Chapter 6: Headquarters as Home
Harry helped Hermione move into her room for the summer. Tonks and Remus had already left for their honeymoon. Harry had offered Hermione her own room in the house so she wouldn't have to share when Ginny came to visit. There were plenty of bedrooms in the house and now that he had Dobby and Winky there was no reason not to open them up. They had tried to conserve rooms before to keep down on the amount of cleaning. "This will be your room," Harry told her with a smile as he took her into a room facing the front of the house. It was in the same part of the house as the room he was moving Gabrielle and Ginny's rooms to. He had decided to reorganize the room assignments to make things easier.
The Longbottoms had a whole wing/corridor to themselves. They were in the back of the house away from everyone else. Harry liked that they were able to have their privacy. He had changed on of the bedrooms into a sitting room and another into a small eat-in kitchen so they would not have to venture out into the rest of the house if they didn't want to. There were rooms for Neville, his parents and his grandmother as well.
He had also set up the Weasleys in a corridor that was off of the one his and Ron's old room was on. He had Mr. and Mrs. Weasley set up across from the two rooms reserved for Bill and Fleur as well as the extra rooms he added for Charlie and the twins. Ron was still set up in their old room and he had moved Draco into the room Ginny and Hermione used to share. The girls were in a corridor to themselves the next floor up. There were separate rooms for Hermione, Gabrielle, Ginny and Luna all with their own bathrooms. His room (Sirius' old one) was in the same corridor as Remus' and Tonks room and he liked to think of it as the family wing since it also housed the gigantic master bedroom that used to belong to Sirius' parents and the nursery. Remus and Tonks were in the room that had been reserved for visiting family so it was very large and luxurious, just not quite as big as the empty master bedroom.
There were also three other areas reserved for Order members. The only room he was unsure of was where to put Professor Snape for the summer. He figured he would just ask him which room he would like when he arrived. Dobby had mentioned that Snape already had a room set up, but Harry didn't know where it was.
"So do you like your room?" Harry asked as he finished helping Hermione with her luggage. "I thought it would be nice if you had your own space since you'll be here all summer. I know how you like your privacy."
"Thank you Harry, it's great. I know I'll need the personal space with all the people who will be coming and going." Hermione said giving him a hug. "I really like the windows and the view isn't that bad from up here." There was a large bay window that overlooked the park near the house. The room was large and had a beautiful cherry wood desk and four poster bed as well as two good sized bookshelves. The bathroom was attached to the room and had a large soaking tub and separate shower.
"You can change anything in the room you like. This is your space now; I want it to feel like home for you. We can buy you new furniture if you don't like this and you can have Winky help you with the décor. There are some nice shops in Diagon Alley you can get some new bedding there and maybe a new rug for the floor. This one has seen better days. Just charge it to my account. I'm having everyone else redecorate as well. Pretty soon this will actually start to feel like my house and not like the Noble House of Black." Harry told her with a big grin. "You can also look through the vault and see if there are any of the tapestries or paintings that you might like to hang in here."
Harry left her to unpack and rearrange the room how she would like it. Hermione loved the antique cherry wood furniture in the room and didn't want to change it at all but it was not arranged how she would like it in the room. She moved the two bookshelves to the corner of the room. She placed one on each wall and set her desk in front of them at an angle to make an office area. She then moved the bed to the opposite wall of the office and placed it against the wall with the cherry armoire against the same wall. She still had plenty of room to place two chairs and a small table for a sitting area in the other corner of the room.
She called for Winky and they set about redecorating. The room had been in deep greens and she wanted to brighten it up. They changed the walls to a buttery yellow color and restored the trim and moldings back to their cherry wood finish to match the furniture. The floors were grey stone and they changed them to be a more golden brown color. Hermione changed the hangings on the bed from the green velvet to a silky golden color. She changed the sheets to a cream color and the duvet cover to gold as well. She was going to take Harry up on his offer to buy new bedding since she didn't like the texture of the sheets and bedding. She loved the bathroom in its black marble with silver and gold flecks and only needed to purchase some accessories.
As it was still early in the day on Sunday since they had left Hogwarts after breakfast she decided to go shopping for her room immediately before she got wrapped up in her research. "Harry, do you want to go with me shopping in Diagon Alley for my room?" She asked as she went into the drawing room. "Oh, good morning Severus. I didn't think you would be here until tomorrow." She said upon seeing him talking to Harry.
"Good day to you as well Hermione," he said with a nod to his head. He had just finished talking with Harry about his room assignment for the summer. Harry had offered him his choice of rooms. Severus had always stayed in the same room since he arrived. He had found it the first time they explored the house. He had been exploring the top levels of the house and had run across a hidden door. He had found a large area that made a perfect potions lab with three rooms off of it as well as a large storage cabinet and bathroom. Harry had told him he could keep it as his workspace and could change it and redecorate as he saw fit.
"I'm going to the burrow today to see Ginny," Harry told her with a grin. "I can see if she wants to go shopping with you though, I don't want you to go by yourself."
Severus spoke up, "I was planning on heading to Diagon Alley myself, I can escort you if you wish. I need to stock my potions storage here and there were some things I also wished to purchase for my rooms. That is if you do not mind spending the afternoon in my presence."
"That sounds fine," Hermione said with a smile. "As long as it won't look inappropriate for you and I to be seen shopping for bedroom furnishings together."
"I shall wear a glamour charm; it would not be advisable if anyone saw me being voluntarily in your presence. It could get back to the Dark Lord and that would be painful to explain. I will be ready to leave in 30 minutes," he said and headed back to his rooms to get his list of needed ingredients and change his clothes.
When Severus met her in the entryway he was barely recognizable and he hadn't even performed the glamour charm yet. He was actually wearing muggle clothing. He was dressed in khaki pants, brown boots and a navy blue tight fitting polo shirt. He had a navy robe over the outfit that he wore open so you could see his clothing below. He nodded to her in greeting and performed the glamour charm. His hair shortened and turned brown, his skin took on a slightly darker coloring and his eyes lightened into a golden brown like hers, his face filled out some and his nose shrunk down. She smiled at his handiwork. "I figured that I could pass as your uncle if anyone inquired to my identity," he told her as he took her arm and apparated to the three broomsticks.
Snape first led her to a furniture store where he planned on purchasing furniture set for one of the extra rooms off the potions area. "I am looking to turn an extra room off of my bedroom into a sitting room and office," he told her as they looked around. "I am also looking for some more appropriate worktable for the potions room I have set up."
Hermione nodded and told him she was looking for a couple chairs and small table to complete her room. They wandered around the surprisingly large store in search of the perfect items. Hermione spotted the perfect deck for Severus first. It was a deep mahogany and was large and impressive. He liked it immediately after she pointed it out. Once they had the desk they concentrated on furniture in the same mahogany color for the rest of the room. The desk had a matching credenza with cabinets above as well as a matching coffee table and two end tables. He bought the set along with two very large and long bookcases as well as a small multi purpose table all in the same wood. Hermione had found the perfect table while they were looking. It had a carved cherry wood pedestal base in the shape of a very large bouquet of roses with a thick glass top. She had instantly fallen in love with the table and even Severus admired its workmanship.
They took longer finding the seating for their respective rooms. Severus finally decided upon a deep green plush sofa that Hermione had decided was the most comfortable thing she had ever sat upon and a pair of black leather wing back side chairs with mahogany clawed feet and details. He chose another wing back chair for behind his desk and two smaller occasional chairs for the table all three with the same material as the sofa. Hermione decided on plush cream colored arm chairs with subtle gold details. Once of the chairs was a recliner and the other had a matching ottoman. They purchased their pieces, shrunk them, charmed them to be feather light and sent them off with four different owls to headquarters.
Hermione was in heaven choosing her bedding. She immediately found the hangings for her bed. They were a deep gold spider silk. They were very thin and airy yet beautiful. She also purchased a duvet cover. The underside was the same color as the hangings and satin and the top was a swirl of creams and gold's. She purchased Egyptian cotton sheets in both cream and gold and a dust ruffle in the same gold spider silk as her hangings. She bought a few accent pillows in various gold's and creams and a new cream color shag rug that was extremely soft and warm. She also purchased new window coverings in the same gold and cream color pallet and a new cover and bolster pillows for the window seat of the bay window. She then bought some additional material to recover the desk chair and to make some more pillows if she decided she needed them.
The only thing else she purchased was furnishings for the bathroom. She got three different rungs and lots of fluffy towels along with all the bath accessories a girl could dream about. She even noticed Severus buy a new set of black satin sheets and black shag rug like hers (it really was comfortable). He hadn't said one thing to her about taking so long shopping.
Severus hated to admit that he was enjoying watching her shop. She had great taste in furnishings. She was classy without overdoing and had an eye for quality and workmanship. He was impressed with her muted pallet of creams and gold's and her explanation that the typical Gryffindor colors were too bright and loud to be relaxing in a bathroom. She had never even commented on his choice of black and green for his rooms. Once she was finished they headed to the apothecary to supply his new potions lab. It would be nice to have a fully stocked lab for the summer and any time he was at headquarters, it would also make their research much easier.
"Thank you for accompanying me today," Hermione told him as they left the potions shop. "I was relieved to be able to decorate and furnish my room for the summer. I don't think I could have taken the peeling paint and dark colors in my room for another break. This will let me be able to feel at home and be able to relax."
"It's getting late, why don't we have some dinner and then we can head back." Severus said as they walked down the alley. "There is a good bistro over there," he pointed to a small restaurant with maroon awnings.
"That sounds lovely; I'm starting to get hungry. Do you think we could stop by the book store before we leave? I thought we should see if there is anything there that could help in our research." She said as he escorted her into the bistro. They discussed the plans for their research over dinner.
They got back to headquarters around 8pm. "Would you like to help me organize and decorate my sitting room?" He asked her as they arrived. "You seem to have a knack for decorating unlike myself. I enjoy a well organized and decorated room but have no patience or skill at doing it myself."
"Sure, let's stop off at my rooms so I can drop off and enlarge all my purchases. You should know where my room is anyway incase I oversleep some morning. During the summer I tend to not want to get out of bed," She told him with a small laugh.
Severus was even more impressed with her after seeing her room. She enlarged the table and chairs and positioned them in the corner she had designated as the seating area. With a flick of her wand all the old bedding, window treatments and rug disappeared so she could set out the new ones. She used magic and quickly the bed was made and the window and window seat dressed in their new fabrics. He helped her carry the remaining bags into the bathroom and was surprised to see it decorated almost exactly like his was back at Hogwarts with black marble. She quickly arranged the items in the bath and proclaimed that she was finished for the night.
Harry entered her room right as they were ready to leave to tell them that Draco and Gabrielle had arrived and were getting settled. Harry was in awe of Hermione's room and told her she was going to have to help him with the rest of the house. "She is about to work her magic on my sitting room if you would like to join us?" Severus said to Harry. "There is a lot of organization and work needed to make it a fully workable space."
The three of them headed up towards Severus' lofty domain. He was at the very top of the house. "I find it amusing that at school you live in the lowest area of the castle yet here you live at the top." Harry told them as they climbed the last set of stairs.
Harry was impressed with the suite of rooms at the top of his house. The front room was what was set up as the potions lab and there were three rooms behind it as well as a very large storage room for ingredients and two bathrooms. The largest of the three rooms or Severus' bedroom has an attached bathroom. The room in the center was what he planed on using as a sitting room and the third was a spare bedroom.
"I want to convert this center room into a sitting room and office. I have already emptied the room of its furniture earlier and added doors to the bedrooms on other sides." Severus told them and Hermione smiled and headed into the empty sitting room to get started.
She enlarged the furniture and directed Harry and Severus where to put it all. The door to the room from the potions room was directly in the center of the wall and the wall opposite had windows. The other two walls each had a door to the bedrooms. Hermione decided the wall near the spare bedroom would be where the two very large bookcases would go. It gave the wall a library like feeling. Severus' desk credenza was placed along the far side of the wall shared with his bedroom and the desk was placed in front of that. Along the same wall they placed the sofa closer to the main door. The coffee table was in front of the sofa and the two leather wingback chairs were set facing the sofa and table to create a nice seating area. There was an end table placed between the two chairs and the other end table was placed in the corner between the sofa and the walls. The table and occasional chairs were placed in front of the wall of bookcases opposite the seating area. It would work as either an eating area or a place to research.
"This place looks great!" Draco said as he and Gabrielle walked in. Dobby had shown them to where the other three were hanging out. "Is this your space Severus?"
"Yes, Hermione is helping me decorate and make this place a good living environment," Snape told them. "Since Harry has allowed us each to revamp our spaces."
"Yes, we are going to go by some new bedding and furniture tomorrow," Gabrielle told them with a smile. "Draco is letting me decorate his room too."
They spent the next hour arranging accessories and Severus' things into the room. They had pulled all relevant books out of the house's library and restacked them on the shelves in this room. They moved to the potions lab after that and Hermione showed off her skill in transfiguration by making the lab more workable. Draco and Harry helped Severus organize the storage room and Gabrielle made the bathroom off of the lab a nicer place to be.
Hermione finished her night by writing a letter to Oliver about how them all getting together Wednesday night to go to the club. Harry had already written to Justin, Hannah and Luna about going. The Creevys were visiting relatives all summer and wouldn't be able to go, but they could invite the rest of the group. The Weasleys were all going, Bill and Fleur, Ron and Susan, Ginny and the twins with their dates. It was shaping up to be a great time.
Hermione and Severus were getting a good start on their research. He had even complimented her on her preliminary research that she got done at Hogwarts and how organized her notes were. Everything was going very smoothly between the two of them and there had not been any arguments yet, even though they both knew there would be. They were even starting a tentative friendship talking about their likes and dislikes during breaks in their research. Harry and Severus were building camaraderie as well during meals. They discussed war strategies, defense techniques and anything else they had in common.
Wednesday morning Harry staggered into the kitchen yawning. "Late night?" Hermione asked him as he was the last one to arrive.
"I actually stayed up working on my summer homework. I should be hearing from the national team soon and if I make it I won't have much time to got homework done. I started writing my DADA essay and just kept writing until it was done." Harry told them.
Hermione beamed at her friend, she had finished ¼ of her homework already. Severus spoke up, "I see Hermione has finally rubbed off on you. Your potions grade was much more acceptable last year. If you keep it up you could tie Draco for the 3rd highest grade in the class."
Owl post arrived and Harry slowly opened the letter from the national team with shaking hands. He had never been so nervous to open a letter since the first time Hagrid handed him his Hogwarts letter. He opened the parchment and read if he had made the team or not. The rest of the youngsters and Severus were waiting on tender hooks to see if their friend's dream had come true. Harry's face was blank so they couldn't tell if it was good or bad news.
Harry looked up from the letter, took a deep breath, and then broke out in a huge smile. "I made it; I'm the seeker for the English National Team!" He said, voice cracking with emotion. Hermione jumped up and hugged him while the rest of them all cheered. Harry hurried over to the fireplace to floo the burrow. "Gin, Ron, I made the team!" He yelled into the flames. They could hear all the Weasley's cheering in the background. They were going to have a huge celebration tonight at the club! Harry had never been so excited in his life.