A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATIE! You're absolutely amazing, and I know you enjoy this fic, so here's a special chapter just for your birthday pressie. Sorry it's a smidge late.
But look at me go, with two chapters on this in a short time-frame after so long off. I hope you love it. I'm having entirely too much fun writing this, especially when they're so young and carefree.
xx-Kitten.
Of Ticking Clocks and Beating Hearts
By Kittenshift17
Chapter 16: Holiday Cheer
The following morning, Hermione was awake early knowing that Miranda and Eugene would have to get back to their regular schedule and be on their way to work. She let Severus sleep in, knowing they'd been up late talking because Miranda and Eugene had kept them up drilling them both with questions about their classes and their teachers and their other friends and how they liked Hogwarts. They'd had far too much ice-cream after an extremely filling dinner and she expected that her friend was beyond tired as a result.
"Good morning, love," Miranda said when she stumbled into the kitchen in her bathrobe, not yet looking like she was able to function.
"Morning, Mum," Hermione grinned, offering the woman a freshly brewed cup of tea just the way Miranda liked it.
She was already in the process of heating beans on the stove and the toaster popped, announcing the toast was ready just in time to have Eugene join them. Fresh from the shower and still trying to button his shirt, he looked a bit more alive than Miranda, but only just. Hermione shook her head at the pair of them.
"Merlin it's good to have you home, Hermione," he commented when she handed him his morning coffee – black and bitter, just the way he liked it. "It's it nice to have someone around to take care of us, darling."
Miranda nodded, covering a loud yawn and making Hermione laugh.
"You just say that because you've forgotten how likely I am to talk your ear off every spare minute," Hermione told them pair of them.
They both smiled indulgently.
"Where's Severus?" Miranda asked, peering around the kitchen.
"Still in bed," Hermione smiled. "He's not used to all the excitement of takeaway food and lots of nosy questions. Not to mention all that ice-cream. Even at school we don't usually indulge in quite so much pudding in the evenings."
"I'd say not, given that the pair of you are skinny as rails," Eugene commented. "Is he alright, love? We haven't scared him off, have we?"
Hermione grinned.
"He's fine. A little disconcerted by the idea of adults being nice to him, I suspect, but otherwise fine. Just tired and sleeping off the food-coma."
"Let us know if we're being to forward, won't you?" Miranda asked. "We don't mean to be. He seems an intelligent young man and we don't want to scare him off, do we?"
Hermione grinned.
"Sev doesn't scare so easily. Hell be fine," she said, serving them both some breakfast but holding off on her own, knowing Severus would get awkward and uncomfortable later if she ate without him while he slept in.
"Big plans today, love?" Eugene asked, raising his eyebrows at her. "What will you and Sev do to keep busy while we're at work. He knows we'll be out most of the day, doesn't he?"
"He knows," Hermione nodded. "I expect I'll get a bit of cooking done, since you two have emptied the reserves I set aside for you. And to do that I'll need to go grocery shopping. Can I have some money to buy everything? I'll drag Sev along with me and he can help me push the trolley."
Eugene grinned, fishing some muggle money out of his wallet and handing it over to her. There was more than enough there to buy half the store, but Hermione smiled.
"Thank you," she said. "Is there anything else you need, other than foodstuffs while I'm there?"
"There's a list on the fridge," Miranda told her. "You're amazing, love. I don't know how we survive without you. Will you be alright to get to the shops, just you and Severus?"
"We'll be fine," Hermione nodded. "We'll take the Floo. That will probably be easiest."
Miranda and Eugene nodded, though they shared another look as though they were worried for her safety even though she'd been to the store plenty of times by herself before she'd gone to Hogwarts. Hermione had to remind herself that though her soul was almost eighteen, her body in this time was still just twelve and she needed to not forget that. It was easier to remember when she was at school, because the friends she'd made were all that age and they all acted very much that age. Even Severus, at times, made it very obvious that he was still just eleven – wouldn't even be twelve until the 9th of January – and as such, Hermione tended to adapt to fit in better with them.
When she was 'home' with Miranda and Eugene, who'd grown accustomed to her being very mature for her age when they'd taken her in, she had to try and find a balance between the two and she hoped Severus wouldn't begin looking too closely at the different facets of her personality lest he grow suspicious as the grown version of him had warned her he would.
It occurred to her as Miranda rushed off to continue getting ready, and as Eugene took his time reading the Daily Prophet when it arrived, that she hadn't thought much about the time she' left behind in what felt like months. There was a part of her that still missed Harry and Ron. Of course, there was. They were the very first friends she'd ever managed to make and she expected that for the rest of her days, even when the time came that Harry and Ron were born and they grew, she would always miss the versions of them that she had known.
After all, her mission was to alter the timeline. To prevent Sev from joining the Death Eaters and to prevent James and Lily from dying. Merlin, at this rate she'd have her work cut out for her even getting them to fancy one another, but Hermione didn't mind. Yet, as she sat in the kitchen making a shopping list for everything she would need to begin restocking the freezer with frozen meals for her 'parents', Hermione realised she hadn't though about the adult version of Severus Snape in months.
Her lips tingled the moment she did so, recalling the way he'd kissed her when he'd been trying to arm her for life in this time. Reaching up and touching them, Hermione frowned, wondering if she would ever have cause to kiss the version of Severus who was sleeping upstairs. It hadn't occurred to her in all the time she'd been there. Being in the body of a twelve-year-old made things a lot less complicated, she realised. She was less inclined to worry about her looks, or what the boys might think of her. She hadn't had to worry in the slightest about breasts or bra-size fluctuations, and until that very moment, she hadn't spent a single moment thinking about physical intimacy in a way that carried romantic connotations.
She'd taken to hugging and snuggling with many of her new friends, none more so that Severus, but she hadn't thought about him in a sense of wanting to touch him inappropriately or wanting to see what he had going on under his robes. She blushed, recalling the way the adult version of him had pressed her into the walls at Hogwarts, snogging her soundly and she could almost hear his low, silken voice muttering I get the feeling the teenage version of me is going to find you entirely irritating and want to throttle you until I'm about sixteen all over again.
A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled the look he'd given her when she'd asked what might happen after he turned sixteen and she blushed when she realised she'd forgotten his assertions, but at the time, had been all for them.
"You alright, love?" Eugene asked, catching her shiver, and Hermione turned to look toward him, her cheeks brightening to pink.
"Fine," she said. "I think someone just walked over my grave."
Eugene chuckled.
"You'll be alright with just you and Severus here today, won't you?" he enquired seriously, setting aside the paper and lacing his fingers together before eyeing her over the top of them.
"Of course, I will," Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's my best friend. We'll go shopping. Maybe come back and start in on the mountain of homework the teachers gave us for the break, and I might talk him into going for a walk with me after I get some cooking done."
Eugene lips twitched like he wanted to smile.
"You like this kid a lot, don't you, Hermione?" Eugene asked quietly, tipping his head to one side.
"I… not currently in the way I think you're implying," Hermione said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm only twelve, remember?"
"I had crushes on people when I was twelve," he argued.
"Well, it's not currently like that."
"Not currently," he confirmed, and Hermione knew he'd caught the clarification that implied that there might one day come a moment when she realised she did fancy him a whole lot and when she might begin to look at her friend in a romantic sense. Recalling the adult version of Snape and knowing that Sev would one day grow to be him made her think that she very easily might fall for him as they aged.
But she wasn't going to aim her life towards it and she wasn't about to worry about that now. They had years and years to live before those kinds of things began to matter.
"Don't worry, Dad," Hermione grinned wickedly at the former Slytherin. "You won't have to start worrying about all the boys trying to woo your daughter into courtship for a few more years, yet."
"Is that right?" he said.
Hermione smirked.
"I have far too many books to read to be worrying about boys, thank you very much," she replied.
"Don't I have a handful more boys coming around later in the holidays to stay, too?" Eugene asked.
"Yes," Hermione grinned. "Sirius and James and Remus and closer to the time of the ball, Rabastan. The girls are coming too, of course. Molly, Lily, Marlene, and Alice. You're going to have a very full house, Dad."
"All the more reason to have your stock up on food and snacks, then?" Eugene chuckled, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head at her obvious enthusiasm.
"It wouldn't do to let them go hungry," Hermione nodded.
"What on earth are you going to do with them all?" Eugene asked. "We'll never keep them all entertained."
"The boys will probably bring their brooms, so I expect there'll be quidditch matches, and gobstones and exploding snap, and we'll all been given an absolute mountain of homework that we need to slog through. It'll be fine. If things get really dull, I'll dare Sirius to jump in the lake out the back."
"It's the middle of winter," Eugene reminded her.
"That won't stop Sirius," Hermione laughed. "James dared him to jump in the Black Lake up at Hogwarts shortly before the holidays. I'm surprised he'll be able to come and visit all, given that he got the flu after that particular stunt."
Right at that moment, Severus Snape wandered into the kitchen, fully dressed for the day in black pants with a patch on one knee and a too-large black jumper that he seemed to favour in cold weather. He'd clearly washed his hair in the shower before bed last night because it was grease free, and Hermione was surprised to see that he'd clearly pinched one of her hair ties, pulling the long, lank strands of black silk into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck.
She'd never seen him wear it like that, not even in Potions class when it fell in his face and got in his way while he was brewing and Hermione wondered with a sudden jolt if he'd never tied it back before because he'd never had access to a hair-tie before. She'd never thought to offer him one of hers, and he'd obviously spotted the large collection of them on her vanity table in her room and thought she wouldn't notice if one went missing. Not that she minded, of course, it was just a shock to see his face unimpeded by his hair, and she felt positively awful for not offering him a tie for it sooner.
"Are we discussing Black's idiocy?" Severus drawled as he entered to room, never bothering with proper greetings. "We'll be here all day, if that's the case."
"He's not even here and you're insulting him, Sev," Hermione laughed.
"Even if he were, he's hardly bright enough to comprehend when he's being insulted, so it's of little consequence that he's not," Severus sneered, drawing a bark of laughter from Eugene and causing the man to spit the mouthful of his coffee that he'd just taken.
"You're terrible, Severus Snape," Hermione informed him, putting her hands on her hips and trying very hard not to laugh, lest she encourage him.
Severus grinned evilly at her before rounding the bench in the kitchen and pinching the cup of tea she'd just made for herself.
"Is this for me?" he said, taking it without waiting for her reply.
"Just for that, I'm going to make you carry all the heavy bags back from the grocery story, Sev," Hermione informed him, glaring though it was hard to even feign annoyance with him when he'd clearly woken in a very good mood.
"It's almost adorable that you think you can actually make me do anything, Hermione," Severus taunted, climbing up to sit on one of the breakfast-bar stools beside Eugene, who was watching the pair of them with no small amount of amusement even as he tried to mop up the mess he'd made by spitting his coffee.
Hermione frisbeed the slice of toast she'd been buttering right at Severus's head and she scowled when he deftly caught it, one-handed even as he slurped up a mouthful of stolen tea.
"Can I have some beans, too?" he asked, looking wickedly amused when he set the toast on the bench before him after pinching Eugene's empty plate.
"I ought to dump the pot of them over your head, you git," Hermione told her best friend.
"Shut up and bring me the beans, witch," Severus taunted. "Else I'll make you carry all the bags when we go shopping. And what are we shopping for, anyway. I didn't sign up to spend the holidays here to be dragged off on some girly shopping spree. You should've brought Lily home if you wanted that."
"We're shopping for food, you absolute arse," Hermione informed him, shaking her head as his scornful and dismissive tone.
"I still need the beans, Hermione," he told her, not looking the least repentant for his comments.
Hermione narrowed her eyes on him before carrying over the pot of beans and setting it on the bench before him. He smirked at her when she glared at him and Hermione could tell that Eugene didn't know what to make of their habit of insulting on another but he didn't seem to mind.
Serving herself some beans on toast and making herself a fresh cup of tea that Severus couldn't steal, she ate her food alongside him, laughing when Miranda came skidding back into the kitchen a short time later wanting to know where she'd left her handbag.
"You kids be good today, you hear?" Eugene asked sternly when his wife was finally ready to be on his way. "If you get into trouble anywhere, send for us, alright?"
"We'll be fine, Dad," Hermione told him, rolling her eyes. "Severus hasn't exploded a cauldron in at least a week."
"A week!?" Severus hissed, stung. "I haven't exploded a cauldron since I was seven, thank you very much, she of the melted cauldron just three days ago."
"You melted a cauldron, Hermione?" Miranda asked, pausing on their way out.
"Only a small one," Hermione confessed, blushing. "And I stand by my assertion that James Potter was mostly to blame. I'm ninety-nine percent certain he tossed in an extra rat tail when I wasn't looking."
"Oh, dear," Miranda said, covering her mouth on a chuckle. "He's one of the ones coming later in the week, isn't he?"
"Unfortunately," Severus muttered darkly.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"We'll be fine, guys. You need to go. You're going to be late," Hermione shook her head at the two of them. "There'll be more time for questions at dinner tonight."
"Can we have stroganoff?" Eugene wanted to know, stopping on the way to the fireplace to make his request.
"Maybe," Hermione grinned. "Go. We'll be alright. Have fun at work."
"I'd almost think you're rushing us out of the house to throw a party, the way you're acting, love," Miranda chuckled.
"Not today," Hermione said. "I just need you to hurry so I can fling the rest of my beans on toast at Sev for being a snide little git where you can't see and scold me."
"No food fights, please," Miranda shook her head.
"We'll clean up," Hermione compromised.
"You'll clean up, when I pulverise you and remind you of your inferiority, Granger," Severus informed her and Miranda and Eugene were both laughing as the stepped into the Floo just as Hermione flung her-half eaten toast right at Severus's smirking face.
"Pulverise that, Sev," Hermione crowed when it collided wetly with his chin.
She shrieked when he returned fire with a forkful of beans that splattered across the front of her pyjama short and immediately squished into her hair.