AN: Thank you so much for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!
It was never a good thing when Sirius glowed that brightly.
"I have the perfect plan."
Now Severus knew idiocy was on the horizon.
"I just finished The Symposium." Sirius was glowing as if he had just found the cure for dragonpox.
"Congratulations. You are more capable of reading," Severus deadpanned. "I will admit, I had my doubt for a moment."
"Normally I would jump at the bait, but right now nothing can ruin my good mood." Sirius plopped onto the couch.
"What happened which has you so joyful? Did they decide to take us out of our misery and give you a new partner?"
"No, they thought you'd miss me too much if they did that." Sirius gave him the most innocent expression he could muster.
"I would miss you as much as I'd miss an ulcer," Severus groaned.
"You're about to be very happy that I'm around."
"Why would I ever be happy that you're around?"
"Because I know how to find Hermione's soulmate now!"
"How?" Severus smriked. "Do you intend to ask potential men if they like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain?"
"No." He tilted his head towards the ceiling. "Though that could work too."
"Then I'd suggest working on that personal ad."
"No, I have an even better idea. I know who Hermione needs."
"Who?"
Sirius picked up the book and turned to Diotima's speech. "She needs to find someone who can create beautiful things with her."
"What kinds of beautiful things are they meant to create exactly?" Severus raised his eyebrow "Do you intend for them to create a more sensible rulebook for Quidditch?"
"No, though again that would be helpful."
"There is little time to waste then. Get on it."
"No, Hermione needs to create something else with her partner." Sirius pointed to the page. "She and her lover need to create a child, ideas, or preferably both."
Severus took the book and read the last few paragraphs.
"According to Socrates and Diotima, love is intrinsically creative. A weak version of this love creates children, but true love creates ideas which set the world ablaze."
Severus' eyes grew, Not only had Sirius read the passage, but he understood it as well as any philosophy student. He didn't know whether to feel proud of Sirius or horror that he had a new goal for Hermione's soulmate in mind.
"All this time I was looking for someone who would fit with her personality wise and someone who could heal the hole in her heart. That isn't right though. She needs someone who can help her create something beautiful."
"I'm still unclear as to what she is meant to create."
"I don't know," Sirius admitted. "I'm going to find out though."
"It would probably be best to know what you're looking for before you subject her to dunderhead after dunderhead in a vain attempt to create some vaguely beautiful thing."
"That's where you come in."
He lowered the book.
"You're with her all the time," Sirius continued. "What does she want to do most of all? What does she have the most potential to accomplish? What is that one thing she wishes she could do?"
"I think she's already accomplished her main goal."
"I knew you would fight this idea the second you heard it," Sirius put his arms over his chest.
"I am not trying to provoke you. She wanted a cure for her father, and I believe we've found it."
"She told Harry that she sent something into a research facility the other day. How did that go?"
"Very well." Severus' lips curled up. "The research facility has accepted her formula. All that is left is to test it."
"That's wonderful." Sirius' glow intensified.
"It truly is."
"Then again, was there ever any doubt she could accomplish her goal?"
"No."
"That being said." Sirius' glow lessened. "That can't be the only goal she has in life. Surely there's something else she wants to do."
"Right now her goals seem to revolve around learning how to cook and helping me create some potions I was unable to create in life."
"What potions?" Sirius asked.
"Before I was headmaster, I devised a few new formulas. At the time I was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, so I had little time to create anything new. Even as headmaster I would create formulas in my spare time, but alas, I could not brew them."
"Oh wow, doing math in your spare time." Sirius deadpanned. "You sure did live a life of excitement."
"Spying was more than exciting enough for me."
"I hadn't thought of that," Sirius scratched the armrest.
"Of course you wouldn't," Severus muttered.
"So you were relaxing by creating potions and gave your ideas to her. Why does she want to brew them?"
"Because she is learning to reclaim herself."
"Reclaim herself?"
Severus nodded.
"What do you mean by that?"
"She has been hiding from the world for years. The most obvious example of this is that she dropped out of college."
"Hermione walked away from education?"
"Indeed."
Sirius whistled. "No wonder we needed to help her. It sounds like she hadn't been her true self in years."
"No, she had not been," Severus replied. "Back to my original point though. When her father fell ill she decided to create a potions lab. Apparently she enjoyed brewing so much she wanted to make the potions I could not create in life."
"Great! I actually have something to build upon then."
Severus cocked his head.
"Whoever she winds up with must be able to brew potions. He must be able to help her fulfill her goal in brewing what you could not. In fact, I'll bet that's why you are visiting her instead of me." His smile widened. "You are supposed to provide the formulas they brew. Once you hand them over she and her lover will brew them together. They will finally be able to create something beautiful."
"You want me to hand over everything so she and some dunderhead can brew my potions?" Severus turned a dull red.
"First of all, anyone I select for her will not be a dunderhead."
"I doubt that very much."
"Second of all," Sirius glared at the other spirit. "She needs someway to bond with her potential partner. They need to create something together. If you can provide that something, then you've accomplished your mission."
"I will not have her bonding over what I've created with a man who is unworthy of her!"
"Oh now we're back to that! No man I choose could ever be good enough for her."
"It is a real concern, one I'm shocked you don't share," Severus snapped.
"Probably because I don't have half the issues you have."
"I'll have you know that I am completely free of any issues."
"Please, you have more personal issues than Witch Weekly."
"I swear if there's isn't a point to this…"
"Is your argument against this about the man I will select for her, or is this about the fact that you won't get credit for what they create?"
Severus turned white.
"That's what this is about." Sirius stood. "You want credit for whatever they create since you came up with the formula."
"That is not my problem."
"I think it's exactly what your problem is. You can't stand that someone else will be taking credit of your work." Sirius pointed at him.
"Credit means nothing in heaven, ergo it means nothing to me."
"Yet you have just enough pride not to want to get your name on another paper."
"It is not an issue of pride as much as it is putting Hermione in a position where she could be hurt."
"Is that the problem, or are you afraid of letting her go?"
Severus turned blue.
Sirius stood and put a hand on the other spirit's shoulder. Severus backed away and glared at him.
"You have to set Hermione free." Sirius' voice was softer. "She has to find her own happiness, even it involves using you to do so."
"In other words, I am nothing more than a stepping stone in her path to finding eudaimonia." Severus' glow darkened.
"Well, yeah, more or less."
Severus slumped onto the couch and shook his head.
"Why are you looking at me like that? We both knew our goal was to provide Hermione with eudaimonia. We were never meant to be permanent fixtures in her life."
"I know that."
"Do you?"
"I am not an imbecile." Severus furrowed his eyebrows. "I know what our mission is."
"Really? Because you seem to forget it most days."
"I know we're meant to provide Hermione with happiness, but what if we lead her on the wrong path? What if we think we've provided her with happiness, but five years later her heart is broken once again? What if I am in heaven, yet she is in a worse position than before?"
"We have to let her live her life, even if that means she gets hurt." Sirius replied.
"I just wish I could watch over her always," Severus answered.
"Perhaps you could apply to be her guardian angel. Merlin knows he could use a break."
Severus couldn't help but grin.
"Trust me Severus, I know what I'm doing," Sirius replied.
"I do not trust you in the least, and I highly doubt you know what you're doing."
Sirius scowled.
"Still, I have no choice but to work with you. Do what you must."
"Great!" Sirius' glow brightened again. "I'll follow her to the potions testing. I'll see if any of those lucky bachelors takes an interest in her. If one does, then you can push her in his direction Once they fall in love, well, I should get at least a few centuries off of Purgatory."
"What about me?" Severus muttered.
"What about you? You'll be so busy in heaven you won't have time to think about the fact that you are only getting minimal credit for your potions."
"Yes," Severus mumbled, wondering when heaven started sounding like hell.