Things were settling down now the Festival was over, Hermione loved these two months where things were steady but not overwhelming. She always felt guilty about the time spent away from Cordelia during those months where she was rushed off her feet.

She wondered how Severus had taken her gift. It had been given to her as a thank you for procuring a book for a wizard Kings had put her in touch with, she often sourced ancient and specific texts for people in the magical world, anonymously, of course, using Kings as a go between. It was lucrative, and made her feel a little connected to the world she'd walked away from.

She had no need of a first edition of a potions book, however. She brewed occasionally, for herself and Lia but that was it, it was utterly wasted on her now, so she sent it to the one person who she knew would appreciate it. She hoped he would take it as it was meant, but he was Severus Snape so who knew.

Neville had mentioned that Minerva was coming to their next catch up. She was both nervous and excited, she had desperately missed her Head of House. In the year she had gone back to Hogwarts to sit her NEWT's Minerva had become more like a personal mentor than a teacher. She hadn't kept in touch as she knew the woman had a soft spot for Harry too and she wasn't sure what she was likely to believe; she knew now that the dust had settled and she was more rational, that she had done the woman a major disservice. Harry's dismissal had meant she questioned her place in everyone's life and at the time it was easier to walk away than take another emotional beating, she wasn't sure that she'd have survived that.

"Mumma!" Lia toddled over to her holding a book, making her smile. Her mini-me indeed. "Wead please! Now."

She arched a brow at her daughter. "Now? Is that how we ask?"

"Yes."

"No."

Her child huffed at her, a pout on her tiny face before she gave her a slightly manic toddler grin, that Hermione struggled not to laugh at. "Please, Mumma."

"Up here, horror, before I change my mind." she replied pulling Cordelia in close, revelling in the feeling. She wasn't a particularly tactile child, the times she allowed more than a quick hug were few and far between so she intended to make the most of it as she began to read.

Severus debated what to put in his letter to Hermione, unsure of how much familiarity would be welcomed. In the end he went for honesty, he trusted that even if she personally found it hilarious, she'd never betray his trust by sharing it with anyone else. Hesitating, he added in a request to meet occasionally, stating that intelligent conversation was hard to come by. He regretted it as soon as the letter was sealed, but Longbottom was looking at him expectantly; he had no time to adjust it now. Handing it over, he hoped he hadn't just made a huge mistake.

He glanced at Minerva, who was struggling to keep her usual mask in place. She had missed Hermione, more than she would ever admit to. Teachers weren't supposed to have favourites among their charges, but she did. She had lost many of them over the years. Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Fred Weasley. Until recently she thought she had lost Hermione Granger too and now that she knew she hadn't, she was desperate to lay eyes on the girl again.
They had apperated into an alley, Minerva following Neville as he walked among the houses, stopping outside on that had a cheerful red door and a garden bursting with flowers. Looking slightly closer, she realised that they could double as potions ingredients and she smiled.

An older woman opened the door at Neville's knock.

"Come in, it's lovely to see you both again! You must be Minerva? I'm Helen, Hermione's in the sitting room. You remember the way?"

At Hannah's nod, she smiled. "Wonderful, I'll leave you to it then. I have a large coffee in an overpriced cafe with my name on it!"

Minerva glanced around the hallway, looking for any clues as to what her cubs life looked like now. Both Neville and Hannah had been vague. It was painted a soft grey with high ceilings, and tasteful artwork on the walls. It was lovely but it gave her nothing to work with.

Neville opened the door to a warm room, Hermione was on the floor with a miniature version of herself who was very seriously explaining the rules of her game.

She glanced up as she heard the door open, her face breaking into a grin as she stood.

"Neville! Hannah! Oh my, Professor McGonagall!"

As she swept one of her favourite cubs into her arms, Minerva felt herself relax finally. She was here, whole and healthy. She couldn't ask for much more.

"Minerva will be fine." She said, as she took her in. "You're looking well, Hermione. It's so wonderful to see you."

"You too...Minerva. I'm sorry I wasn't in touch. It took me a while to remember which way was up."

Minerva waved away her apologies, far too glad to see her again to be offended. "And who is this?"

"I Lia!"

Neville smothered a laugh. "May I present Miss Cordelia, Professor. Miss Cordelia, this is Professor McGonagall. She used to be your mum's teacher."

"Hi!"

"Hello to you too, Miss Cordelia. You look very like your Mummy."

The little girl nodded her head before losing interest and going back to the game on the floor. "Play, Nev?"

A look of sheer panic crossed Neville's face as Hannah nudged him forward, much to Hermione and Minerva's amusement. They settled on sofas, Hermione keeping one eye on her daughter who was bossing Neville about, reminding her rather forcefully of her younger self.

"How have you been Minerva?"

"Well. Things are settled, students are as they always were, although we've implemented many changes since you were last there. There's less rivalry now, we encourage inter house friendships. Neville has been wonderful at helping with that, unbelievably, so has Severus. He was incredibly impressed with that book you sent. Wherever did you find it?"

"Did Neville tell you I run a bookshop?" At Minerva's no, she continued. "I own and run a bookshop in the centre of Edinburgh. However I also locate rare texts for muggles, when Kings heard about that sideline, he began putting me in touch with people in the magical world who were looking for specific texts. The book I sent Severus was a thank you from my last client for finding what he was looking for. I brew, occasionally, for Lia and I but I have no need for first edition potions text so I thought of him."

Minerva's eyebrows rose, "I see. It sounds like you've made a wonderful life here."

"I'm trying." she said softly.

"Will you ever come back?"

Hermione sighed. "I don't want to say no. Lia will eventually leave for school and at that point I'd like to be more connected to our world. George has been hassling me lately to come and visit him. He always comes here and before, I wasn't ready. But people are creeping back in slowly, and I find I don't object as much as I always thought I would."

"Why did you leave, Hermione? Surely things weren't so bad that you couldn't have come to me?"

Hermione smiled gently at her old mentor, she noticed that both Hannah and Neville had grown still waiting on her answer. "At the time, I thought they were. They were not of course, I acted without giving it any thought at all. Everything was such a mess at the end of the war, and I wasn't coping anywhere near as well as I pretended to. When Harry confronted me it made me question everything and ultimately I believed that everyone else would react as he did and I wasn't strong enough to face that. I know now, of course, that it was the grief talking but at the time, leaving felt like the only thing I could do."

"Oh Hermione!" Neville sounded desolate, as he got up awkwardly from the floor and engulfed her in a hug. "You were my first friend, for a long time, my only friend. How could you ever think I'd take Rons side over yours?"

Her eyes were suspiciously glassy as she answered him slowly, "Harry was the person who was supposed to know me best. We'd lived in a tent for almost a year together, months of it just the two of us. I know now that it's warped, but at the time I couldn't see how anyone else would believe me when he clearly didn't."

He hugged her to him tighter not knowing how to respond to that. They sat in silence as they contemplated how things could have been different, watching the toddler play on the floor. Neville finally broke the silence.

"Before I forget, Severus sent you this." At her questioning look, he continued "I may have pointed out that a thank you is customary."

The tension broke as they laughed. "Thanks, Nev. I'll read it in a bit. Tell me how things are going with you?"

Minerva felt lighter than she had in years when she returned to the castle. She was smiling to herself when she bumped into Severus in the hallway.

"Am I to assume your visit went well?"

"Oh Severus, yes! I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have seen her. She's happy and that's all I can ask." she sounded disconcerting like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Indeed. You'll be seeing her again?"

"Yes. We've made tentative plans for just before Halloween. Her work gets busy over the next couple of months and I wanted to see her again before the new year."

"I see. What is it Miss Granger does?"

"She runs a bookstore" she replied with a laugh, "but she also sources hard to find muggle and magical texts. It's apparently how she ended up with that book she gave you. A client gave her it as a thank you for locating a text he's been looking for for almost fifty years. It would appear she is good at what she does."

"Of course she is, little know it all."

"Careful, Severus. That almost sounded fond." She looked at him shrewdly. She had known the man since he was eleven, and even though he had softened somewhat since the war, his interest in Miss Granger was unusual.

She knew of course that the girl had spent time with him while he was healing but she was beginning to wonder if he didn't miss her as much as she had over the years. It required some more thought. They'd be good for one another, really, very few could match the intelligence of either of them and Gods knew they'd always been impatient with people who couldn't keep up.

She wondered how much meddling she could get away with. If she were honest, she had ulterior motives, she really wanted Hermione back in their world, where she deserved to be. She was happy, but she was also still holding a part of herself back; the wistful look on her face as she spoke about how things might have been if she'd just thought, had confirmed Minerva's suspicions that the girl missed their world. Maybe she should get in touch with George Weasley. No one would suspect the two of them collaborating.

Hermione waited until Cordelia was in bed before she opened Severus' letter. It was short, not that she had expected anything different, he had always been a man of few words, unless he was telling her how wrong she was. Laughing to herself she wondered why seeing his spiky writing caused so many different feelings to appear.

She had missed him, they'd become almost friends during his time recuperating. She had found that under that prickly exterior he was funny, his humour so dry that most people missed it, especially given his exemplary poker face. It helped that he was one of the few people who could keep up with her. They had debated like she wished she had been able to with her friends, but they weren't interested. He was. He challenged and he pushed. The few times she had got him to concede defeat still made her smile.

Miss Granger,

I find myself at a loss of what to say. As I'm sure you are aware the book is exceedingly rare, I do not know of another in existence, so I think you. The words do not quite seem adequate to express my gratitude for such an addition to my library.

Mr Longbottom assures me that you are well, I find myself glad. You were a notable point during my recovery and I find myself wondering if you still have such strong options now as you did then.

I wonder if you would be willing for me to test my theory that age will not soften your unerring need to be right, and agree to meet me for coffee at a time of your choosing. Intelligent conversation has been exceedingly hard to come by of late.

Yours,

SS

That was unexpected, she mused. Not that she intended to refuse him, he was right. Intelligent conversation was incredibly hard to come by. And if there was a little voice whispering that she missed more than his conversation, well, she intended to ignore that for now.