A/N: I still don't own anything you recognize.
Good Monday Morning to all my readers and reviewers!
Breakfast ended with Draco kissing Lily good-bye.
"I'll be back later if you need me, but I have a feeling I'll just end up getting in the way of your research," he stated. She nodded already looking forward to reading about curse creation. She also wanted to review a lot of things from past years. She wondered if Hermione had happened to keep her old charms books, or if Rose had left hers here. Either way, she was certain they would be in the library with everything else.
"Thank you, Draco. You're right. I'm really excited about the idea of helping Professor Flitwick next year. I do want to get a head start on going through the older texts and jotting down some notes. This way if I have any questions, I can get things sorted before school actually starts. Besides, where else would have access to this many books, other than Hogwarts of course?" Draco laughed. Lily was going to make a great professor, he was certain of that. He gave a quick kiss before flooing straight to Hogwarts.
Lily made good on her promise and jotted a quick letter to Professor McGonagall, sending it with Severus' owl. Nim still hadn't shown up. Once that was done, she grabbed the book and articles that had been set aside for her and curled up in the library. She wanted to be able to look up anything she didn't understand immediately. She was still there when Hermione poked her head in around noon.
"Lily, lunch." Lily looked up and Hermione bit back a laugh. Lily had ink smeared across her face.
"But...I just got started..."
"You've been here nearly four hours, Lily. I did promise your mum I would look after you. Now, lunch." Lily sighed and put down here book and parchment. She stretched and followed Hermione out of the library.
"Go clean up, Lily. You've got ink on your nose. There's a clear bottle in the medicine cabinet, it's marked 'ink removal'. Severus invented it for me." Lily nodded. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and couldn't help laughing at the ink across her face. She found the bottle Hermione had described and it immediately took the ink right off. It didn't even have a scent to it. She smiled at her now ink free reflection thinking about how Draco had kissed her before he'd gone back to school. She hoped Professor McGonagall would let her come back early. The idea of her and Draco being in the same place again... She was still smiling as she entered the dining room. Hermione was already seated.
"Severus is working in his lab and won't be joining us."
"How come he gets to keep working and I have to eat?"
"Because he's in the middle of a potion that will explode if he leaves it. Your, or should I say my books, won't explode if left unattended."
"Are you sure?"
Hermione shook her head.
"I have yet to see a book in my library explode. This isn't the restricted section of the Hogwarts Library."
Lily laughed. She'd seen some of the books in the restricted section and had no doubt there was at least one exploding book there.
"Has Professor McGonagall written back yet?" Lily asked taking a bite of her chicken salad sandwich.
"Not yet, I'm sure she'll write back before tonight."
"I hope so. So, um, is there really a secret passage between the potions' office and Draco's chambers?" Hermione laughed.
"I'm not telling you, Lily. If there is, that's for Draco to show you... although, there is a secret passage to the door of his chambers from behind the statue of Sir Unrono the Unstoppable. I used that one a fair amount. He'll have to let you in if he wants to, but it at least you can get down there without being spotted by annoying prefects and teachers."
"What are you two witches talking about?"
"Secret passages and where they lead," Lily answered as Severus slid into his seat. He grabbed a sandwich.
"Hermione."
"I didn't tell her about any of the direct ones, Severus. Just the one that leads to the door. She'll find it anyway knowing her and Harry's map." Lily smirked thinking about the fact James had given her the map for her birthday. He'd said something about her being an adult and might as well know everything.
"Now she has it?"
"Maybe," Lily commented taking a bite of carrot. "I can neither confirm nor deny the whereabouts of Dad's map." Hermione laughed. Severus only shook his head.
"What have you been up today, Lily?"
"Research, Uncle Severus. I've looked at the article you gave me, and crossed referenced it with a few things. I think once I get back to Hogwarts, I'm going to try and see if I can create a charm before my N.E. , I think it would get me an O for sure. Also, I've got a couple questions about some of the theory that I thought you could help me with?"
"After lunch, sure. I don't need to brew anything else immediately and it's always interesting watching a bright student actually fulfill their potential."
"Why did you give up teaching then?"
"Because for every bright student there were about twenty-one dunderheads who couldn't find their way out of a paper sack with a map glued to their hands," he stated. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You quit teaching because it was high time you retired. You also said something about refusing to teach our daughter."
"There were multiple reasons," Severus corrected. Hermione cast Severus a quick glance, that Lily didn't notice. Lily nodded, thinking about her own future. The thought that maybe one day, she'd have to teach her nieces or nephews had never occurred to her. She smiled thinking about Rose and Albus having kids. Suddenly her thoughts turned to what her and Draco's children might look like. Would they have his light hair, or her fiery locks? Her hazel eyes or his steely grey ones.
"Lily, if you're finished, would you help me carry the dishes to the kitchen?" Hermione asked pulling Lily from her daydreams.
"Right, sorry," Lily said grabbing some of the plates. Hermione smiled watching her niece.
"What were you thinking about so intently?" she asked once they were out of Severus' hearing. "Draco?"
"In a way," Lily admitted. "I was thinking that if Draco and I... ever have kids, what they would look like. I mean, what if one day I'm teaching Albus and Rose's kids? What if... one day, I've got my own. Would I be able to be impartial to them? Would Draco?"
"That's hopefully a decent way off, Lily. Well, at least eleven years if Rose and Albus are expecting. I haven't heard anything."
Lily nodded. Hermione was right. There was no point in getting all worried about something that wouldn't come to pass for at least eleven years. She needed to focus on the here and now.