AN[4/4/2013]: I FINALLY have taken advantage of the generosity of my readers and have changed the French in this chapter. So I would like to thank Mandise for her translations along with many many many other readers :) the french in the chapter is underlined and the english translations are at the bottom :)
"Where is my sweater?" Hermione said with a huff as she searched through her dresser drawers. She was almost ready to leave on holiday, with the exception that she couldn't find her sweater that she mother had sent.
"I suppose that you're looking for this?" Severus said as he stood in the doorway to her room, he red and green sweater in hand. "I found it in the sitting room."
"Oh, thank you. I was looking everywhere for that. My mother will be expecting me to be wearing it when get to their house," she explained, pulling it on over her head, struggling for a bit before getting it completely on.
She looked him over quickly. His muggle clothes (quite nice actually on him) were partially covered by his black robes. His hair was pulled back and his face was freshly shaven. All in all, he looked quite handsome. She smiled, blushing a bit as she said, "You look nice."
He quirked an eyebrow at her, only causing her to blush more.
"So, are you ready to go?" she asked, looking away from him. "We're just going to floo there. And just as a warning, my mother speaks French so, just don't be surprised if and when she starts prattling off in French. Speaking of which…do you know any French?"
"Other than a few words, no. But I'm sure that you'll be happy to translate," he said sarcastically.
"Well, my mother doesn't speak entirely French, just when she gets excited or when it's usually just me and her," Hermione explained, rolling her eyes at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Are you coming?" he called from the hall, having left her talking in her room. Their bags had already arrived before them that morning. Hermione huffed angrily, rushing after him. He stood in front of the fireplace, a smirk on his face. "Ladies first," he said teasingly. Hermione pushed ahead of him, grabbed some floo powder, threw it into the flames, and said, "The Granger Residence, Australia," before stepping into the green flames as them swallowed her up.
"Hermione ! Qu'il est bon de te revoir, ma chérie !" exclaimed Ameila Granger as she swept her daughter up into a tight hug. Hermione smiled as she hugged her mother back.
"Maman ! Papa !, vous m'avez tellement manqué." She pulled back from her mother, hugging her father just as the fireplace roared to life once again and Severus stepped through, completely clean, unlike Hermione who was still quite covered in soot.
He smiled at the picture before him, the joyful reunion of the three. Hermione stepped back, right into him. She jumped in surprise before tilting her head to look up at him.
"Hey," she said with a smile. He smiled back at her, she looked happier than a kid on Christmas morning.
"Hello, to you, too…you know, you're covered in soot," he said with a chuckle as he brushed some off of her cheek. She looked down at herself and laughed.
"Well, I guess I am. I'll just-" she cut off as the soot vanished from her, and she turned back to him to see him smirking.
"Saved you the trouble," he said, still smirking. She rolled her eyes and turned back to her parents who had been watching the exchange with smiles.
"Et qui est cet homme charmant, Hermione ?" asked her mother with a smile.
"C'est mon mari, Severus. C'est de lui dont je vous ai parlé." she replied. Severus nodded to them, knowing only that she had said his name, and hoping that it wasn't something bad. But, Hermione's mother took this to mean that he must have at least understood some of what they had said.
"Ah ! Et parle-t-il français aussi ? Ou devrai-je parler anglais ?" she asked Hermione. Hermione shook her head.
"Mises à part quelques mots de base, non. Il ne comprend pas ce que nous disons en ce moment." she said with a soft laugh as Severus regarded her strangely.
"She just wanted to know if you spoke French so that she would know if she should speak it or English," Hermione explained. He nodded an 'alright' to his wife. Finally, the other couple spoke.
"Hello, Severus. I'm Hermione's mother. You can just call me Ameila," said Mrs. Granger, extending her hand, which Severus took, kissing the back of it making Hermione roll her eyes.
"And I'm her father, Dan," Mr. Granger said and the two men shook hands. Just then, Hermione spotted a ball of orange fur curled up in a chair and her eyes lit up.
"Crookshanks!" she exclaimed as she rushed over and pulled the large cat up into her arms. "Hey buddy, did you miss me?" she said to the creature, a smile on her face.
"Oh his two favorite things too do around here are cause chaos everywhere and sleep. I know you sent him here to help keep us company but…he causes more trouble than anything," said Dan as he looked over at his daughter and her old cat.
"Aw, old Crooks' wouldn't do anything like that, would ya boy?" she said, cuddling her cat.
"I think it's because the poor thing just feels out of place without you. Maybe he just needs to be with you?" Ameila said with a smile, hoping that Severus and her daughter would get the hint.
"Well…If you don't mind…and if Severus doesn't mind…I'd be happy to have my little fluff ball back," Hermione said with a smile as she looked pleadingly at Severus.
…He caved. He just couldn't say no to her when she looked that cute, so happy. "Of course," he said with a sigh and Hermione jumped up, setting Crookshanks down and ran over to him and latched her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, finally letting go, smiling bigger than he had ever seen her before.
Ameila laughed behind them. "Why don't you two go unpack? All of your things are in the guest room," she said. And Hermione nodded, scooping up her familiar and skipping out of the room, while Severus just shook her head and followed her, a little less enthusiastically.
"Hermione ! Qu'il est bon de te revoir, ma chérie !" - "Hermione! It's so good to see you my dear!"
"Maman ! Papa !, vous m'avez tellement manqué." - "Mum! Dad! Gosh, I've missed you so much."
"Et qui est cet homme charmant, Hermione ?" – "And who is this dashing man, Hermione?"
"C'est mon mari, Severus. C'est de lui dont je vous ai parlé." - "This is my husband, Severus. He's the one I told you about."
"Ah ! Et parle-t-il français aussi ? Ou devrai-je parler anglais ?" - "Ah! And does he speak French as well? Or will I have to speak English?"
"Mises à part quelques mots de base, non. Il ne comprend pas ce que nous disons en ce moment." – "Other than a few common phases, no. He can't tell a thing of what we'r e saying right now."
I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Again, thank you Mandise, and all of my readers who finally got me to stop being lazy and stubborn and change the French, at least in this chapter.
~Lilly Rae~