Disclaimer:- I neither earn nor own anything from this story except my plot. Harry Potter and his world are the intellectual property of JK Rowling and her associates.
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A/N:- Thank you to my beta, Golden Asp, for her work on this chapter, as well as everyone for your continuing support for this story, even though it's taking me a long time to update.
As the name of this chapter says, there is a new development in this chapter which might seem a little out of left field. I have gone back and included small hints for this new aspect of the story in chapter's one and five. I had always been going to include this aspect of the story, but I'd neglected to install the hints I've just put in.
This chapter leads straight on from the last, so I've reminded you all of the last lines because it's been a while since the last chapter. My apologies for that.
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From last time:- "Oh," Hermione replied, and her fingers started climbing up his buttons. "So, where are you taking me tonight?" she asked in a seductive purr.
He smiled, but replied, "You, my dear, will find that out when we arrive."
"Oh, Severus. A hint?"
"No," he told her, smiling. "You will wait until tonight," and to stave off anymore argument, his lips arrived on hers again.
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Chapter Six – A New Development
They kissed for some moments, but separated when Alice started clapping and chortling, and they realised that they were being watched. They laughed with her and she soon went back to her toys once the entertainment stopped. It was easy to see the funny side of it, and Hermione snuggled into Severus' chest with a smile on her face. She sat there quietly for a time, just happy to be with him, before she suddenly gasped.
"What?" he questioned.
"Something has just occurred to me." She watched him silently asking her for more information, so she sat up straighter and told him, "Over the last week I've started remembering things." She shrugged. "Most of them have been little things, but some of them have been important."
Severus looked down at her. "Dark curses have the ability to push things aside," Severus stated thoughtfully. "They cloud things—usually happy things—out of the mind."
"Yes, this was something happy… Well, I hoped it was going to be happy."
"What is it?" Severus asked seriously, a little worry creeping into his words.
Hermione heard it, and moved to reinforce her regard for him. "No, nothing like that. There is no other man. It's just that when you said that Minerva should earn her grandmother rights…"
"Yes?"
"Well, there's something I've always wondered about," she said, her lip slipping between her teeth.
"What is it?"
"I've often wondered if Minerva might be… Well, if she could be my biological mother."
"And this thing makes you suspect that?" Severus replied, having a hard time concealing his utter shock at this announcement.
"I've been happily aware that I was adopted for many years. My parents—the Grangers—were very open with me, and it's silly really, but Mum often told me about a cat that used to visit them when I was a toddler. She described the cat as a grey tabby with spectacle markings around its eyes." She shrugged. "As soon as I saw Minerva's animagus form, it seemed like I was looking at the cat Mum described. Of course, I'm probably wrong. She knows me better than most people and she'd never said anything about it."
"Oh, Hermione," Severus consoled. "Perhaps she doesn't know what to say to you, or how you might accept it, love."
Hermione sighed. "Yes, I guess so. Of course, I could be completely mistaken too," she all but whispered, finally vocalising the thing that had stopped her saying anything either.
"Sweetheart, speculation will get you nowhere," he stated adamantly. "You need evidence to be certain."
Hermione sighed. "I suppose you're right. Still, it's scary."
"It is," he agreed.
"Before I left Italy I found a parchment in the library of a Cistercian abbey in Milan that gave instruction on how to find a biological parent."
"Did you use it?" Severus asked.
"No. At the time I did not put two and two together. It was only after I'd left that I realised that I might have stumbled across the answer to something else." Hermione's teeth chewed on her lip. "And I somehow forgot about it after I'd been cursed."
"When you're stronger, perhaps we could go to Milan and investigate together," Severus suggested.
"I'd like that," she conceded, but the reminder that she was still not recovered completely yet rankled, and Hermione's whole demeanour changed. "I hate Harry and Ginny," she whispered suddenly.
Severus took the change of subject easily, but his lips tightened and he pulled her closer. "I still say they should pay for everything they've done to you, and taken away from you."
She'd slowly sank back down against him after her admission, but now she sat up straighter again. "No, I'm still adamant that Alice will not be put at risk," she replied sternly.
"And I would place her at risk?" he said angrily. "Give me more credit than that, Hermione."
"No," Hermione replied. "I didn't mean it like that. You are our fierce protector. No, I trust you implicitly and I love you for it." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Severus just looked at her, but then a smile started to curve his lips and his anger was forgotten. "As I love you—both of you—too," he replied.
"Oh, Severus," Hermione gasped, and her lips found his again.
This time their kiss was a heated claiming. Their lips caressed and their tongues battled, and when they finally parted from lack of air they sat together with their foreheads resting together, almost breathing one another in. Finally, Severus settled her against him again as he told her, "Then know that I would never put Alice at risk, but we will find a way, don't you worry," and he kissed her forehead. "Just as you will find a way to tell Minerva you know her secret."
"I know you won't, Severus," she said sighing as she cuddled back against him, and for the first time she decided that getting revenge for what they'd done to her would be very nice. They'd had no right to treat her as they had, but she'd always been scared that they'd find out about Alice. Then she considered that she now had more support than she'd ever had, and her champion was the loyalist wizard she knew, and a man who she'd always trusted with her life. "Yes, perhaps we will," she said quietly. "Perhaps we will," and she felt Severus kiss her temple on hearing her announcement.
xox
Later that day, Severus had insisted that when Alice went down for her nap that afternoon that Hermione have a rest as well.
"I want you well enough for going out tonight," he'd told her, and she'd easily agreed with his request, as she too wanted to enjoy their date.
She was currently allowing Shotsie to style her hair for her, and she was pleased that she didn't look as pale and drawn as she had before her rest this afternoon.
Shotsie had been a godsend. The little elf had arrived as Hermione had woken up, and declared that she'd prepared a bath for her.
Hermione had sensed Severus' involvement in the elf's words, but she'd quietly risen from her bed and stretched. "Where's Alice?" she'd asked as she'd yawned.
"Little miss is being with the master," the elf had replied.
"How long's she been awake?" Hermione asked, glancing at the clock as she padded towards the bathroom. It was five thirty now, and Alice normally woke about four from her afternoon nap.
"Miss Alice did wake at the normal time, mistress," Shotsie replied.
Hermione was not very comfortable with the title that the elf had given her when she'd learned of her rise in status in the household, but she did understand enough about elves now to know that the creature did not feel that Hermione was superior to her. It was simply her way of speaking. So, she just said, "Thank you for the bath, Shotsie."
"You is welcome, mistress."
Hermione watched the elf pop out and she resumed her progress towards the bathroom. However, as soon as she rounded the corner and passed through the doorway, Hermione realised that Severus had clearly instructed Shotsie as to what to do. It was beautifully decorated with floating candles and the hot water was obviously scented because the room smelt divine.
They were leaving for their dinner date at seven so Hermione knew that she had a good forty five minutes to relax before she needed to get ready, and she was fairly certain that Shotsie would be back if she wasn't sticking to a schedule. She chuckled quietly and shed her clothes.
She sighed as she sank into the water and she smiled. This was what she'd been searching for her entire adult life. In this household she was protected and nurtured. She had a positive relationship with the man who had just professed his love for her, and they had a family. She smiled. They were an eclectic group, but they all seemed to fit together.
xox
After her lovely bath, Hermione was now dressed for dinner. She was putting the final touches on her makeup when she heard Minerva talking to Alice as she brought her upstairs. Glancing at the clock, Hermione saw that it was Alice's bed time.
"Hermione?" Minerva called as she came into the outer room.
"Hello," Hermione answered, coming to the bedroom door.
She was wearing her one good dress, which was a calf length cocktail dress. It was baby pink georgette with a black tulle overskirt, the bodice of which was covered in a floral applique that covered the three-quarter length sleeves and extended down through a black satin waist band onto the skirt.
Minerva smiled on seeing Hermione. "Now, don't you look nice," she commented, releasing Alice's hand and walking forward to greet Hermione with a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you," Hermione replied, picking Alice up and saying, "Hello, my baby. Did you have fun with Daddy while I was resting?"
"Yes, Mummy. Daddy takes me for a walk to see the wishing well again, and then he make me tea."
"Did you make a wish at the well?"
Alice smiled. "No, but Daddy gives me a sicksal," Alice said, obviously uncertain that she'd got the last word right.
"Sickle," Hermione corrected gently, caressing Alice's raven curls lovingly.
Alice smiled and nodded. "Yes… sick-le," she said taking time to make sure she said it correctly, before she added, "And I thanks the well for making my last wish come true."
"What was your last wish, baby?" Hermione asked casually, but her daughter's answer took her by surprise.
"To makes you not sick, Mummy," Alice replied earnestly, grabbing her mother's cheeks in her chubby hands and planting a kiss on her mother's mouth.
Hermione felt tears suddenly welling in her eyes, as emotion consumed her, and she hugged Alice to her as she cleared her throat and said, "Oh, thank you, Alice." Her voice cracked as she said it and she had to clear her throat again as she asked, "And what did Daddy make you for dinner?"
The little girl grinned, oblivious to the emotion that her mother was experiencing. "Daddy makes me s'getti."
Hermione feigned surprise and gasped, her eyes opening wide. "And was it good?"
"Yummy," Alice replied.
"That's great, sweetheart. Are you going to have your bath now?"
Alice nodded solemnly and wriggling until Hermione placed her on the floor she grabbed Minerva's hand. "Come on, Nanny Nerva," she commanded, "Is bath time."
Minerva chuckled. She'd watched the scene between the two with emotion welling up inside her as well as she looked down at Alice, her heart tightening, and she wished yet again that Hermione knew her secret. "You'll have to show me this well, Alice, so I can give thanks for your mummy's recovery too."
Hermione watched as Minerva's eyes rose to hers, and she saw there a tight emotion unfurling in them.
"T-Thank you," Hermione stuttered. Was this the moment to find out if the woman who'd supported her unswervingly through this whole three years—and for many years before that—was truly her mother? She opened her mouth, but paused, but then said as she started turning away, "I'll lay Alice's pyjamas out to make it easier." Then she stopped again and turned back.
"Yes?" Minerva questioned.
"You know…" Hermione started. "Umm… Never mind, I better finish getting ready," she said and she started to walk out again. No, she should perform the spell first, but as she turned to leave this time she heard Severus' door open and shut.
Severus arrived at the door, and happily took her offered hand as she invited him into the room.
"You look amazing," Hermione told him, smiling at him as she greeted him with a peck on the lips.
"And you are simply stunning," he replied, kissing her temple as he placed an arm around her waist.
"Thank you," Hermione said, blushing.
"Now, you two go and have a lovely evening, wee lassie and I will be fine," Minerva told them from the doorway. "Say good night to Mummy and Daddy, Alice," she encouraged, pushing the little girl gently.
Alice looked up at Minerva, a smile on her face and then she ran to Hermione and Severus holding her arms up. Severus picked her up and kissed her forehead. "Good night, Poppet," he murmured.
Then Hermione took her. "Night night, my sweetheart. Now you make certain that Nanny Nerva reads you at least two stories, won't you?"
"Yes, Mummy," Alice stated, nodding and winding her arms around Hermione's neck. "I loves you, Mummy," and then she turned her dark eyes to Severus. "I loves you too, Daddy," she said solemnly, leaning over in Hermione's arms to capture Severus as well.
Then she wriggled to get down and skipped back over to Minerva. "Come on, Nanny Nerva. I shows you my new bubbles," and they disappeared into the bathroom.
xox
That night, while Minerva sat by the fire watching over her precious charge and waiting for Severus and Hermione to return, she tearfully wondered if Hermione had finally worked out what she'd never dared to tell her.
It had happened so unexpectedly, and she still remembered staring in disbelief at the results of the diagnostic spell Poppy Pomfrey had cast on her, her eyes being transfixed on the fading pink glow that had enveloped her mid-section. She'd asked Poppy to check her over as a last resort, after weeks of being ill in the mornings. At age forty three she'd been pregnant.
She had all but given up on having children after she'd left Dougal in Caithness. It seemed that things had a way of happening anyway, and now with a war loaming over them, she was pregnant.
"Dougal," she whispered, gently rubbing her still flat stomach, as a lone tear silently overcame her tight control. She'd gone home for her mother's funeral at Christmas, and there he'd been.
Minerva glanced down at her stomach now, as she remembered thinking how she finally had something… some part of the man she loved—still loved—more than anything, but things had not been straightforward.
The night she'd found out, they'd been in the privacy of Poppy's quarters, and Minerva recalled completely falling apart. She'd been suddenly consumed by such a heart-felt grief at what could not be. Christmas had seemed like a dream; it still did all these years later.
Glimpses of that night sailed into clear pictures on the screen of her mind now, even after so many years. He'd admitted that he'd still loved her, and her heart had soared. Then they'd kissed, and it had been nice to sink into his arms again and forget the world existed. To feel his hands caressing her and his questing fingers discovering well-loved territories.
She had found herself replying the same and willingly opening for his attentions. It had been twenty five years, but he had still smelt the same, tasted the same, and when he had finally sank into her welcoming body, he had still felt as perfect as he always had.
Sitting by the fire now she was still taken by knowing that never before, and probably never again, would she find someone she was so at one with, and tears escaped her as she remembered deciding that she couldn't go to him. It would mean abandoning everyone who'd been depending on her.
Belonging to the Order of the Phoenix had been perilous to say the least, but they'd been a family of sorts, in the thick of a clandestine battle against evil, and this had been no place for a pregnant witch.
Though there had never been any thoughts in her mind that she would not have her baby. There'd been so much death around them, and she recollected saying to Poppy that she may not have been able to keep her baby, but she would not kill her either.
Poppy's Muggle sister was a mid-wife, and Poppy had asked her to find a couple to adopt the baby as soon as she'd been born. The Muggle world had been the only place really; after all she may not have been a witch. Minerva chuckled nasally as she considered what a witch Hermione was. "How could I ever have doubted that she'd be a witch?" she muttered, taking a sip of her whisky.
Then she went back to thinking of how the months had gone by so quickly, and how she'd used glamour charms to hide her bump. Thankfully the worst of her confinement had occurred during the summer holidays, but she'd still had to take on missions for the Order so it appeared that there was nothing amiss. Luckily there had only been one close call where she had taken a stunner aimed at someone else, but it had only glanced off her shoulder and had not hit her squarely. She had gone straight to Poppy when she had returned and her friend had told her that everything was fine.
Then finally she'd been almost nine months pregnant, and Minerva had dreaded the birth. Not because she feared it, but because she had come to ferociously love the life that had been growing inside her, especially knowing that the infant was part of the man she would always love.
She had hoped that the birth might occur during the summer holidays even though she wasn't due until the end of September. Poppy had laughed at her when she'd voiced this thought, and told her that babies turned up when they were good and ready. However, she'd also assured her that she had everything prepared, and September one passed her by and the new school year started.
The month of September was the most harrowing that the Gryffindor witch could ever remember. She was constantly exhausted and she felt like a beached whale, even if she didn't look it. Then tragedy struck; she received a letter from her brother, Robert, informing her that Dougal McGregor had been killed in an accident.
He had never fathered children with his wife; she had rejected him soon after they had married when she'd learned that she was his second choice, and now he had died without ever knowing that he was about to become a father. The stress and grief had brought on her labour, and Poppy had seen her friend through a difficult delivery.
Thankfully it had been a Friday night, and Dumbledore had excused Minerva her patrols for the weekend because she had received such bad news the day before. In a way it made it easier for her because she had an excuse around Dumbledore for being so morose for the next weeks.
The two friends had managed to keep Minerva's secret and Poppy had placed as many security and silencing charms on Minerva's quarters as she could think off for the baby's arrival. It took almost all night, but finally the infant had been born, and an exhausted Minerva had sat in her bed breast-feeding her tiny daughter as tears of joy, sorrow and confusion ran freely down her face.
The next day, Poppy had informed Albus Dumbledore that Minerva had collapsed in grief the night before, and she asked if she could escort her back to Caithness for Dougal's funeral. He had duly agreed, and Sunday afternoon, Minerva and Poppy had walked down the driveway of Hogwarts and out of the school.
No one had even suspected that the basket Minerva was carrying contained an infant, who was being delivered to a Muggles couple, Jean and Richard Granger. Minerva had listened as Poppy's sister told her what lovely people the Granger's were, and she'd kissed her daughter's forehead, whispering a protection spell over her before handing her over. It was the single hardest thing she had ever done, but they'd had a war to fight, and she'd known that she might not survive that.
xox
As Minerva was reminiscing, Severus and Hermione were having dinner at a quaint little seaside restaurant and taking advantage of the fairly temperate spring night to walk along the pier outside. The weather had been tempestuous all week; one minute it was mild, like at this moment, but then without too much warning it could change back to winter conditions.
They were walking hand in hand along the pathway, and Severus had noticed that Hermione was wearing out. She'd started to limp slightly, something that he'd noticed happened when she'd walked too much, and he reluctantly decided that it might be time to go home.
He'd deliberately brought Hermione to this remote Muggle village because he knew that they wouldn't meet anyone they knew. He did not thing that she was ready to face people outside their family yet, and as he was thinking this she spoke.
"It is so beautiful here. So peaceful. Thank you for this evening."
He looked at her and saw her looking up at him with soft eyes. He pulled them to a halt. "It was my pleasure, Hermione," he replied, his head lowered to hers.
They were both wearing overcoats, but the wind suddenly seemed to change direction, and they were not prepared for the cold front that rolled in whipping their coat around them in an icy blast.
Hermione shivered and Severus reluctantly broke their kiss. "Time to leave," he murmured.
"Yes, I suppose it is," she replied softly, sounding reluctant.
Severus smiled at her, and said, "We will make this a regular date," and dropping a notice-me –not charm around them, apparated them away, and they were suddenly standing in their entrance way.
"I'd like that," Hermione answered as they landed, and she pulled his head back down to continue their kiss.
He chuckled softly as she did so, and Hermione knew just by the way this rich dark sound reverberated around inside of her setting off all kinds of reactions that she was ready to take this relationship further, but right now her senses were too consumed with the feel of his mouth on hers to articulate anything else.
The sound of Minerva stoking the fire up in the sitting room drew them from their kiss, and Severus said, "We had best allow Minerva to get home to her bed."
"Yes, she's probably tired," Hermione agreed.
They linked hands and headed into the sitting room. It was late, a glance at the grandfather clock in the hall as she passed it told Hermione that they'd walked for almost an hour before they'd come home. The restaurant had closed at ten, and it was now ten past eleven, way past Hermione's usual bedtime, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
Minerva rose stiffly from her chair as she saw them, but she had a smile on her face. "Hello," she greeted them. "You both look happy."
"Yes, we had a wonderful time," Hermione gushed, turning her eyes to Severus.
"Yes, lovely," Severus agreed.
Minerva watched them for a moment, and then said, "Well, it's time for me to bid you both good night."
Hearing this, Hermione came forward and pulled Minerva into a hug. "Thank you for staying with Alice. We appreciate it."
"My pleasure," Minerva replied, kissing Hermione's cheek and squeezing Severus' arm as she walked by him.
They heard Minerva apparate away from the entranceway, and Hermione found she could not stop the yawn that escaped her moments later.
"I was going to suggest supper," Severus said from beside her, "But you need your rest, love. Allow me to escort you upstairs."
"Thank you," Hermione replied sleepily. "One day I'll be strong again," she muttered.
"But until then we'll just make sure you have enough rest," and without warning he swept her up into his arms. "Starting now."
"Severus!" she giggled.
"No, I will not hear of you walking. I want to care for you, and I will," he declared, easily carrying her.
"I love you," she whispered, gazing up at him with doe eyes.
"And I you," he replied, kissing her quickly. "Now, to bed, and rest."