DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
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Chapter 48:
September 1, 1995
(eighteen days ago)
"Mummy?"
Hermione was awoken by Leo's voice and gentle touches.
She frowned and sat up. Leo had never walked to her and Sev's room early in the morning. Good thing, she and Sev were decent in their pyjamas.
"What's the matter, honey?" she asked the boy who sat on the edge of the bed, beside her.
Leo had a sad look on his face and crawled to hug her. "You're leaving today. I'm going to miss you, Mummy."
"Oh, I will miss you, too!" she replied emotionally, hearing and seeing his sadness. She hugged him back and rested her chin on Leo's head and nuzzled his hair.
Severus woke up and sat up, then, patted Leo's back. "We'll try to see you on weekends, son," he assured him.
Hermione gave Sev a questioning look.
"I can go home on Saturday and Sunday nights for you, son, and Mummy can visit you during Hogsmeade weekends," he said.
Hermione smiled at her beau and nodded. "That's right, honey. Grandma Eileen, Nana Rose, and Grandpa Bob will be here for you. Though, it'll be you and Grandma Eileen most of the time... and Crookshanks! I will leave him here with you," she told the boy who was still hugging her.
Leo looked up to her with glassy eyes. "Do you really have to go, Mummy? To Hogwarts? You're not a teacher. You work at St. Mungo's Hospital..."
"Dada teaches at Hogwarts, and I have to help him and Mr Dumbledore in protecting the students from the bad guys so that they won't invade our home again, and we will no longer have to sleep in a cave," she explained patiently and emotionally. "Mummy will help Dada so that you will be safe from the bad guys, and the other kids, too."
Leo sniffed and nodded.
"And we'll be here for Christmas," she tried to cheer him up. She looked up at the wall clock. It was just five in the morning. Her stuff was ready. She and Sev would be Apparating to King's Cross before eleven o'clock, so she still had a lot of time.
"Let's go downstairs? Do you want to fly with Dada? I'll watch you two."
Leo perked up and nodded. He turned to Severus excitedly. "Come on, Dada! Let's go flying!"
Severus told Leo to go and change from his pyjamas. When their son left the room, Sev kissed her and nuzzled her neck. "Seeing you comforting him is one of my favourite moments. I love you today, and I will love you every day, my dear."
Hermione cupped his face so that they could look at each other in the eyes. "Thank you for loving me. Always."
Sev grinned and pecked her lips once more. "Always."
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September 19, 1995
(the present)
"Thank you for the presents, Gin, Harry, and Ron," she smiled at her friends when Pig and Hedwig dropped parcels in front of her at the Gryffindor table during breakfast.
She had not opened the presents, yet, but she'd checked the greeting cards.
Ginny was sitting beside her and Harry was on her other side. Ron sat across them.
"Anything for my best friend," grinned Ginny.
Ron frowned. "Are you ever going to explain, Hermione why Ginny's suddenly declaring you're her best friend and always sitting beside you during mealtimes - she even kicked me out of your side a few times?"
"Well, we've shared a room for two summers, and you know, we're witches. There are things I can't tell you and Harry and I'm more comfortable sharing them with Ginny," she replied with a smile. Ron glared at his sister. "Oh, come on, Ron! After all, you're Harry's best mate."
"Stop acting like a jealous prat, Ronald," laughed Ginny and she turned to her. "Hey, why don't we skip dinner? I'll have Fred and George nick food from the kitchens and we can party somewhere."
"Sorry, Gin," she said with a hesitant smile. "I have detention with Professor Snape tonight."
"Detention? But it's your birthday..." And she trailed off, probably realizing something.
"I swear, Hermione, I saw him point his wand to your cauldron, causing it to explode!" Harry insisted.
She turned to Harry. "It exploded because I added the wrong ingredient, Harry."
"But you're the best at Potions!" he said stubbornly. "Maybe Snape - "
"Professor Snape - "
"- Just wanted to ruin both your birthday and potion."
She and Ginny exchanged knowing looks.
"Don't be absurd, Harry. Professor Snape detests whenever there's an explosion in the room," said Ginny. "And he's not that bad."
"What do you mean 'he is not that bad'?" asked Ron.
"Remember Luna Lovegood, Harry? Do you realize she's also in Professor Snape's class? She says weird things, right? But can you believe that Professor Snape's tolerant with her? He's patient and never snaps at her."
Harry still did not look convinced and in Hermione's opinion, it would be hard to do so. She placed a hand on his shoulder and ruffled his hair. "I'll be fine, don't worry," she assured him.
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That night, after dinner, still wearing her school uniform and in her teenage body, Hermione knocked on the Potions classroom. She did not hear Severus's reply, but the door opened, and once she was inside, it closed. Severus was behind the teacher's desk, still in his full teaching robes, waving his wand at the door.
She leisurely walked in the aisle, towards the teacher's desk. Sev moved around the desk to meet her and tucked his wand on his holster. He placed his hands on her waist. "Happy birthday, my dear." He kissed her nose.
"You exploded my cauldron just for this?" she questioned with a hint of a smile.
"I didn't," he said. "I was about to stop Neville, who was behind you, from adding the wrong ingredient when you did the same thing. What do you say for yourself, Miss Granger?"
She laughed and snaked her arms around his neck. "Guilty as charged. Can you believe I'm trying to get my professor's attention?" She kissed his lips lightly. "What do you need me for?"
"Oh, there are a lot of things I require from you, believe me," he purred against her ear.
She closed her eyes and swallowed. She could feel the wetness between her legs, but it would not do anything good for the impending war if they gave in to their desires in a classroom. She held his face so that they could look into each other's eyes. "I miss you, too," she said cheekily.
Severus laughed. "I thought you might want to help me brew Lupin's wolfsbane potion," he offered, tucking a curl behind her ear.
"Brilliant," she grinned.
He held her hand and led her to his office, just next to his classroom, but they did not use the door in the corridor. Instead, he revealed a door next to the potions supplies cupboard using his wand.
"I don't remember being in your office before," she said.
"Only Potter and Weasley have been into my office from your year," he said conversationally.
"Really? How? What did they do?" she asked.
They've entered his office. There were huge shelves - some contained books and the others contained jars with potions and ingredients. "Your second year, when they arrived using the flying car." He opened the door to the right and revealed a Potions laboratory.
"Is this where you brew hospital supplies?" she asked.
"No, Miss Granger. I brew in Moaning Myrtle's lavatory," he teased.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It doesn't suit you, Professor Snape." She walked around to inspect the shelves and cauldrons. When he didn't say anything, she turned to look at him.
Sev was just standing there, near a work desk, looking at her. She knew that look. He was hesitating to tell her something.
"Out with it, Sev," she blurted, approaching him again.
He placed his hands on her waist to sit her on the desk and he stood in front of her. He did not remove his hands on her. "Lucius wants out."
She frowned. "Out of the circle?"
He nodded.
"What changed his mind?" she asked curiously.
"Narcissa had been threatening to leave him since the Dark Mark became more visible again, last year."
"Many people would find it hard to believe that Lucius Malfoy will turn away from the Dark Lord because of love." It was a pure statement. There was no malice in her tone.
"Lucius and Narcissa's history is not so different from ours."
She nodded. "I know. So, did Lucius meet up with you?"
Sev nodded. "He sought my advice."
"You blew up your cover?" she asked outrageously.
Severus did not look offended at all despite her tone. Instead, he pinched her nose. "No, silly. Lucius confides to me when times are difficult."
"That's why he named you Draco's godfather," she remembered. "And then? Tell me about the talk."
"Well, he was pissed. I mean, drunk, one night. We went drinking after a quick meeting with the Dark Lord. He told me about Narcissa, wanting to leave him. He was sure Draco would pick his mother. Despite the resemblance and similarities they have, Lucius knows Draco is closer to his mother and would definitely hate him if he hurts Narcissa. So, he asked for my advice. I told him that while it's a sin to even think of turning away from the Dark Lord, he should pick his family. Narcissa is the love of his life, and he loves Draco so much."
She snorted. "So much that he became a spoiled brat."
"I did not tell him anything else other than prioritizing his family. So, he went to Dumbledore without my knowledge. See, I did not blow up my cover," he smirked at her.
"Does he know about your real status?"
Severus shook his head. "No. Albus thinks it's better if Lucius doesn't know, just like the rest of the Order."
She nodded affectionately, brushing away his hair that had fallen on his face. "Good. It would be easier to get the Hufflepuff Cup in the Lestrange vault with the Malfoys on our side."
"Albus is working on the other items. He just can't leave the castle because of the Ministry puppet, as you're calling your new Defence professor. Furthermore, he doesn't want to entrust the search for those items to anyone else... But he's getting help from Mad-Eye."
She smiled widely. "More action from Dumbledore, then. I like that."
"Indeed," he smirked. "Thanks to our son and your brilliant mind."
"It was the other Hermione."
"Thanks to her, Albus is not demanding too much from me. We only have to plot what I would tell the Dark Lord when he asks for updates. The information I give him has to be specific. Otherwise, he'd punish me. And since our boy came, I've never been punished - except for the minor Crucio when Wormtail was captured. I have more time to get laid," he added cheekily.
"I like that better." She yanked him and kissed him senseless.
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After two hours of brewing and talking about the Order's plans, Hermione and Severus snuggled in an armchair by the fireplace in his bedroom. She sat on his lap but not before removing her jumper and necktie. She could not change back to her older appearance because it will take time, so the only thing she could do for Sev was to get rid of the things that represented a student. Sev, on the other hand, removed his teaching robes and was now wearing a white button-down shirt and black trousers. They were barefooted to feel more 'at home'.
He handed her a present - a green box with a ribbon on top. She accepted the gift appreciatively. When she opened it, there were two things inside: a mirror and a gold locket with a white stone for a pendant.
"It's beautiful," she said with the locket in her hand and turned to Sev to kiss him. "Thank you."
"I can't give you something more expensive because it will raise suspicions. You can tell people when they ask that it's from your parents."
She gave him a teasing look. "Not from a secret boyfriend?"
He smacked her thigh and laughed. "It has the Protean Charm so that we can communicate. It works like the D.A. coins you'll have in the future."
"And the mirror?"
"Leo," he replied. "Black... I mean, Sirius helped me to create mirrors for you and Leo so that you can see each other."
Hermione threw her arms around him. "Thank you, love." It was not just for the mirror, but him, reaching out to Sirius. She was aware how much Sev loved her, but when he reached out to the people she cared for like Sirius and Remus, she felt loved even more.
"I miss my baby. Let's check if he's awake," she said.
"Just whisper his name. The nickname will do."
She held the mirror. "Leo," she called.
And then, Leo's face appeared. "Mummy! Happy birthday!"
It was the best birthday so far for Hermione Puckle (or Granger). She had the man in her life by her side, and in front of her was the boy she adored most in the world, her son. Hers and Severus's.
Before leaving Sev's office that night, Hermione gave him a lingering kiss to express her appreciation - for his love, and everything.
When she went to bed that night, she had the same dream when she was at Grimmauld Place: Professor Severus Snape was carrying a small boy in his arm and walking hand-in-hand with a witch - not faceless this time. She was the witch.
