"
"Not-"
Severus shot Michael a warning look, "Mr. Weasley-"
Michael stared directly at his Potions Professor.
"Charlie Weasley's on; is that better?" Severus asked.
"Uncle Severus; does that work?" Michael shot back. In truth, he was really quite enjoying this, because normally, he would have never dreamed of doing this on a normal day, but there were no detentions or house points at stake and he found himself in an awfully good mood when he got out of bed this morning.
Janie looked at Michael through narrowed eyes; he never usually acted like this.
"Mr. Weasley, this discussion is over," Severus said, putting his room key into the door's lock and then opened the door, after it had clicked. "Go enjoy yourself, before I decide to take you back to your room."
---
It was well passed lunch, when Hermione and Ginny finally came back; their arms completely loaded down with bags, while Severus and "the Rat Pack" (as he so thoughtfully pawned them), were still at the pool.
"Don't you think it's about time that you got out of the pool?" Severus asked his daughter. "You're going to be a shriveled prune."
Mrs. Weasley had just left for the third time, leaving Severus to supervise the three again.
"I got out to eat lunch, and besides; the sun's finally just come out," Janie said, swimming on her back.
"And I doubt that you have any sun block on," Severus pointed out.
"I would be more concerned about yourself," Janie replied. "You're going to be burnt to a crisp – especially your arms; I bet they haven't seen sunlight in months," she said, earning a warning glare that came along with a verbal warning.
Janie was about to reply, when she saw her mother quietly coming through the door. When Hermione looked up and saw Janie, she put her finger up to her lips and continued to sneak up behind Severus, until she got right behind him, her arms out ready to push him into the pool.
"Don't you dare try to push me into the pool, woman," Severus said, without even turning around.
"Dam-" Hermione quickly covered her mouth as she looked at Patrick's wide eyes. "I mean darn!"
Severus rolled his eyes.
"How did you know that I was there?" Hermione asked, walking up to stand beside him.
"Janie was about to say something, but she looked at the door instead-"
SPLASH!
"Yes Mum; you got him!" Janie exclaimed joyfully.
When Severus resurfaced, Hermione crouched down right next to the pool's ledge, "And you were talking and not paying attention."
"And so are you," Harry said, as he pushed Hermione into the pool.
"HARRY!"Hermione spluttered, as soon as her head hit the surface, making Harry explode with laughter. "It's not funny, Harry Potter! Do you think this is fun?"
As Hermione continued on ranting, Severus rolled his eyes, walked through the water up to her, and dunked her head underwater; surprisingly, Harry had managed to stay on his feet laughing.
"You're not supposed to dunk me!" Hermione exclaimed, earning a smirk from Severus. "You're supposed to go and get Harry for me!"
"Why would I go and get him; you can walk," Severus replied, heading straight for the pool's stairs, until Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt.
"You're not going anywhere, unless it's to go and get Harry," she said, pulling him backwards.
"What?" Severus asked in disbelief.
"Aww," Janie said, swimming to her father and then latched onto his arm. Don't you want to have some fun?" Janie said innocently, motioning for Patrick to come and help her.
"Janie-"
"Please, Uncle Sev'wus?" Patrick asked, tugging on Severus's only open sleeve.
"Please, Professor?" Harry asked, mimicking Patrick's plea. "You don't want to upset them now, do you?"
Severus looked from Janie's puppy-dog eyes, to Patrick's bright and pleading ones, and then glanced at Hermione's expectant gaze, "If I say 'yes,' would you please all let go of me?"
Everybody immediately let go, except for Hermione, whose grip only tightened on the back of his waterlogged shirt.
"I thought you were going to let go," Severus remarked to Hermione.
"You haven't said 'yes' yet; for all I know, you'll walk right up the pool's stairs…you are a Slytherin, after all," Hermione countered.
Severus let out an aggravated sigh and grumbled, "Yes."
"Yay!" Janie exclaimed. "Now we can all play a game together!"
"I didn't agree-"
"Hey Uncle Harry, are you going to come in?" Janie asked.
Harry looked at her, "Sure, Jaz; just let me go and…never mind."
Harry walked over to one of the long sunbathing chairs, kicked his sandals off, and then took his shirt off, and threw it on the chair. Before long, he had jumped into the pool, making sure to splash all of its inhabitants.
After Harry had taken his shirt off and threw it to the side, Hermione turned to Severus.
"See," she said, motioning to the now-abandoned shirt. "Why can't you do that?"
He gave her a weary look, "Because-"
"Because why?" She interrupted.
"Because I don't have anything to stop myself from getting sunburn-"
"So? It would do you some good to get burned every once-in-a-while; it won't exactly kill you," Hermione replied.
"So," Janie started. "What game do you guys want to play? We can play catch, monkey-in-the-middle, or…we can play chicken!" She exclaimed, making a wide grin pop up on Harry's face.
Hearing Janie's enthusiastic and excited voice, Patrick exclaimed, "Yeah! I wanna play chicken! Let's play chicken!"
"You want to play chicken, Patrick?" Harry asked and the boy hastily nodded. "Alright then; let's play!"
"To make it fair…Mum, you can't go on dad's shoulders; you'll knock us all down," Janie said, quickly swimming over to her father. "I call dad this round!"
"This round?" Severus asked.
"Yeah," Janie replied. "We have to play more than once!"
---
After Severus had been sucked into playing three rounds of chicken, Janie finally decided to get out of the pool, after Mrs. Weasley had collected Patrick and told Michael that he had to get out and start getting ready for the rehearsal dinner.
The dinner had gone smoothly, until Bill asked for someone to pass him a roll and Fred thought it would be a good idea to throw it, instead of passing it. Then, when Bill asked for butter, Charlie deemed it smart to throw that too. Surprisingly, Mrs. Weasley was in such a good mood, because her 'little girl was getting married,' that all she did was giver her children reprimanding looks. It wasn't until someone wanted some water, and Patrick went to throw a glass at them, did Mrs. Weasley finally put a stop to it.
After dinner, almost everybody decided to go to the bar, except for Patrick, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Severus, and Hermione; somehow, Hermione had been able to persuade Severus into doing something else.
"Please? It's not like anybody else is going to be up there; they're all busy and Harry did rent out the entire rooftop," Hermione tried persuading, after Severus had started to question her idea of going up to the pool. "Mrs. Weasley even said that she and Arthur will come to our room with Patrick, so that he can watch movies with Janie. Please, Severus? Who knows when we'll be able to do anything like this again? It probably won't be until after school ends again…"
Hermione looked at him with bright, shining eyes and Severus suddenly remembered the previous night, "Alright."
Hermione's face immediately brightened with a wide smile, "Thank you so much! Now, I'll finally get to try out my new swimsuit!"
"New?" Severus echoed.
"Yeah; I bought it this morning," Hermione replied, walking into the bathroom. "I'll meet you up there," Hermione added. "There's something small that I have to take care of."
---
Just as Severus started to think that Hermione had somehow fallen down a flight of stairs, she walked through the roof's glass door, fully clothed.
"Please tell me that you have other clothing on, under that," Severus said, from the Jacuzzi.
"What, are you afraid that you'll be the only one in there?" Hermione asked.
"Afraid wouldn't be the word that I'd exactly use," Severus replied, grabbing his towel, which lay almost right next to him. "I'll give you a hint though; it starts with an 'a' and ends with a 'y.'"
"Oh lighten up, Severus; you really didn't think that I was going to walk up here in a towel and a bikini – if Janie saw that, then she would have been up here in two seconds," Hermione replied, taking out her wand. "Even if she saw the towel, she would have been up here; I had to make sure that my other suit was still where it was, in case she got the idea that we went to the pool without her."
"So where does she think we're at?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Out on the town; she has no idea that we're up here," Hermione replied, walking across the rooftop and into one of the changing houses, reappearing several moments later, with a towel wrapped around her.
"I hid a towel up here earlier, so that Janie wouldn't know," Hermione replied, after seeing Severus's questioning look.
"And you were already so sure that I'd agree to this?" Severus asked, as Hermione sat down on the ledge of the Jacuzzi.
"Not really, but if you said 'no,' then I was going to ask Ginny," Hermione said, taking off the towel and threw it on a chair behind her, earning a stare from Severus.
"Do you like it?" Hermione asked, turning a little. "I thought it looked just a little too tight at first; except for the skirt. Ginny said that it looked fine and so did Katie; she came right before we went into the store. But then again, if Ginny had the choice, I'm sure that she would have no problem going to a clothes-less beach and Katie…well, she married George…So, do you like it? It's not too tight or anything; is it?" Hermione asked, giving him a hopeful stare.
He shook his head, "No; it looks fine."
Hermione smiled and pushed herself into the warm water, right across from him.
Severus raised his eyebrows, "Why didn't you decide to stay with the Weasleys'? I'm shocked that you're not down there, sharing stories or doing whatever else it is that you do with them."
A part of Hermione nearly froze, "It's going to be a long day tomorrow and a bit of relaxation seemed like a good idea."
"And that doesn't include having a drink in your hand; I'm shocked."
"Severus-"
"The Weasleys' are probably down there, re-creating the Gryffindor common room party, after they won the house cup, during your seventh year," Severus said dryly.
"Well, I'm not down there, because I would rather be with you," Hermione replied sincerely. "Everytime Harry, Ron, or Ginny is around; I don't need to spend every second with them. Besides, we're going to see everyone tomorrow anyways."
That's a given, Severus thought.
"I almost can't wait; it's been so long since I've seen some of them," Hermione said.
"Seen who?" Severus asked cautiously.
"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you; Harry and Ginny have invited some of our old classmates-"
"They what?"
Hermione ignored his comment and continued on, as if she had never heard it, "I haven't spoken to some of them since I've left Hogwarts, especially Neville; I haven't seen him in years…I wonder how he's doing…"
Severus almost died, "Longbottom? He's coming?"
Hermione nodded, "And he's bringing two other people with him."
By now, Severus was shocked that he wasn't dead yet, "Two? Meaning that he might have a child?"
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know, Severus. And then there's Seamus and Dean…I honestly haven't seen them…and Oliver-"
"All of them are coming too?" Severus asked.
"Yeah," Hermione replied happily. "They've all sent back their reservations; Ginny told me this morning."
"Exactly how many of your old classmates are expected to attend?" Severus asked, his voice clearly evident that he wasn't going to like any answer that he would be given.
"Let's see…there's Harry's entire Quidditch team, before he became Captain, a good portion on the seventh-year Gryffindors; I know you're just going to love that. Then Ginny has some classmates coming; I think Justin's coming…and then, she invited them."
"Who?"
"Padma, Parvati, and Lavender; she invited Padma, Parvati, and Lavender," Hermione said in frustration, getting a questioning look. "Ginny said that she only invited them, because she didn't want them angry at her and then start spreading rumors about her and Harry," she finished, crossing her arms.
"And you would do the same thing," Severus commented.
Hermione looked appalled for a moment and then sighed, "Yeah; I guess probably would do something like that."
Severus smirked, "See."
Hermione smiled down at her hand and started to play with her ring, "I wonder how everybody will react tomorrow, when they find out."
"I was hoping that you wouldn't say anything about that, until it was actually the wedding," Severus said. "It's bad enough that I have to see everybody's stares and shocked expressions, when they find out that I'm actually there and now, we get to suffer through their comments."
"Brighten up, Severus; you sound like you're going to be walking to your death," Hermione replied.
"I am."
"Not without me, you aren't, and I'm not going anywhere soon, so at least suck it up…for me," Hermione replied, adding the last two words kindly.
Apparently, it didn't matter how kindly Hermione had said the words, because Severus was still glaring at her.
"And I hope you don't mind it too much, because you'll be seeing a lot of them again, at our wedding," Hermione added.
"I-"
"On the count of three then…one…two…three!" A male's voice yelled and two blurs, one black and one red, ran right passed where Severus and Hermione were sitting.
"Don't forget to drop your towel!" One of the boys yelled, making Hermione's eyes go wide.
I hope they're not drunk, because then Severus is going to kill them, when they get out of the pool, Hermione thought to herself.
"Cannonball!" One of the voices yelled, shortly before two large splashes erupted from the pool.
When the heads of Harry and Ron resurfaced and took in their surroundings, they saw they weren't the only ones on the rooftop; Severus was glaring intensely at the two, with his arms crossed, while Hermione was turned around, looking at them, with an amused look on her face.
"Hi Hermione…Professor; we had wondered where you two had gone," Harry said a little awkwardly, while Ron was squinting over towards Hermione's direction.
"Hi Har-"
"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron said bluntly, continuing to stare at her. "What in the world are you wearing?"
Hermione blushed and went to look away, until Severus walked up next to her, "Thank you, Mr. Weasley; now, please stop staring at her like a hormonal teenager."
Feeling more confident, Hermione looked straight at Ron and crossed her arms, "It's none of your concern what I wear; I can wear whatever I want."
"But you never wore anything like…that…before!" Ron said.
"Because I had Janie," Hermione said, shifting to lean against Severus. "And besides-"
"It's taken you twelve years, to fit into that?" Ron asked, clearly not thinking before he spoke again.
The words hadn't even finished leaving Ron's mouth, when Harry quickly covered his face with his hand. After Ron had said the words, there was a deathly silence that was finally broken by water moving.
"No Severus," Hermione said, pushing him back, away from the stairs. "I'm going to kill him."
When Ron saw Hermione head for the stairs, he quickly started backing up, farther into the pool, "I didn't mean that!"
"Ron, you better hope that you suddenly become drunk, because you're not going to want to remember what I'm going to do with you!" Hermione said.
"Hermione, it was my mouth! You know that it has a mind of its own! Professor?" Ron said desperately.
"You're just lucky it's not me, Weasley," Severus replied, sitting back down, waiting to see what Hermione would do to her poor, unfortunate friend.
"Ah, see Minerva; it's right through these doors!" Hermione froze as soon as she heard the voice.
"Oh no," Hermione whispered.
"Oh my God," Severus said, with wide eyes.
"See; isn't that nifty? It's a card key! I think I might start making some of the rooms in my quarters only accessible by card key!" Dumbledore said, walking out onto the rooftop, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
"Oh my gods!" Hermione exclaimed quietly, quickly making her way back to Severus, who wanted nothing more than to sink under the surface of the water.
As soon as Ron heard Dumbledore's cheerful voice and saw Hermione go running back to Severus, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God," he muttered.
Luckily for Severus and Hermione, the first person that the jolly, old wizard saw, was Harry.
"Harry!" Dumbledore called, waving his hand. "What a pleasure seeing you here! I was looking for you downstairs, to wish you good luck for tomorrow and no one had known where you had disappeared too."
"Maybe if we can hurry up, we can sneak behind them and leave, without them noticing us," Severus whispered.
"But I'm enjoying this," Hermione complained. "We'll be fine, as long as they stay away from us."
"If Dumbledore does come in here, you'll have nightmares; trust me…it isn't a fantastic sight to see," Severus whispered.
"Alright," Hermione said quickly, making a beeline for the stairs.
As Dumbledore continued on talking to Harry, a quick movement caught McGonagall's eye and she started to elbow Albus in his side, who merely just waved her off.
"Albus-"
"In a minute, Minerva," he replied.
Angry at Albus, McGonagall turned around and looked straight at the Jacuzzi, finally noticing something before her old friend, and she was going to let him know it too.
"Merlin; the boy can actually swim, Albus!" McGonagall exclaimed, making Hermione turn around and do a perfect impression of a deer caught in headlights.
Dumbledore looked up and saw Ron, immediately starting swimming on his back, "Wow; I finally didn't drown!" He exclaimed. "It's taken me forever to learn how to do that!"
McGonagall rolled her eyes, "Not you, Weasley; Severus."
Dumbledore twirled around to look at McGonagall, "Severus is here? I didn't see him…"
McGonagall pointed right at him, earning her the glare-of-her-lifetime from him; meanwhile, Hermione quickly ran up and hid behind him.
"What are you doing?" Severus asked, out of the corner of his mouth.
"They can't see me in this yet; if Dumbledore sees you first, then all of the attention will be directed off of me," she whispered back.
"And what if I go underwater, as he turns his head?" Severus countered.
"Then I'll kill you," Hermione replied simply.
"Ah, Severus!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I wouldn't have ever imagined you up here; especially on such a clear night as this," he said, putting his towel on a chair that was very close to Hermione's.
"Is Hermione out here as well?" McGonagall asked, looking around, as Hermione grabbed Severus's underwater hand. "I couldn't imagine you ever willingly coming out here alone."
"She's around here…somewhere," Severus replied.
"Come now, Minerva," Dumbledore said, beckoning her over to the pool. "Leave the boy alone; he's not asking you why you're out here," he said, looking at something behind Severus and Hermione and then smiled at the figure.
After Dumbledore had busied himself with talking to Harry and Ron about the wedding and how 'splendid it was to be attending two weddings this year,' Hermione decided to come out of "hiding,' when someone tapped her on the shoulder from the behind, scaring the wits out of her.
"Severus, who touched me?" She said, from her new position on his back.
"Hermione, get off of me; it was probably one of your friends," he said, turning around, to find Ginny Weasley crouching next to the water's ledge and silently laughing. "See; it's your girlfriend, so you can get off my back now."
Hermione looked up to see Ginny, "Oh! Hi Ginny," she said, letting go of Severus.
"Did I scare you?" Ginny asked, smiling.
"Just a little," Hermione said, making her way to where Ginny was. "Is everything alright? You're not wearing anything to go swimming with…"
"Everything's fine; I just came up here to talk to you," Ginny said, glancing at Harry.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Talk to me or watch Harry swim?"
Ginny blushed, taking her shoes off, "To talk to you, of course. I need to go over a small last-minute detail that I decided about a little while ago, with you" she continued, sticking her feet into the warm water.
"Alright," Hermione said, motioning for her to continue.
"Well, because you and Janie are in the wedding, it leaves Professor Snape out, and I felt bad about him being alone," Ginny said, looking at Severus.
"It's al-"
"I just pictured as if it were you and Harry involved in something and that left me sitting around people that I would not rather sit with, so I decided to do something about it; Harry agrees with me," Ginny said, now looking Severus right in the eye. "And we didn't tell you about it earlier, Professor, because you would have found some way to get out of it or not even have gone at all. So anyways, Harry has decided to make you a groomsman; that way, you can stand next to Hermione and Janie during the ceremony."
"He what-"
"You could have told me," Hermione said, feeling even happier than before.
Ginny smiled at her, "Then if he knew that you knew and didn't tell him, you both wouldn't be very happy right now."
"Who said I'm happy now?" Severus muttered, earning Hermione's elbow in his side.
"And if you want, you can even walk with Hermione down the isle, before I come out…" Ginny added.
"Yeah; that's exactly what we'll do," Hermione said, now brimming with happiness. "It'll just be like practice, for our wedding; except it'll be while we're walking out. Thanks Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, hugging her friend and getting her all wet in the process.
"Anytime...just please don't get me wet next time," Ginny said, taking out her wand and drying her shirt off.
Hermione smiled sheepishly, "Promise…at least as long as it's not on purpose."
Ginny glared at her friend and splashed her, getting Severus wet in the process. "Sorry, Professor," she said, when she saw the look on his face. "Well, I better get going now; I promised my mum that I would run something by her one more time, before it gets too late."
"Is she still with Patrick and Janie?" Hermione asked.
"Last time I checked, she was so into the movie that they were watching, she was yelling at the television," Ginny replied. "My dad was more set on asking how the films were made and how the television worked; I cannot believe how many times he can ask the same questions…the ones about the card key are still being asked. Well, goodnight Hermione; goodnight, Professor," Ginny said, grabbing her shoes and then walked back inside.
Hermione walked over and sat down next to Severus, with a wide smile on her face, "I can't wait until tomorrow."
At least someone can, he thought, as Hermione put her head on his shoulder.
A/N: If anybody is interested, the website for the story is up so far, and the link is located in my profile, under the homepage. On there is a cover, some information on the next part of the chapter (this part is under the "cover" section and is a powerpoint slide), among some other things that I have up so far. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far; it's really appreciated...I never really thought that I would ever reach 400! So a HUGE thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story so far...thanks!