Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Hey y'all! Thank you so much for all the reviews, you guys are awesome! And to those who asked, yes, the muscle idea came from House. I love that show! Though I did take some liberties in regards to the magical health aspect of it all. Also- I'll go ahead and tell y'all now- the cane is not permanent. And yes, I forgot that Fred/George's b-day was the first of April, but I put it in here. Anyways, here's another chapter!
Love Means Never Having to Time Travel
Chapter Fourteen- Graduation
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"Oh, the places you'll go!" –Dr. Seuss
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"Fred?"
"Hey Mya," he replied sleepily, burying his face against her shoulder. He sat up a second later as he seemed to fully comprehend the fact that she was awake. "Mya! You're awake, how are you feeling, is there any pain, did you sleep well-"
"Shut up Fred," Hermione covered his mouth with her hand.
"Soree," his apology was muffled.
"Yes, I'm awake, I'm feeling a little sleepy still, there's no pain, and I slept fine," she rattled off the answers to his questions in one breath.
"That's good. Let me go get Madam Pomfrey then, cause I'm sure she'll want to check you out," Fred said as he climbed out of bed.
"No need Professor, I'm here," Poppy pushed the curtain back as she stepped in. "Good morning my dear, how are you feeling?"
"A little sleepy yet, but that's typical till I ingest a cup of coffee," Hermione gave a smile, something Fred was very happy to see.
"That's good," Poppy replied as she ran her wand over Hermione. "Well everything looks good. You're free to leave as long as you take it easy. I recommend that you practice walking in here for a bit before you head into the school, as it will take some getting used to."
"Oh!" Fred exclaimed, reaching down by the bed, grabbing the cane. "I got this for you."
"Thank you Greg," she smiled tightly as she took it and swung her legs over the side.
"Do you need any help? I can carry you to our rooms if that's easier."
"Remember that conversation we had after the duel in forest?" Hermione raised an eyebrow as she frowned, annoyed. "This is one of those situations where you have to let me do this on my own."
"Sorry, I just-"
"I know what you just," Hermione smiled a little brighter as she held onto the cane and slowly stood up.
Fred watched as she steadied herself using the cane, his hands grabbing fistfuls of the bedcovers to keep from reaching out to help her. Still not moving, he watched her slowly begin to move away from the bed, leaning heavily on the cane each time she had to put pressure on her left leg. With her hair mussed from sleeping on it, robes wrinkled, beads of sweat forming on her brow, and the bright eyes paired with a stubborn frown of determination, she had never looked more beautiful to him. A few trips up and down the infirmary, and Fred found himself at ease; she was moving rather well, and looked rather natural with the cane, if that was at all possible.
"You're looking like a pro with that thing," he sent through their link.
"Well I wish I didn't have to look like anything with it at all," she snapped, sending him a mental glare as she focused on smoothing out her gait a bit.
"You know this was the only option," he snapped right back, not wanting her to pity herself, and knowing she wouldn't want that either. "It's not the end of the world."
"No, just the end of my leg working correctly."
"Stop that! You never know. We're in the past, remember? Back in our time there might be a cure for this. We have no idea what advances have been made in medicine over the twenty years between now and our time. So stop with the self-pity. You're better than that. And regardless of whether or not your leg is messed up or not, you're still Hermione Granger Weasley, my wife, and the proud, brave, Gryffindor, young woman I fell in love with. Nothing, nothing, is going to change that, do you understand me?"
"Yes," she sighed as she walked back over to him and sat down on his lap. "Love you."
"Love you too," he kissed her before pushing her back up. "C'mon Mya, we've got a class to get to."
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By lunchtime, everyone knew that their beloved Professor Mya could no longer walk without the use of a cane. She had informed her first class, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor second years, about her reaction to the Dragon pox antidote, and the reason why she now walked with a cane. Albus, with Mya's permission, explained her situation to the rest of the school at the beginning of lunch. Hermione took the student's calls of sympathy with a smile, though Fred could feel her annoyance through their mental link. His lecture that morning had given her a bit of a wake-up call, and she didn't want anyone's pitying looks.
"You know, that cane doesn't look bad on you," Fred whispered as they stood at the front of their classroom, waiting for their students to come from lunch. First up was the ever-cheerful Slytherin and Gryffindor seventh years.
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione looked at him curiously.
"The way you stand, with the cane there, gives you a bit of an arrogant stance, making you look like a totally sexy dominatrix," he breathed into her ear as the first students came in; Melisande Goyle, and her betrothed, Anthony Collins.
"Good to have you back Professor," Melisande smiled as the two of them took their seats. "Your husband was absolute rubbish at running this class without you."
"Hey, I resemble that!" Fred joked.
"Well we already knew that," Hermione teased back with a laugh. "Thank you Miss Goyle."
"Professor Mya!" Sirius exclaimed as he, James, Lily, Peter, and Remus entered next.
"Mr. Black!" Hermione mocked him.
"Good to have you back," he grinned as he took his seat.
"Are you doing all right?" Lily asked, concerned about the young woman who was a favourite teacher of hers.
"I'm doing fine Miss Evans, thank you for asking," Hermione smiled, suppressing the urge roll her eyes. Even with Albus' announcement at lunch, all the students seemed to want to hear her say it herself that she was fine.
While continuing to talk with the students as they entered, she saw Severus walk in and pale slightly when he saw her. Hermione's eyes narrowed in confusion at his actions, and she watched as he took his seat, his eyes still flicking up to watch her every few minutes. Even throughout the class as she and Fred cleared the desks away to have them practice some borderline dark curses, like the bone-breaker curse, his eyes would still search her out every few minutes. When class was dismissed, Severus packed up his bag slowly, allowing the rest of the class to file out before he walked up to the desk.
"Hello Severus," Hermione said evenly, not quite sure where they stood, or if he was still angry with her. He didn't say anything, though he looked as if he wanted to. Hermione cast several silencing charms on the room, and a vision-blurring charm on the door before speaking again. "Is there something wrong?"
"I'm sorry," his voice was low and quiet, his eyes uncommonly bright.
"Now I know something's wrong," Hermione tried to lighten up the situation. "You never apologise."
"I've been behaving…deplorably…the last few weeks," he bowed his head. "And now you're hurt. You don't need me making you feel any worse."
"Oh Severus," Hermione held her arms out, and that was all the permission needed for Severus to cross the room and drop to his knees, hugging her around the waist as he buried his face into her leg. One of her arms went around his back, the other smoothed his hair. "I like to think I know you fairly well, and I know there's something else wrong. You're never this open with your feelings and it's worrying me. Please, tell me what's happened."
"I was just so angry," he whispered as he sat back on his feet. Slowly, he unbuttoned his left sleeve and pulled it back to reveal an inky black dark mark on his pale, irritated skin.
"Severus," Hermione couldn't stop the gasp that left her lips as she looked at it in horror. She had thought he'd already had it.
"After Black's prank, I owled Lucius and told him I wanted to take it early, instead of after graduation as was expected," he explained, still not meeting her gaze. "I had no other choice; I've known I'd be expected to get this since I was a third year. I thought I might as well get it done early, perhaps curry a bit of favour with the dark lord, so I won't have to do anything but apprentice under Michael Carrow until I obtain my mastery of potions."
"I'm not blaming you Severus," she lifted his chin with a finger to make him meet her eyes. "I'm just sorry you felt you had to do so."
"I saw no other option," he shrugged, tearing his head away as he got back to his feet, drawing his mask back in to place. Hermione sighed; she knew he had closed up again, no doubt embarrassed, as usual, at him breakdown.
"There are always options," she said forcefully as he walked over to the door, dispelling the charms on it, and the room. "If you find yourself overwhelmed, talk with Professor Dumbledore, he's a great man, and can help you. No matter your opinion of him."
He paused, but didn't say or do anything other than to give her a curt nod. She let him go, knowing he'd want time to himself. Like any teenage boy who became flustered or felt embarrassed, he needed to brood a bit and get over it. He'd come back to talk to her if he needed it; just like he had done this time, and just like he had done in the past. Hermione wished he would open up more, but knowing him as she did, and recalling his behaviour in the future, she knew she was lucky he trusted her enough to tell her as much as he did.
"Merlin things just can't be simple, can they?" Hermione let her head drop into her hands.
"I don't think things have been simple for years," Fred appeared from their office where he had ducked into when he saw that Severus needed to talk to Hermione.
"Simpler than they have been then," Hermione amended. "Nothing's been simple, but it wasn't nearly this complicated. I mean, my leg, and then him, and he's still somewhat upset with me, yet he can't help but talk to me since I'm one of the few people he trusts to talk to. I mean, yes he has Lestrange, Wilkes, Rosier, Avery, and Collins as his dorm mates, but they can't be called friends. They never talk, not even to each other! They're house is the most insane presentation of relationships I've ever seen. Honestly, unless they're ganging up on the marauders, they never even acknowledge each other!"
"They're Slytherins," Fred said simply as if that explained everything; and maybe in some ways it did. "I don't think we'll ever be able to truly understand them."
"I suppose, but I hate not being able to figure things out," Hermione grumbled.
"Well as a belated birthday present to me, can you drop it for now?"
"Birthday present?"
"Yeah, my birthday was the first," Fred informed her nonchalantly. "One of the reasons I proposed to you actually, as proposal dates are important dates to remember, and it's not very likely that I'll forget my birthday now, is it?"
"I don't think I ever knew that, even with all our conversations," Hermione looked apologetic. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, it doesn't matter to me. It's just another day really. I never feel any different," he grinned. "You saying yes to my proposal, and being strong through all this is all the present I need."
"Still…"
"You can make it up to me next year," he squeezed her shoulder.
"I'll be sure to," Hermione laughed. "I've got the whole year now to come up with an excellent birthday present for you."
"Whatever," Fred shrugged. He had never quite seen the importance of birthdays really…except for eleven, when you got your Hogwarts letter, and seventeen when you became an adult.
"Good, now, what were the fifth years working on?"
"Um…I think we were just reviewing stuff from the first semester."
"So basically you don't really know, and just told them to continue working on whatever they wanted."
"Yeah," Fred looked sheepish. "I'm good at the practical teaching, but organisation is not my forte! That's why I need you."
"All right then. Well, for both fifth and seventh years, we need to finish up teaching them the last two chapters in the book. Each chapter will probably take us two or so weeks, so we'll be done with that by around mid-May or so. Then we need to outline a review for their OWLS and NEWTS, and briefly go over everything that's likely to be on them. Those are coming up in Mid-June, so we'll have a month to review everything with them."
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"Bloody hell!" Ron let his head bang on the table he and Harry were sitting at in the Gryffindor common room.
"What?" Harry looked up from the charms book he was staring glassy-eyed at.
"I wish Hermione could've come back a couple months ago, like in March," he groaned, lifting his head back up.
"Why's that?" Harry rubbed his eyes a couple of times, trying to focus better on his friend.
"Because my darling brother has just realised that he's nowhere near where he should in regards to being prepared for NEWTS?" Ginny joked before giving Harry a quick kiss. "How are you doing?"
"Zapped of all energy," Harry smiled tiredly at his girlfriend. He had finally worked up enough courage to ask her out on a date to Hogsmede back in April.
"I'm sorry."
"It's all right Gin. I just think what you said about Ron was right; and for me too. If Mione had been here, we'd have been studying back in January, and not leaving it till the beginning of June," Harry sighed as he closed the book.
"Yeah! We're absolutely insane to have left studying a years worth of material till the two weeks before the exams!" Ron looked as if her were about to cry, his nerves were so frazzled.
"Here," Ginny pulled out two vials from her robe pocket. "I've just been working with Severus. These are a combined pepper-up and calming potion. Soothes your nerves while giving you energy. I just delivered a batch to Madam Pomfrey. Something told me to nick these, as you'd probably need them sooner or later."
Since the beginning of the school year, Ginny had been working as an assistant to Professor Snape, helping him brew some of the more commonly needed potions for the school, such as pepper-up. They had become rather close friends over the course of the year, though Severus would never admit that in public.
"Have I told you I love you today?" Harry grinned as he downed the potion in a single gulp; Ron right behind him.
"Maybe, but it always bears repeating," Ginny smiled as she sat down on Harry's lap, her arms linking around his neck.
"Well then, I love you," he punctuated that statement with a kiss.
"C'mon you two, not in front of me," Ron groaned good-naturedly.
"Well don't look," Ginny shot back. "Or go find your own girlfriend, who just happens to be waiting outside in the hall for you so you two can go take a walk. You need a break from studying, at least for an hour, and I won't take no for an answer!"
"Luna's here?" Ron shot up out of his chair and towards the portrait. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? Leaving her out there like that!"
"Well that got him moving," Ginny giggled as the portrait slammed shut behind her brother. Perhaps in the most surprising turn of events, Ron had started going out with Luna during their Easter break. He had spent several days helping Luna and her father move in some new furniture, and got to know Luna better. They'd been together ever since.
"You know, I do believe we have the common room to ourselves right now," Harry looked around, smirking slightly.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, and I think that entitles us to a good snog," Harry laughed lightly before capturing Ginny's lips with his.
OooOooOooO Back to 1978 OooOooOooO
"We're done, we're done, we're done!" Sirius chanted in a sing-song voice as he dance through the corridors, his friends following behind more calmly, though no less happy.
"I know, and I'm glad!" Peter nodded vigourously. "That was rough! A whole week of testing!"
"For you perhaps," Lily mock-glared. "I had ten days of it!"
"Well that's because you're an extremely intelligent witch who took ten classes," James complimented. "I don't know how you did it. Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, DADA, Herbology, Healing, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, History of Magic, and Care of Magical Creatures. That would've driven me mad."
"Well it's just a good thing then that you're not me, isn't it?" Lily laughed, kissing his cheek. "Now, I know you four can sneak into Hogsmede, so go get some sweets and butterbeers, and we can have a party in the common room tonight."
"Why not right now?" Remus argued, looking forward to relaxing.
"Because James and I need a few hours to work on the graduation speeches we have to give tomorrow," Lily informed them. "And a few hours of relative quiet would be useful."
"Oh that's right, we do have to say something," James groaned as they entered the common room.
"Well, we don't have to do separate speeches, per say, if we don't want to. We could do a speech together instead, but we would have to work out who says what," Lily suggested.
"Let's do that, I like that a lot better, and I think our classmates would too, cause it only means one boring speech instead of two," James joked.
They grabbed a table in a corner, somewhat sheltered from the noise of the common room, as students made their way in, finished with their end-of-term exams. Both pulled out paper and began to write down things they thought should be in the speech. When they were finished, Lily laughed at the fact their speeches were so similar. Putting them side by side, they pulled elements from both, combining them to make one graduation speech.
"You guys done yet?" Sirius bounded over about two and a half hours after they had started.
"Yes, I think we are," Lily smiled up at him.
"Ooh, lemme read!" Sirius made to grab it.
"Paws off Siri," James laughed, handing the paper to Lily who immediately tucked it in her bag and headed for her dorm to put it somewhere safe. "You'll hear it tomorrow at the ceremony, just like everyone else."
"No fair," Sirius pouted, but quickly got over it when a popular dance song came on, and a pretty fifth year waved him over.
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"First of all, I'd like to welcome all parents, relatives, friends, ghosts, and teachers, on behalf of the graduating class," James started off the speech as he and Lily stood at the podium, looking out over the people gathered in front of them. "It has been a long, hard road to graduation and I know your presence here is greatly appreciated. Our job as Heads is to reminisce on our past here at Hogwarts, a past that sometimes reads like a script to some WWN soap opera.
"What an interesting seven years it has been!" Lily took over, smiling brightly. "I know I'm not alone when I think back to our first year and remember the first view we had of Hogwarts, coming across the lake in those boats. And who could forget the very first time we stood in awe in the middle of our great hall, looking up at the enchanted ceiling? And I know everyone remembers watching their first quidditch game from the stands, cheering on your house team... am I right?"
The students let out a cheer at that sentiment, heartily agreeing with her.
"On a more serious note, and no I don't mean you Black," James joked. "I don't think we could have ever imagined having such a diverse group of people as classmates. In this group of forty-two students we have comedians, artists, intellectuals, athletes, leaders, lovers and fighters. But there is one word that can be used to describe all of us collectively, and I think we all know what that word is ... scholars, though I'm sure that Professor McGonagall might disagree with just how scholarly some of us were."
"Looking back, I think that what has influenced the graduating class the most is our outstanding faculty. As students, I'm sure we can all know who our favorite teacher is, the one who inspired us and changed our lives forever. So on behalf of the senior class, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to all the professors who have stimulated our minds, intentionally or unintentionally," Lily smiled back over her shoulder at the professors. "And of course, a warm thank you to Madam Pomfrey, who always managed to heal us up just in time for that pesky History test."
"And thank you to our parents and guardians for sending us here in the first place! I know I've gotten a fabulous education to prepare me for the real world, not to mention an absolutely gorgeous fiancée. So with that said, I'd like to close with a quote that pretty much sums up how every seventh year feels right now. It's a quote from a little joke dummy in Sirius' trunk. The little voice that speaks for our entire class says such simple, yet deep words, 'let me out of here!' "
"Congratulations class of 1978…we did it!" Lily and James said simultaneously before walking off the stage amidst cheers and applause.
Albus moved to the podium and began to call each student's name. The student would come up to take their diploma from him, and then move down the line of teachers, shaking hands or giving them a hug, depending on who it was. Sirius, being who he was, hugged every teacher, and kissed all the women on the cheek, and even took a minute to pretend to sword fight with Fred for a kiss on the cheek from Hermione.
All too soon it seemed, the ceremony was over and students were going with their families to retrieve their luggage and head to the train station to go home. Hermione and Fred joined some of the staff at the station to bid the graduates a final good bye, while the rest went back to supervise the remaining students at dinner.
"Severus," Hermione greeted as he walked over to them, trunk floating behind him.
"Professor-"
"It's Mya, Severus, you've graduated now."
"I just wanted to say good-bye, and good luck in America," he nodded stiffly.
"I'll miss you too Severus," Hermione felt her eyes fill up with tears as she hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek as the train whistled.
Severus gently removed her arms from around his neck, and after seeing that no one was looking at them, brushed a chaste kiss against her hair before turning around and hopping onto the train, just seconds before it began to move.
"Well, I suppose that's our cure to depart too," Hermione sniffed, giving a final wave as the train pulled out of sight around the bend.
"Time to go get our things and then get the time-turner from Albus," Fred put his arm around her as they headed back to school.
"Oh must you leave?" Pomona looked at them.
"I'm afraid so. We need the time to settle in and adjust to the time differences and such," Fred nodded.
"Well you must stay and have dinner before you go," Otto insisted.
"We'd love to, but we really can't," Hermione smiled apologetically as they entered the castle. "We'll be down to the great hall in a few moments."
Heading for the stairs, they made their way back to their rooms and gathered their belongings. They had spent the previous couple of days shrinking and packing everything of theirs in preparation for their trip. Taking one last look around, Hermione pulled her wand and shrunk both of their trunks, hand Fred his as she pocketed hers. Sighing sadly, as she knew she would miss their rooms, Hermione went over to Fred and gave him a long hug, her cane falling to the ground with a soft clatter.
"I'm going to miss this place," Hermione whispered against his chest.
"Well, we'll find a place of our own back home," Fred offered. "Now c'mon. We can make it home by dinner if we leave soon."
"All right, I'm ready," she nodded, and pulled back.
Fred picked up her can and handed it to her, taking her free hand as they left their quarters for the last time, and headed to the great hall. Once there, they were bombarded with hugs and well wishes from the other staff members; some a bit more enthusiastic than others. Minerva was rather sedate, though she was seen wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief kindly conjured by Albus. Albus watched as they mingled for several minutes before clearing his throat.
"I'm afraid the time has nearly come for Greg and Mya to leave us," he smiled gently at them, holding out the time-turner. It was disguised as a portkey, and would work very much like one. It's dials had already been set to take them back to 1998, and would activate with the utterance of a password.
"Thank you again Albus," Hermione smiled at him as she and Fred each took hold of the time-turner, and turned slightly to look at everyone. "Good-bye, we'll miss you!"
"Take care everyone!" Fred chimed in, and then nodded to Albus.
"Eternity," Albus said, and with a slight pop, Greg and Mya disappeared from Hogwarts.
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A/N: Well, their year at Hogwarts is now over. Next chapter, we're back to the present time for good- I know everyone is dying to see reactions, so I will do my best not to disappoint. Hopefully it'll be up in about a week, like usual, but this week is Midterms for me, and then spring break…so no promises. As always, leave a review if you're so inclined- I love 'em, lol. How about fifty reviews? Push me up to 600, perhaps? Whatever, you'll still get the update either way :-)