Gabriella pulled away from the stunned Severus and took her hand from the confused Michael.
"Who is this man?" Mrs. Phillips screeched. "I don't recall inviting him here!"
"My apologies madam. I am Professor Dumbledore. I am the headmaster at Gabriella's school. I came here to see how she and Severus were doing." Gabriella blushed thinking of the pose she and Severus had been in when he stepped in. "I would like to speak to them privately, if I could."
"Most of the rooms in this house are open to my guests. You may go to Gabriella's room if your discussion is so important." Mrs. Phillips glared. Gabriella swallowed heavily and led Dumbledore to her room with Severus trailing. Michael made to follow but was pulled back by his mother.
Severus closed the door behind them. Gabriella had found a chair for Dumbledore and she and Severus sat on their cots. The entire room was quiet, the only noise coming from the guests in the other parts of the house. Dumbledore was silent, twisting the ends of his beard pensively. Gabriella fidgeted and picked up on her old habit of chewing her lip. Severus merely stared at his shoes.
"I believe the two of you have a lot to explain to me." Dumbledore said softly.
"I should be held responsible, Professor Dumbledore. If there are any repercussions due to this I would prefer that you only punish me. Gabriella needs to finish her schooling and I can find another job if I must." Severus muttered softly.
"Please, sir. Don't make Severus leave your school. I can stay with my grandmother and finish my schooling in the muggle world. Just allow Severus to stay where he is most comfortable." Gabriella pleaded.
"Don't be ridiculous, Gabriella." Severus hissed. "Hogwarts can teach you what no other school can. As long as I know that you are fine, I shall be comfortable wherever I am."
"Don't be ridiculous? If you leave in the middle of the school year it will be suspicious! My friends know that I have a difficult time with my grandmother, so it would not be as strange should I leave in the middle of the year."
"Gabriella, I insist-"
"Enough." Professor Dumbledore murmured. Severus shut his mouth and glanced away from the room's other occupants. "What I need to know before I proceed any further is whether or not you are truly in love."
"I would be a fool to be in a relationship as dangerous as this one if our feelings for one another were anything less." Severus snarled.
"I didn't think you were a fool when I hired you, but I suggest that you prove to me now that you aren't one." Dumbledore replied calmly.
Severus averted his eyes from the questioning gaze of the headmaster and the worried gaze of Gabriella. He looked to the ring on his finger and wished that he could go back to the calm happiness of the morning.
"Sir, how do you want us to prove our feelings to you?" Gabriella turned to Dumbledore.
"That is the question, isn't it?"
"You must understand, Professor Dumbledore, that I will do anything to be with Gabriella. It may be that we have been together for only a few short months, but I have never had such intensity of feeling for anyone else. Don't expect me to say anymore. Just know that I love her" Severus looked to Gabriella as he pronounced his last statement. Gabriella smiled softly to him in return.
"Very well. Then the least you can do is tell me how this came about." Dumbledore looked to the pair. Severus' pale face grew slightly paler and Gabriella blushed. Dumbledore's bushy eyebrows raised a bit.
"I knew I was in love with her when her cauldron exploded in my class one day. I sat by her bed in the hospital to think it through, but I didn't get anywhere. When she woke up, her comments only made me fall more in love with her." Severus looked to Gabriella affectionately. "Silly girl."
"And you, Gabriella?"
"Well, I never fully realized it until the day after I woke up in the hospital. I had never been able to dislike him like everyone else did, but I wasn't able to admit to myself that I might fall in love with him. After all, I didn't expect to fall in love so soon in life." Gabriella gave a ghost of a smile at that thought.
"Then I have one final test for the two of you. It is a charm that will tell us if you are meant for one another. It is closely related to divination, but it will also tell me some information about the relationship that lies ahead for the two of you." Dumbledore stood up. "Do you have a knife, or a pair of scissors, Gabriella?"
Gabriella stood and walked to her canvas bag. Severus stood also and went to his bag of potion ingredients.
"I have a knife. It will be somewhat easier to obtain than something from inside Gabriella's bag." Severus said, pulling out a small knife with a black handle and handing it to Dumbledore. Gabriella sat back down on her cot.
"I need a lock of hair from both of you." Dumbledore said. He approached Gabriella first and cut away one lock of her long hair. Snape took the knife back and cut off a portion of his own to give to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore took the two locks of hair and wove them together. He placed the tip of his wand against them and whispered a word to them so softly that even Severus' keen ears could not hear what the word was.
"We must give it a minute. The locks of hair from the two of you will glow. Which colors glow, and how intensely they glow, will tell us what sort of love you have for one another. Later I will use the hair in a potion that will tell me some about your future. Ah, it begins!"
The lock of hair in Dumbledore's palm glowed softly for a moment in a light pink hue, then suddenly burst into a blinding flash of light. The occupants of the room looked away. The hair glowed so brightly that none of them would look at for more than a few seconds.
"It's glowing blue and red. What does that mean?" Gabriella looked to Dumbledore as best she could. He placed his wand against the hair again, causing the light to suddenly disappear.
"Very intense light, both red and blue." Dumbledore mused. "Blue signifies true love, and red that it is passionate."
"I have spots on my eyes, like I just had a picture taken or something." Gabriella said, rubbing at her eyes. Severus merely blinked more than he usually did.
"Well, I suppose I can not come in the way of love such as this. It is, after all, the most powerful form of magic that there is. You can never know what it will do." Dumbledore smiled to the young lovers. "You may both stay at Hogwarts in your various positions, granted that you do not let anyone know of your relationship. And Gabriella, no more failing your potions, understand?"
Gabriella nodded. Dumbledore gently placed the woven hair into one of his pockets. He pulled a small parcel out of his other pocket. And handed it to Severus.
"Merry Christmas. Here is your portkey, and I will see both of you on New Year's Day."
"Thank you for understanding, Professor Dumbledore." Gabriella said, moving to place herself at Severus' side.
"I apologize for my outbursts, professor." Severus added, putting his arm around Gabriella's waist. "Do you plan on telling us what the potion with our hair in it tells you?"
"No. Love should be unplanned, so only I will know the future when it comes to your relationship. Don't try to do the potion, Severus, it can only be done once. Later potions will lie." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Severus nodded, annoyed.
"I really must be going now. There is the feast at Hogwarts to attend. Have a Merry Christmas." Dumbledore left without another word. When he saw Mrs. Phillips he merely smiled to her and departed her house. No one ever saw him emerge outside, since he already had used his portkey to return to Hogwarts.
Inside Gabriella and Severus sighed. They may have gained the knowledge that their love was real, but now it would be more difficult for them to see each other. They would have to find new ways to spend time with one another.
Gabriella laid down on her cot, disregarding the wrinkles that might result to her dress. She sighed heavily. Severus sat down next to her and stroked her hair.
"Will we ever be able to admit our relationship in public?"
"Someday, when we are older."
"Wouldn't it be nice."
"Do you really mean it?" Gabriella gasped.
Severus looked annoyed. "Of course I do, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
Gabriella smiled. Severus pulled the ring out of the case. Gabriella's smile widened. "Then yes. Yes, I want, more than anything, to be your wife." Severus slipped the ring onto her finger. He stood up and kissed her briefly.
"Much as I would like to prolong this encounter, you really must get dressed. We need to speak to Dumbledore, and then there is the matter of addressing the student body." Severus stalked to his chest and pulled out a black school robe. "The house elves brought this for you. It is one of Granger's. She was the girl whose cat you were acting as. It should be about your size." Severus handed the clothing to her.
Gabriella put on the robes. They were about the right size for her, but due to her inherent thinness they were a bit loose on her frame. Gabriella smiled to show Severus that she was ready.
"How do I look?" She asked.
"Just the way that I remember you."
"Yeah, I guess my clothing always fit loosely." Gabriella frowned. "Do you want me to transform for the sake of privacy? For the trip to Dumbledore's office?"
"That would be wise." Severus sneered. "Unless you want to be mobbed by curious students."
"What should I turn into? Do you have large pockets or anything?"
"Do you have any forms that are small and black?"
"How about a roach?" Gabriella chuckled. "Scratch that. I can just imagine a well-meaning teacher seeing me and squishing me on sight. Besides, I don't like insect forms."
Severus and Gabriella pondered silently.
"Just change into an owl. Those are common enough around here." He said. He felt a weight land on his shoulder and a sharp nibble on his ear. Severus chuckled. "Once again, as soon as you change into an animal you take to my ears."
Hermione was called back to Dumbledore's office early the next morning. She found Dumbledore sitting behind his desk with Snape sitting in a chair across from him. There were two empty chairs. Snape had a barn owl sitting on his shoulder. It made a soft hoot when it saw her.
"Hermione. Please be seated. We were planning on discussing Ms. Gisaf's future and she specifically asked that you would attend." Dumbledore pointed to one of the empty chairs. Hermione took the one furthest away from Snape.
"Where is Gabriella?" Hermione asked.
"I'm right here." a soft voice spoke behind her. Hermione startled and looked around. A young girl about her age with blonde hair and vivid blue eyes stood patiently with her hand on Snape's shoulder. She was about Hermione's stature. "Thank you for lending me some of your robes."
"Oh, it was no problem. I just wish they wouldn't make the house elves do it." Hermione smiled.
"That is quite gracious of you." Gabriella returned the smile before putting herself into the seat next to Snape.
"You're an Animagus, right? So you were that owl? Professor McGonagall said that you could turn into any animal that you wanted." Hermione asked inquisitively.
"That's not entirely accurate. The ministry tested me two, no, sixteen or seventeen years ago to get a general idea of my forms, but I don't think we covered everything. There are a few animals I can't transform into, though."
"Really? I'd love to learn more-"
"Not today, Ms. Granger." Severus snarled. Gabriella held his hand consolingly.
"I am sure you and Ms. Gisaf will have plenty of time to talk since she will be joining your class." Dumbledore added.
"What!" Gabriella and Snape cried simultaneously.
"Gabriella has not finished her schooling. She joined the school in her fifth year, and disappeared during the beginning of her seventh. Due to modern advancements in magic she is at your education level when it comes to understanding theories behind magic. She needs to finish her education." Dumbledore looked to Gabriella and Snape, who were both showing their anger in their own separate ways.
"Professor Dumbledore! I hold no objection to going back to school, but I want to be able to associate with Severus freely! If that means dropping out of school, I will." Gabriella pronounced fiercely.
"Gabriella, we already spoke about this years ago at your grandmother's house. I want you to finish school. Once you have taken the NEWT exams and proven your magical ability, there is no job you couldn't have." Severus looked to Gabriella angrily.
"If you drop out of school you will be even further away from Severus." Dumbledore added.
"Not necessarily." Severus sneered, calm once more. "I believe you stated that a married teacher could share their living quarters with their spouse."
"That I did." Dumbledore said quietly.
"Then Gabriella would be able to live with me. She has agreed to marry me." Hermione gasped and looked to Gabriella questioningly.
Gabriella smiled. "He asked me this morning before we came here."
"Gabriella is still a student here." Dumbledore warned.
"She is physically eighteen and legally thirty-five." Severus sneered. "An adult either way. Regardless, I still want her to finish school."
"Why can't they see one another openly?" Hermione asked.
"And I thought you were the head of your class." Severus snarled. "It would undermine the school for a student and a teacher to be in a relationship of this sort."
"You're already in one, though. As soon as Gabriella graduates won't the two of you admit everything anyway?" Gabriella nodded to Hermione. "And Professor Snape made a good point; she is legally an adult, so she could be in a relationship with him without the Ministry being able to do anything."
"That's true." Gabriella mused. "If I stay in the Gryffindor dorms and we keep our relationship low-key, couldn't we see each other openly? As long as we're not snogging in class or some other inappropriate place, and I don't break any school rules to see him, wouldn't that be acceptable?" Dumbledore considered her answer. "That way, we're actually better off. I know I broke many rules to see him all those years ago. This way I'm staying out of trouble."
"I think that could work." Hermione added, considering all of the law books she had read.
"I suppose we have no choice. There are only a few other matters to consider. The first is the announcement that someone long missing is back and hasn't aged a day." Dumbledore said.
"I'd rather sort that one out another day. I think that Severus deserves an explanation first, and due to time constraints I haven't been able to give it to him yet. I'll talk to you next, Professor Dumbledore, and we can see what to do from there." Gabriella leaned across the arm of her chair to lay her head against Severus' shoulder.
"You need to notify a few other people that you have returned as well. Your grandmother, for one." Severus remarked.
"Oh god, is she still alive?" Gabriella groaned. "I suppose I should see her. That is not a reunion I'm going to look forward to."
"She seized all of your assets after a few years had passed." Severus growled.
"There are many things for Gabriella to consider, but I suppose we should go to the Great Hall. Breakfast will be beginning soon, and that seems the ideal time to introduce Ms. Gisaf to the school." Dumbledore stood and walked to the staircase. Severus, Gabriella, and Hermione followed mutely before the descended to the world that lay ahead.