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Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor .
"I though you had a key, you silly boy...Oh, pardon, Sir, I mistook you for Henry." She dropped her towel at the sight of her former professor, but bent quickly and tucked it tight in her hand.
"May I help you?" She asked, noting that he seemed flustered by her attire.
"Henry asked earlier if Michael would like to join you for dinner, but I wanted to ascertain if the invitation was indeed offered from you, Madame Stuart." She laughed slightly at the man before her, so concerned with social etiquette yet still so domineering and cold where politeness would have been appreciated.
"Michael is always welcome at my table, Severus." She said, feeling the clumsiness using of his name slide off her tongue. "As well as Atticus, Sallie, and Harrison if they would like to come. You as well, if you could dismiss the lack of formality in our habits." She brought the towel to her face and dabbed where perspiration had accumulated.
"Very, well, Michael may come to dinner and I will come for him around eight."
"He is welcome to stay the night." She interrupted.
"I doubt he will remain as tomorrow is an important day for him." Severus replied, watching her hands move from her face to her side, arching an eyebrow at her unruly hair.
"What day is that, Sir."
"His parents passed four years ago tomorrow and as his Uncle and guardian, I feel he should spend this time with his siblings."
"Yes, to remind him so..." She stopped not wanting to offend the man before her, although she disagreed with his ideas of mourning and remembrance. "I expect them soon. Michael will be ready by eight for your return, promptly. Good evening, professor, sir, Severus." She stammered trying to shoo him from her foyer and onto the cobblestone.
"Do you disagree with my decision, Hermione?" He asked, the exact look in his eyes she had seen many times as a student. She turned to face him, the sound of her name on his lips was graceless and choppy.
"Yes, but I will not disrespect you or your decision." The towel had fallen once again from her grasp and the chilled air was beginning to cool her body.
"Why do you disagree?" he asked, bending to pick the towel up from the stone floor.
"I will not argue with you about our separate methods of mourning and childrearing. I find that theses types of arguments become childish and snide. And as neither of us are children, I suggest we stop the discussion." She pulled her arms around her front and stood erect, taller then she had been all day.
"No, we are not children." He stepped from her doorway and turned towards his home.
"Henry flies well." He added.
"Gryffindor refuses to have him on their team. He tried out in October, but they claimed he was too small, show me another twelve year old that tall and I will admit he is short. I've written Minerva on the subject, but she says there's nothing she can really do. He practices with ravenclaw sometimes, but I fear he his weakness is being able to play on a team as a teammate. He has flown competitively for years, he just doesn't understand the ethics of team work."
"They have a promising team this year, not that I would ever admit that to Minerva."
"Yes, I've heard. I cannot fly, especially now and with Harry so busy and Ron in the wheel chair, Henry has no one to fly with him aside from Michael and that's only on break. A Gryffindor and Slytherin can't really be seen teaming up so closely at Hogwarts, especially when Quidditch is involved." She folded her arms even tighter around her breasts and stared towards Severus's field with a look of sadness in her eyes.
"Did your husband fly competitively?" He asked, stunning her as he had never asked about her husband before.
"Yes, for a while, but he rather got caught up in his research and stopped flying."
"What did he research?"
"The magical properties of the blood. Basically why some people are born squibs and some wizards or witches, like me, from muggle parents. It intrigued him that someone like me had magical power where his sister had none whatsoever." Severus nodded his head and then Hermione felt as though perhaps he had been trying to be polite in asking her and perhaps she shouldn't have expanded on her thought.
"Are you continuing his research?"
"Yes, eventually. I hired Sallie so I would have more time to get things done, but it seems all I have done is re write everything Wallace already had finished." She stepped back slightly from her door and wondered if he would mind is she sat down squarely on the floor.
"Sallie enjoys working with you." He replied blandly, noticing the odd way in which she stood, one leg as if jelly hanging from her body and the other stiff as a board.
"If you don't mind, Severus, I am extremely tired and really need to get dinner ready so I can sit down for a minute." He looked almost offended as she finished her speech.
"Of course, excuse me from keeping you"
"I mean, you are welcome to stay while I get everything ready and for dinner as well, if you would like, Ron's eating with friends. The boys should be home any minute as it is." He hesitated for second and then walked past her slowly, breathing in the smell of her hair as he walked beyond her.
"By the way, you were a very believable passer-by today. Ron and Harry were quite grateful." She noted the small smirk grace his lips and leave as quickly as it had come. In no time, she was in the kitchen removing the roast from the oven and basting it for about the hundredth time that day. She loved cooking the muggle way as it made her feel she had accomplished something.
"Would you like some wine?" She asked, going to the cellar to grab some wine and herbs.
"That would be sufficient." He replied, watching her walk to the cellar, her hair slowly falling from atop her head.
"If you don't mind, I am going to freshen up a bit before the boys get back. Henry gets embarrassed when I don't wear popular clothing around his friends. I fear I've become a wicked old stepmother." Hermione poured his wine and showed him to the den and then went to the stairwell quickly. She wanted to find something decent to wear that didn't make her look like a whale and still didn't cut her waist too tight. She tore her clothes off and changed swiftly, not wanting Severus to be waiting in her clustered home for too long unattended.
As she rounded the bottom steps, she heard muffled voices coming from the den.
"Only if you understand that I am willing to help teach you and that I can't make any promises, Henry." She heard Severus say.
"Of course, Master Snape." She walked towards Henry and hugged him firmly.
"Did you have a good time with Harry and Ron?" She asked, going over to Michael to take his coat.
"They have the new Nimbus 3000 out, but they want a great bundle for it. Michael and I got to test it in the alley." She gave him a stern look and wondered how Severus had taken the news.
"They still let you test the brooms in the alley?" Severus asked the boys.
"Yes, uncle, they let us and it was fantastic." Michael imitated his Uncle's half-smile and flicked Henry in the arm.
"Freshen up, boys, dinner will be ready in about five minutes."
"Yes, Mum." Henry and Michael walked towards the bathroom, laughing at their silly guardians and their lack of knowledge.
"Sorry about that, Severus. I didn't know they would be testing the brooms."
"It's quite alright." She showed the gentleman into the dining room and had them sit. It wasn't often that they actually dined in the dining room, as Hermione and Wallace were usually caught up in their work and just threw something together last minute for Henry to eat. Henry, on the other hand, liked the formality of a formal dinner. He liked the polite way in which people talked and ate their meal.
"Do you need a hand, mum?" Henry called from his chair, noticing her loud humph from the room.
"No, dear, that isn't necessary." She called back in mock-happy housewife tone. She was having trouble carrying the baking tray of roast with both hands without burning her other arm. Without heeding his mother, Henry went to the kitchen and helped her take the roast out to the table.
"Thank you, sweetheart." She said, watching him carry the pan. It wasn't often that he offered to help her with dinner and she rather liked it. She did suspect that he was trying to make Severus see him as responsible and not childish in any fashion.
"I hope you all like the roast. Henry always enjoys it w hen he comes home from school." Hermione passed the bread to Michael and noticed Severus was looking at her with a peculiar eye.
"My mother made roast as well, but she usually burnt it, not that it didn't still taste good, we just gave most of it to Milo, our dog." Michael laughed a bit, smiling towards Hermione and his Uncle.
"Mum's do that sometimes, I'm afraid." They ate relatively silent for the rest of the meal, aside from people asking for bread or potatoes. She felt secure in knowing that her roast wasn't a complete loss as they asked for seconds. In no time, their plates were empty and their stomachs pleasantly filled.
"How are Atticus and Harrison doing with school?" Hermione asked, standing to take the plates to the kitchen.
"Far better than they would if they were still at Crawford's. Harrison is grasping concepts that aren't introduced until the first grade, which I find remarkable. Atticus has always been a fine student, he simply has a hard time performing what he has learned."
"Has he been tested for any learning disorders?" She asked, returning to the dining room with coffee and cakes.
"Unfortunately, there really isn't testing for young wizard children as any kind of learning disorder is looked down upon." Severus replied, sipping the red wine in his glass as if it were poison, testing each sip for a bitter remnant.
"I can run some tests on him some time. I studied with a child psychiatrist while we lived in Caithness. I mean, if that would be agreeable." Hermione offered, knowing he was probably too proud to allow his nephew to be subject to muggle testing.
"Anything to help him understand his genius." Severus answered, his eyes revealing true desire to help his nephew, his face blank of all emotion. She tried not to seem surprised in his answer, but couldn't help but imagine that somewhere, deep down, he was a better person than he let on.
"Are they on a break from their tutoring?"
"Yes, they are on a small break. Atticus has gone with Sallie to visit some friends tonight, but they will be home tomorrow." It was Henry's loud yawn that broke the two from their obvious other-dimension and back to the world in which they had two young fellows ready for bed. Hermione walked the cake plates to the kitchen and wiped her brow from sweat. It wasn't often that she sweat, it was only during the warmer nights over even warmer stoves that she sweat. Before returning to the dining room, she rested her arms on the island between the sink and range, and bowed her head into them. Was she lonesome? Were the emotions in her heart simply too much for her to enjoy a peaceful night in her home with friends? She rested there for a few minutes, wiped her face free of melancholy, and returned to the men waiting for her dismissal.
"It was a pleasure having you both for dinner tonight. I fear we hardly entertain guests anymore." Hermione said, wiping her hands on her dress and patting Henry's shoulder.
"Thank you inviting us, Hermione." Michael stated, looking up towards the young woman and then his Uncle whose eyes were poison at the mention of her given name.
"Yes, Madame, thank you." Severus bowed his head and tapped his nephew on the shoulder to motion him away from the table. They walked slowly to the door, but before exiting, Severus turned to Hermione.
"I have offered to help Henry learn to fly more productively. I hope this isn't a problem."
"No, Severus, it is perfectly fine. He will benefit, greatly, I am sure." She moved her eyes from his and looked on to the boys walking together in perfect unison. They looked like brothers walking together, so slim and tall, yet still so innocent and young. She wondered what Henry had been through at school and how the others treated him.
"Henry seems to be adjusting." Severus said, noticing Hermione's concerned face.
"I hope I have helped him and not hurt him with these changes."
"Some things are unpredictable. I would never have predicted, when you were a student, that I would have dinner at your home or have a conversation about the education of my nephews and your help in this. These things are life and I assume there is more to this story than meets the eye yet." He bowed once more and stepped in front of her to go towards the gate.
"Thank you again, Master Snape for offering to help Henry, he needs someone to be firm with him."
"I will bring Atticus with me when it is convenient for you to test him." With that, he continued out of the gate and accompanied his nephew up the pathway to their home. Henry walked back towards the house and gave his Mum a large hug.
"Michael thinks you are beautiful." She laughed at his statement, but felt flattered all the same.
"You two are a mess, I am sure." Henry closed the door behind him and walked with his Mum to the kitchen.
"Did you enjoy Hogsmeade, I mean more than just trying the broom?"
"Harry introduced me to this really nice man named Seamus who ran the new ice cream shoppe in Hogsmeade. He told me this great story about you and Ron. Can't believe Ron used to like you that way...I mean, come on, like you would've ever dated him." Henry rolled his eyes and scrubbed a couple dishes and rinsed them in the sink.
"He and I were too opposite. I believe he just wanted someone to do his homework."
"Michael has a girlfriend. Her name is Stephanie and she is in Ravenclaw."
"That's nice."
"Not really, she doesn't like me so much and when we have quidditch games, she doesn't like for me to sit with him. She especially doesn't like Athena, but we're not officially dating anyway" Hermione put the remainder of the dishes up and put her arm around his tense shoulder.
"How old is she?"
"fifteen."
"He certainly likes them older, huh? Well, I would recommend finding something that she likes and trying to show her you like it too or find out why she doesn't like you to sit with them. Young girls and most older ones get really possessive of their boyfriends and don't want their male friends around."
"She doesn't like that we are friends. I thought it was because I was in Gryffindor, but then her sister is in Gryffindor too, so that can't be it. It's bad enough that people look at Michael and I oddly because he's in Slytherin."
"How could anyone not like you, sweetheart? Are you cruel to her?" Hermione walked with Henry to the second floor and then to his room, a complete mess of clothes and schoolbooks.
"I have tried to be nice to her, like I saved a seat for her during the Halloween feast in the Great Hall next to Michael and me, but she acted like I poisoned her pumpkin juice or something."
"Sometimes girls are just like that, honey, not that I ever was. Perhaps she is intimidated by your friendship. It does happen sometimes. Your father was intimidated by Harry and Ron at first because they knew me so differently than he did. They were with me through everything and he felt as though he couldn't compete with that. But, our life became another adventure that Harry and Ron couldn't understand because they weren't married. You see what I mean?" Hermione started to pick up clothes around his room and noticed the picture of Wallace and herself at their first home together. She picked the picture up and wondered if perhaps that Henry missed his real Mum or even viewed her as a Mum at all.
"I understand completely, Mum, girls are trouble." Henry laughed as Hermione returned the picture to it's home on Henry's dusty bedside table. She looked towards the boy who would never be hers biologically, but who she loved as if she had carried him with her as the child now in her womb. In silence, she moved to his side and rested her hands on his shoulders.
"Do you miss your Mum and Dad, Henry?" Hermione asked, emotions boiling over from the day.
"Of course I miss Dad, but I can't make him come back, so I don't dwell on it and you shouldn't either. You have my brother or sister to be taking care of. And as for my Mum, well you are my Mum." Hermione hugged Henry for the hundredth time that day and felt more at peace then she had in months.
"I love you, Henry."
"Of course you do, how could you not?" She walked from his room to her own and decided that she needed to change the bed spread to something less sterile, something more red.
