Severus awoke to a playful otter floating near his face, Hermione's voice parting from it's mouth. "I didn't want to wake you. Meeting with Luna to start my interview for The Quibbler. Be home for dinner."
He rolled out of their bed, noting how she had straightened the linens on her side and left his robe draped at the foot of his side for him. He smiled. His life with her was an aching prototype of domesticity, and Severus had no idea that he would ever crave it the way he did. Then again, it shouldn't have come to as a surprise that the warmth, love, and security he lacked in his childhood would create a subconscious desire to fill his life with those very things when it was so willingly presented to him in the form of a meter and a half tall, curly haired, young woman. Hermione had awoken a corner of his mind Severus had once fought to protect, then pretended didn't exist for more than half his life. She not only reminded him it was there, she drew it out of him with ease.
He wrapped himself in the robe and went downstairs. Winky greeted him with tea and a short note from Hermione.
S-
Been thinking on the Wolfsbane placebo. Can you look over the possibility of adding essence of lavender to the drought before the last step? Will discuss more when I come home.
-H
Severus smirked. Waking to her patronus, a note over breakfast...sometimes he wondered how a brain as brilliant and bright as hers could scatter its thoughts so easily. He shook his head once and sat at the table for a perusal of The Daily Prophet, eager to see the retraction that should be printed. He was not disappointed by the headline.
DRACO MALFOY RELEASES DENIAL OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH HERMIONE GRANGER
The Daily Prophet is formally retracting its previous article that claimed Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy have entered a romantic relationship after being provided with memories from an anonymous source. Mr. Malfoy contacted the office of the editor with this prepared statement:
After attending Hogwarts together with great animosity toward each other, and struggling to move forward following the war, Hermione and I both entered the field of healing at St. Mungo's. It was with great humility and grace that she accepted my previous faults, and we have worked amicably together for over two years. During that time, we have grown to appreciate each other's skill and professionalism. We have the mutual benefit of enjoying each other's company in a friendly and platonic manner. There has never been a romantic relationship between us, contrary to the popular hospital gossip.
Additionally, the publishing of such gossip has lead to discussions of my character in a public manner. After serving my sentence for actions during the war, I have worked hard to build a reputation as a respected healer. Public consumption of my personal life leads to unearned defamation.
It is my deepest hope that The Daily Prophet will endeavor to investigate their sources further before running baseless and sensationalized stories in its future. I will no longer comment publicly on my personal life, except to say that I am not currently involved with any witch or wizard. I grant The Daily Prophet permission to conduct an interview that will highlight my career and the work of the two charitable foundations I have established since beginning at St. Mungo's.
Severus folded the paper and pushed it to the middle of the table. If Hermione didn't keep it, Severus might frame it himself. He had never seen The Daily Prophet print a retraction in all his years. His witch had made them tuck tail. His witch...he smiled again.
—xx—
Hermione arrived back at Thistlebook just before sunset. Winky greeted her as she entered the house. "Mister Sev is in the lab."
"Thank you, Winky." She proceeded through the house into the back garden to the magically extended shed. Hermione rarely ventured into the potions lab, as she knew the serenity it brought Severus, and she tried to maintain a respectful distance when he was working on research or brewing. But today she knew he would be in there because of the note she had left with Winky.
The Wolfsbane placebo they had concocted for Teddy Lupin had been floating across her mind in the middle of the night. While they had discussed it's potential for application to those affected with true lycanthropy, the discussion had yet to progress to any hypothesizing or research due to the large shift in their personal lives. But Hermione's subconscious had decided that it was time to return to the task at hand, and with her interview with Luna, and the retraction in The Prophet, she was quite thankful for the distraction the challenge would bring.
Additionally, Hermione hoped that the work would allow Severus to find a foothold in the months to come. With his public reintroduction looming on the horizon, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how Severus would devote his time. He didn't especially need to work, and he wouldn't dream of taking a job that forced him to be regularly involved with the public, but he was too brilliant to sit idly by. There was a part of her that hoped he would seize the opportunity to become a researcher and private potioneer; working to develop and improve formulas and rewrite textbooks to reflect his natural affinity for brewing.
She gave a soft tap to the door as she pushed it open, but otherwise entered silently. It allowed her to make her presence known without interruption to Severus' work-as she had learned one evening early on in their Teddy research when she barreled through the door in a rush and caused a cauldron to explode when her entrance disrupted Severus' stirring. She softly closed the door behind her and watched as Severus nodded his head in acknowledgement but continued to crush and cut ingredients. Hermione appreciated the opportunity to watch him work. Even as a student, long before any sexual or romantic attraction had become part of her consciousness, she always found his methodical way of brewing to be mesmerizing. He was precise, with long fingers and large hands nimbly flying across multiple surfaces, and black eyes focused on every task. Hermione always believed that if Severus Snape were to ever be described as beautiful, it would be when he was in this element. She broke from her revelry at his low voice.
"And how is Miss Lovegood?" He was looking at her, wand waving to clear the workspace of the lab table and stasis his cauldron. He affixed her with his dark eyes and gave a soft smile.
"She's Luna." Hermione shrugged. "She was as unflappable as ever, but she was willing to work with me on how I want the interview published. I have a copy in the house for you to read. Of course, she knew about you, and is thankful the 'snouterflats saw fit to return you to this world.' Whatever that means."
"She knows about me?" Severus rounded the corner of the worktop, and Hermione made for the door to lead them inside the house. "How is that-never mind. Miss Lovegood was impossible to figure out before, I don't see how time would have made her less complicated."
They were in the kitchen, Hermione passing though to the sitting room, Severus on her heels. "Luna is a good person, a decent writer, and a mildly attuned seer. I've learned to accept her intuitions and trust that she keeps as many secrets as she believes there are colors of fairies. That is to say, many."
The pair made for the lounge across from their chairs, but Hermione rounded on him before they could sit. She cupped the side of his face with one hand, brushing a thumb across his lips and following with a slight caress of her own as she lifted on tiptoe. "I've missed you today."
He gripped the hand and gave his customary kiss to her palm before seating himself and pulling her down closely to his side. The interview copy sat atop the coffee table, and Hermione handed it to him for his review. "It will run tomorrow in a special edition. Take your time reading, I'm going to take a shower before dinner."
She rose from the couch, but turned to place a loving kiss on Severus' forehead. She couldn't escape the feeling of worry that slowly filled her belly, and she couldn't resist gasping his face so that his eyes met her own. "I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing by inviting curiosity into our lives like this, but I won't be ashamed of being with you. I love you, Severus. Nothing that is to come will change that. Nothing."
She broke eye contact before she could feel him brush her mind, and turned for the stairs.
—xx—
HERMIONE GRANGER ADMITS TO UNTOLD LOVE STORY by Luna Lovegood
It's a lovely afternoon when Hermione arrives at my door for our scheduled interview. I was admittedly surprised to receive her request, as Hermione has always been a frightfully private person. But as she is an old friend, and nargles are currently swarming her head, I am happy to oblige her.
LL: Hermione, am I correct in assuming you are here to clarify the story run in The Daily Prophet declaring you are in a romantic relationship with Draco Malfoy?
HG: Yes. So let me begin with saying that I am not, nor have I ever been, in a romantic relationship with Draco Malfoy.
LL: But you do have some kind of relationship with him. Can you explain what that relationship is?
HG: Certainly. Draco and I have worked together at St. Mungo's in the Cursed Maladies department for 2 years. He is a brilliant healer, often taking on cases the other healers are uncomfortable with or unqualified to deal with. Additionally, during our tenure together we have grown to be quite good friends. Draco has a wicked sense of humor, likes to steal my leftovers, and is a shameless flirt under the right circumstances.
LL: It sounds as though you have become quite close. It would be easy to see how someone could misconstrue your interactions to mean that there is a romance there. Especially with that photograph and hearing you say "I love you".
HG: Yes, and it was never our intention to make any one believe that we were anything more than friends. Draco had done me a huge favor, and at that moment I told him I loved him a little for it.
LL: Can you elaborate a little on what that favor was?
HG: It's no secret that my love life has always been something that I am fiercely protective of. And since the end of my last public relationship, there has been increased scrutiny in being single. Draco and I like taking the mickey out of the younger staff members when they catch us talking. We flirt a little more than is strictly necessary, and the gossip has kept the attention off of me in the press. Allowing people to believe that I was single because I was attempting to land the former Prince of Slytherin has allowed my relationship to stay private.
LL: Your relationship? So you are romantically involved with someone?
HG: Yes.
LL: Is there more you would like to say on that matter?
HG: Only that it took me by tremendous surprise, and that I love him more than I ever thought I could.
LL: Hermione, I hate to pry, but it feels like you will simply be inviting more public scrutiny and absence of privacy if you don't divulge a little more. Does the public know this man? Is he a wizard? A Muggle? How long have you known him? How long have you been together?
HG: He is a wizard- a great wizard. He is intelligent, powerful, loyal, and one of the strongest people I know. I have known him for over a decade, and we have only recently been reintroduced. The duration of our relationship is inconsequential, as the length of time does not determine the depth of feeling, but we have been together less than a year.
LL: I would be remiss in asking-has your family met him? (*editor's note: Hermione lost her Muggle parents during the war. She considers her remaining family to be those of the Weasley family, some Hogwarts faculty, and, of course, her best friend, Harry Potter)
HG: All of them have met him. They are in the process of being made aware of the change in our relationship status. The response so far has been wonderfully supportive.
LL: Are you planning on taking things public now that your family knows?
HG: There isn't a specific plan in place for that. It's unrealistic to believe that I can go the rest of my life protecting this. Yet, there are some unique complications attached to my relationship. My partner is even more private than I am regarding personal matters, so we are working to find a compromise that suits both our needs.
LL: Thank you, Hermione. Is there anything else you would like to add?
HG: Yes! I would just like to let the public know that I will no longer be commenting on any story with my name in it that is run in The Daily Prophet. The irresponsible excuse for journalism that exists there will no longer be allowed to discuss my personal or professional life within the confines of their ink. If-IF-the need should arise for me to make public comments, they will only be found here, with you, Luna.
A/N: This chapter and the following are a little on the shorter side, so they are being posted together.
I had a question about Harry and Hermione's nicknames, so I thought I would answer it. They are simply terms of endearmentbetween them. During Ron's absence on the Horcrux hunt, the pair became really close (even developing their own method of communicating), and the nicknames are a natural extension and expression of that intimacy in their friendship. Hermione doesn't allow for other nicknames-even Severus doesn't have one for her. It is a uniquely Harry/Hermione thing.
