George had finally convinced her to visit him. It had been a long time since she'd set foot in Diagon Alley and she was nervous. Beside her Cordelia was bouncing with excitement. George was her undisputed favourite person ever. Probably because he was almost a kid himself.

She found herself standing in front of the impressive, completely over the top facade of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes for the first time in over five years. She'd forgotten how bright it all was. And underestimated how daunting this would be. She could feel her chest tightening as she began to struggle to breathe.

"Hermione! Miss Lia! You actually came!" And then George was hugging her, scooping Lia up to throw her in the air, much to her delight and the panic was receding.

"I promised, didn't I? Lia was very excited."

He looked at her shrewdly, before he nodded. "Let's go in. Angie is desperate to meet you properly."

He guided her into the bustling sensory overload that was his shop, inventions whirling, hundreds of customers, multiple products making various noises and she grinned. She'd missed this. The months spent helping him get the shop ready alongside the work she'd done during holidays from Hogwarts had left her immune to the sheer noise of the shop. It felt disconcertingly like home.

He returned her grin as he allowed Lia to pull him towards the cage of fluffy pygmy puffs that apparently enthralled her.

"Hello Stranger!" She turned to see Angelina Johnston grinning at her. "He'll never say it but George is more than glad you're here. He missed you. I know he's been in touch but it wasn't the same. You were the one who put him back together after the war and I need to thank you for that."

"Angelina! It's good to see you." She moved to hug the other woman she felt like she knew due to George's chats. She remembered his rambling monologue after their first date where he'd promptly apperated right into her bedroom after Angie had gone so she could help him dissect it and had to cover her smile. "George talks about you often. You could have come with him to visit, you know? And you don't ever need to thank me for being here after the war. He helped me as much as I helped him. I was…..broken. Especially after my parents, and he gave me a purpose."

Angelina was shaking her head at her as she put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly. "No. George needed those visits to be just for him. He could escape so infrequently; I never wanted to intrude."

"And I was never comfortable coming here so I could see him more often" Hermione finished softly.

"Please don't feel guilty! I can see it on your face. George understood why you couldn't come here, I understand why you couldn't come here. Neither of us blames you! But Merlin, Hermione, he missed you so damn much. He's been like a kid at Christmas for the last week. Promise me you'll come back? That I haven't scared you off. George will never forgive me!"

"You haven't scared me off. I'm glad he has someone who looks out for him." She smiled back at Angelina who visibly slumped with relief, sliding her arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a one armed hug.

"Thank Merlin!"

George chose that moment to appear in front of them, Lia clutching a tiny purple pygmy puff. Hermione gave him her sternest look. "George. Tell me my daughter isn't holding a pygmy puff."

"He's called Fluffy."

"He's called…..George, how do I explain this to muggles?"

"Ah. I didn't think about that. Hide him when they're over?"

"For fucks sake George!" she muttered it under her breath but by the sheepish look George sent her, he caught it.

"Why don't we head upstairs. Verity and Lee have this under control."

They spent the afternoon in George and Angelina's flat above the shop, filling each other in on what had been happening since they last saw one another.

"Fleur's due soon. It's a boy this time," George was telling her. "Victoire is furious and would like them to get a puppy instead. Apparently Dominique is more than enough."

Hermione was laughing. "I can't believe Bill is about to have three! Brave man. This one is hard enough! How is Fleur doing this time? You had said Dominique's pregnancy wasn't easy."

"She's fine this time round, physically anyway. She's mental though, Bill was out trying to source some specific type of ice cream in the middle of the night last week. Apparently she's vela enough to throw fireballs while pregnant. And she does it while crying, its hilarious to watch. Behind a shield. He has no idea what to do with her, he wants to hug her but well….fireballs. Not that she'd throw them at him. She just sort of juggles them menacingly."

Hermione was laughing so hard she was struggling to breath, feeling immeasurably grateful that she hadn't given in to the nerves and not come today.

Once they had all calmed down, Angelina spoke hesitantly.

"We were wondering how you felt about being a little bit more public with your comeback?"
At Hermione's confused look, she continued, "We're getting married. And we would really like you there. It's nothing big but we wanted to run it by you."

"I'd really like it if you'd be my best woman, you know." George was uncharacteristically serious.

"Me?"

"Yes you! Who else would I ask? You...you helped me fix myself when I was so broken I didn't think it was possible. You forced me to live again and you were there, every time it was hard, every time I felt like giving up, you were there. So yes, you, you daft woman! There's no one else."

"Oh." She was really trying not to cry. She wasn't exactly succeeding but she was trying. George came to sit beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Say yes Granger. I'll need someone who can keep me in line and stop Angie feeling like murdering me before she's bound to me for life."

She choked on a slightly tearful laugh. "Yes, Georgie. Of course I will."

Her agreement had led to calls for champagne. Which in turn had led to a discussion about going to the Leaky. Which is how she found herself ensconced at a table in the Leaky cauldron with Hannah looking at her in shock.

"You're not in Edinburgh!"

"Ah no. I promised to visit George, and well, I've been putting it off for long enough."

Hannah grinned, "Does that mean I get to take you out for drinks once this parasite is born?"

Hermione choked on her drink. "Yes? Although parasite? Surely you could come up with a better nickname?"

"It annoys Neville and as he's currently refusing to consider any name I come up with, I'm calling him parasite."

"Him? It's a boy? Oh my Goodness! Congratulations!"

She smiled gently, stroking her hand over her ever growing bump. "We're really pleased. But Hermione, he wants to call him Algernon Franklin. For the love of Merlin will you have a word with him? It's lovely he wants to honour his Uncle Algie and his dad, truly, and I'm ok for him to have Franklin as a middle name, it's lovely. But Algernon? Its fucking awful! Algernon Longbottom. The kid doesn't stand a chance!"

Hermione and Angie smothered their laughs with more success than George.

"I'll try, Hannah. What do you like?"

"Me? Oh. I like Oscar, Jasper or Rupert."

"Oh I like those! Jasper Franklin Longbottom has a nice ring to it."

"It does, doesn't it?" Hannah answered with a small, pleased smile. " Now could you convince Neville please?"

Hermione left George's late that night, Cordelia sound asleep on her shoulder clutching fluffy to her. She felt more at peace than she had in a long time. It had been easy to forget how much she missed the wizarding world when she was in Edinburgh but now she'd visited, she wasn't sure she'd be able to stay away so long again. And really, she didn't want to. It wasn't fair for George to always visit her, she liked the idea of a girls night out with Hannah, she wanted to see Nevilles baby regularly, not just when he could escape Hogwarts and she hoped to get to know Angelina better before the wedding. And all of that required her to be present in the Wizarding world, which was both terrifying and exciting. There was a life there for her if she wanted it. And for the first time in a long time, she did.

Severus read the Daily Prophet that had been dumped on his breakfast, the headline catching his attention. GOLDEN GIRL RETURNS! Underneath it was a picture of Granger with George Weasley, Angelina Johnston and Hannah Longbottom, laughing at something Hannah had whispered in her ear. It would appear Miss Granger had made a bit of a splash. He almost smiled at the thought, maybe she was finally considering coming back.

She had replied to his letter, briefly, inviting him for coffee on a weekend of his choice. Suggesting they met somewhere muggle so as not to cause the media to have heart attacks. He had suggested a Sunday afternoon in a coffee shop he frequented when ingredient collection sent him south of Hogwarts. She had agreed surprisingly quickly and now he was counting down the days with a nervous anticipation that surprised him.

Even Longbottom had noticed, not that he'd said anything, he'd just smiled knowingly at him. It was rather infuriating, as if the man knew something he didn't. He didn't like not knowing.

He got himself ready with care on the Sunday he was due to meet Miss Granger. He was inexplicably nervous. Surely he had nothing to be nervous about? It was just coffee and hopefully, reasonably intelligent conversation with a former student.

He apperated to close to the cafe, noting the small changes in the area since he had last been here. She was sitting in the window seat, lost in a book he couldn't see the name of with a pot of tea in front of her.

She had grown into a beautiful woman. Age had softened the angles she'd had in her youth, especially the last time he'd seen her, still fighting to regain the weight lost during the war. Her monstrous hair was loose and halfway down her back, apparently she'd learned some grooming charms as it was nowhere near the frizzy mess it had been at Hogwarts.

Taking a deep breath, he walked into the cafe, acknowledging her smile as he walked to the counter to place his own order.

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger. You are looking well."

"Professor." She smiled at him as he sat down across from her. "Hermione, please. Miss Granger gives me horrible flashbacks of school."

He dipped his head in acquiescence. "Hermione then. I suppose I should allow you to call me Severus, given that it has been many years since I was your Professor."

She smiled slightly at that. "A fact for which I am sure you are eternally grateful….Severus."

He wasn't sure he'd ever heard his name spoken like that and resisted the urge to shiver. This was Hermione Granger for goodness sakes, a former student, a girl nineteen years his junior. What was wrong with him?

"How have you been, Severus?" She asked into the silence.

"I have been well. As you are aware, I am still teaching, the atmosphere at Hogwarts is different than it was when you attended, there is more of a sense of unity than there was. Of course the students are still incompetent imbeciles who delight in trying to blow themselves and their classmates up on a regular basis but we cannot have everything."

She laughed at him. "They can't all be bad? You're still there! Neville tells me you're friends now?"

"Most of them are feeble-minded cretins. Very few are actually competent. And he plays a decent game of chess."

Her eyes were sparkling this time as she laughed at him. "Oh my! Feeble minded cretins? Worse than the dunderheads of my year? And you could just admit you like him."

"I will admit no such thing." he replied with a smirk.

They spoke for hours until Hermione finally looked at her watch and yelped.

"Are you alright?"

"I may have promised Helen I would be back half an hour ago!"

"Helen?"

"If you want to come with me we can continue this conversation but otherwise, let's do this again soon? I've had a good time."

"I would not be adverse to continuing this conversation."

She looked at him in surprise before smiling and heading for the door, walking briskly. "Side-along?"

At his nod she reached for his arm as they reached the designated apperition point, twisting them both out of sight.

Immediately on arrival Hermione began walking quickly again, stopping outside a house with a potions garden he desperately wanted to explore. Ignoring the urge he cautiously followed her inside the house.

"Helen, I'm so, so sorry!"

The woman was older than he was, well put together, with an air that reminded him of Poppy Pomphrey. She was eyeing Hermione with exasperated fondness.

"It's fine love. Lost track of time?" she had a smirk on her face that Severus wasn't wholly comfortable with.

"Something like that. Sorry, Helen this is Severus Snape, Severus this is Helen Jones."

He tilted his head at the woman who smiled at him, not understanding how she fit into Hermione's life.

"Well I'll be off love. Miss Lia is watching The Incredibles again, just so you know."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Wonderful, she'll be pretending to be Elastagirl for the rest of the evening then."

Helen laughed. "Don't wait up love!"

"Have a good night Helen." Hermione smiled as Helen escaped the house.

"Sorry about that, I completely lost track of time. Helen is off to meet her gentleman friend this evening. Come this way, Lia is in the sitting room."

"Lia?"

She whirled round to look at him, eyes wide. "I just assumed….."

He arched a brow when she failed to continue. "You assumed?"

She sighed. "I'm such an idiot. I apologise, Severus. I assumed you knew. Cordelia is my daughter. Helen is her nanny. Well, she's more than the nanny, I'd have been lost without her the last couple of years, the woman is a life saver."

His eyebrows rose as he felt his heart sink. He'd begun to consider that maybe he could convince Hermione to look at him as more than her old potions Professor, given enough time. Of course it was preposterous. Of course a beautiful, intelligent woman had a husband at home. He should have known better but when she hadn't mentioned anyone he had assumed... Still, he wasn't prone to flights of fancy so this one had caught him by surprise. "You have a child?

"Yes, Cordelia. She's two."

"I see. Could your husband not have relieved the nanny?"

She actually laughed then, he didn't see what was funny. Was the man she married so incompetent that he couldn't watch his own child? That didn't seem likely, other than Miss Granger's dalliance with the red headed idiot, she appeared to usually have reasonable judgement.

"Hardly. It's just Cordelia and I. Her father decided that the responsibility of unexpected parenthood was not for him."

He wasn't sure what to say to that, so he followed her into the sitting room where a miniature version of Hermione was glued to a television screen showing various characters in red suits.

"Lia? Can you pay attention for a moment?"

"But Ewastagirl…" Whatever the child had considered whining stopped when she spotted him. She moved quickly towards her mother, clinging to her leg.

"Lia, this is Mr Sape. Can you say hello?"

"Lo" Lia whispered, peeking around Hermione.

"Hello Miss Lia. It's very nice to meet you."

He registered the slight look of shock on Hermione's face. Did she not think he could be polite to a child?

"Watch In-edibles?"

He shot Hermione a slightly panicked look as she hid her smile. "Mr Snape has never seen Incredibles sweetheart, I'm sure he'd love to watch it."

He didn't like her smirk any more than her nanny's. Admitting defeat he sat down and looked at whatever the child was watching. Moments later he felt the seat dip slightly next to him and a small hand creep into his own.

"She never does that." Hermione whispered, staring at their hands as she sat on the other end of the sofa.

He still had no idea what they had been watching but the odd feeling of comfort stopped him commenting. He'd never particularly wanted children, spending his days teaching other peoples had put him off the idea entirely. And given the situation he'd been in, he'd definitely never imagined he'd get married and being in a position where children were an actual possibility, but as he sat with the small body of Hermione Granger's child curled into him, he wondered if maybe he should have considered it. It felt different to the students at Hogwarts, cocooned in this home. He found himself wondering if Hermione would ever consider it before he clamped that thought down in a panic. What was he thinking?

They'd had dinner in Hermione's tiny kitchen, Lia holding court with a mix of actual conversation and toddler-ese, clearly enamoured with her new friend "Sev'us" much to Hermione's amusement. She returned, after putting Lia to bed, with a bottle of wine.

"I don't know when you're expected back, but I'm opening this if you want to join me."

"Minerva isn't expecting me until breakfast tomorrow."

He felt the colour staining his cheeks as he realised the implications of what he'd just said. "I mean I have no patrols tonight to be back for."

Which he belatedly realised wasn't any better.

She was laughing now though. "Oh my goodness your face! Have a drink Severus, I knew what you meant."

He accepted it rather stiffly, berating himself for being such an idiot.

"I've never seen Lia like that with anyone. Well other than George, and he's been here frequently since she was born. It took her ages to warm up to Neville."

"She's a delightful child. And clearly far more intelligent that most of the imbeciles who walk the halls at Hogwarts" he replied with a smirk.

She laughed before she turned the conversation back to the debate they'd been having about the latest research in pain potions.

It was late when Severus finally left for Hogwarts. Hermione sat curled on the sofa for a long time after he left. Today had been a revelation. The man hasn't lost any of his snark but he was softer as Hannah had described. Seeing him with Lia, the way her daughter had taken to the man immediately had caused her heart to stutter slightly. She'd never had any man around her daughter outwith George, Kings and laterally Neville so it was odd to see her take to someone so quickly, especially as she was usually shy around strangers.

Even more odd was the gentle way Severus had handled her, he had listened to her talk nonsense, spoken to her like he was interested in the answers, and allowed her to snuggle into him. If Hermione had not seen it herself she'd never have believed it.

It was all so confusing. He was Severus Snape. And yet, she'd had more fun today than she'd had in a long time. She'd missed being able to debate with an equal. And if the man was looking better than she'd ever seen him….well, peacetime obviously suited him. Still, she was being ridiculous. He saw her as nothing more than an ex-student. If she was lucky he may eventually see her as a friend. And realistically that was all she was ever likely to be. He'd loved Lily Potter almost his entire life. It wasn't going to change because of her.

Sighing, she dragged herself to bed, strangely melancholy given how pleasant the day had been.