Chapter 2: 1001 Nights.
Severus gasped loudly. "My dear angel! But how-"
She giggled again and put her finger on his lip to quiet him. "This was your wish, Severus. I have been in this clearing for many years, and I have seen many people in that time. I have been spoken to and confided in, adored and admired, but never with the amount of feeling and emotion that you have. Your tender ministrations and gentle kiss caught the attention of the heavens, and your wish was the most heartfelt and sincere. When you left last night I was given a choice – I could consent to grant your wish with certain stipulations, or I could remain as a statue for many more generations. I think my choice was obvious," she finished with bright eyes and a large smile.
A breathy "wow" escaped from his mouth. "But wait, you said there were, uh…"
"Stipulations, yes. It means there are certain… conditions by which I must abide; rules, if you will. But that's not important. The only thing you need to know is that you cannot mention me to anyone. I am to be your secret, okay?"
"But why?" he asked, scrunching his face.
"It is a complicated matter and is the request of the heavens. Please just understand."
Severus gazed into her pleading doe eyes and smiled. "Okay, Hermione."
With a squeal her eyes lit up and she pulled him into a large hug. Severus was a bit stunned, but he returned the hug. She took his hand and ran throughout the garden with him, asking about the different plants and flowers, learning games like hide and seek, feeding the birds and reading the books that he would bring out from the library.
"Ooh! This book is amazing!" she squealed out from behind Stories from the Thousand and One Nights.
"There are thousands of books in the library, yet you've read that one like a hundred times!" She stuck her tongue out at Severus and continued reading. Hermione loved to read. In the mornings Severus would come out to the garden and the two would play and talk until he had to go to school. When he came home in the afternoons he would join her for a picnic lunch and Hermione would read a book while he worked on his class assignments. They would then spend the evening playing games until Severus had to go inside for dinner and bed. He never knew where it was that she slept, and when he asked her she would always reply, "I'm an angel, I sleep on a cloud," and she would traipse off giggling. After some time he gave up asking her.
The days turned into months and the months into years, and Severus and Hermione were virtually inseparable. She had learned everything that he knew, studied all of his garden notebooks, and read every book in his family's library. And she would still read Stories from the Thousand and One Nights, even though she knew the stories by heart. She would often recite them to him during late nights when the pair were out stargazing. A week before his 11th birthday he surprised her with giving her the well-worn copy she so loved. The look of absolute love and delight in her eyes made him feel like he had never felt before; he couldn't even find the words to describe it if he was asked to. She meant the world to him and he could never even fathom life without her anymore.
The night before his birthday brought the clearest night he had ever seen. The two sat together in the clearing gazing at an unimaginable number of stars. Hermione broke the comfortable silence. "I can't believe you're going to be 11 in just a few hours," she said softly, a warm smile on her face.
"It's just another birthday," he replied and looked at her, returning the smile. He reached up and stroked the side of her face, just as he did that night so long ago. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand as the gentle wind caressed her hair.
"No, this one will be different, I just know it," she whispered softly and he chuckled. She reopened her big eyes and Severus could almost swear she had her own universe of stars hidden away in their depths. "Just trust me when I say that. You should probably go in soon – I wouldn't want you to end up sick tomorrow!" She smiled a big smile and sat up straight. Severus stood and took her hands, helping her to her feet. As he looked into her eyes he released her hands and cupped her face softly. She looked down shyly for a moment before locking her eyes back with his. He leaned forward slowly and kissed her ever so softly on the lips. She blushed and Severus came back to reality with a fierce blush of his own and cleared his throat.
"Goodnight, my dear angel," he whispered softly.
"Goodnight, my dear Severus," she replied equally. He made his way to the house and up to his bedroom and settled in for the best night of sleep he ever had. Hermione turned around to face the clearing and stepped into the center of it. She tipped her face up to the stars and closed her eyes as the wind surrounded her. With a deep breath she clutched the book tightly to her chest which was now heaving with the silent sobs wracking her body and tears leaving glistening trails down her cheeks and neck. The centuries-old grandfather clock inside of Snape Manor began to chime midnight, and though Hermione could not hear it, she knew and with each chime her body began to stiffen up. At the eleventh chime she had returned to her state as the stone angel, standing in the clearing crying and clutching her beloved tome. As the twelfth chime sounded the beautiful statue turned to ash and was carried away by the soft winds leaving not a single trace behind.
The sun spread its warm hands along Severus' face, drawing him from his wondrous slumber. He stood and stretched and got dressed, but he couldn't help but feel as though he was forgetting something. He shrugged it off and made his way downstairs. With the exception of his letter to Hogwarts, today was no different than any other day. He spent his day in the garden clearing, reading over his letter and thinking about what things would be like now. He never even noticed the absence of the stone angel he once worshipped; it was as if she had never been there.