Where I Want To Be

Hermione had spent the two weeks following Narcissa's cure in St Mungo's with Neville Longbottom, discussing their trial with the Longbottoms' healer who had been very interested in the results. Severus had filed the paperwork to have the cure patented, and once the paperwork had been registered they were able to trial it at the hospital too. Hermione had calculated that since the Longbottoms had been affected for such a long time they would have a greater chance of improvement if they received the first two potions several times over the course of a few weeks before starting with the third potion, and that they'd at least three rounds of treatment over several weeks, but already after the first few weeks they had started to interact more with their surroundings. It would be a gradual, slow and painful process but Severus was glad to see they might have a chance to come back. Alice, especially, had been a friend of sorts of his at Hogwarts. A few years older but someone who had nodded at him in the library and occasionally chatted with him about homework or other things, which was more than most other students did.

Meanwhile, Severus had spent his time brewing to complete the first batches of orders from St Mungo's, and on setting up processes and routines for ingredients and order handling. It only took him a week of trying to do everything himself for him to ask Aemiliana to help with the orders and invoices. She was eager for something to do during the days and had a sharp mind and a keen eye for details, and didn't want payment except for some nice sherry every now and then, stating that he'd get the Galleons back when she died anyway and that she had all she would ever need.

~x~x~x~

One sunny mid-July Sunday Severus watched Hermione pace anxiously around the Grand Hall, dressed in a yellow summer dress with white flowers. She looked rather adorable and most certainly not like someone who was trapped in a dungeon all day, chained to the cauldrons.

He was not at all sure how it had come to this. A Muggle invasion at Prince Hall. Had he actually agreed to host Hermione's parents? And her grandmother? Before he could figure out how to call off the impending assault the bell chimed in the entrance foyer, letting him know that their guests had arrived by Portkey, and Hermione squealed and ran to the doors just as Tinsel opened them to allow the three guests in. After some slightly stiff greetings Hermione led her parents and grandmother along on a tour of the building, talking all the way, while Severus trailed behind them, observing their family dynamics. Caroline Granger was tall and slender and talked a lot, switching between French and English when she addressed her daughter or her mother Adeline Wright who was sharp as a tack and seemed to enjoy putting her nose where it shouldn't go. Richard Granger seemed a little more level-headed and mainly asked questions about the design or history of the estate.

"Can we see the dungeons where you work?" her father asked with a smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him but after a nod from Severus they went outside and she guided them to the potions labs. Aemiliana came down to greet them at the entrance, a bit wary of Muggles at the estate of all the intolerant Prince ancestors. Still, the Grangers were impeccably polite and asked the right questions about the business and the organisation. Severus took over the tour to show what they were currently working on while the two elder ladies stood a bit off to the side, not talking, appearing to size each other up. They were rather similar in appearance, even down to their dressing style. Both of them short and wizened, with sharp eyes that didn't miss much.

After showing their guests the gardens they had a surprisingly pleasant tea on the terrace overlooking the lake. The Grangers were quick and well educated and more interested in discussing the latest research or something related to literature or history than talking about politics or the latest celebrity gossip, and they ended up comparing notes on medical innovation in the magical and Muggle communities. All in all, it was a surprisingly bearable day, and even Aemiliana seemed to enjoy the company despite them being Muggles.

As the guests readied themselves to leave, Hermione's father came to shake his hand.

"It was good to meet you, so that we can see for ourselves where Hermione will spend her days. She's an adult now but they never stop being your kids. I take it you don't have any yourself, yet?"

"Certainly not."

Richard nodded. "Well, maybe one day, eh? Anyway, I don't think it would be very effective of me to give you the standard talking-to about not hurting my daughter, but you seem a decent sort so I don't think you would, at least not on purpose. Let me just give you a piece of advice for dealing with women like Hermione and her mother. They're fond of arguing with you until you agree that up is down and blue is red but they do accept logic. Well, most of the time. Alright, sometimes. And never go to bed angry, it's better if you stay up late to be shouted at so that they get it out of their system and can forgive you for being a fool."

Severus exhaled shakily, hardly knowing what to answer. Children? That was most definitely something he had never considered, assuming that it wasn't to be for the likes of him. No, that thought would have to wait.

Richard smiled at him. It made him remarkably similar to Hermione. "Right, I've scared you enough. When you come visit us I'll make up some excuse to drag you along to my office so that we can sample my rum in peace while the women chatter."

"You have a deal, Dr Granger. I shall do likewise the next time you come here."

"It's Richard, you know."

He bowed his head. "Severus."

"That's a rather Roman name, isn't it? An emperor? Well, you seem to have what it takes to live up to it."

"The nose you mean?"

Richard chuckled. "Nah, the bearing, rather."

~x~x~x~

After some careful scouting and deliberation, weeks of planning were finally coming together in the middle of August. It had been difficult to keep it all from Hermione who had been eyeing him curiously all morning over her toast and tea, clearly sensing that something was up.

"Come, Apprentice, we are about to have guests," he said after finishing his own breakfast. Without looking to see if she followed he strode out of the building, hearing her half-indignant squeak of protest as she scurried to catch up. She was naturally asking a million questions that he promptly ignored as he rounded the corner and walked towards the newly erected greenhouse and potions garden.

"Severus, what's going on?"

"Patience," he murmured, eyes fixed on the lawn between the greenhouse and the lake.

After perhaps five minutes the air seemed to shimmer and solidify into an expanding column of white smoke. When the smoke dissipated, the lawn was full of Centaurs. About a dozen of them in all colours, ranging from foals to wizened warriors and mares, all carrying various items and equipment.

"Ember!" Hermione squealed and ran down the lawn to hug her friend. "How… What…"

"Hi Hermione, we're moving in!" Ember said and reached down for a hug.

Severus joined them at a more leisurely pace. Epona was there too, of course, she was the one who had brought everyone across. Ronan and Ambra stood next to her, supervising the others.

"Thank you for the invitation, friend Severus," Epona said.

"The pleasure is all mine," he answered. "My water is yours, my food is yours, and shelter and tools will I gladly share."

Ambra stepped up to him. "I see you, Severus of the Prince clan, Master of Potions. I will be the lead mare for the Prince Woods Centaur colony, and Ronan is my mate. I thank you for your hospitality. We will gladly share the spoils of the hunt or the forest, warn you of danger and protect your loved ones."

He bowed his head to her. "I see you, Ambra of the Prince Woods Centaurs. Please, make yourselves at home. The forest is vast and the lake is full of fish. Did Minerva send an owl with you?"

Ambra smiled and gestured towards one of the younger stallions in the group who carried two birds on his back. "Yes, we have two now, I think they'll like it with us."

"A half dozen wanted to relocate to the Forest with us," Epona said with a slight shudder. "I told them it was fine as long as they took care of themselves but I think some of our youngsters want to spend time with them. I don't quite get the charm of having owls but I suppose they will be useful for staying in touch with you."

"Certainly, Epona. I already spoke to Poppy Pomfrey regarding your medical needs and she will make sure they are met."

They walked together up towards the edge of the lawn where the elves and Aemiliana met up with them. Tinsel, Winky and Grumpy seemed to form their own bonds to the Centaurs while Aemiliana was introduced as part of Severus' clan. The elves had prepared food for all, a veritable banquet of fish, meat, vegetables and baked goods, and tables of varying heights. After some deliberation they had ended up with bar stools and high tables where the Centaurs and humans could eat and talk relatively comfortably, and soon all of them were mingling together, the foals playing in the grass and nicking fruit and cookies whenever they thought no one noticed.

Grumpy had prepared a bonfire and various magical lanterns around the clearing. One older stallion brought out a lute and started playing, another had a flute, and as the night fell they shared their traditional Centaur songs. In return, Aemiliana taught them some classical Wizarding songs which turned more and more ribald as time went on and the foals drifted off to sleep.

Hermione came up to him, beaming with happiness. She threw her arms around him and he pulled her close, smelling the herbs and forest and wood smoke in her hair. Her hair was a bushy tangled mess and she had ink stains on her arms and wore Muggle jeans and a simple cardigan and she was just right. Home was where she was.

"I love you, you know." It just bubbled out, he hadn't planned on it.

She pulled back to look up at him, large eyes reflecting the fire. "Oh! I do know. But I do like hearing you say it. I love you too, Severus Snape."

He kissed her tenderly but thoroughly, studiously ignoring the identical smirks sported by Aemiliana and Epona.

~x~x~x~

Just before the start of term at Hogwarts, Prince Hall was again invaded by a rather diverse group. Draco and Ginny arrived in the company of Harry, Tracey, Minerva and Moody. Minerva looked happier than in a long time. She had a family now, a real one if a bit unusual, and it seemed to take years of worry off her back. She filled him in on what was happening at Hogwarts, new teachers, an updated curriculum and some more changes to the House system to lessen the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin especially. Moody also appeared to be more relaxed now that he could shed the mask he had worn during the Order meetings. They'd done a lot of work in the Ministry, Amelia and him together with Kingsley and various others, to try to flush the corruption out.

They shared tea on the terrace and talk turned to what the newly graduated students would do. Apparently, Harry was taking a year off from responsibility and was joining a Quidditch team as Chaser or reserve Seeker. Tracey was joining the Ministry in a junior position at the Department of Magical Transportation, with the aim of moving to the Department of Magical Accidents later.

"So what are you planning to do now that Ginny goes back to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Oh, I'm going to be a wizard of leisure for a while," the blond Slytherin said with a smirk while Ginny rolled her eyes and refilled her glass with sparkling cucumber juice, an innovation by Tinsel and Ember. "We spent a week in Brighton and I got to test windsurfing and was hooked right away."

"What's that?" Tracey asked.

Draco, Ginny and Harry offered a more or less coherent explanation which had Minerva look even more confused afterwards.

"So, anyway, I'm going abroad to learn more about it. I think Spain and Portugal first and then I'll just see where I end up," Draco concluded.

"So you're going Muggle?" Harry interjected with a smirk which caused Hermione to break down in giggles.

"Yeah, you bet," Draco said proudly. "I'll be back in the country for all Hogsmeade weekends and the school breaks to see Ginny."

~x~x~x~

As autumn started, Hermione dove into the Arithmancy side of her Apprenticeship together with Septima who had come for a meeting and estate inspection together with Minerva and Poppy. A delivery from Flourish and Blotts arrived with a crate full of books on theoretical magic, probabilistic numerology, computational curse breaking, ward analysis, potion component analysis, Bayesian statistics in Escher space and several other obscure topics. Hermione basically dove into the stack of books and didn't surface for several days.

Severus also started her on the more traditional parts of an Apprenticeship, teaching her advanced techniques, ingredients preparation and other such skills that they hadn't had much time for earlier, and she still kept up with brewing for his business. He had wanted to start researching improvements for Wolfsbane but it was hard to find the time to do so since he still had to brew and handle all the incoming orders. To his surprise, the business had gone off to a flying start with more orders incoming than he had ever expected, and so he was already planning to quit brewing some of the simpler potions with low margins.

One September morning they were surprised by a Ministry owl showing up at breakfast in their private sitting room. It hooted and nicked a piece of his toast as he untied the missive from its leg. He couldn't stop his eyebrows from rising as he read through the short notice.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, looking up from her Daily Prophet.

"Interesting," he mused and summoned a quill and a piece of parchment while the owl waited. "You remember Maurice Fowler, Hermes' Apprentice?"

She nodded. "At Christmas in the Ministry? The unhappy one with the creepy Master?"

"Well that is one way to phrase it. He wants an audience."

Two hours later the Floo activated and Tinsel accompanied the nervous-looking young man in dirty brewing robes to the drawing room where Severus waited with Hermione.

"You requested to see me, Mr Fowler," Severus began without preamble after the first greetings had been exchanged.

Mr Fowler nodded and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Master Snape. I know it's a long shot but I just couldn't… I had to try. I can't stay as Master Farnsworth's Apprentice anymore, I can't. I remember meeting you and your Apprentice in the Ministry and thought if anyone could do something it would be you."

Severus frowned at that. "What a Master does to his Apprentice is regulated in the contract and not something another Master can interfere with. If you want to appeal you should turn to the Potions Guild, Mr Fowler."

The young man nodded. "I understand that, Master Snape. I tried the Guild but they said the clause was standard and that they couldn't change it against his wishes. I'm not going back there!"

Hermione was apparently itching to talk but Severus placed a hand on her arm to allow him to speak.

"You understand that by coming to me instead, you forfeit your Apprenticeship?" Severus asked. "I will be unable to take you on as Apprentice, and other Masters will be reluctant to go against Master Farnsworth once it becomes known that you abandoned his service."

Mr Fowler nodded. "I know, Master Snape. I read the Apprenticeship contract you have with Miss Granger and understand you will only take on one. That's fine with me. But I saw in your contract that you have a clause about consent with your Apprentice? I've never heard of that before."

Severus nodded. "That is true. I would not abuse an Apprentice or employee. Tell me, Mr Fowler, what do you seek by coming here?"

Mr Fowler drew a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "I know I'm asking a lot of you by coming here like this, Master Snape. I'm not a Master but I'm a decent enough brewer and would be capable of taking over some of your routine brewing so that you have more time for the advanced work. You're the best Potions Master in Britain and probably all of Europe judging by what I've seen in the Potions journals and elsewhere, and that clause in the Apprenticeship contract leads me to think you won't abuse your staff and assistants either. I would like a chance to prove to you that I can be an asset to SPS Potions in whatever way you can make use of me."

Severus traced his lip with a long finger, deep in thought, before his gaze snapped to the young man. "Very well, Mr Fowler. I shall give you a chance to prove yourself. If you accept, you may stay here for a month, room and board will be provided, and during that month you will do all I ask you to pertaining to brewing or ingredient preparation. I shall assess your skill level and work ethics, and after the month is up we may discuss an employment contract. Furthermore, you will sign a binding contract to not reveal business secrets to anyone not affiliated with us. "

Mr Fowler grinned. "That is more than fair. Thank you, Master Snape. I won't let you down."

Severus nodded. "Good. I will expect you to work hard and always do your best. Making mistakes is fine, once, but not if you fail to learn from them."

Hermione followed the other two out to the labs where they showed the younger man what they were currently brewing, inspected the equipment he had brought and Severus got him started on a huge batch of Pepper-Up while Grumpy arranged a bedroom upstairs for him.

~x~x~x~

To his surprise, the young man was nice and friendly and a good worker, and after the trial month both of them were quick to sign his employment contract. He was quick to pick up the slack and good at spotting what needed to be done. Often when Severus instructed Hermione in various techniques he asked Mr Fowler to come over as well to watch. They got along fine as well, Hermione and Mr Fowler, and had quickly shed any titles between them. Aemiliana had also quickly warmed to the young wizard which was a relief if he was to stay in the business.

Gradually it made him a bit uneasy to see the easy rapport between his Apprentice and Mr Fowler. They ate lunch together and she often asked him to join Severus and her for dinner. Maurice Fowler was essentially everything that Severus had assumed Hermione wanted in a wizard as he was young, friendly and intelligent. It pained Severus to see their interactions but he still wanted to do what was best for her, to give her a good future, and so he withdrew, pulling away from their discussions. He went to bed late and rose early, didn't join her for meals, gave her potions texts to read but didn't interact much, and she proved him right by turning even more to Mr Fowler.

She finally managed to catch him reading one evening before he could sneak away and claim to have errands somewhere, anywhere else. She padded in to his office and sat down in the spare chair he had by his desk.

"Severus?"

He didn't look up from his book. "Yes?"

"Do you want me to withdraw as your Apprentice?"

That got his attention. He frowned at her. "Is that what you wish?"

"No! It's just… do you want Maurice as your Apprentice instead?" She was fidgeting, biting her lip, arms crossed in front of her.

"Whyever would I want that?" After all, she had that completely backwards.

"It's just… you work so well together with him and you've become all distant lately and I'm worried you don't want me anymore," she blurted out. She rose from her chair and seemed ready to bolt from the room.

Fire and hope was igniting in his belly. "Oh, little witch, you have that exactly backwards," he said and finally moved to her, taking her into his arms. "I do want you, now and forevermore. I thought you had fallen for him, you seem to be so comfortable in his presence."

"What, no! Only you, Severus. You're my mate, remember?" she said, pulling his head down for a kiss, her body melding into his, closer, closer still.

"Mine," he murmured.

She nodded. "Mine," she agreed and kissed the corner of his mouth before apparently thinking of something. She pulled back slightly and fixed him with what passed for a stern glare. "Severus, this is the second time you have ended up in a snit over thinking that I'd want some other wizard instead of you. Can you promise me not to do that again? I really can't take it when you withdraw from me like that."

He sought her mouth again and kissed her, greedily, deeply, desperately. "I am sorry, Hermione. You know that what we share has already exceeded the extent of what passed for my prior relationships. I will talk to you if it happens again instead of just assuming." One of his hands clutched her head while the other pulled her as tight to him as he could. He was already hard, he could feel the heat of her stomach on his cock.

"Bed, Severus," she managed to gasp. In response, he Apparated them both into their bedroom and deposited her on the bed in one fluid motion. "Need you, now," was all she managed while Banishing his clothes, not caring one bit where they ended up. He was just as eager as she seemed, and soon her clothes disappeared and he nudged her knees apart, settling between her legs. Not until he entered her, filling her, did the craving finally settle, and then he kissed her and set a fast pace, thrusting into her, driving her higher and higher until her orgasm shook her which in turn caused him to come hard, grimacing until he collapsed on top of her and kissed her forehead, gently, before rolling off her and pulling her close to his side as they slowly returned to themselves.

"I love you," she whispered, laying her head on his pectoral muscle. She fit just right against the crook of his arm.

"Marry me," he said, looking down at her. His inner Slytherin seemed to do a facepalm and muttered something about his impulsiveness being the death of him.

"What?" She scooted back a bit to better see him and he did the same, rolling over to his side facing her.

"This was not exactly how I had planned it but, Hermione, I love you. I don't ever wish you to leave my side, my bed, my home. I want to live the rest of my days with you, start a family with you some day if you are amenable. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"Are you really serious? Yes of course you are, you're you. Yes, Severus, I'll marry you. Can I finish the Apprenticeship first though?"

He chuckled and kissed her again. "Of course, little witch. I had planned to wait to ask you until you were done but evidently that was not to be."

She rolled on top of him, crossing her arms on his chest and resting her head on them. "You promise to talk to me next time you're upset about something?"

"On my honour and my magic, Hermione Granger. Will you do the same?"

She nodded and smiled at him. "I love you, have I mentioned that already?"

"Once or twice but you may tell me as often as you wish," he said while seeking her mouth out for another kiss.

"How generous of you," she said and squealed when he kissed that spot on her neck.

They didn't fall asleep for a long time, having to make up for lost opportunities over the past few weeks.