Hi everyone,

I want to apologize. I know that I haven't updated in over a month and I would like to apologize. This semester at college was hell. I was required to write over 175 pages for a paper for my biology class in the span of 5 weeks, and it ended up taking most of my free time. Even though posting a story does not take more than 10 minutes, I did not have time to upload, for fear of getting distracted and not finishing. I only ended up writing 2 chapters during my time at college this semester, which were chapters 17 and 18. I am also an RA and had a lot of crap to put up with this semester. With COVID restrictions and lots of parties this semester, I was immensely stressed. I am grateful that no one sent me any horrible messages during this past month, as it was really hard for me. I want to thank everyone for their patience. I then had final projects and finals throughout the month of November and was focused on getting good grades on those. School is the most important thing to me right now.

That being said, I have been home for a week, and have already written another chapter. I'm working on one as we speak, and I also plan to upload on Friday as usual. I will be getting back into uploading every Friday. I want to finish this book within 30 chapters before starting on Year 2. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and take an extra chapter this week and an apology for the last month. Once again, I'm really sorry and I hope you understand.

Thank you everyone,

ekrichards

Hermione had put the incident from the previous day out of her head. Draco and Harry, however, had not. They were scouring through the papers from the day of the Gringotts break in, and they had determined that whatever was in vault 713 was in Hogwarts, hidden underneath that monster of a dog. Now it was time to figure out what was so valuable that it needed to be hidden. In a school. Full of children. Seriously, did Dumbledore think that whoever was after what was in that vault would not come and kill whoever to get to it?

Draco and Harry were walking through the grounds after their classes on Friday, when they had come across Weasley and Hagrid, talking very loudly about something that interested the two Slytherins. Harry grabbed Draco and pulled him behind a couple of bushes, as they crouched to listen to the pair talk.

"No, Ron, what is hidden in that corridor is strictly between the Headmaster and Nicholas Flamel. It has nothing to do with you," Hagrid grumbled.

"Ah, so something to do with Nicholas Flamel is it?" Weasley smirked.

"I shouldn't have said that," Hagrid said. "Just forget what I said! You don't need to go and figure out what this is about, Ron," Hagrid said.

Ron smiled, and began walking quickly towards the castle. Harry and Draco waited a few moments before pulling out of the bushes and continuing their trek to the black lake.

"So, the thing that's hidden under that beast belongs to Nicholas Flamel? Well, one can assume. That's a huge clue. Now we just have to find out who the bloody man is," Draco said with a huff.

"I've read the name somewhere, I just can't remember what," Harry muttered, trailing off.

"Let's mention it to Hermione later on, she'll know who it is, most likely," Draco said. They scampered off to their last class of the week, flying, and put this mysterious man out of their minds.

Hermione, Harry, and Draco were walking out of their last class, pleased that they had all achieved what Madam Hooch had wanted them to do that day: practice diving. Weasley and his two 'friends', as he called them, were in front of them, laughing loudly and talking, not seeming to be aware that the Slytherins were behind him.

"Honestly, that witch is so annoying, especially in charms. It's Levioooosa not Leviosa, honestly, it's a wonder she has any friends," Weasley snickered, and Thomas and Finnegan nervously laughed, looking around.

Hermione let out a gasp, and her eyes filled with tears. How could they be so mean? She had done nothing wrong, and she was just trying to help Weasley get a better incantation. She was nice to the bully when he had called her a mudblood! Hermione shook her head, putting the situation out of her mind. She wasn't going to let those three get the better of her. However, she quickly detoured to the girls bathroom. She wasn't going to let Weasley get the better of her. She wanted to make sure that her eyes weren't red before seeing Weasley again. She was better than him and she was going to make sure he knew.

Draco and Harry stared after, not sure what to do. Harry shrugged.

"She's strong, she'll be able to handle it," Harry said. "Weasley has never gotten to her like this before."

Draco nodded, and they ran off to the Slytherin Common room to get some of their school materials before going to the library.

They met Hermione in the library, who was beaming. She had beaten them there, and had already started on their calming draft essay for potions that was due on Wednesday. She was surrounded by various potions books that were laying open to pages. She greeted them cheerfully.

"Hi, you all," she said. "If you want to start on your potion's essay, I've already pulled out half the potions books in the library. I've also made a list of the essays and the homework that we've got to do this weekend. I've made a schedule, and hopefully if we follow it, we will have Sunday afternoon off to go down by the lake or play gobstones or something."

"Yeah, Hermione, that sounds good. So what do we have this weekend?" Pansy asked, looking over Hermione's shoulder at the schedule that was half buried under Properties of Healing Potions.

"We have this potions essay, a charms essay on alohomora, and what uses it has, besides the obvious unlocking of things. Potions require a foot and a half, charms want 9 inches. We also have a herbology essay that is about the properties and uses of asphodel in potions and day to day life. That one is a foot long. We also have an essay about the Goblin War of 1413 that is 9 inches long, and a Defense essay about how to avoid vampires," Hermione rattled on, laying out the assignments that they had to do that weekend.

The large group sat down, discussing which essay they wanted to start on. In the end, they decided to start with what was due first, and began with the Herbology essay. It didn't take them very long, and after they had finished, revised, and rewrote the essay, they moved on to the Defense essay. Before long, they were packing up their things and heading to the Great Hall for dinner. The hall was decorated with live bats, pumpkins, candles, floating skulls, and of course, a starry night sky with an almost full moon. The full moon would be tomorrow night, on Halloween. Hermione was happy. She had forgotten about the incident earlier in the day, and was looking forward to the Halloween feast tomorrow.

Harry and Draco were discussing the Vault next to Hermione in hushed tones.

"Why do you think Dumbledore is hiding the thing there? And who is Nicholas Flamel?" Draco whispered to Harry.

"What?" Hermione asked, joining the conversation as she worked on the pumpkin pasty she had gotten from the center of the table.

"So, Mione," Draco said, shoving food into his mouth.

"Mione?" Hermione questioned.

"Sorry," Draco said, mouth full of food and blushing. "You deserve a nickname and a shortened version of your name is easier to say sometimes."

"No, I like it. I've never had a nickname before," Hermione said, beaming. She had a nickname! "What were you saying?"

"Earlier we came across Weasel and he was talking with Hagrid, you know, trying to weasel information out of him," Harry said, jumping in. "Honestly, it was quite brilliant of him, Hagrid will spill any secret."

Hermione nodded.

"I'm impressed," she said. "Continue."

"So anyways, we heard him talking to Hagrid, and he said that whatever was down there was between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. We were going to bring it up earlier. I know I've read the name before, I just can't remember where. Do you know who he is, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Like you, the name sounds familiar, but I can't remember who he is. Maybe this weekend, or on Sunday, I can scour the library and see if he's in any of the famous wizards books in there," she said, staring at the table, leaning her head on her hand.

Draco piped up. "I can owl Father this weekend. Maybe we can ask Sev too."

Harry shook his head and glanced at the head table, where Severus was deep in conversation with Minerva. She looked annoyed, and Severus was simply smirking at her.

"Ha, he's probably taunting her about the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor has yet to get a seeker for their team. Sorry. I digress. I don't think it's a good idea to tell Severus about what is under the trap door. He'd know that we knew something and I don't think that we should tell anyone anything. We need to keep this to ourselves for the time being. Let's aim to get our work done by Sunday morning so we can spend the afternoon in the library trying to find this Flamel guy."

Hermione and Draco nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. I want to talk to Severus soon though," Hermione said. "It's been awhile since we've just talked. Our 30 minute blocks aren't near enough to get to know him more. He is my father, and I want to be able to call him that before I graduate. Maybe tonight, as we leave dinner I'll ask if I can speak with him. I miss getting to hang out with him."

Harry had a sad look on his face.

"Me too. I just hate to bother him, especially since I have nightmares and sleep in his chambers once a week. We still talk about the Dursley's though, and I'm proud of myself! I'm not as jumpy as I used to be," Harry said, looking pleased.

Draco nodded.

"Yeah, mate, you've been tossing and turning less in your sleep too. Like you still get kind of jumpy when we get too loud, but you don't panic anymore!"

And soon, the conversation became one of laughter and fun.

Hermione woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and excited. It was her first Halloween in Hogwarts, and as a witch! She glanced at the clock. 7 in the morning. She had breakfast with Severus at 7:30. Last night she had pulled him aside after dinner, and asked if she could speak with him. He quirked an eyebrow, but agreed and told her to be there at 7:30 sharp. No one in the common room was awake, so she slipped out in her nightgown, slippers, and dressing robe. She didn't bother getting dressed. Severus was unlikely to care, and she had clothes in her spare room anyway. She quietly padded across the stone floor and knocked on the door that led to Severus's private chambers. The door opened, showing Severus in his white button down shirt, half tucked into his trousers.

Hermione gave a small giggle, "Sorry, Severus," she said. "I couldn't wait to spend some time with you."

Severus pursed his lips to hide a smile. She wanted to spend time with him! The thought made his heart swell with something. Was it pride? Love? Who knows.

"Get in here, you bookworm," Severus said, motioning to the couch. "Do the girls know you're here?"

Hermione nodded and plopped onto the couch.

"What's wrong? Has something happened?" Severus asked, turning to Hermione.

"No, Severus, nothing's wrong, I just wanted to see you."

"I thought that something was wrong or you needed something. No one ever wants to see me just to see me," Severus said, glancing at the cinnamon rolls that were baking in the fire and making sure they weren't burnt.

"No, Severus, not at all, I just wanted to come say hi, and see how you were doing. I want to invade your library too," Hermione said, with a smirk that mirrored her father's.

"Ah, you rascal, you did want something!" Severus said, turning around and sitting on the couch, pulling her close to him.

"Yes, but I also wanted to see you, that was 75% percent of the reason I wanted to come visit! But you do have great books, most of the time they aren't in the library, and they challenge me, and-"

Hermione was interrupted by Severus tickling her side. She burst out in laughter.

"Ahhh, no more book talk now, just a happy bookworm," He said, reaching to tickle her other side.

"Stooop!" She shrieked, laughing. "Stooop! Daddy stooop!"

It took Hermione a minute to realize what she had said, and recognize that Severus had stopped tickling her.

"Severus? Why'd you stop? I wasn't actually mad," she said, turning around, violet eyes meeting black.

"What did you just call me?" Severus whispered, eyes wide.

"Um," Hermione said, realizing why Severus was in shock. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it just slipped out, I won't do it any-"

"No, Hermione, child, it made me happy," Severus pleaded. "Look at me, Hermione. I've been waiting months for you to say that. I'm very happy with it."

Hermione looked into his eyes, and saw nothing but compassion, love, and happiness. She was home.

"Okay," she said, crawling into his arms to hug him. "Daddy."