"This..., well..., Merlin..., it was Hermione's cousin," said Alice finally.
"What?!" both Marlene and Hermione exclaimed in unison shocked.
"Severus..." muttered Lily with her bright green eyes wide open, instantly she remembered the dream she had and had a bad premonition.
...
...
"Wait, whoa, wait a minute Alice, what do you mean Severus?, bloody hell what happened?" asked Marlene completely freaking out, thank Merlin the Muffliato Charm was on, or else her screams would have been heard all over the great hall.
"Don't tell me..., did he threaten you or... or did he try to take advantage of the situation or..." she added.
"Marlene, what have we told you about talking about Hermione's cousin like that!" Alice reprimanded her friend.
It was then that Marlene realised her mistake and gave Hermione an apologetic look.
"Sorry..., I may have overreacted... but I can't imagine what happened with Severus at that moment..., you know, he doesn't have a good relationship with us after all... so I just thought the worst, my mistake," said Marlene ducking her head at Hermione.
The truth was that Hermione was annoyed by what Marlene said and Alice realised it instantly.
"Forgive her Hermione, maybe I' m at odds with Severus, but I know he wouldn't do such a thing to us" Lily interjected with a look of apology and embarrassment as she thought about the dream she had, she now had a slight doubt that some of everything she dreamt might have happened and that worried her a lot.
"I know, knowing Severus I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do such a thing, he would probably just walk away without saying anything without bothering to do anything" Hermione commented a little calmer, she was about to say quite a few things to Marlene, but seeing that the three of them apologized she decided not to complicate things, besides she knew Severus didn't need anyone to defend him or speak up for him.
"Well..., he might not have had the chance to do that..." commented Alice, and instantly Hermione, Marlene, and Lily looked at her intensely wanting to know what the hell happened.
"What do you mean?" asked both Lily and Hermione in unison this time.
One curious to know if any of everything she dreamt was real and the other because she didn't believe Severus had done anything else besides ignore Lily and her friends and walk away like he always used to do.
Marlene was still a little regretful of what she said before so she preferred to keep quiet for now and just listen to what Alice had to say.
"Lily... You... this... well, it could be said that you tripped approaching him and well... I couldn't catch you in time but luckily he did, cough cough, he prevented you from falling and hitting the ground."
"Huh?!, what do you mean she tripped approaching him?" asked Marlene confused, she couldn't understand why her friend would approach Severus.
Hermione who was a little annoyed with Marlene, couldn't help but agree with her question, she also didn't understand the reason why Lily would approach Severus when they were both far out from each other.
Lily who heard this began to vaguely remember what had happened at the time...
"I don't know... we were both quite drunk and..." Alice began to relate everything that happened causing Lily to remember everything perfectly...
Of course, Alice wasn't stupid and she knew why Lily approached Severus and acted the way she did, she already knew that her friend had confused feelings for her former friend and she knew that was also what had been in her head all this time preventing Lily from getting proper rest.
Hearing the whole story about what happened that night, both Hermione and Marlene stared open-mouthed at Lily who was flushed in embarrassment.
But Lily wasn't just embarrassed for how she was clinging to Severus, or her behaviour, or for all the embarrassing things she had said to him, in fact, she was actually thankful that Alice didn't specify much about everything she had done or said to him, because she knew how embarrassing it was, but to make it all worse she was completely embarrassed and nervous because the kiss she thought wasn't something real actually happened, her whole dream was something completely real...
Lily now just wanted to get up, run out of the great hall, stick her head under water ashamed and then stay in her room and not come out for months until she got over everything she had done that night... too bad she knew she wouldn't get that chance and all of this along with the piercing stares from her friends wasn't helping her feel any better.
Although Lily could understand why Hermione and Marlene would look at her like that, one was Severus' cousin and the other felt that Severus was a dark and evil person like all Slytherins.
'At least Alice didn't notice me kissing him and thought it was just a cheek kiss' thought Lily slightly relieved by that thought as she knew that sooner or later she would tell her friend what really happened.
But by now she already had too much to deal with, her head could barely process it all.
After Alice said everything, Hermione remained silently probably thinking about a lot of things, while Alice tried to calm down Marlene who started asking all sorts of questions.
Lily's attention wasn't on any of this at all, after remembering what happened last night her attention didn't stray from that dark figure among the many snakes at the Slytherin table.
Severus...
Lily couldn't help but think that he looked so well today and no, she wasn't saying that because of his appearance, at least not only because of that... rather she noticed that he seemed very animated and happy today, more than usual..., she thought that after what happened last night he would be... I don't know, different..., annoyed maybe, upset, embarrassed, or even pissed off...
'Could it be because of what happened last night?' thought Lily intrigued and embarrassed at the very thought that he might be in a good mood because of what she did last night.
'No, he didn't even look over here once... but maybe...'
'Damn it, Lily, you need to stop thinking about those things, it was just a mistake due to the alcohol, nothing more, yeah that's it, it was just that, you need to stop thinking about it' Lily said to herself, but her red cheeks seemed to be getting more and more flushed.
Meanwhile, Hermione who had been lost in thought looked at the redhead in front of her on the Gryffindor table and noticed that Lily who was getting blushing redder and redder and then realised that she was looking at Severus at the Slytherin table.
'This..., what's going on here?... this... how did all this happen?, it can't be!, can it?, no..., it must just be my imagination... yeah I don't think so, is she...?' Hermione asked herself completely confused as she grudgingly understood what was going on, she may not want to admit it but just like Alice, Hermione also realised that Lily was having confused feelings for Severus.
Suddenly Hermione met Severus' gaze and she knew that he wanted to know if she was ready to catch the train after breakfast...
Despite her surprise along with all her current thoughts and doubts about what was going on, Hermione managed to clear her mind for a moment and nod to Severus to let him know that she was ready and he just nodded in reply with a small smile and then he went back to eating his breakfast.
Hermione couldn't help but think that he really was in a good mood today and that only confused her more after hearing what happened last night between him and Lily.
On the other hand, Lily who was looking at Severus got extremely nervous when she saw that he also "looked at her", she even felt her heart stopped for a moment but she quickly reacted and looked away embarrassed, she pretended not to see him..., by the time she slightly looked back Lily only got to see that Severus had a small smile on his face as he went back to eating his breakfast.
It was then that Lily's head began to unsuccessfully try to process all the different emotions she was feeling at the moment.
Snapping out of these heavy thoughts, Lily quickly got up from the table, she told her friends that she had to go to the bathroom, and then she left the great hall... she needed to clear her head.
Part of Lily kept telling herself that she couldn't think about these things, that she couldn't forgive him, that he had run out of chances after everything that had happened...,
No more chances.
This part kept on feeding Lily's fears, reminding her everything bad that had happened, everything that her friends had said about Severus and ended up being true, this part of her kept telling him that he had no right to be her friend again, not when he had pushed aside every single one of her attempts to solve her problems over all those years.
That now it was too late, that she couldn't afford it anymore...
That he would never change and this was all just a momentary thing.
But the other part of Lily that had remained in silence all this time after Severus told her "mudblood", the part of her that always stood up for her friend seemed to wake up again and stronger than ever, with renewed strength and feeling, so much that now Lily's head was a mess of thoughts and emotions that she didn't know how to deal with.
On the other hand, James Potter who was eating breakfast with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew noticed that Lily Evans was embarrassed and nervous for some reason while talking to her friends, he hated not being able to hear what the hell they were talking about.
He had always tried to listen to their conversations, but that annoying charm of Evans kept him from doing it, James had tried to get Remus to figure out how to deal with the charm but that had been a complete failure...
Evans wouldn't tell Lupin or anyone else how to do that charm far less how to remove it.
James was dying of curiosity and jealousy, he wanted to know what the bloody hell happened at Slughorn's feast last night, he asked Remus and several other people but no one could tell him anything important besides the fact that Lily looked a bit drunk...
Of course, for him, that was enough to make him imagine every possible scenario and think that something might have happened between Lily and her partner or another man, which worried him, especially seeing her now so flushed.
James cursed Lupin for not paying more attention to Lily during the feast, apparently, Remus was only focused on trying to avoid his partner that day so he neglected the task James had given him of keeping an eye on Evans.
...
...
At the Slytherin table, Severus was having a relaxed breakfast with Olivia and her group.
He nodded in approval when Hermione confirmed that she was ready to catch the train.
Severus had a lot of things to do during this holiday, both in the Prince family business and in Skywalker Industry and it was good to have Hermione to take care of all the Prince family's most annoying things, things he didn't want to waste his time with and he was very satisfied with how she had been doing her job.
Yes, Hermione was an excellent secretary, she might be a bit excessive with a few things, but she did an excellent job so he didn't mind her being like that as long as she did a good job.
"So... are you going to tell me what happened last night that makes you so happy?" smirked Olivia amused and curious as she watched Severus seem much happier and friendlier than usual.
"Hmm, well, I won't deny that I had a good night, won't you?" asked Severus.
"Oh...I see..., well, I'm intrigued as to what was so good to get you like that, but that's your business," Olivia said lightly as she noticed Lily Evans leave the room completely flushed, something Severus didn't notice.
"And no, my night wasn't as interesting or as good as yours, it seems I picked the wrong partner, otherwise it might have been more interesting" she added smiling and ignoring Evans' state.
" Right, well, I guess it's too late to think about that now, maybe next time you'll be luckier," Severus joked.
"Well, maybe if you're my partner at the next party I'll have a night as good and interesting as the one you had yesterday," she commented jokingly making Severus stare at her for a few seconds thinking about various things.
'Yes..., If only you knew what happened last night with Amelia I don't think you would say that, or is she already imagining what happened last night?' wondered Severus but he shook his head and didn't let those thoughts show on his face.
"Next time then maybe we'll know...," Severus said as he took a drink of water.
"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to wait," Olivia nodded.
"By the way, regarding what I told you during the feast about the reunion between our families, my parents have already confirmed everything," she added, changing the subject.
"Oh... that was rather quick... but it's also a good thing, in that case, we'll be seeing each other in a few days" smiled Severus.
" It seems so," nodded Olivia smiling back at him.
...
...
December 13th marked the end of Term One at Hogwarts and the start of the Christmas holidays,
And for those students who chose to go home for the Christmas holidays, there will be a train available on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of December to send all students who need to return to London.
Those students who have opted to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas season will need to inform Professor McGonagall to be added to the list of names of those who will be staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays...
All the little wizards belonging to the school who did not leave will have their Christmas Party in the Great Hall and will be able to participate in the Christmas Ball.
Hogwarts will also be giving presents to all remaining students, which will be delivered on Sunday morning, 25th December, and will be left at the foot of each student's bed or on their decorative tree.
After breakfast, Severus met up with Pandora and Xeno, he spent some time chatting with them until Amelia finally joined them too, she behaved as usual...
Almost as if last night had never happened, the only thing that could betray her was that maybe she looked at Severus more often or was more confident around him now.
A few moments later Hermione joined the conversation as well.
The three Ravenclaw had taken quite a liking to Hermione, so the conversation between them went rather well, plus Pandora and Amelia were quite curious and wanted to know more about Severus' cousin who was in Gryffindor but was more like a Ravenclaw.
In conversation Severus, Hermione, Amelia, Pandora, and Xeno, decided to board the train all together on the 13th of December, apparently, most of the Ravenclaw students who weren't staying at Hogwarts were already leaving today.
It was common for Ravenclaw students to be the first to leave while students from the other houses tended to leave on the 14th or 15th as a matter of time to prepare.
Hermione already knew this since Lily and her friends, as well as most of the Gryffindors, decided to take the train together on the 15th of December.
And Severus knew from Olivia that most of the Slytherin would be leaving on the 14th of December.
While the Hufflepuffs were an unknown, but they tended to split up and leave with the Ravenclaws or the Gryffindors.
Severus walked out of the castle with the rest of his group and the first thing he looked at was the ground which was already covered with a thick layer of snow, he also found several small wizards playing with snowballs and among them, he found several Gryffindors who were shouting and fluttering their fists in the air as they ran after the marauders who were running away in the snow.
The marauders were laughing as they fled and as they continued to throw snowballs at the other Gryffindor students who ran after them.
"Potter! Black! When we catch you two, you'll see what awaits you! want to keep running?, you're only making your end worse!" several Gryffindor witches were shouting at them.
Pandora couldn't help herself and laughed at such a scene along with Hermione.
Meanwhile, Severus, Amelia, and Xeno just shook their heads at the Gryffindor's antics.
"That looks entertaining," commented Pandora with a smile.
"Oh you think so?" asked Severus with a raised eyebrow.
Amelia, Hermione, and even Xeno looked at Severus wanting to know his reaction, they all knew he didn't like the marauders, but lately, there hadn't been any problems between the two sides.
Pandora nodded with a quick smile not bothering to change what she said.
Severus stared at her, he looked quite serious...
Until then a snowball shot out of nowhere and hit Pandora.
"Hey! What was that for?" complained Pandora now full of snow in her hair.
"I thought you said it was funny," joked Severus who had sneakily used the Force to create a snowball and then throw it at Pandora.
Instantly he created several snowballs around himself and looked at Pandora in amusement.
"You... that's unfair," said Pandora with a pout pointing at the snowballs.
Everyone laughed at Pandora's adorable reaction, even Severus laughed lightly and dropped the snowballs as Pandora continued to complain and she explained to him what a fair snowball fight looked like.
"Are those two always like that?" asked Xeno to Amelia as he tried to keep from laughing.
Hermione who overheard this was also curious as she wasn't used to seeing Severus doing that kind of banter so relaxed.
"Well, yes ... sometimes... hmm... but I guess it could be said yes" Amelia answered doubtfully, it wasn't unusual to see Severus joking around, what was unusual was that he seemed less serious than usual, almost as if he was more relaxed.
After walking and talking for a while, they all finally got on the train quickly and loaded their bags into the same wagon.
After a few minutes, the train set off for London, Severus and the others sat on the train chatting about all sorts of things during the journey, until they finally arrived at the station in London.
Apparently, the families of Amelia, Pandora, and Xeno came to pick them up, Severus and Hermione greeted and introduced themselves politely to everyone...
The Bones, the Lovegoods, and the Moonlights were families that supported the Ministry of Magic, and apparently they all had some relationship with the Princes, so they were all interested in getting to know Severus and Hermione a little.
After talking for a while, they all said goodbye and went to their respective homes.
When Hermione and Severus arrived at the entrance of Prince Manor, they were received by a small house elf dressed in a very elegant black robe.
"Master! Your most loyal elf, Popper, welcomes you!" said the elf bowing respectfully.
"Popper, I told you many time that there is no need to bow every time you speak to me, come on, get up!"
"Popper thank the Master," said the elf standing up and then looking at Hermione.
"Welcome back Miss Prince, Popper reminds you that there are not enough ingredients to make dinner today, if you would like Popper can go shopping"
"Uh..., oh yes that, don't worry Popper, I will took care of the rest of the ingredients" Hermione replied, after all, she was the one who was in charge of making sure there was everything needed at the manor.
During the rest of the day, Severus took the time to diligently go over all the investments he was planning to make this holiday.
He left most of the Prince family business to Hermione and focused on the Skywalker Industries business and the progress the Droids had made on the projects he had left them.
The computer business was going excellent, in all the time he had been at Hogwarts things had only improved at an accelerated rate...
Now Skywalker's laptops were all over the world and there was nothing like them since the cheap imitations couldn't even compare to what Severus had created...
No one had managed to replicate the programs he had made, they were too advanced for any human on this planet, so Skywalker Industry's computer was the only one on the market and this not only made them known all over the world, but they were now making millions in sales.
Severus then went on to look at the projects he had left the droids and noticed that they had made some progress, not much but it was something.
He would have to create more droids and use all the money he had been making to accelerate the progress, though Severus knew he would need even more money, a lot more, which is why he had already planned to create a new technology for Industrial Skywalker to sell and make even more money.
After finishing the last things, Severus decided to go to dinner with Hermione.
The rest of the days were the same, with Severus and Hermione taking care of several pending things they hadn't been able to do from Hogwarts, seeing as many businesses in the magical world as they could, and visiting different people who were interested in doing business with them.
Severus on his own also met with various Muggle businessmen and important people who wanted to talk about all sorts of business.
Severus also ended up acquiring some of the companies he had offered to buy out in order to further extend Skywalker Industries' influence in the world.
...
...
-Prince Manor, 17 December
Today Severus Prince got up early to train as he did every day, only now he was finally able to train with his sword again in his private room at the Manor.
Ever since he had found the ancient time-turner in the secret room of the Heir Prince's Manor, he had been using it every day to have 7 more hours of training in the morning...
Although the time-turner could be used twice a day to get 10 hours in total, Severus always left 3 hours in case he needed them for something specific at a later time.
In all this time Severus' body had improved substantially, but for him, it wasn't enough yet, he still had a long way to go before he reached the level he wanted.
After finishing his training, Severus showered, changed, and had breakfast with Hermione.
Then he prepared to go to the Ministry of Magic as he had an appointment with the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, it was a nuisance but Hermione had already told him that she could not go in his place, apparently, he had to go as Lord Prince or else the Prince Potions Factory would not be given the legal Portkey they needed to attend the Potioneers meeting in the USA.
Yes..., Severus as the owner of the Prince Potions Factory and the inventor of several of the new potions that had been put on sale, was invited to attend a meeting that was held every four years between different Potioneers from all over the world to talk and negotiate with each other.
...
...
The sun was low in the sky when Severus left Prince Manor.
Severus made his way to the visitors' entrance of the Ministry of Magic.
Then he entered a telephone booth and dialled.
After a while, a sweet female voice answered.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. State your name and business..."
"Severus Prince. I have an appointment to receive a Portkey."
"Thank you, please take the badge and place it on the front of your robes."
A metal badge fell after the female voice spoke, "Mr. Prince, your appointment with the Department of International Magical Cooperation for a Portkey has been confirmed."
After she said those words, the cab began to descend until it finally stopped and the doors opened.
"Visitor to the Ministry of Magic, you must submit to a search and present your wand for registration."
Severus sighed.
"What a nuisance, I'd forgotten how annoying it was to enter as a visitor to the Ministry," he muttered through his teeth as he stepped out of the booth.
Behind him, the doors slammed shut and the booth quickly rose and disappeared.
Since the Ministry is located underground, the normal order is reversed: the top floor is Level 1, while the Atrium on the main floor is on Level 8 (although both the Department of Mysteries and the Wizengamot hearing rooms are below, on Levels 9 and 10, respectively).
The atrium itself was huge and much better ventilated than one might expect from an underground complex; magic certainly has its advantages.
Severus made his way to the security desk to check in his wand and a quick check.
After a few moments, he was done. He walked through some golden doors to the access lifts.
Pausing for a moment, he noticed the directory to one side:
—-
Ministry of Magic!
Level Ten, Wizengamot Chambers.
Level Nine, Department of Mysteries
Level Eight, Ministry of Magic Atrium.
Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports
Level Six, Department of Magical Transport
Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation
Level Four, Department of Magical Creature Regulation and Control
Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophe
Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Level One, Minister of Magic and Support Staff
—-
Severus entered the nearest lift, which he found empty except for a few paper aeroplanes.
He descended on Level Five.