Sirius Black stood unnaturally erect and suspiciously surveyed the idyllic countryside of Australia, where houses with flower beds and white fences lined up in even rows as if descended from advertising brochures.
To his right, Regulus stomped indecisively. Snape kept throwing irritated glances at the strange company and snorted: he and Hermione had no plan to mollycoddle Sirius and his long-lost brother today. His wife did not share his discontent: only a couple of dozen steps separated her and her parents, and deep down she understood that she was still not ready to face their condemnation.
"Black, would you be so kind as to take your brother and sod off from here for a couple of days? Snape began unkindly. Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I do not think so. I would hate to see you barely standing on your feet again, and Hermione, in panic, trying to contact Harry and shouting for help to Kingsley."
"I'm quite capable of protecting my own wife! Besides, we have an important business, and you are only interfering."
The men glared at each other for a couple of minutes until Regulus stepped forward.
His appearance in the hospital of St. Ignatius, although it did not come as a complete surprise to Severus and Hermione, nevertheless, was greeted with some disbelief. In the end, a lot of years passed, everything that Regulus once fought for sank into oblivion, Voldemort was dead, the reign of terror slowly settled on the pages of history. And all this time, Regulus was fooled by conspirators too loyal to their Lord and his ideals to simply accept the fact that the ideology of the purebloods has nothing to do with common sense.
Yes, no doubt Snape helped Black restore Regulus' lost memories, Hermione spent several days retelling to Regulus the stories of the Horcruxes, their victory over Voldemort, and her role in it. However, that in no way made him an innocent victim of circumstances: Regulus Black spent tens of years in the service of Yaxley, Lestrange, and other remaining Death Eaters, too smart and cunning to take them lightly.
And now Regulus shifted from foot to foot, now and then throwing glances at his older brother and terribly fearing that Sirius would simply melt into thin air. And he, Regulus, would again find himself in a cave full of inferis, and fighting for dear life.
"Gentlemen," Snape spoke conciliatingly, "we appreciate your help, we truly do, but, firstly, we definitely do not need a babysitter, secondly, we are here on a serious matter, and thirdly," he pointed with his chin at Hermione, who froze right in front of her parents' house, "she is already bad and scared, and she certainly is not ready to talk about conspirators. Leave your news from the Ministry until the day after tomorrow when we get home."
"You mean when the Little Witch finds the Time-Turner, and then her rage will make even Voldemort look like an innocent lamb," Sirius grinned. "You are playing with fire, Sev, seriously. What will happen if you just tell her?"
"We all need to sit down and have a calm brainstorming," Regulus interjected, "who knows, perhaps Rodolphus is not just taking revenge for Bella's death, what if one of the Death Eaters found out about the Time-Turners lying around unattended, and their main goal is to return to the past and, say, resurrect the Dark Lord?"
"Shut up," Severus hissed as he watched Hermione walk towards them, "I am able to protect her!"
The brothers looked at each other in solidarity: Snape was drowning in his own despair and stubbornness. He would never show his own weakness to anyone, but the situation was too serious to allow him to calmly revel in self-pity.
"Severus? Are you coming?"
"In a moment, dear, let me just get rid of our unwanted bodyguards."
Sirius stepped forward.
"Whether you like it or not, Lord Black, the Head of the Family, and his brother-killer are good security. We'll look after you."
Hermione let out a nervous laugh. Snape frowned.
"How are you going to do it, I wonder? By camping on the Granger's lawn?"
"As always, you underestimated the subtlety of the Blacks," hissed Sirius, and the next second a black dog was standing in front of them, and a raven comfortably settled down on the lilac tree growing nearby.
Hermione nodded in agreement with this turn of events, grabbed Severus by the hand, and pulled him toward her parental home.
"They don't even suspect…" Regulus whispered, turning back into a human. "Really, parental magic has not told them yet?"
"He's too afraid of losing her," Sirius replied, "and, surprisingly, she's also afraid of losing him. They ignored all the signs in an attempt to protect each other."
"I still can't believe these two love each other," Regulus snorted. "Shall we tell them the good news?"
"I can imagine the look on Snape's face when I tell him that the canine instinct cannot be fooled. No, Reg, let's give them time, let them figure it out."
"Remind me again, why are we helping them?"
"Because we saved each other's lives so many times that I lost count of how many debts we owe each other. Let's get out of this shit first, and I will demand from Sev to make me a godfather."
"As if he's going to agree!"
"He's a complete bastard, but he's my friend."
"Listen to yourself, brother" "Severus snape is my friend"! Mother would have had kittens."
"A lot has changed here, Reg, you have a lot to get used to."
"As you have said, "let's get out of this shit first." And let's have a pint of beer. I haven't had a good Muggle beer in my mouth for ages."
Sirius laughed and patted his brother on the shoulder.
"I will take you to the hottest spots. It was bad here without you, unfortunate little shit!"
And Regulus knew his brother was telling the truth.
Over the past hour, Hermione shed several liters of tears, and when there was nothing more to cry, she just sobbed, gasping for air. Her mother squeezed her in her arms, her father, bewildered, stroked her back. Snape stood a little further away and felt out of place at this family reunion party.
As it turned out, as soon as Hermione had to cross the threshold of her parents' house, they did not need the potion of Pristine Memories. When Bellatrix practiced the art of the Cruciatus, and Hermione herself dangled somewhere between life and death, her magic lost its power. And her parents' memory returned.
Severus knew that this was not uncommon, because when a wizard leaves life, they lose their strength and abilities. But he could not even imagine that on that terrible day his wife miraculously escaped death.
Smearing tears down her cheeks, Mrs. Granger invited everyone to go to the kitchen and put on the kettle.
Hermione's parents' house was cozy. There were flower pots everywhere, the walls were full of bookshelves, in the hall, in a chair in the very corner, Severus caught sight of a basket of knitting needles and several colorful balls of yarn. Fruit trees bloomed in the yard, chickens cackled in the barn: pastoral. However, all his melancholy was blown away like the wind when Helen Granger cut the pie, distributed it to the guests, and lashed out at her daughter with accusations.
"That is, young lady, while you were chilling in Britain, your father and I had been slowly going mad! Can you imagine how we felt when one day we woke up in a foreign country, strangers surrounded us, neighbors smiled at us, but we couldn't understand how we ended up here?"
"Helen, could you please be kinder to Hermione?" Richard Granger said and turned to his wife.
Hermione looked wide-eyed at her mother, throwing a terrible truth in her face. It seemed to Hermione that the world was about to collapse on her head and bury her under the rubble of so hard-built happiness.
"No way, Richard!," Helen said angrily. "How many years have passed? Four? Five? Megan is a schoolgirl. Can you imagine? Our youngest daughter is already a schoolgirl, while our eldest daughter had nothing to do with us."
"Mom, wait! Let me explain! Please, Mom!"
"And I'll tell you, Richard, our Hermione was too busy with her own brilliant career and a very strange marriage with a man two decades older than her to remember about some kind of parents there!"
"You have the right to think what you want, but I will not tolerate such an attitude towards my wife," Snape's voice broke through the noise, and the power of authority, which more than once called for order and disciples, both the students, teachers and members of the Order of the Phoenix, did the trick now. Helen fell silent and stared back at him in confusion. Hermione sniffled and fumbled under the table for his hand. Something vaguely resembling solidarity flickered in Richard's eyes. Snape continued calmly:
"If you've managed to teach your daughter anything, it's how to do the right thing. She lived for six months in the forest on nothing but mushrooms and canned food, because otherwise the war would have been lost. For seven years she tried to hammer at least some sense into the heads of her friends because otherwise they would have been killed in their first year. She poured a forbidden potion into my torn throat, the potion she got out by some unknown means, because she believed that it was too early for me to die. You were the first on Voldemort's list of targets, and I'm not entirely sure if we could somehow prevent your death. Hermione erased your memory, not because she has no heart and no sense of family, but because it was the only right thing to do. You don't know how she has been waking up from nightmares almost every night for all these years. You don't know how she practically lives in front of the fireplace every winter, because she has a difficult relationship with the cold. You do not know how much the Ministry hates her, you probably already imagined her as the new Margaret Thatcher, but I dare to object to you - you are mistaken. However, Hermione continues to fight for the rights of those who no longer have anyone to protect them, like a Chevalier knight from the Middle Ages who fought for a just cause. You should be proud of your daughter. Besides, tell me, where have you been all this time?"
Helen sobbed convulsively and took a glass of water from Hermione's hands.
"We have been to England. We have been looking for you! But other people already lived in our house, the neighbors had no idea where you could be found, so we returned home."
Snape poured tea into cups and put his arm around Hermione's waist, she sighed wearily and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Having met the first defeat, you stopped fighting. Australia, a cozy little house, the youngest daughter, a dental practice was waiting for you. You made your choice, therefore you have no right to accuse Hermione of selfishness."
Richard rose from his seat without a word, walked over to Severus, and shook his hand.
At night, when silence and a fragile truce enveloped the Grangers' house, Severus stood at the open window and smoked into the darkness. In the evening, everyone finally managed to calm down and stop heaping reproaches on each other. Hermione repented of her sins (a completely meaningless deed, according to Severus), her parents asked her forgiveness for their mistrust. The precarious balance turned the conversation into a more peaceful course, turning the recent scandal into a family gathering. A couple of hours later Megan returned home, and Hermione beamed, having met her sister for the first time.
When it was time to go to bed, Mrs. Granger sent Hermione to her sister's bedroom, Snape shrugged and went to sleep on the sofa in the living room. Now it was definitely not the time and not the place to shake his title of Hermione's husband into her parents' faces. However, he rather liked Richard Granger, it became clear who was in charge of their family, despite Helen's explosive nature. The men drank a pint of beer and made friends, even though Richard promised to bury Snape in the backyard if he dared to offend his "little girl."
Floorboards creaked, bare feet padded across the floor, Hermione came closer and pressed her cheek to her husband's back.
"I can't sleep without you."
Severus expressed his understanding with a vague chuckle and blew out a swirl of cigarette smoke into the night.
"You're upset and disappointed."
Hermione put her arms around his waist.
"I keep remembering your lecture to my parents and I come to the conclusion that I am an idiot."
"Brave claim. And what made you think so?"
Hermione chuckled nervously.
"You see, I spent five years of my life fighting to regain the memory of my parents and find my home. It seemed to me that as soon as I make amends with them, everything would be as before. They will forgive me, they will understand my motives, I will become my father's little Pumpkin and I will stop running away from myself."
"They did forgive you," Severus commented, turning to face her and took her into his arms.
"They did, but, having reached this final stage of my own "moral project", I realized, suddenly, that this was not what I needed."
Looking at her husband's questioningly arched eyebrow, Hermione slapped his hand.
"Stop it, you understood everything perfectly well without my explanations."
"Care to enlighten me, witch?"
Hermione was silent for several minutes, listening to his heartbeat: even and soothing.
"You see, all the time I needed someone to prove my own worth to, I have been looking for a place in the sun, I have been trying to earn love and friendship, I have been craving acceptance. I was so afraid of condemnation that I did not even notice that my so-called "home" was under my nose all this time."
"What are you talking about?"
"About you, Severus, you are my home! You accepted and saved me when I myself did not know if I would be able to find a way out of the darkness. You did not judge me, you just understood my motives and reasons and promised that you would fight this battle with me."
The kiss that followed Hermione's confession was full of tenderness and secret passion. Kissing Severus was like dancing in the rain that ripped apart a hot summer afternoon. It was like swimming in the sea for the first time and trusting that this tremendous power of water will not harm you. It was like returning to the warmth of the hearth on a cold winter night. Like drinking coffee in the kitchen, at midnight, after sincere conversations and frank confessions. Like crossing the threshold of the house after a grueling journey and knowing that you have been waited for there all this time.
And then they fell asleep on the couch, having previously transformed it into some kind of the doubter bed, and both of them did not care about the condemnation of her parents in the morning.