No time to talk! I've had the audacity to leave you with a cliffhanger and then disappear for months, so let's get right into it.
Enjoy!
Chapter 8- The Dramatic Entrances.
"Alright, I'll edit those and review them with you later today," Johnny said as he stood from his chair, sorting the papers in his hands.
"Just make sure you finish that before I have to go home," She said, giving him a pointed look," I'm not working overtime for your sake."
She was only giving him a hard time, and he knew that, but she never dropped the act.
"Oh! Look at you making conditions," he chuckled," being a tough girl and all, bravo Hermione"
Hermione glared at him, this man never takes anything seriously, does he?
"They are not conditions, Johnny," she said, still giving him a serious look "It's common sense not to make my life harder just for helping you"
"Is it my fault that I'm so lovable you're willing to do just that?" He said dramatically and made a move with his head that was clearly similar to flipping his hair if he had a long one. but he didn't.
Hermione just stared at him dumbfoundedly.
"You're always like that, aren't you?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Just, you're always jovial... happy, without a care in the world"
There was a pause, Johnny's smile faltered a bit as he looked at her, but it was still there.
"I do care, Hermione," he said, with a surprisingly truthful tune " but there is no point in worrying about every little detail, is there?"
Every little detail.
She's lost count of how many of these little details have changed in her life.
Apparently, her whole life was built upon them.
She shook her head slowly, "I suppose you're right."
"Of course I'm right, I'm always right," he said with a blinding smile, his honest moment gone and forgotten," Oh sorry, isn't that your line?" he joked.
Hermione gave him another mock glare.
"See, Hermione, you could use some of my joviality," he snorted, and then turned around, making his way to the door "I can lend you some, for helping me and all,"
"Close the door on your way out," Hermione said rolling her eyes.
Johnny nodded and opened the door "Yes, Ma'am."
He was about to walk out but then he stopped and turned to her " You know, I truly appreciate your help, Hermione, Marcus would have my head If I can't finish this by Sunday," he said, pointing at the papers.
Hermione gave him a smile, it wasn't the first time someone sought out her help at work, and Hermione always gave a hand, as long as she didn't feel like she was being used. After all, helping them would in conclusion enhance the work of the department and she truly cared about that.
It was just in her nature -helping people-, even in school, she's always been the person everyone depended on. And it felt good to have some of that again.
Besides, in all honesty, Johnny never even gave her a chance to refuse. Ever since he started working in the department, he's been forcing his joyful presence upon everyone, even those who never showed up to work with a smile and treated their job as an obstacle between them and their happiness, no one was spared.
His happy spirit was somewhat contagious, and everyone just accepted him, giving him their attention.
On the other hand, he did his job well, with the passion and hard work it deserves, which instantly put him in Hermione's good books.
She nodded at him and was about to tell him that it wasn't a problem, but he spoke again.
"Excuse me, sir."
Hermione raised her eyebrows and lifted her head to see who Johnny was talking to. She could see that someone was on the other side of the door but Johnny was blocking her view of that person.
"Are you quite finished?" said the other person, and Hermione instantly recognized the voice.
" Yes, I am, I'm sorry, did you have an appointment?" Johnny asked dumbly.
"I was unaware that you were her secretary" Severus growled.
" Oh! I'm not, I just hope I didn't keep you waiting!" Johnny explained, clearly nervous.
Hermione felt bad for him, but she didn't attempt to come to his rescue, Severus's sudden appearance froze her in her seat.
Johnny stepped aside, letting Severus in.
She watched him as he strode in, his head held high and his shoulders back, his robes billowing behind him, his mere presence demanding authority.
Always with the dramatic entrances, Severus. She remembered herself telling him.
His eyes found her then, and Hermione had the sudden feeling that she's done something wrong. He stared at her with so much intensity that she was sure there was a hole in her forehead.
But she didn't look away or cower under his gaze, as people with any sort of self-preservation instinct would, instead, she looked at him with just as much power, challenging him.
He kept looking at her for a while, the only sound was the indistinct noise from the chatter outside.
Until, Johnny cleared his throat, apparently distraught at being stuck in such a staring match.
"Uhh, alright there, Hermione?"
At that, Hermione's gaze left Severus and turned kindly to Johnny.
"Yes, Johnny, this is —"
"Severus Snape," Severus said in a voice one would use to threaten someone.
"Oh! as in Professor Snape? of course, how silly of me," he looked at Hermione, " so this would be your husband?"
Severus and Hermione shared a look at that, and both chose not to comment.
Hermione was quite surprised that Johnny knew that Severus was a professor, let alone that he was her husband.
But she supposed that Severus's name preceded him, the man had quite the reputation. As for the other information, she was reminded of Severus's explanation on numerous occasions,
'The surname gives us away, witch.'
" I hope I didn't interrupt you," Severus said, clearly not meaning it.
"Not at all, Professor, as I said, I was just leaving," Johnny said quickly, clearly reassured after discovering Severus's identity.
Hermione was both amused and annoyed that he'd choose to stay long enough to make sure he left her with a safe company.
She's a capable woman, and he's not her protector. But still, she couldn't hold it against him.
"I'll come back with the files later, Hermione," Johnny said, giving her a smile " Nice to meet you, Professor," he said cheerfully at Severus, who only blinked in response, and then left the room.
"Charming," Severus grunted, as soon as the door was closed.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at the comment, for every expression on Severus's face showed that the encounter was indeed, far from charming.
Hermione shook her head disbelievingly.
"Why are you here?" She asked him briskly.
And by 'here', she meant two things.
She really didn't expect him here at the ministry, she knew how he hated the place, he'd never come without a reason, especially not in the first week of the semester, where she knew his schedule would be loaded.
But she also wanted to know why he was here, in her office, standing before her as if he owned the place, making her feel uncomfortable and unsure while he's at it.
Severus then approached and stood in front of the desk, ignoring the chairs.
"I've had some matters to take care of, papers to get signed," she gave him a curious look, so he explained, "apparently living in Spinner's end isn't enough for the asinine fools to register it as a place where magic is expected."
Right, Spinner's end.
The place they lived the first three years of their marriage in.
Hermione could remember multiple discussions they had over the years on what they could do with the place, since Severus had no fond memories of his old home, besides the ones they made together, he had no problem selling it or transforming it into an apothecary, but each time they discussed it, they'd get to the same decision;' we'll see what happens in the future'.
Little did they know what the future holds.
"It was registered as a magical property ten years ago, I don't understand how it can stop being one, " she asked, genuinely curious.
While she did work at the law enforcement department, magical properties weren't her speciality. However, She did know some of the workers that specialise in that, and she had to admit they weren't exactly the sharpest pencils in the drawer.
"Well since it was abandoned, they thought it was completely justified to 'unregister' it without informing me," Severus explained, his disdain of their logic clear in his tone.
As expected, Hermione got immediately riled up as she ought to be when encountered with slackness, her uncomfortable feelings at having him stand in front of her completely forgotten.
"In other words, They didn't inform you you'd be reported if you used magic in a place you registered as magical," she said disbelievingly.
"And that I'd have to pay for such misdemeanour," he said sarcastically.
"That's utter nonsense," she said, she looked at him " you don't have to pay," she said and gave him a look that said she'd personally get involved if they made him do so.
Severus merely raised an eyebrow, and Hermione realized she was talking to Severus Snape.
"Of course you didn't" she muttered.
Hermione sighed " If anyone should pay, it's people who don't do their job properly." she shook her head " I can't believe I have to work with such incompetent people."
"I'll continue to tell you, you're the best thing that happened to this department, those ungrateful fools should thank Merlin you chose to stay," he said without thinking.
Hermione looked at him, his slipped compliment seeming to wake her out of her agitated state, he noticed it too, but stayed quiet, probably unsure what to say next. "Well, that shouldn't really be a problem anymore since you're living at Hogwarts now ", she said, changing the subject.
She could still remember the day when he told her that he'd be staying at Hogwarts, choosing to focus more on his school duties, and preferring to work at the school's lab instead of the recently-expanded-but-still-small lab at his house.
He said it's more convenient that way, but Hermione understood his real reasoning.
He doesn't want to go home to an empty house, with no one there to welcome him. Why take that extra step, when it'd only make him feel miserable.
Hermione found it hard to sleep that day, thinking about him and then admonishing herself for doing so only to start thinking about him again.
She couldn't deny him when he asked to come to their house on a Monday morning, to say goodbye to the children before finally moving to Hogwarts.
He told her that he won't be able to have them each weekend at the school, that he'd instead start taking Arya out on random days when they're both free, and as for Theodore, he'd be seeing him at Hogwarts anyway and he'd ask him to join them if he's free too.
But still, he wouldn't be seeing Arya frequently, which only saddened the little girl.
The hug Hermione saw them share that day wrenched her heart.
"Correct," he said, bringing her back to reality, " but since I recently received a report for using magic in a muggle living area and had to get here to give my "reasoning", I figured I should get this over with to avoid future discomfort."
Hermione nodded at that, neither her nor Severus liked to postpone things, better strike the iron while it's still hot.
but then, why is he here?
"That doesn't explain why you came to see me, are you hoping I'd rush the paperwork?"
"Actually, " Severus cleared his throat "I'm not in a rush for these papers per se, for, as you said, I'm currently living at Hogwarts," he extracted some formal papers from his robe and put them on her desk, " I've received these the other day and they require your sign too."
Hermione picked the papers and scanned them " They have another problem with Theo's age? "
"On the contrary, this is a formal paper, among others, that parents have to sign when their child acquire a wand and is rolled in a magic school, Hogwarts have to make sure parents are aware they're not allowed to use magic at home without supervision. Since Theodore lives at two different houses we're both required to sign it."
"I don't remember having to sign this before," she said absentmindedly.
"Well, Theo is our firstborn, you've never had to sign forms before. "
"I meant at my years," she said quickly.
That famous eyebrow was raised again, Hermione gave him a mean look, this man never changes. " Wipe that look off your face, Severus, you know what I meant"
" That you used to sign formal papers instead of your parents? Can't say I had a clue."
" My parents wouldn't let me go back to school had they known what I was up to there"
"I see," Hermione glared at him, Severus continued uninterrupted " This is part of the new school rules that originated after the war, the Board thought it is best to make sure parents know what is expected of their children ."
"Well, at least they're trying to do their job," Hermione said as she extracted a quill from the quills container.
"By making mine more difficult", Severus groaned.
"How's Theo doing? He's sent letters but he can only tell me so much, is he happy?"
"He sent you letters?" Severus asked.
"Of course, Are you surprised?"
Severus was glad Theo was contacting his mother and reassuring her, Lord knows Hermione would worry had he not done so, but he couldn't help that he was a little disappointed Theo found the time to write his mother and yet no time to seek him out when he was right there in the school. He wondered if he'd even receive a letter from his son had he not be teaching at Hogwarts.
"Last I heard he had some trouble finding the Owlery." Severus foolishly explained.
Theo had no trouble finding the Owlery, he just didn't know where it was. which was logical considering it was the first day, and you haven't spoken to your son since that day, you pathetic fool, his traitorous mind supplied.
"Well he sure found it now," Hermione said unaware of the wizard's inner thoughts, still reading the form.
She didn't ask him again, so he supposed he successfully evaded the question.
He stood there waiting for her to finish, but with nothing to occupy himself with, his traitorous mind found the opportunity to provide more disturbing thoughts.
He started raising his Occlumency shields, ready to bury these thoughts and be done with them. But for some unknown reason, it wasn't working.
They were still there -his shields- he could still feel them in his mind as he did almost his whole life, but they were unresponsive.
It was as if something mentally heavy was above them. Something that was preventing them from being raised, but he couldn't figure out what that was.
He closed his eyes, focusing on his mind, thoughts, memories, ideas.
His mind was still ordered as it always was, as any accomplished Occlumens's mind should be, apart from the occasional uncontrolled thoughts that would sweep to the fore-front of his mind and he'd squash it with his shields when necessary.
But his shields were unresponsive.
And Severus, for the life of him, couldn't figure out why.
Had he overused them?
Certainly not, that was ridiculous, if anything he'd stopped using them as frequently as he did.
During the war, there wasn't a day that those shields weren't raised, and back then, he had many heavy thoughts that required utmost focus, and they still served him well.
Besides, even if they were overused, they would have to gradually start weakening, not stop suddenly.
Severus thought back of recent events that required him to use his shields, did he feel them weakening back then and just disregarded it?
Did he not notice it?
Hermione made a sound with the paper, which made him open his eyes to look at her.
She was looking at him, with a question in her eyes, but she was silent.
He shook his head, cleared his throat and finally chose to sit down.
He was highly aware of a headache starting.
When she continued to stare at him, Severus chose to distract her and himself from asking questions.
And what better distraction than the joy of his life.
"How's Arya?"
Hermione immediately had a smile on her face, happy to think of her daughter.
"She's doing well, excited about her new school," she said adoringly.
"Is she?" Severus couldn't help but be amused at the thought, he was sure he'd hear all about it when he finally sees her again.
Which he was planning to do as soon as possible, school be damned.
Hermione nodded, " I'm afraid she's shaping up to be just like me," she chuckled.
"Incessant questions?"
She glared at him " She asks the normal amount of questions," she deadpanned, the 'just like me' left unsaid, " but apparently, she's found, two friends that will most likely set her up to no good, I can see troubles coming her way," she chuckled.
Severus frowned, "Arya wouldn't let anyone lead her astray, she knows her boundaries," he said.
"Keep convincing yourself that she's an angel and does nothing wrong," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"She never breaks the rules"
"That's because you bend the rules according to her will," she shook her head, that wasn't the first time she's lectured him about that, "she's got you wrapped up around her little finger, and she knows how to use that."
Severus, for his part, wasn't even disturbed, if he's gonna be out-Slytherined by anyone, he was happy to let it be his own daughter.
Actually, he'd most likely use this opportunity to remind Hermione that his daughter is one-hundred per cent a Slytherin, had the circumstances were different, but he chose to focus on another part now.
"Those friends that she hangs out with, you know them?"
Hermione nodded, " a boy"
Severus frowned.
"And a girl, both her age, I've met with their parents on the first day actually —"
"—Who's that boy?" he asked flatly.
"Oh, he's most likely a wizard as well, I could swear his mom knew me from somewhere"
Severus contemplated that, it was highly unlikely that two wizard children would go to the same muggle school, especially since most parents preferred to send their children to a magical school. It's what made his friendship with Lily special.
Still, it wasn't impossible, and he was more disturbed at the fact that this 'boy' would most likely still be an acquaintance of his daughter until they come of age.
Unless Severus did something about it.
Scare the boy off. Oh, how he'd like to do that.
But he'll have to get more information from his daughter first and wait until they are at least a little older to act on his instinct.
He doesn't want to ruin her newfound innocent friendships after all- as long as they're innocent.
Severus contemplated that as he waited for Hermione to finish reading through papers - never one to sign without reading- and finally adding her sign.
Taking that as his cue, he extended his hand for the papers but she shook her head and held them back.
"I'll make a copy"
"A copy?"
"Yes, a copy for me to keep. Do you want one ?"
"Whatever for? These are mere school formal papers, it's not a contract that would bind us to some unpleasant fate," he said dramatically.
"That's a stretch considering the unpleasant fates I was stuck in at my time there"
"It was an ongoing war back then, that's different."
"Look, they made promises that the children being safe at the school is the school's responsibility, and I sure intend to hold them to that "
"Hermione, are you serious? " Severus rolled his eyes.
Hermione completely ignored him and extracted her wand from her pocket.
"It's a school, of course, they wouldn't deny what's in this form, even if you don't have a copy" Severus continued.
"Do you want one?"
"This such a stupid idea," he countered.
"Do you want a copy or not?"
"Yes, I want a damn copy." He growled.
Hermione merely smiled and made two copies, only for two red sparks to float above the papers and then fade away.
Severus looked at them wide-eyed and then glared at Hermione.
"That's just a notification sign, to notify them it's been copied "
"I know what it was" he growled.
"I didn't expect them to think of that, but oh well, that proves that what I did was expected."
Severus groaned and waited for the paper to be handed, along with his copy.
This woman never changes.
He'd most likely have to explain to Minerva why Theodore's papers were copied now.
When Hermione finished, she immediately grabbed her notebook and used the fancy feather quill that was on her desk to write something, and before she could close it, she seemed to notice a note she wrote earlier, and immediately her gaze found him.
Severus raised an eyebrow and when she didn't say anything he had half the mind to read what's written in there.
Hermione looked as if she was debating whether she should say what's on her mind or not. She slowly closed the book, and handed him the papers.
Severus waited to see if she'd say anything, he was certain the note she's just read had to do with him.
"I've been meaning to owl you today actually," she finally started.
"And why is that?"
"The meeting with our lawyers," she muttered.
"Yes, of course," said Severus" I'm sorry I couldn't find the time earlier, work seems to get exceedingly crowded at the beginning of the school year." he said as if she didn't know that about his job, "and they're relying on me much more this year," he added, leaving the obvious reason for that unsaid.
Hermione nodded," It's alright, I'm the reason the meeting got postponed in the first place"
"For a very justified reason," Severus said.
Hermione nodded again, " Yes, well, tell me when it's convenient for you, and I'll try to empty my schedule."
"You'll inform your lawyer?" Severus asked.
"Of course, how else is he going to know to be there ?"
"Actually, I—" Severus started but was interrupted when someone knocked on the door.
The door opened before Hermione got the chance to say enter, to reveal the most unpleasant face Severus has come to see in the short period of a day.
"Johnny?"
"Sorry for the interruption, just wanted to pop in and give you the papers you asked for. I'm leaving now so I had no other option but to interrupt."
Or not, thought Severus as he glared at the man who had the audacity to come in front of him and put the papers on Hermione's desk. He then spun around and immediately left the room.
The whole process took about half a minute, but his aftertaste still lasted in Severus's veins.
He continued to glare at the door long after it had been closed.
Hermione cleared her throat, not sensing or more likely choosing not to sense Severus's unpleasant mood.
"You were saying?" she said.
Severus returned her gaze.
What was he saying really?
He wanted to have a meeting with Hermione alone, a scheduled meeting where they would both have the time to really discuss what's coming, without the formality of having lawyers who tried to ensure their client's benefits.
So they could finally come to terms with what's coming, know what to expect.
But the interruption of the unpleasant 'Johnny', made Severus realize the farce of it all.
What his scheming, seemingly broken, mind tried to conceal, was that what he really wanted was to just talk to Hermione, under the guise of a formal meeting, before everything they once started come to an end.
He wanted to know how she feels about it all, ask her if she's certain it's the best thing to do, make sure it's what she really wanted.
They never really had this talk, preferring to let their lawyers send the message.
Whenever they meet, they'd just talk about the children, or whatever term on the documents one of them thought was unnecessary.
But they never talked about the divorce itself, the 'end' it represents.
She never really brought the subject up, not after making her decision, and Severus has done a good job so far of sticking to protocol.
So why is he trying to step out of it now?
Did their short somewhat normal conversation now make him forget his resolve? to not question her decision.
Because, of course, if he asked her how she feels, she might ask him the question back, and Severus could only wonder what he'd say.
Did he even want to tell her?
And what with his newfound problematic shields? what if he ends up pouring it all up, all his thoughts and feelings, unable to stop himself, which would only lead to her feeling sorry for him, manipulate her into having second thoughts.
When in reality, Hermione did what's right by her, and he wanted to respect that.
He had no right to make her doubt it, no matter how wounded he might feel, it was his own doing, after all.
Not to mention, if Severus was unable to control himself, he might reveal his dark thoughts which recently seemed to surprise even himself.
They've been getting increasingly frequent and alarmingly disturbing, and the Insomnia he's struggling with because of them is driving him crazy.
Dare he say, they were even worse than the ones he had during the war. But he didn't muster the courage to start comparing them, it'd only bring the old ones back.
Damn, he really has to get his shields fixed soon, their absence is already putting him in bad situations.
He shook his head and finally replied, "Nothing important, I'll owl you, later on, to decide on the meeting, as soon as I get a handle of my schedule" He said.
Hermione's face indicated that she was expecting something else, but she quickly nodded and busied herself with organizing the papers on her desk.
He finally stood up, and it was all he could do not to immediately sit down because of how disoriented he felt.
"I'll see you around," He said.
"Goodbye, Severus."
At that, he turned and left.
As he stepped out of the law enforcement department, Severus headed straight for the floo.
Intending to go straight back to Hogwarts to start his night patrolling, try to work out his shields while he's at it, and unleash his current unpleasant mood on whichever disgruntled student that interrupts his way.
But when the Ministry floos finally reached his vision, Severus felt that he was being watched.
He moved his gaze to the right, and sure enough, standing there, was the head Auror himself watching him.
Severus was unimpressed by the head Auror's subtlety, but he didn't expect much coming from a hardcore Gryffindor such as Harry Potter.
In another world, or more accurately another time, he'd have sneered at the man who was the pain of his existence in his earlier years, and moved on his way. But, regrettably, his relationship with the-boy-who-lived had drastically changed after the war.
They weren't exactly friends, Severus shuddered at the thought, but they were a bit more than civilized acquaintances too. What they had didn't exactly have a name, but in concise, Severus would trust this man with the safety of his family, but he'd never admit to it unless he was on his death bed... preferably drugged.
They would also occasionally have interesting conversations whenever they were stuck together at a family event, but, on the other hand, they could go months without either of them talking to the other and they'd hardly notice.
Of course, that was not the case with his wife. Hermione still considered Weasley and Potter to be her best friends, and Severus was bound to hear her talking about them on more the one occasion, so naturally, his regard of the two boys had to change and adapt.
After all, you can't exactly marry one-third of the golden trio without getting stuck with the rest.
Not to mention, Potter had witnessed personal details about Severus's past all those years ago. He couldn't simply ignore him after that.
Severus regarded the young man before him, who had grown far more than his father had, both mentally and physically.
He had become his own person, one who, Severus had to admit, deserved his respect. But he didn't need to know that.
He nodded at the man, unsure whether or not he should approach him. Severus didn't exactly know where he stood with him, he hadn't seen him since before he and Hermione split, and Potter never shared his thoughts with him on the matter, but he knew.
Severus knows Hermione wouldn't keep a thing like that from her best friend.
It felt strange that most of the relationships he developed during the years after the war, had to be questioned now, with the nearing of his marriage.
Severus didn't wait long to come to a decision for Potter made it for him as he approached him, he walked resolutely, with the confidence one would expect from a strong-willed Auror and stopped right in front of him.
"Professor," he greeted, not friendly, but not vindictively either.
"Potter," Severus returned, looking straight at the man, who after having his growth spurts came to almost the same height as Severus, almost.
Potter met his gaze, giving Severus the impression that he's challenging him to use Legilemency, which only served to remind Severus of his current predicament.
"Guarding floo networks?" Severus asked sarcastically.
As if a head Auror would do the minor job of a guard.
Potter, however, ignored the somewhat mean question and gave him a smirk.
"Hardly," he said ", I was on my way home"
"A bit early for a head Auror to go home, no?" Severus countered, " and here I thought we could rest knowing that our lives are safe with the Aurors working studiously to protect us."
Again, the snark bounced off of Potter like oil on water.
"In an ideal world, maybe, but I've come to notice that even Aurors have lives that don't revolve around their job," he said, "which brings me to the question, what brings you here, Professor? aren't you supposed to be at Hogwarts, doing your job?" He said, giving the last question a bit of emphasis, adding a smirk at the end.
"Life matters that don't revolve around my job"
"I see," he replied, and then he added with the subtlety of giant squid, "did you, by any chance, visit the law enforcement department? to see a certain someone."
Severus did finally sneer at the audacity of the man before him.
He had half the mind of smacking him over the head, for even bothering to stop by Severus, but he hardly thought it'd be wise to smack a head Auror in the ministry. This was his territory after all, and Severus wasn't exactly in the mood to be dragged into a trial for daring to attack a law enforcement officer.
He let his glare do what his hand - or wand- couldn't as he spoke his next words " I may occasionally dignify some of your various questions with an answer, Potter, but I fail to see how you came to the conclusion that I answer to you."
"You know why I'm asking, Professor, You know what I mean," Potter said stupidly.
"I never, nor will I ever, claim to hold knowledge over how your mind works, Potter. Believe me, if I did my life would have been so much easier."
"You don't have to make a lecture out of it, Professor," Potter huffed, "you could simply just say that you don't want to answer."
"What I want, " Severus said with finality," Is it to leave this wretched building. And I'd very much appreciate it if you could step aside and stop blocking my way."
Harry stared at him for a while, Severus could tell that he was debating whether or not to grant his wish.
Don't make me change my mind about not smacking you Potter.
Potter eventually reluctantly stepped aside, clearly annoyed that he couldn't get Severus to talk.
Severus gave one last nod accompanied by a glare and started moving forward.
"I just wanted to know if she's alright" The idiot then loudly said.
Stopping Severus in his tracks, he turned around and could tell that the brat at least had the subtlety of applying a muffling charm before he blabbed out.
"She's been acting distant lately," Potter explained, his face filled with emotions, "like a shadow of herself," and then he came closer.
Severus continued to look at him, but thoughts started flipping every which way in his brain. He tried not to show the concern on his face, but the lack of his Occlumency shields and the billions of thoughts that was already on his head was starting to have their effects on him.
He knew Hermione was like that with him, for obvious reasons, it was the first time, however, he finds she's like that with other people too.
"I know you care for her, Severus," he said, the use of his first name indicating the shift of the conversation, " And you must know that your situation right now, regardless of the reason, is hard on her."
Hard on her, yes.
Severus could tell that by her appearance alone.
To the normal person, Hermione would look the same determined, strong-willed woman she always was. But Severus could tell with one look alone that Hermione was not herself, starting with how thinner her face looked, how quieter her voice sounded and the lack of the usual spark in her eyes.
A shadow of herself indeed.
He looked back at Potter, only to see the same green eyes of his childhood staring back at him.
Potter had removed his glasses and was cleaning them with his robe, which only disgusted Severus.
Does he know he's a wizard?
Potter finally seemed satisfied and put his glasses back on, which relieved Severus.
He's been having a hard time keeping his emotions at bay as it is, those eyes from his childhood would only make things worse.
"Look, what I'm trying to say is," Potter continued, clearly frustrated with himself and of Severus's lack of response, " I know you think it's not my business, but she's my friend and—"
He stopped at the look Severus gave him, he didn't have time for his babbling.
"She's been having a tough time, work is the only place where she can be normal again, but if you visited her here now.."
He then looked at Severus straight in the eyes and stepped closer.
" Did your visit make it worse?" he finally asked.
Severus wanted to ignore the question and walk away, but something stopped him.
Perhaps it was Lily's eyes that he just saw, reminding him of his old friend, how he'd stop at nothing to protect her, just like Potter here.
He wasn't challenging Severus, being defiant or sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted.
He was just concerned, as he ought to be, about his friend.
"She is alright," Severus finally said, answering Potter's earlier question.
It wasn't exactly true, Hermione was far from alright. But she wasn't worse off after his visit, at least, not as far as he could tell.
Those three small words got the message across, because Potter finally nodded, satisfied.
"Have a nice evening, Professor," he said, stepping aside again.
Severus nodded again, "likewise, Potter."
And then he started walking, exiting the ministry with billowing robes.
First of all, let's take a moment to raise our wands to the legendary actor, Alan Rickman, the best Snape.
Yesterday marked the 5th Anniversary of his death, may his memory continue to live in our hearts.
On another note,
Hello! I'm back, who would've guessed?
I'm sorry it took me so long to update, life is getting a bit ( and by that I mean a lot) hectic around here.
I've got so much stuff to do, and as I said before I'm not exactly good at organizing my time.
But, hey, let's write this lazy author a review and give her the push she needs, eh? no? okay :3
I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story, it means so much to me and encourages me to keep going.
A special thanks to my friend Woofwoof who was one of the reasons I finally started writing this chapter
I'm not sure when I'll post the next chapter, but I promise that I'm working on it, hopefully, it won't take long.
Until next time ~ ت