Hermione left the Hospital Wing with some amount of trepidation. She and
Snape had talked and although she thought she had explained why she felt
the need to return briefly to the future - er, present - she felt that it
had gone badly. Okay, she knew it had gone badly.
He didn't even seem to be excited about the baby, she thought sadly. It was more like - well, resignation on his part. Of course, nearly twenty years had probably dimmed the anticipation for him. Or, perhaps he didn't want the baby now at all. Her hand dropped to gently caress her stomach. Poppy had been prepared to treat her and the potential miscarriage had been avoided. Things were going to be fine. She even knew what sex the baby was and could not wait to tell Snape. Maybe that will help him get excited again about being a father.
But, the fact that she had been in the Hospital Wing for the last three days and she hadn't seen her lovely husband again was a bit upsetting. Dumbledore wouldn't tell her anything, nor would Poppy. They just kept telling her to give him some time.
Well, it has been a long time for him, she groused. But I still would have thought he'd be happy to see me. Of course, I was the one who did the leaving last week - or years ago, actually - so maybe he's mad about that. Damn time turner. What was I thinking? I knew he had left Voldemort's ranks and become a spy for our side, so why did it all panic me so badly?
Hormones, she swiftly decided.
Death Eater induced panic attack mostly over - it *did* still bother her that he wore the Mark, she wouldn't lie about that - she was beginning to get excited about being home with her friends, her parents and family and her husband. And their coming child. She just wished that she knew what Severus was thinking.
Hell, she sadly mused, he probably has forgotten that we were even trying to get pregnant. Now that he's moved on and made a life for himself as a single man, he probably sees my return and the baby as a hassle. What does the evil potions master and former Voldemort double agent, Severus Snape, need with a wife and baby? Much easier to do the satanic James Bond act without any little attachments, right?
She sighed and trudged on down to their suite of rooms in the dungeons. Snape had apparently changed the wards so that she could still enter, as she didn't have to provide a password to the concealed doorway. That's a good sign, right? she asked herself. Taking a deep breath and protectively patting her lower abdomen, she entered.
Her first thought was that little had changed. Still no fire in the fireplace, as Severus preferred to just put on another layer or heavier pajamas when he got chilled in their quarters. The kitchen and dining areas were still obsessively tidy, just like his laboratory always was. The sofas had been shifted in position a bit to accommodate a new pair of bookshelves, which were sagging under the weight of far too many books.
And there were packing boxes stacked against the shelves in the far corner. Hermione froze.
Boxes.
He's moving out.
She walked over to the boxes and opened the top one. She pulled out the crimson and gold outfit that Harry and Ron had purchased for her the day she vanished. It was his favorite gown and robes for her. She wore it the night he proposed, in fact.
Wait a minute. These boxes are full of my things, she realized.
Oh, shit.
*I'm* moving out.
She walked over to the fireplace, lighted it with a flick of her wand, and sat. Stroking the silk of her old gown, she tried to make sense of the two Severus' that were warring for attention in her brain. True, she dearly loved her young, ambitious and less sulky version - but she had sometimes found herself looking at him and thinking about the bad boy he was to become. She shivered a bit at the thought of the mature, darkly brooding, rugged man her husband was now. Grinning a bit, she had to admit to herself that she liked it. Her pregnant body's rampaging hormones had definitely responded to his touch and kiss the other night in the Hospital Wing.
But the new age difference sucks, she thought. That unspoken thought was swiftly followed by the idea that the word "sucks" was most likely no longer in her older husband's vocabulary - and that he probably wouldn't appreciate it in normal conversation, either. Well, we'll just have to adjust, now won't we? she mused.
"We've always been able to work things out before," she said to the empty room. "We can handle this too, Severus."
***
Hermione tore her gaze from the fireplace and stared - no, glared - at her lover of six months. He grinned at her, but had the grace to at least look confused, as he sat next to her in front of the library's roaring fire.
"Hey, I've been looking all over for you. Are you ready to go?" he said, looking at her appreciatively. She had on his favorite gown and robes - damn, but she looked good in Gryffindor colors. He reached for her hand. "Angel?"
His overture was met with silence.
"So. How was your afternoon?"
More silence.
"Hermione?"
She turned on him and spat: "I thought we were going to dinner tonight in wizarding Paris?"
Confused, Severus looked at his girlfriend in shock. What was eating *her?*
"We are, that's why I've been looking for you. Come on, go get your cloak and we'll go. It took me a week to get permission from Dumbledore, and I'll catch hell if we ask to reschedule," Severus said, trying another grin.
Hermione turned on him, fury fading. She simply looked at him with a blank, emotionless stare.
"Then why don't you ask Lucinda to go with you? I wouldn't want you to miss out on the opportunity to go because of me," she said, venom poorly concealed behind a plastic smile and pleasant words. With that, she stood and left the library, leaving a stunned Severus Snape wearing a rather stiff set of formal dress robes and staring into the flames.
This was *not* how he planned the night to go.
Moments later, he had caught up with her in the hallways near Gryffindor Tower.
"Hermione, what the hell is wrong with you?" he hissed. "And why would I want to take Lucinda, your best friend? I love you. I've spent a long time planning tonight for our six-month anniversary. I want to spend it with you."
She turned on him with the speed and spitting poison of a viper.
"I saw you, Severus! Professor McGonagall asked me go to Hogsmeade today to pick up some lab mice for one of her classes. I saw you holding hands with Lucinda! And not just holding hands, you - you -- were *caressing* her hand! Standing in the street! So anyone could see you!" she yelled, loud enough to get the attention of the students lounging around the Gryffindor common room.
Severus looked at the small crowd that was beginning to gather.
"Did you want to hurt me in the most public way possible? Did you think I wouldn't find out? You are an ass, Severus Snape," she said, each word impaling him with its sharpness. "I don't know what I ever saw in your Slytherin -"
"Hermione, you're being silly," he stammered, stunned. "I wasn't holding her hand. Please, just go get your cloak and I'll explain things once we get to the restaurant. Please. You are making a scene and you'll only regret it later."
"No."
"Hermione -"
"The only thing I regret is ever sleeping with you."
Her words hit him like a physical blow, sending him falling back to lean against the cold, stone wall. A slap would have actually been preferable, thought Severus. She turned and began to storm to the Gryffindor common room while her housemates looked like they would like to tear him to pieces. He and Lucinda exchanged glances past Hermione's shoulder and he swiftly made the decision.
"Marry me, Hermione," he called, desperate.
The corridor, filled just moments ago with the noise of their argument and the excited whispers of their audience, was suddenly dead silent. Hermione stopped. She didn't turn around to face him, but whispered: "What did you say?"
"Marry me."
She turned to look at him. A quirk of an eyebrow let him know he had some further explaining to do.
"Lucinda went to Hogsmeade with me to buy your engagement ring," he said, pulling a small green velvet pouch from his robes. "She found a charm that would adjust her hand size to yours. That's why she kept squeezing your hand at breakfast - she couldn't get it to work at first. When you saw us, we were trying to get the counter-charm to work so she could have her own hand back."
Hermione looked at Lucinda with a questioning glance. Lucinda smiled at her encouragingly. She looked back at Severus, who was walking towards her cautiously. Stopping in front of her, he knelt in a flourish of robes.
"This isn't exactly how I planned it, you know. I'm not big on audiences, Hermione," he said, jerking his head to indicate the hushed throng of students. "But, since you haven't answered my question ---"
He pulled a platinum and diamond ring from the pouch and looked up at her.
"Hermione Granger, I love you and I want to marry you. Will you be my wife?" he asked simply.
Hermione took a moment to find her voice, then smiled.
"Yes, of course I will, Severus. I love you, too."
A cheer arose from the amassed students as Severus slipped the ring on her finger. More hoots and a few teary sniffs echoed through the hallway when he then pulled her into a searing kiss. Laughing, he broke the kiss after a few moments and buried his face in her hair, whispering:
"Now can we go to Paris?"
***
"Hermione."
The word brought her out of her reverie. She looked up and smiled, feeling a bit drowsy from the warmth of the fire and because the baby was beginning to sap her energy. She looked up at her husband and smiled.
He didn't smile back. He had his bastard Snape persona on - full force, she thought. He moved to the fireplace and flicked the flames out with his wand before turning to her with a grim look on his face in the now-shadowed room.
"Hermione, we need to talk."
Tbc
Again, thanks so much for the reviews. I feel like I'm learning something from writing this short fic, so please don't hesitate to give me input on my technique. Dialogue scares me the most, to be honest. Again, thanks!
He didn't even seem to be excited about the baby, she thought sadly. It was more like - well, resignation on his part. Of course, nearly twenty years had probably dimmed the anticipation for him. Or, perhaps he didn't want the baby now at all. Her hand dropped to gently caress her stomach. Poppy had been prepared to treat her and the potential miscarriage had been avoided. Things were going to be fine. She even knew what sex the baby was and could not wait to tell Snape. Maybe that will help him get excited again about being a father.
But, the fact that she had been in the Hospital Wing for the last three days and she hadn't seen her lovely husband again was a bit upsetting. Dumbledore wouldn't tell her anything, nor would Poppy. They just kept telling her to give him some time.
Well, it has been a long time for him, she groused. But I still would have thought he'd be happy to see me. Of course, I was the one who did the leaving last week - or years ago, actually - so maybe he's mad about that. Damn time turner. What was I thinking? I knew he had left Voldemort's ranks and become a spy for our side, so why did it all panic me so badly?
Hormones, she swiftly decided.
Death Eater induced panic attack mostly over - it *did* still bother her that he wore the Mark, she wouldn't lie about that - she was beginning to get excited about being home with her friends, her parents and family and her husband. And their coming child. She just wished that she knew what Severus was thinking.
Hell, she sadly mused, he probably has forgotten that we were even trying to get pregnant. Now that he's moved on and made a life for himself as a single man, he probably sees my return and the baby as a hassle. What does the evil potions master and former Voldemort double agent, Severus Snape, need with a wife and baby? Much easier to do the satanic James Bond act without any little attachments, right?
She sighed and trudged on down to their suite of rooms in the dungeons. Snape had apparently changed the wards so that she could still enter, as she didn't have to provide a password to the concealed doorway. That's a good sign, right? she asked herself. Taking a deep breath and protectively patting her lower abdomen, she entered.
Her first thought was that little had changed. Still no fire in the fireplace, as Severus preferred to just put on another layer or heavier pajamas when he got chilled in their quarters. The kitchen and dining areas were still obsessively tidy, just like his laboratory always was. The sofas had been shifted in position a bit to accommodate a new pair of bookshelves, which were sagging under the weight of far too many books.
And there were packing boxes stacked against the shelves in the far corner. Hermione froze.
Boxes.
He's moving out.
She walked over to the boxes and opened the top one. She pulled out the crimson and gold outfit that Harry and Ron had purchased for her the day she vanished. It was his favorite gown and robes for her. She wore it the night he proposed, in fact.
Wait a minute. These boxes are full of my things, she realized.
Oh, shit.
*I'm* moving out.
She walked over to the fireplace, lighted it with a flick of her wand, and sat. Stroking the silk of her old gown, she tried to make sense of the two Severus' that were warring for attention in her brain. True, she dearly loved her young, ambitious and less sulky version - but she had sometimes found herself looking at him and thinking about the bad boy he was to become. She shivered a bit at the thought of the mature, darkly brooding, rugged man her husband was now. Grinning a bit, she had to admit to herself that she liked it. Her pregnant body's rampaging hormones had definitely responded to his touch and kiss the other night in the Hospital Wing.
But the new age difference sucks, she thought. That unspoken thought was swiftly followed by the idea that the word "sucks" was most likely no longer in her older husband's vocabulary - and that he probably wouldn't appreciate it in normal conversation, either. Well, we'll just have to adjust, now won't we? she mused.
"We've always been able to work things out before," she said to the empty room. "We can handle this too, Severus."
***
Hermione tore her gaze from the fireplace and stared - no, glared - at her lover of six months. He grinned at her, but had the grace to at least look confused, as he sat next to her in front of the library's roaring fire.
"Hey, I've been looking all over for you. Are you ready to go?" he said, looking at her appreciatively. She had on his favorite gown and robes - damn, but she looked good in Gryffindor colors. He reached for her hand. "Angel?"
His overture was met with silence.
"So. How was your afternoon?"
More silence.
"Hermione?"
She turned on him and spat: "I thought we were going to dinner tonight in wizarding Paris?"
Confused, Severus looked at his girlfriend in shock. What was eating *her?*
"We are, that's why I've been looking for you. Come on, go get your cloak and we'll go. It took me a week to get permission from Dumbledore, and I'll catch hell if we ask to reschedule," Severus said, trying another grin.
Hermione turned on him, fury fading. She simply looked at him with a blank, emotionless stare.
"Then why don't you ask Lucinda to go with you? I wouldn't want you to miss out on the opportunity to go because of me," she said, venom poorly concealed behind a plastic smile and pleasant words. With that, she stood and left the library, leaving a stunned Severus Snape wearing a rather stiff set of formal dress robes and staring into the flames.
This was *not* how he planned the night to go.
Moments later, he had caught up with her in the hallways near Gryffindor Tower.
"Hermione, what the hell is wrong with you?" he hissed. "And why would I want to take Lucinda, your best friend? I love you. I've spent a long time planning tonight for our six-month anniversary. I want to spend it with you."
She turned on him with the speed and spitting poison of a viper.
"I saw you, Severus! Professor McGonagall asked me go to Hogsmeade today to pick up some lab mice for one of her classes. I saw you holding hands with Lucinda! And not just holding hands, you - you -- were *caressing* her hand! Standing in the street! So anyone could see you!" she yelled, loud enough to get the attention of the students lounging around the Gryffindor common room.
Severus looked at the small crowd that was beginning to gather.
"Did you want to hurt me in the most public way possible? Did you think I wouldn't find out? You are an ass, Severus Snape," she said, each word impaling him with its sharpness. "I don't know what I ever saw in your Slytherin -"
"Hermione, you're being silly," he stammered, stunned. "I wasn't holding her hand. Please, just go get your cloak and I'll explain things once we get to the restaurant. Please. You are making a scene and you'll only regret it later."
"No."
"Hermione -"
"The only thing I regret is ever sleeping with you."
Her words hit him like a physical blow, sending him falling back to lean against the cold, stone wall. A slap would have actually been preferable, thought Severus. She turned and began to storm to the Gryffindor common room while her housemates looked like they would like to tear him to pieces. He and Lucinda exchanged glances past Hermione's shoulder and he swiftly made the decision.
"Marry me, Hermione," he called, desperate.
The corridor, filled just moments ago with the noise of their argument and the excited whispers of their audience, was suddenly dead silent. Hermione stopped. She didn't turn around to face him, but whispered: "What did you say?"
"Marry me."
She turned to look at him. A quirk of an eyebrow let him know he had some further explaining to do.
"Lucinda went to Hogsmeade with me to buy your engagement ring," he said, pulling a small green velvet pouch from his robes. "She found a charm that would adjust her hand size to yours. That's why she kept squeezing your hand at breakfast - she couldn't get it to work at first. When you saw us, we were trying to get the counter-charm to work so she could have her own hand back."
Hermione looked at Lucinda with a questioning glance. Lucinda smiled at her encouragingly. She looked back at Severus, who was walking towards her cautiously. Stopping in front of her, he knelt in a flourish of robes.
"This isn't exactly how I planned it, you know. I'm not big on audiences, Hermione," he said, jerking his head to indicate the hushed throng of students. "But, since you haven't answered my question ---"
He pulled a platinum and diamond ring from the pouch and looked up at her.
"Hermione Granger, I love you and I want to marry you. Will you be my wife?" he asked simply.
Hermione took a moment to find her voice, then smiled.
"Yes, of course I will, Severus. I love you, too."
A cheer arose from the amassed students as Severus slipped the ring on her finger. More hoots and a few teary sniffs echoed through the hallway when he then pulled her into a searing kiss. Laughing, he broke the kiss after a few moments and buried his face in her hair, whispering:
"Now can we go to Paris?"
***
"Hermione."
The word brought her out of her reverie. She looked up and smiled, feeling a bit drowsy from the warmth of the fire and because the baby was beginning to sap her energy. She looked up at her husband and smiled.
He didn't smile back. He had his bastard Snape persona on - full force, she thought. He moved to the fireplace and flicked the flames out with his wand before turning to her with a grim look on his face in the now-shadowed room.
"Hermione, we need to talk."
Tbc
Again, thanks so much for the reviews. I feel like I'm learning something from writing this short fic, so please don't hesitate to give me input on my technique. Dialogue scares me the most, to be honest. Again, thanks!