She hurries over to the Queensway station to catch a train to Oxford Circus. From there she walks to Hanover street to the Snape's nice, quaint looking home.

"Not something I'd imagine the great wizarding family living in," she whispers to herself.

She nervously heads to the front door. Gillian opens it before she can even knock.

"Hermione, I'm glad you could make it," the woman says cheerfully.

She gives her a hug and ushers her into the house. Hermione stands stunned as she looks around. Inside, the place looks just as fabulous as she always thought it would. The sitting room off to the left was very large and decorated in beautiful green, red, silver and gold silks and satins. A fire roared in the old brick fireplace with snakes making up the mantel. The stairs leading up to the second floor were made of the most beautiful and expensive wood one could get. And the dinning room to the right reminded her of a smaller version of the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

"Wow," is all she can muster. Gillian smiles.

"Hey everyone, Hermione's here!" the older woman announces. Andrea comes running down the stairs and gives her a huge hug. Willem enters the foyer from a door that connects off from the sitting room. He too, gives her a hug.

"Welcome to our home," he greets.

"Thank you," she replies.

Hermione is just about to say something else, but Gillian and Andrea sweep her away into the sitting room to see the biggest Christmas tree that she has ever seen. Presents cover most of the floor. Andrea begins to sift though them and hands them out to everyone. Soon, the room is filled with laughter as Willem and Gillian tell tales of when Aleksandr and Severus were little.

"We always thought it was interesting that even though they were twins, they had two completely different personalities. Severus has always had a very dry and sarcastic humor, but Aleksandr has been the one who always is so jovial and happy. Whenever anyone came to our house, Aleksandr was the first to greet them with a smile on his face," Willem explains.

"Oh, but when they started at Hogwarts, that was the worst," Gillian states.

"Why?" Hermione asks curiously.

"Well, Hogwarts is…a private school," Willem explains. "And the students are divided into four different houses. Severus was placed in Slytherin, and Aleksandr was placed in their rival house, Gryffindor." Hermione smiles and thinks to herself that this story could get very interesting very quickly.

"So what happened?"

"Those two would fight so bad that the headmaster was very close to kicking them both out. And it didn't help that Aleksandr was friends with James Potter, who was a sworn enemy of Severus'."

"And it only got worse as they got older," Andrea adds. "I remember when I was in my first year. Aleksandr would tease Severus for being, as he called it, a book worm. Then Severus would shoot back some insult that Aleksandr could never figure out. It was quite humorous sometimes." Hermione smiles.

"So what happened after they finished school?" she asks. Willem looks at Gillian.

"Well, both had gone off to Cambridge. Aleksandr took the job he has now after he graduated, and Severus…well, he got into some trouble and the only one who could straighten him out was his old headmaster. He gave Severus a teaching position, and he's been doing that ever since," he tells her.

"I take it that they still aren't close?" Hermione risks asking.

"No, they're not. They haven't seen each other in a long time," Gillian comments sadly.

"So what about you and your family?" Andrea asks.

Hermione inwardly cringes.

"I too, went to a private school. Right before I started at Oxford, both my parents and my two best friends were killed. I somehow managed to get though the first semester, but then I just couldn't do it anymore. Not because it was too hard, but because I fell into a deep depression."

"Is that how you came to meet Aleksandr?" Andrea asks.

"Yeah, it is," Hermione says smiling.

After telling a few more stories about their pasts, they all sit down to dinner, complete with all the trimmings. Hermione was happier now than she had been in a long time. Who would have ever thought that the Snapes could be so much fun?

"Dinner was great, Gillian, but I really must be going."

"No, no. We would love it if you would stay tonight. Please."

Hermione thinks it over.

"All right. I'll stay."

"Oh good. Andrea would you make up Hermione's bed?"

"Yes, mother." Andrea hurries up the stairs to get the guest bedroom ready.

After a drink or two and another round of stories about Aleksandr and Severus, Hermione finally heads to the guest bedroom and falls asleep.

Severus Snape enters his parents home rather noisily. He looks at the mess of wrapping paper and bows on the floor of the sitting room, and scowls in disgust. With a few soft spoken words, the room is clean. He hangs up his cloak, and stomps up the stairs.

"Sevie, is that you?" Andrea asks.

"How did you guess?" he asks rather annoyed with his little sister. "And don't call me Sevie. My name is Severus," he growls loudly.

"Shhh…You'll wake up Hermione," Andrea says pointing to the open guest bedroom door. He raises an eyebrow at his sister and peeks in the room at Hermione's sleeping form.

"Who's Hermione?"

"She's Aleksandr's fiancée."

"Aleksandr's engaged?" Snape asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, isn't it great? I know you'll like her. Mother and father do." He glares at his sister. 'This can't possibly be the same Hermione that's the Gryffindor Know-It-All, could it?' he thinks to himself.

"Andrea, what is this Hermione's last name?"

"I think she said it was Granger. Why?"

"Are you sure it's Granger?" he practically screams at her.

"I'm pretty sure, Severus," she replies looking at him oddly.

"Dismissed," he scowls.

"Let's get one thing straight, Sevie. I'm your sister, not one of your students."

He growls again.

"I'm not going to apologize, but I will try not to do it again."

Knowing that is the best she's going to get from him, she gives him a hug then goes back to bed leaving him alone in the doorway of the guest bedroom.

"My twin brother is going to marry the Know-It-All? This is going to be like Voldemort's reign all over again," he sighs as he slowly walks to his childhood bedroom.