Chapter 6: Something there


"Did you make this?", Hermione asked when she sat down to eat breakfast. The table was set with golden plates and a bouquet of vernal flowers graced the middle. Fresh toast, pancakes and all kinds of toppings were nicely arranged. Hermione's mouth watered. These were all things she loved to eat. And the décor was pretty enough to make her want to take a picture.

Severus who poured her some breakfast tea, handed her the cup and took a seat himself.

"I thought you might like it.", he said casually as though it wasn't a big deal.

Hermione smiled knowingly. She wasn't a Slytherin, but she sure noticed him using his knowledge of her to court her. Not that she minded. That was probably the smartest way to go about it. Clever wizard.

He looked even better today. His hair was freshly washed and looked as though he had run his hand through it several times. But she really liked the way it fell today. His clothes were even more casual than yesterday, but still dark. A long turtleneck sweater and an even longer black jacket above it covered part of his black jeans.

"I do. Thank you.", she smiled and put a pancake on her plate. She was feeling much better today. Though it had taken her some time to fall asleep, she had slept very well. And she had dreamed of Severus. Nothing romantic in particular, but he had been around in her dream and she had enjoyed his company. Maybe that was a sign.

The Potions Master rubbed his neck and moved his shoulders to loosen them up. That probably meant that sleeping on the couch had been a bad idea. Maybe they would make enough progress today for her to be comfortable with him sleeping next to her. They'd have to see.

Fortunately for her the morning sickness had gone away pretty soon after using one of the potions Severus had made for her. The baby seemed to be fine though Hermione didn't feel it yet. She was grateful for being in the early trimester of the pregnancy. That way she didn't need to concentrate on the baby and could deal with the stuff happening around her.


After breakfast they both put on their cloaks and got ready for their little walk around Hogwarts. After a rather short walk they arrived at Severus' office.

"I thought we could start here. Since that's the room from your last memory.", he said and motioned for her to come in.

It was indeed his office she had remembered last, but it looked different somehow. There were more books in the shelves, a rug covering the ground and two plants giving the room a friendly touch.

"Tell me about the memory. It must be important somehow. Why don't I remember anything after that?", Hermione questioned and let her fingers wander over some book spines.

Severus sighed.

"It was like you said. We discussed your homework. You were furious. I had actually never seen you this angry. I told you, there was no need to be angry. That you'd pass your final exams without any problems. And I encouraged you to think about a career as a Potions Mistress. That might be the key element in this. When you came back to see me after you finished school, you told me you would be studying Potions and that I had sparked that idea." He looked at her abstractedly.

Hermione thought about it as well. She couldn't recall him telling her this. In her memory there was a clean cut.

"It's weird, but I only remember the start of the conversation. Did anything else happen in here, that might be of importance?"

Severus stern expression softened and a small smile tugged at his lips.
"Except for many encounters of us exchanging intimacies…" He trailed of and Hermione blushed again. "Actually, you told me you were pregnant while we were here. You had been acting strange all weekend and I knew there was something that bothered you. We hadn't been trying for a child, actually we were always very cautious, so you were a nervous wreck by the time you finally told me. I'm still a bit hurt, that you thought I might not want it.", he admitted and Hermione felt sympathy for him. Who would have thought, that this strong person was so fragile? Carefully she lifted her hand and squeezed his arm affectionately.

Severus looked at her reassuring and laid his palm over her hand. It was warm and Hermione realized she was actually welcoming his touch. After a few seconds Severus straightened up again.

"We have to keep going if we want to see everything today.", he said and opened the door for her. Hermione smiled to herself. He was nice company and she felt cherished in his presence. From the moment she had woken up without memory he had treated her with respect and affection. She wondered how she had managed to break through this thick skin of his. And how she had come to the conclusion that it was possible to break through it. After all her Potions Professor had always been a git towards her and her friends, which was now part of the reason why she had such a hard time trying to ignore her prejudices. But seeing how Severus behaved now made it easy to befriend him. Already she felt save with him around.

Hermione went out of the office lost in her thoughts and started walking into the direction of the stairs when a warm hand grasped hers.

"Is that okay?" Severus asked sounding like a little school boy.

"Sure." She gave him a radiant smile and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Together they went to the next location, holding hands the whole way. What seemed like a normal gesture, made Hermione's heartbeat pick up a bit. She didn't show her nervousness though. This was her husband trying to make her feel more comfortable. But everything that involved touching and being close to another person was simply new to her. And she actually regretted that part. This whole situation would probably be a lot easier for her if she knew a man's touch. Luckily the nervousness she felt wasn't actually just that. The longer they touched the more she realized it was excitement building within her. Had their relationship already changed that much or was this her subconscious talking? She didn't know the answer to this question, but realized she didn't exactly care for the answer.


The walk through school was uneventful, except for the students, who kept looking at the two teachers snickering and whispering when they thought they were out of hearing range. For the first time Hermione realized that she was now Mrs. Snape. Students kept greeting her with this name and she politely returned the greeting, although she had no idea who they were.

It was also apparent, that while people kept giving her smiles and friendly words, they rarely smiled at Severus.

"These dunderheads like you a lot.", he said, when they entered the library. "You are a pretty good teacher. Always encouraging them to learn and become what they want. Even if they are hopeless cases." He led her to a section quite far away from the entrance and stopped at a dead end with an armchair that had seen better days.

"No one is a hopeless case.", Hermione said and eyed the chair critically. Severus raised his eyebrows in surprise and there was a small smile around his lips.

"That's such an Hermione thing to say. So much enthusiasm." He shook his head.

"And then there is me. I often catch the students trying to figure out why you married me.", he continued. "At the beginning they made up stories of me giving you love potions and such nonsense. But you quickly shut them up." There was appreciation in his gaze.

Hermione frowned. "How did I shut them up?", she asked and sat down on the window sill. Severus smiled.

"One time at dinner, you held a speech in front of the entire school about how you came to care for me and that there was no need for the students to further discuss your private affairs now that they knew everything. In the end I think it also helped that we kept snogging at public places around school."

Hermione's eyes went wide with embarrassment. "We didn't."

Severus nodded. "We did. Actually we once had to visit the headmaster because of it. That was a bit of an awkward conversation, but we managed to get out of it, without further notice."

She couldn't believe her ears. Then she realized something. "Wait a second. Who is the headmaster at the moment?"

Serverus grinned at her obvious distress. "Still Minerva McGonagall."

Hermione groaned and hid her face in her hands.

"Professor McGonagall? How can I ever talk to her again?"

Severus chuckled. "You don't even remember it and it's been about a year ago. There is no need to be embarrassed. Minerva wasn't mad. She simply told us to be more discreet about it."

Still embarrassed Hermione looked at him. "Okay. If you say so…" She didn't sound convinced. Then she remembered they had probably come here for a reason.

"What did you want to show me here anyways?"

Severus looked at the armchair. "This was one of your favourite places to read when you were my apprentice. Sometimes at night I found you here. Asleep with the book still opened and nearly falling of your lap."

Hermione let her gaze wander. It was indeed a cosy place with a lot of character. She could imagine herself reading here, staring out of the window sometimes and finding peace in her solitude. Plus, examining the books in the shelves a bit further she realized they were in the muggle books section. How fitting. A lot of classics and bestsellers, as well as educational books made an appearance. She liked the coincidence.

"I believe you. It's kind of nice here. Actually, I'm surprised this isn't one of the places you had been talking about early… ", she said and her throat suddenly felt dry. Hadn't he mentioned some love spots of them were in the library?

Understanding immediately, he gave her a crooked smile.

"Oh, it is."


AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! I love your support. While I don't know how long this fanfiction will be, I am currently working on speeding things up a bit. Also there will be a lot of sexual tension in the future ;) So stay tuned. And for those asking: Hermione won't regain her memories for quite some time and I won't reveal the cause of the memory loss yet, because that's the plot you know?

Have a nice day,

AC