January had come sooner than she thought, and Hermione had been trying so hard to forget about her recent heartbreak. She understood Fleur's reasoning of trying to find answers since she had felt the same. She had her own puzzles that were still confusing and mystery to her.

She had gone to Rosmerta after the heartbroken incident. She told the basics of the event that happened and Rosmerta had been so kind to comfort her and offer some wise words such as — "falling in love is like eating chocolate. It can taste sweet; it can taste bitter but the bittersweet feeling is what makes us human as we crave for it. We just have to endure the bitter taste before we get to the sweetness."

Rosmerta had insisted on Hermione to stay at the inn until the school started, to which she had agreed. Hermione immediately owled Severus; the man was worried sick about her but was also grateful that she was safe and was staying at the inn. He has Lori transferred her luggage from his cottage to her bed in Hogwarts and Rosmerta had ensured that she would not do things such as hurting herself again.

Hermione was surprised that the thought did not even cross her mind despite the painful aches she felt in her heart at times. Hermione was able to meet with Severus in private after a few days of school had resumed.

She told him every detail about her encounters with Andromeda and Fleur, not leaving anything out. He had listened to her and offered her warmth and comfort. She also told him about the problems which had been bothering her — specifically her heart problem and her love issues. However, Severus had simply dismissed her as he said, "you are not ready for the answers yet, Hermione."

'What was up with that? Does he know what I'm searching for?'

Hermione tried to probe and force him to tell her but he remained hardheaded and did not say anything anymore. She felt disappointed, hurt and betrayed by him so she had been staying away from him for a while now.

She knew it was wrong for her to think and felt that way but she could not see his reason. She could not understand and it added more to the questions she had. She was called 'the brightest witch of her age' for a reason, but not knowing things put her in the dark and she did not like that.

She will need to apologize to Severus, but not now. Not yet.

Hermione was in the Great Hall for breakfast along with some other students and as usual, she did not pay them any mind. If the Slytherins or Gryffindors would come to disturb her peace as they had always done, insulting or beating her, she would not really care. She had too much on her plate right now to really give a damn about trivial matter.

While eating, an owl came flying to her and she managed to catch her mail before they fell on her plate and make a mess. It was the Daily Prophet and a letter from Nymphadora Tonks. Hermione pushed her plate aside and went to read the letter first.

Wotcha, my favourite Slytherin!

How are you?

I have finally able to get what you were asking for. I managed to get some help within the ministry and looked at your age record. You are now officially 17 years and 5 months old, just a year older than what you were supposed to be. Congratulations, 'Mione! Let's have a drink together sometime, alright? My treat!

By the way, news has spread about a mass breakout from Azkaban and I've been working my arse off. I'm tiiireeeeddddd~

Please take care of yourself. I love you.

Stay safe!

Tonks.

Hermione could not stop herself from beaming as she read the happy news — she had finally reached the legal age in the Wizarding World! She would finally be able to learn to apparate as there was no more trace placed on her. She would need to ask Severus for help as well as tell him about the news, and maybe apologize to him too. She sighed, folded the letter and put it aside.

She picked up the Daily Prophet next and read the latest news. It was true — the main page showed an article about the mas breakout of many Death Eaters from the Azkaban prison. She read the newspaper from front to back but then her eyes settled back on a certain photo published in the newspaper.

It was a moving image of the most famous Death Eater — a female Death Eater — whose hands were trapped in chains as she stood in a prison cell. Her curly black hair was wild and while her hollow eyes and sunken face showed the malnutrition and lack of sleep, she was screaming in madness.

It should have been scary, creepy and fearsome, but Hermione felt captivated instead. She could see the depth of darkness and pain in the woman's eyes, and it tugged hard on her heart. Why did she find this woman mesmerizing instead of being afraid of her? Who was she?

Bellatrix Lestrange (nee) Black

Andromeda's and Narcissa's sister. The eldest Black sister. The one who Hermione recognized as wearing the Hogwarts robe in the photo she saw at Andromeda's house. The one who was laughing wholeheartedly with both her sisters snuggling by her side. The protective eldest sister who had now become famous with madness and was considered as deranged?

Hermione found that hard to believe.

February came and Hermione had yet to meet with Severus personally. She had been missing the man so much and had tried several times to meet with him but he was super busy. While being in both sides of the war, training Harry Potter with Occlumency lessons, and bullying the junior students, he did not have much time to spare for her or even more to take care of himself. She could see him becoming thinner as time went on.

February also meant Valentine's Day, a day for lovers to express their love. Hermione remembered having a small celebration of the day with Fleur in the previous year. She also remembered her love for the Transfiguration professor — although they had never celebrated the day before — and how strong her feelings towards Minerva still were. She also remembered the attractions and confusing feelings she felt towards both Narcissa and Andromeda

Hermione had been occupying the library most of the time — as always. She had read and reread many books but still could not find anything that can help her in solving the mysteries she had. Due to the news about Death Eaters hanging out around Hogsmeade and near to Hogwarts, there were strict rules forbidding students from going against the already imposed rules, such as wandering alone at night, going to Hogsmeade alone, and many more. It meant that Hermione was under constant surveillance now and she hated it.

She wanted to break something apart, so she secretly went to the Room of Requirements and practiced on her spells.

March came and Hermione had become more and more frustrated each day. The pink toad that was Dolores Umbridge had asked her to join the Inquisitorial Squad as her fellow Slytherins did. Her immediate but polite refusal had resulted in her having detention and punishment from the pink toad. She had been on the receiving end of the first 'Crucio' in her life and was forced to write 'I'm a filthy Mudblood' many times with the Black Quill. Luckily for Hermione, her magic was able to heal the wound faster than Harry's. Pity the boy.

Severus was still busy with giving the wonder boy a private Occlumency lesson. She missed the man so much.

The divination professor, Sybill Trelawney had been sacked from teaching by the pink toad. Hermione did not really like the professor, who mocked her in the class once and thus she decided to drop the course off. However, she also thought the seer did not deserve the cruel treatment from the pink toad, who thought so highly of herself.

Hermione watched as Minerva tried to comfort the seer, and she had always loved the kindness and fierceness of the woman. Fortunately, Albus Dumbledore came to the rescue and saved the seer from the pink toad, even though he could not save Sybill's job.

The centaur, Firenze was hired to replace the seer witch. Hermione liked Firenze as he was always so kind to her whenever she met him while venturing inside the Forbidden Forest. Firenze had always spoken about stars and planets and their alignments and Hermione thought that he would be a good divination teacher. She felt sad at the news of him being banished from his herd though.

April arrived and the Dumbledore's Army was busted by a Ravenclaw student named Marietta Edgecombe. Due to her betrayal the word 'SNEAK' was written across Marietta's face from the jinx Hermione had put on the signing paper before. Harry's voice was easily heard as he berated at the betrayer, while Luna covertly threw her a look of respect.

Albus Dumbledore had suffered the consequence when he was told to resign from the Headmaster position and leave Hogwarts. The pink toad Umbridge was replaced as the Headmistress by the ministry, much to everyone's hatred. The annoying Inquisitorial Squad members were awarded for their achievement of catching the rebellions.

It left a bad taste in Hermione's mouth since she was the one who suggested the idea in the first place.

May was considered pretty eventful for Hermione's life. She was asked to meet with Minerva for her career plan and advice. Hermione went to the professor's office at the scheduled time and knocked on the door.

She was greeted with a warm smile on Minerva's face and was beckoned to come inside. As she stepped in, she immediately heard the sound of lock and felt the set-up of wards and silencing spell surrounding them. Hermione knew that she was trapped right then and there, and she would not be able to go out of the room without Minerva's permission. Shrugging, she sat on the sofa facing the big fireplace and let out a resigned sigh.

"I see now that you have been abusing your power as the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall."

Minerva gasped in shock at the accusation, "what do you mean?"

Hermione looked at the woman and said nonchalantly, "well firstly, Severus said you insisted on talking to me about giving the career talk. Isn't it weird? I mean, he's my Head of House, shouldn't he be the one in charge of me?"

Minerva looked guilty at the soft accusation. It was true — she did insist to Severus on meeting with Hermione on the account of giving her the career advice, using her title as the school's Deputy of Headmistress as an excuse. It was the only way for her to be able to talk with Hermione in private; she could not think of any other way.

"And one more thing," Hermione continued, prompting Minerva to look at her. "What's with the lock and all the wards and spells? Afraid I'll run away, don't you, Professor? Whatever do you intend to do to me, Min-er-va?" She teased in a light tone and smirked at the light blush painting the woman's neck.

Minerva schooled her features and spoke in a business-like tone. "Ms. Granger, thank you for coming tonight. As you have already known, we are here to discuss your career choice in the future before you will proceed into your 6th year and so may ask, have you given any thought about what you want to do or achieve in your life?" Minerva asked as she sat next to the brunette.

Hermione let out a heavy sigh at the use of her surname. She took her time watching the small fire ignited in the fireplace while thinking deeply. It had been a few minutes or so before she started to speak, and Minerva had been nothing but patient with her.

"For many years of my life, all that I have been thinking about was suicide—" she heard a gasp from her side, "—and to just die because I have nothing that is worth to be living for."

"Hermione…" a whimper came from Minerva.

"Will you please let me finish?" Hermione glanced at the woman and saw the bobbed of her head. "Thank you." She smiled gratefully and let out a deep breath.

"As much as I wanted to kill myself, my own body wouldn't let me die. I can hurt myself; I can inflict as much pain as possible but my magic would heal any wound immediately. All that was left were the scars — the proof that I tried to end my life." She instinctively wrapped her fingers around her wrist, but her eyes remained on the sparks of fire in the fireplace.

Minerva was sitting in silence as she listened to every word Hermione uttered. She knew it was not easy for the girl to open u with anyone, much more to the person who had once hurt her feelings. But it still pained her to think about how much Hermione wished for her life to end.

"I grew up with love but then I had lost love. I found love in another form but then I lost them again. I keep falling in love and lost them." Hermione's hand was shaking as she talked, so she tightened her grip on her arm.

"Even though the happiness I could grab at a time was short, I am still grateful to be given the chance to experience them. And so, I have come to the conclusion to start living my life to the fullest." She let out a long deep breath.

"I want to and will grab any opportunity of happiness if I feel like doing it. I'll fall in love, I'll make friends, I'll do things that could make me happy, and I-I want to make people happy too." She smiled sheepishly as she glanced at the woman next to her.

"To answer your question, yes, I have thought about what I wanted to do in the future. There are plenty that I want to achieve — I want to do more research and help more people, spread love and joy and happiness especially towards those who were unfortunate, to bring justice and equality and change unfair laws. There is just so much that I want to achieve, but I will do things one at a time. Nevertheless, I just have to make sure that I survive the impending war and finish school with an O in every subject."

Minerva's face was wet with tears as Hermione stopped talking. Hermione looked so happy at that moment, and Minerva sobbed as she felt guilty for ever causing pain the girl's life. She felt the movement on the sofa as Hermione shifted closer to her. A pair of hands tucked her hair behind her ears before they cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears away.

"Hermione… I'm sorry…" She whimpered and looked down at her lap.

Hermione lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Min…"

Minerva let out a strangled cry at hearing the pet name. Her beloved pet name coming from her beloved's mouth. Her body shook with strong emotions.

"Min… I am no longer the same child that you met years ago. I have changed and I have become stronger. I learned many things to survive this harsh world and I never regret any of it." Hermione held Minerva's hands and squeezed them tight.

"So please, don't you ever regret and feel guilty for leaving me because I learned something from it. And like I said before, I have already forgiven you since a long time ago, so should you. Forgive yourself so we can move forward with our lives. It doesn't mean that I will forget the love I still have for you."

Minerva threw herself into Hermione's arms and hid her face in the slender neck. "I love you so much, Hermione. So damn much that it hurts!"

"I know, Min. I know. Love does hurt, doesn't it?" Hermione felt the older woman nodded on her shoulder. "Do you really love me, Min?"

Minerva pulled back and looked deep into Hermione's eyes. "I really love you, Hermione. I have never stopped loving you and have never loved anyone this deeply before."

Hermione smiled and kissed on Minerva's forehead. "Can you still say that you love me even when I tell you that I love someone else too?"

Minerva looked taken aback at the question. "Is it the same love as you said you still have for me?"

Hermione's smiled dissipated as she nodded her head. "I may love them as much as I love you, Min."

"Them?" Minerva stood up in disbelief. She pondered on the question she had never thought of possible before. She had been hoping that Hermione would still love her after all this time, but the thought of sharing her love with someone else?

"Who are they?" She heard herself asking.

"Min…" Was all that the girl said. Minerva saw the despair in Hermione's eyes.

"Please, Hermione, tell me who they are," she pleaded.

Hermione shook her head and curled in a ball as she held herself on the sofa. "I can't say yet, Minerva." She could not stand another rejection now or her body would convulse on the spot. She trembled as she tried to rein back the fear of rejection.

Minerva was in a dilemma as she looked at her lover. Will she be able to still love Hermione even if the girl love others just as much? Or will she be able to continue living her life without the girl? She shook her head, pulling herself out from the doubt. She knew she should not have doubt Hermione's love for her.

"I understand, Hermione. I will still love you even if you love others. My love to you will never change, my love." Minerva said.

Hermione looked at Minerva in shock. "Do you really mean that, Min?"

Minerva would never pull back on her words as she got to see the gleam and happiness that were palpable as seen on Hermione's face. She nodded her head and her heart jumped as she was suddenly engulfed in a tight embrace, warmth spread through their bodies at the contact.

"I love you so much, Min!" Hermione shouted in joy and she kissed Minerva on her cheek. "I love you!" Another kiss on the opposite cheek. "I love you very much!" A kiss on the forehead. "I love you so, so much!" A kiss on the lips had Minerva gasped.

Both of them had their hearts beating hard in their chests as they shared the longing kiss. The kiss had been overdue, and Minerva moaned as she poured her emotions into the kiss.

Hermione pulled away and saw the unshed tears in Minerva's eyes. She then pulled the woman in her arms again so Minerva could hear the wild beating of her heart.

"Do you want to know a secret, Min?" She whispered breathily near Minerva's ears.

"What is it?" Minerva mumbled into Hermione's chest. She inhaled the girl's smell that she had missed for a long time. Never again she would let Hermione go from her grasp.

Hermione chuckled at her clingy beloved. "I have finally reached the legal age, Min. I'm a few months left to reach 18 years old."

Minerva sat up straight and looked at the girl with wide eyes while her mouth was hanging like a gaping fish.

Hermione giggled and asked, "do you want to know how?" Minerva nodded her head furiously.

"Thanks to the time turner that you gave me, I have been using it quite a lot for my studies and it gave me the advantage to my age." Hermione said and smirk at Minerva.

Minerva opened her mouth again. "Wait—What? How do you know I was the one who gave you the time turner?" The woman could not be more surprised.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her lover, "really, Min? That's what you get from what I said?" Minerva playfully slapped her arm.

"Okay, okay. Severus told me, alright? He knew not many people own a time turner and he basically told me it was yours. Satisfied? It doesn't matter how he knew or whatever, the fact now is that I have reached the legal age. I'm legal now, Min. Do you understand what that means?"

Hermione looked at Minerva with a sly smirk and twinkles in her eyes. Minerva caught on the innuendo and she blushed profusely.

Hermione moved closer to the older witch and pulled Minerva's hat off her head. She then released the long hair from the bun and let the hair flowed freely behind the woman's back. She moved on top of Minerva's lap, taking the woman's hands and placed them on her hips. Both the witches' hearts were beating wildly as they had never been in this position with each other. It felt close, warm, and sensual all the same.

"Can you take off your glamour, Min? Please…" Hermione ask the transfiguration professor.

Minerva nodded and flicked her wand to take off the glamour she cast on herself. Her hair changed to dark brown colour, her sharp eyes, pointy nose and nude lips complement to the beauty that she was. She looked younger than how she normally was. Minerva bit her lips as her face flushed with embarrassment and she looked down to hide her face but Hermione stopped her.

"You are so beautiful; do you know that?" She heard Hermione's compliment and her heart fluttered with love.

They closed the distance between them and soft lips met each other. Neither stopped even with the electricity jolted through them. Eventually, soft kisses turned passionate. Hermione pressed herself more into the body below her and took charge. Her hands went to scrape on Minerva's scalp and neck and as Minerva let out a moan, she grabbed the chance to let her tongue slip into Minerva's mouth.

Tongues clashing and Hermione bit on Minerva's lower lip to relish control. They finally pulled apart as oxygen became scarce. Hermione went to kiss Minerva's jaw and bit on her neck.

"Fuck!" Minerva's moan was loud and sounded delicious while her hands grabbed on Hermione's back.

Hermione kissed and licked on the small mark she made and continued kissing and licking up Minerva's neck to reach her ear. She bit on the earlobe and licked the shell, Minerva's moans, curses and the tight grips behind her back sent shivers straight down her spine and settled in her core. Hermione could feel the painful throbbing of need and want as well as the wetness pooling in her knickers. As Minerva raised her own hips, their cores met each other and both let out loud moans.

Hermione went to kiss Minerva's lips and their tongues were dueling again. A moment passed until they finally let go with a 'pop'. Foreheads laid against each other as both were panting heavily and their darkened eyes were filled with lust and love.

Hermione wanted to kiss the soft lips again but there were words she needed to say to Minerva, who had her hands in Hermione's hair as she held onto both her wrists. "I love you, Min," she said. Minerva wanted to reply but was stopped by a finger on her lips.

"Our age gap had never been an issue for me, so please, don't limit yourself to age. Know that I have never stopped loving you, never ever doubt that. We will take this slowly because as much as I want to take you right here and right now — oh, believe me, I do — you are still very much my professor and I am your student. And we are both still in Hogwarts. I don't want to jeopardize your career; do you understand me?" Hermione said with a stern voice and a serious look in her eyes that caused Minerva to wonder who was the teacher and who was the student now; who was the older and who was the younger between them.

Hermione had grown up so much into a very mature, wise and beautiful woman without her realizing it.

Minerva smiled and nodded her head as her hands went to tidy up the girl's bushy hair that had become messy due to their rendezvous just now. She had never felt happier than she was at the moment and only Hermione could make her feel this way.

They had to say goodbye as Hermione had to leave for the night but before she left, they shared a few more lingering kisses and looks. Hermione reluctantly let the woman go as she went back to the harsh reality of life and to the puzzles she had yet to solve. How can her heart fill with so much love for so many people at the same time? Even when declaring her love towards Minerva, she did not feel any less love towards Fleur and the attractions she felt towards the two Black sisters were still going strong in her heart.

"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world… Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them."

Hermione was studying for her potions exam even though it was not in another month, she had gone ahead and studied on more advanced potion books she found in the library. She encountered a chapter on Amortentia and wondered if she should tr it.

Not to drink it, but smell it.

The love potion was a dangerous — and maybe illegal potion — so she would have to brew it in secret. Maybe she could use the Room of Requirements again as no one would be using it anymore since Dumbledore's Army had been caught last month. Yes, Hermione decided to work on the potion this weekend since students were allowed to go out to Hogsmeade. Fewer students meant less disturbance for her.

Saturday came and Hermione went up to the Room of Requirement after she had finished with breakfast. She brought along her cauldrons and the ingredients needed for brewing the love potion in her enchanted bag. She set up the cauldron and started brewing immediately. It took hours to finish the potion and by the time it was done, Hermione realized it was almost dinner time. She felt proud of herself to be able to finish the potion perfectly. She took a deep breath and let it out before moving closer to the small cauldron.

At first, Hermione smelled freshly mown grass before it changed to the lovely smell of new parchment and quill. She knew there were both things that she liked. Then the smell changed to ginger newt — Minerva; and then to sweet French macaroons — Fleur, and then to sweet daffodil — the narcissus, Narcissa; and finally changed to fresh laundry — the smell she knew coming from Andromeda.

But alas, the smell did not stop after that and Hermione managed to catch a sniff of something akin to smoke, like wildfire in the forest. 'Who was it? What did it mean?' She had no idea.

'Arghh, this complicated things!' She pulled on her hair in distress. She wanted to find answers but instead, she was met with more questions!

She quickly cleaned and tidied her stuff and left the room, her legs moved with one purpose in mind. One intention. One direction. One person who could possibly hold the answers to her miseries.

Severus Snape!

Hermione managed to catch Severus in the potion classroom before he went out for dinner — which she actually should have gone for, too. She barged into the room with purposeful strides in her steps and a menacing look in her eyes.

Slamming the jar full of the love potion on his desk, she hissed at him. "Explain!" Severus saw the potion and raised his eyebrows at her.

He raised his wand and locked the door, as well as putting wards and the silencing spell. Hermione glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Did you drink it?" He asked. Hermione shook her head no.

"Did you smell it then?" She nodded.

"Tell me what did it smell like?" He asked and beckoned for her to sit on a seat next to him as she always did.

Hermione sat down and furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "At first, I smelled the fresh grass and new parchment and quill, something I know that I like. Then I smelled Minerva, Fleur, and oddly enough were Narcissa and Andromeda, and I thought it stopped there. But no, there was this weird smell, like fire or something smoky." Hermione said while smiling as she describes the smells.

Severus hummed and nodded his head in understanding. He looked at Hermione in the eyes, his own earnestness made Hermione agitated and she felt guilty. He did not deserve this; he should not be forced to say something he did not want to.

"What do you want to know?" He said.

Hermione pondered about all the questions she had in her mind, all the things that had confused her. She thought of the bad things that happened in her life. She thought of her fate of being in the wrong house despite her blood. She thought of the possibility of falling in love with five people. Suddenly something clicked in her mind — about a certain book, a certain story she had read.

Severus saw the millions of questions flashing through Hermione's eyes. He knew he could use Legilimens to look into her mind but he would not betray the girl's trust. If Hermione was as bright as she was claimed to be, then she will know which question to ask.

"Am I the reincarnation of Queen Morgan?"

She really was the brightest witch ever. Severus smiled and felt proud in his chest. He wanted to give points to the Slytherin for asking the right question, but he could not abuse his power.

"You may or you may not be, as you say, the reincarnation of Queen Morgan." He simply answered her but with more riddles i seemed.

"What do you mean? It's either I am or I am not, right?" Hermione's furrowed her brows in confusion.

Severus shook his head, "it's not as simple as that. Yes, you may have the criteria as told in the prophecy but you have yet to fulfil the prophecy itself. Remember this line? Though born in the pure, she will be hidden in the dirt. Do you know what does it mean? Can you be sure that you were born a pure-blood? Also, you have yet to awaken the power you deemed to have if you insist on implying yourself as the reincarnation of the Queen. And lastly, you don't know who I am, do you?" Severus explains to Hermione.

"What do you mean? Who are you?" Hermione asked, flabbergasted.

"If I say I am King Arthur, would you have believed me?" Severus said in a straight tone. 'I'm sorry, Hermione, it really is not the time for you to know the truth yet. I can only delay you for now,' he mused apologetically to himself.

Silence engulfed them as Hermione registered the information. She looked at Severus and noticed that his eyes were shining with nothing but truth.

He had never betrayed her and would always keep to his promise; he always protected her, so there was no way he would lie about all this, right?

"Yes, I would believe you. But it was a lot for me to take in. I can't even believe myself if I am the Queen's reincarnation. I don't deserve her." She scrunched her nose at the thought. The Queen definitely deserved someone better than her, for she was just a lowly peasant equivalent to trash.

Severus took Hermione's hands in his and rubbed her knuckles softly. "Fate and destiny have been set before a person was even born, Hermione. Let fate run its course, you can never rush it. The time will come for you to get the answers that you seek and when it does, the ring will answer them for you." Hermione pulled out the ring necklace that was hidden in her shirt. She traced on the insignia again before nodding and looked at Severus who smiled warmly at her.

"I'm sorry for not being able to assist you now, Hermione, and I'm so sorry for neglecting you for months. I can't believe Potter is seriously a dimwit! He was still unable to finish his Occlumency lesson and I'm so tired to deal with him any longer. What's with Bella and the other Death Eaters coming back now, I have to keep up with my facade. It's exhausting!"

Severus had never rambled or complained so much like this and Hermione found it refreshing — and amusing, but she would never tell him that. It was another side to him that she was glad to witness, but she noticed the man had really become quite thin. It must be super hard for him to manage himself between two sides and on top of that, he had to handle troublesome students.

Hermione wished she could help to reduce his burden, so she called for a house elf and asked him to bring hearty meals for the two of them. Soon enough, there were two plates full of food on the desk. Severus looked at her and smiled gratefully.

Hermione kissed on his cheek and smiled apologetically at him. "It's not your fault and I understand your situation. I was the one who threw a tantrum at you and I regret it. I'm sorry, Sev. Oh, I missed you so much." They chattered and bantered with each other as they dined.

"And I miss you too. How have you been faring so far?"

Hermione told him about how Umbridge had punished her with the Black Quill when she refused to join her underlings. He went berserk at hearing the pink toad dared to hurt her precious girl but she managed to calm him down.

She told about the 'career talk' that she had with Minerva and blushed as she recalled the memory. Severus smirked at her and asked for details but not too much. He certainly did not want to know the explicit. She told him about what she said to Minerva, what she wanted to become; Severus totally supported her decision and was all proud of her. She beamed with pride.

"And oh, I've been meaning to tell you this since January! Tonks managed to check on my age registry and she found out that I am actually a year older now. I'll turn eighteen this September." She dabbed her mouth with a napkin and grinned at him.

Severus' eyes widened in surprise and he congratulated her. He grabbed a bottle of firewhisky which he hid inside the classroom and made a toast to them.

"To the future!"

Hermione clunked her glass to the man's and said the same.

"To the future!"