A/N: Good evening. I have nothing to report. Give some love to Lib McGranger for her behind-the-scenes work on this. You honestly wouldn't have this without her. So... Do your thing ;)

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Christmas with her parents had been everything she had wanted it to be. It was pleasant and cheerful and downright fun at times. They had exchanged a few presents that each had quickly managed to find or make, but most of all, they had enjoyed each other's presence more than any gift one could give.

Minerva, with Hermione's help, had placed as many protections on the house as she could think of that night. She'd placed more the following morning, late morning; they had fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room after watching Christmas television well into the early hours. Minerva had not seen much television in the preceding years and Hermione had stayed up far later than she usually would, even on Christmas Day, watching Minerva watching it.

The next morning a plan was formed to move her parents, quietly, to Banchory. The protections on the house were explained as best they could. Hermione warned them that the Postman might forget where their address was and to avoid inviting people to the house. Even invited, someone might get to the street and not be able to find the house, or forget why they made the trip over. That had raised a few chuckles from Sam as he made plans to invite his mother-in-law over, just to see her forget.

For that, he'd earned an amused slap on his arm.

Now though, on Boxing Day evening, Hermione was back on the window seat in the library of Minerva's home. Though she had only spent a few days there, it had quickly turned into her favourite place. She tucked herself into the corner and watched the snow blanket the mountains.

"That will likely be down here by tonight," Minerva's soft voice said behind her. It didn't startle her, she seemed to always know where Minerva was these days. She turned and smiled sadly. "Did it go very badly, do you think?" Minerva asked, sitting beside her and passing her a cup of tea.

"No," Hermione acknowledged as she smiled in thanks. "But it is always hard leaving them. Especially now. Even though I was more than ready to go -"

She was going to say home, but she let Minerva make her own conclusions.

"I understand."

Hermione let that stand and sighed into her mug.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For the tea?" Hermione made a face. "Sorry," Minerva chuckled. "I regret that I did not think of it myself, or earlier." Hermione shrugged and leant her head on her knee while they fell silent and watched the window. "I did get a fabulous scarf out of it though."

That made Hermione snort. The scarf in question has been shared between family members for years. It wasn't ugly, or even low quality, but it had turned into a family tradition. A proverbial bad penny. Someone would be gifted it and that person would then re-gift it in a way that the next person could never refuse it. Her mother was a woman with a sense of humour, underneath it all. She explained this to Minerva, who developed a bright twinkle in her eye.

"I understand," she chuckled as she sipped her tea. "It is rather pleasant to be invited into such a family affair with no warning," she mused. Hermione refused to acknowledge that out loud. "Cruel," she chuckled. "But," she smiled as Hermione watched her. "Nice."

Hermione shifted and leant against Minerva's shoulder while they drank their tea. Minerva's prediction turned into reality rather quickly and soon they were watching the snow blanket the fields outside her home.

"It's so pretty," Hermione sighed.

"Do you want to go outside?" Minerva asked quietly as they watched.

"Would you be upset if I said no?"

"Not at all," she whispered. She shifted and Hermione picked her head up, thinking she was moving, but instead, Minerva settled more comfortably and wrapped her arm around Hermione's shoulder, pulling her back as she got comfortable herself.

"I understand," she whispered into Hermione's hair. "I really do."

Hermione didn't have the energy or the inclination to ask, so they sat quietly watching the snow fall while they sipped their tea. As it often did, Hermione's mind ran away with her as she imagined sitting here for days while Minerva worked beside her.

Her mother's words had been rolling around her head for hours. It was interesting to her, that Harry Potter had noticed something about someone. As much as she adored Harry, he was not always emotionally aware of what was going around him. It was quite another thing to find out her mother had noticed something in the incredibly short time she'd spent in Minerva's company. It made her want to know what they were looking at, what secret clue they had found, but she was just as lost as before. Minerva McGonagall was just as enigmatic to Hermione as she was six months ago, even though Hermione could argue she now knew the woman better than ever.

"You are thinking so loudly," Minerva muttered, banishing the mugs back to the kitchen.

Hermione felt caught and scrambled to come up with an excuse. Realising there was something niggling at the back of her mind, she looked up at Minerva with a frown.

"How are you really going to install my parents as Muggle ambassadors?"

Minerva had the good grace to blush.

"Once I realised the kind of people they were, I also realised there was very little I could say to them to make them agree, short of a compulsion charm," she chuckled, making Hermione grin. "So I bent the truth a little," she shrugged. "There is no way I would allow your parents to be attached to Hogwarts at the present time. That is more dangerous than leaving them where they are. I am not even going to tell Albus."

"But -" Hermione frowned, sitting up and staring. She regretted it instantly as she moved from Minerva's arms. "Then how do you -"

"I have the procedural manuals and they have not been updated since the forties, I think. I will make a show of letting your parents inspect them - nobody will miss them - and we shall keep them busy, whilst also keeping them safe."

"Oh my God, you're going to pay them yourself?" Hermione gaped. "Are you insane?"

Minerva laughed and Hermione's heart thumped a little louder.

"No love," she chuckled absently. Hermione's heart beat even faster. "They are still doing me a favour. I shall reward them accordingly. As you have seen," she looked around. "I have very few vices and no family. I have bags of money just taking up space."

"You -" Hermione was so confused she wasn't quite sure what to say. "Are you sure you're not a Slytherin?"

"Och!" Minerva protested. "I say!"

Hermione smiled, feeling like she was going to burst.

"Thank you," she said, wrapping her arms around Minerva tightly and without warning.

Minerva arms wrapped around her middle as they teetered dangerously on the seat but she managed to pull Hermione closer and tighter.

"You are most welcome," she muttered, her lips caressing her skin on her temple.

Hermione felt so safe and so comfortable, she didn't move when it was clear that the hug had gone on a little longer than usual, but while she did not move, neither did Minerva. They stayed, curled around each other until night fell properly and Hermione had yawned more than once in the space of ten minutes.

"You should sleep," Minerva murmured.

"I'm fine," she insisted, around another yawn. Minerva chuckled.

"Well my bottom has gone quite numb so if you insist, I'm afraid I must move."

"Sorry," Hermione said.

"Don't be," Minerva grinned. "Help me up?"

Hermione took Minerva's hand, trying to remember that they were just friends, and helped her up and over to the sofa.

"Would you like to read?"

"Yeah," Hermione smiled. "Always," she shrugged.

Minerva laughed and took out her wand. After a few complicated movements that Hermione could only just follow, the sofa in the middle of the room was extended and altered to make a sort of nest. Soft, sloping back on all four sides and a square middle of overstuffed cushions.

"Ok, you have got to teach me that later," Hermione gaped. "That is awesome."

Minerva smirked and summoned her book. Hermione held her wand carefully, then remembered Minerva's lesson a few days prior and put it away. She remembered the conversation about intellectual magic users and their powers. She looked at the book she wanted to summon and tried to figure out how to summon it without the spell or a wand. As she was standing there, she could feel Minerva's eyes on her and every part of her pleaded with her magic just to do this one thing for her.

She was so busy trying to figure it all out that she quite missed it. It wasn't until she felt Minerva behind her that she stopped thinking.

"Be calm," Minerva whispered. She stepped up against her back and Hermione had to concentrate very hard to do as she was instructed and not on the heat from Minerva's body.

"I'm trying to -"

"Hush," Minerva chuckled. "Just look -"

She held Hermione's shoulders and turned her chin. Hermione, who was about to ask something else, gaped. Not only was her book hovering above the floor, so were a hundred other books as well.

"Am I -"

"Aye," she said gently. "Now very carefully, slide them back into their shelves."

"How?" Hermione asked, her voice pinched with panic.

"Calm," Minerva said gently, her thumbs digging into Hermione's shoulders blissfully. "Just think about them in their previous spaces. A generalised idea of them on the shelves should work."

She did so and watched with her eyes wide as they all slid back into their spots.

"Do you know how I -"

"No, I have absolutely no idea how you did that first time," Minerva beamed when the last book was in its place. "But it was fantastic!"

"I didn't mean it though," Hermione admitted.

Minerva chuckled and summoned the book she knew Hermione had been reading previously and led them to the sofa.

"I know," she winked. She nodded Hermione into the nest of cushions and followed after her. "I realised when the third book left its place," she grinned. "Regardless, that was quite spectacular."

"What does that mean?"

Minerva settled beside her, rolling and propping her head up on her hand. She stared for a long while until Hermione felt like a bug under a magnifying glass.

"Sorry." Minerva shook her head after she had noticed Hermione's discomfort. "What were you thinking about when it happened?"

Thankfully she hadn't been thinking of anything sordid.

"Just about willing it to work," Hermione shrugged. She considered it for a while longer and Minerva seemed to be waiting for her to do so. "Ok, actually, I was willing it to work but also thinking about the connotations of magic uses being," she made air quotes with her fingers. "Unencumbered by wands and spells."

Minerva watched her with a soft smile on her face.

"I think," she said gently. "That you might very well change the world, Hermione Granger," she chuckled. "And I for one cannot wait to see how."

"You did promise," Hermione whispered, feeling suddenly desperate to remind Minerva of that promise.

"I did," Minerva muttered. Her eyes remained locked on Hermione's before she nodded. "I do promise."

Hermione couldn't do anything but nod and Minerva pulled her forward quickly, kissing her forehead before settling on her back, one arm under her head, and picking up her book.

Hermione followed suit. The book was fascinating and she had in mind she might read until Minerva fell asleep, but it was her eyes that started to feel heavy first.

"Sleep," Minerva whispered as she nearly dropped her book on her face for the third time.

She took the book from Hermione's hands and placed her own bookmark in the pages. Putting it on the arm, she nodded Hermione closer.

"Come here," Minerva muttered. Hermione went, and Minerva pulled her close. "Sleep. We'll be quite warm in here."

Hermione couldn't breathe, let alone speak, and her last thought of the evening as she fell asleep in Minerva's arms, was that this experience had been the best few days of her life.