The rest of breakfast, if one could call it that, had gone uneventful. In fact, nothing happened. Hermione simply sat, staring off into the distance. Minerva quietly marking a patch of essays she somehow already had for grading and Severus, well Severus was just Severus.
He sat not really doing anything but observing everything, every sound and every tick around him. He had been raised by pure bloods, his parents and godparents being cut from the same high statues cloth, being in a muggle home was very foreign to him and it was a once in a lifetime thing. He wanted to know how everything worked but he was not stupid enough to ask in a time such as this. He polished off his mug of coffee and let the house elf refill it for him before he resumed taking long savoring sips from it.
After a while, Hermione broke the silence. "I would like to go to the church. I need to talk to them and set up the service and…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish the statement.
"Um, Winky? Can you clean?" she turned to the little elf.
"Why yes miss! Winky is a proper elf, though Winky is a free elf, Winky is a wonderful cleaner!" The squeaky voice went on a small tangent.
"She means, can you clean the house. Remove all stains, and repair broken objects in the living room? Touch nothing else but the living room." Severus ordered. His voice calm but foreboding at the same time.
"Yes, sir." Winky shrank away from the man; afraid of him and the stories the humans would tell. To her, he was the demon prince that her kind told stories of, Ceaser Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, who sold his soul to the devil. Severus was like Ceaser in every aspect, from the hooked nose, to the smooth skin, the skinny yet firm build, to the wild silken hair and the dark onyx eyes. They're looks were almost sinister, but it was the man's lust for the dark arts, the ability to wield it without remorse or difficulty was what threatened people and the creatures of the wizarding world. He was more powerful than the Dark Lord and the power Albus and Harry Potter were rumored to possess. That was why it was important for both sides to acquire him and wield their power through him.
Winky bowed low three times before disappearing. Hermione got up from the table, the chair scrapping lightly against the tiled floor as she went to retrieve her set of car keys from its hook on the wall next to the door. The counter held her purse that she kept at home when she was away next to her mother's purse, and she instantly wanted to throw it. She was so mad. Not at her mother, the gods above knew she could never be mad at her parents, but mad at the ones who took them away from her. She counted to 10 before speaking again.
"When ever you're ready, Professors." They both nodded to her as they got up. She noticed that Minerva was in a smart looking pant suite that was black and a red jumper under her suite jacket. What really caught her attention was Severus. He looked so different, so human in his dark wash jeans and a black wool turtleneck with long sleeves that he was absent-mindedly tugging on. He had an old beat-up black leather jacket draped over his left arm and as Hermione took in the scene of him see was stun to see how at ease he seemed to be within his surroundings.
Severus noticed the open inventory of his person and he was second-guessing what he was wearing. "Is my attire amiss? Do I not blend in?"
"On the contrary, Professor. You outfit, suit's you quite well." She nodded stiffly before turning on her heel to exit through the back door that led into the large four-car garage. It was spacious with an obnoxious high ceiling that held the late Mr. Granger's inventions and hobbies of irregular things strung and hanging high from the ceiling. There was a complete skeleton replica of a dinosaur strung together hanging high on the focal point of the ceiling and other replicas of the first bicycle to a small version of Da Vinci's first flying prototype. Her two professors' stared around in amazement, noting the various objects and things that were both muggle and magic alike. What caught Severus' complete attention were the cars. He had only heard of such things but to see them up close to the point of being able to touch them, was completely new to him. One might think the man had been living under a rock his whole life. Now he understood the phrase of 'boys and their toys' and Severus wanted one so badly.
Hermione tried not to think of the memories of this particular place. Everything you saw or touched was something her and her dad had built or assembled together, except the cars of course but even those she was present in the purchase. She ran a delicate hand along her mothers Silver A8 Audi, remembering how she spent hours upon hours asking question after question on how she should customize it. In the end they laughed on how she simply got the standard model with only a nice fancy sound system in it. She ran a light finger along her fathers cherry red Corvette, it was her favorite car that he had promise to give her for her graduation gift, granted Hermione would rarely need to drive it since she was always in the wizarding world. It only sat two people comfortably and though she longed to sit behind the wheel of it she didn't have room and opted to drive her car that she had received as a birthday gift two years ago. It was a shiny black Mercedes-Benz E420 with dark tinted windows and even though she loved the Corvette, this was her favorite car to drive everyday by far. She pressed the unlock button and it beeped causing Minerva to physically jump.
"Hermione, are we to go around muggle London in this?" Minerva asked, clutching at her heart.
"Yes, Ma'am. You may both sit in the back or one of you may sit up front with me. I can assure you that you will be safe." Hermione spoke softly.
"I will sit in the back, Severus may take the front with you." The old woman nodded towards the back door of the vehicle. Hermione pulled the door open for her to revel a sleek black leather style interior. Minerva, unsure at first, slid in and allowed Hermione to shut the door for her. She was going to open the passenger door when she noted that Severus opened it for himself and slid in as if it was a natural routine for him.
Everything about the scene was completely new to him, but he was not one to require help from anyone so he faked confidence as best he could. When the door shut a weird strip of fabric moved towards him, securing him in his seat, he was going to slice it off of him when he took note of how the young woman sat in her seat and allowed the thing to strap her in.
"I'm sorry Professor McGonagall. The seatbelts back there are not automatic. Simply take that metal square and pull it across your person to where that black and silver buckle is and push it into the little opening until you hear it click. It is for your safety." Hermione instructed looking at the woman's progress through the rearview mirror. Only when she heard the click of the seatbelt did she start the car. It roared to life before quieting down to a provocative purr.
Hermione pressed the garage door opener and shifted the car into gear, letting it crawl out before pressing another key that would close the garage door behind her. She continued the slow crawl along the cobblestone path of the driveway before coming to the end of it and looking both ways on the main street. When she found it clear she moved it into second-gear and the car came to life with power and need to go faster. With each turn and lane change and degrees of empty road, Hermione shifted gears and wove in and around like an expert racer but at a slower pace. It was a comfort of Hermione's, to have the feel of such an overpowering machine that seemed to defy the laws of physics, riding under her, it was like magic.
Severus was enjoying the ride, feeling the power the machine held and wishing he knew how to drive such a thing. The ride was a silent one and over way too fast, as they pulled in front of an imposing looking church.
Hermione pulled to the front, parking and getting out to help open the door for her Head of House. She could feel scattered droplets of water as she did the task, and that was when she finally noticed that it was grey and sad weather outside. The soft wind playing with her stray curls while the sky seemed to cry for the girl, yet she refused to give into her desires as she locked the doors of her car and walked up the old stone steps to the church that had married her parents 19 years ago. Severus and Minerva fallowed close behind as all three soon felt the drops of rain multiply and fall with much more intended force than before.
She pushed the thick wooden door that was painted in a deep navy color and cool air from the stone building rushed out to great them. They had shuffled in, Hermione quickly shutting the door behind them. The noise echoed off the stonewalls, that were decorated with paintings of biblical events and magnificently large and detailed stained glass windows.
She allowed the two to fallow her down the main aisle, through the large room filled with rows upon rows of wooden benches. She cut through a set of them and as they grew closer towards the end of the row, they saw two figures dressed in long robes, one in all back and another in white and blue. Their voices were muffled but when the tall blonde boy noticed, he stiffened and motioned to the short man dressed in black robes that someone had arrived. Hermione took a quick chance to muffle to the two behind her to, "Fallow my lead" before continuing towards them. The blond boy disappeared as the trio grew closer and the short man opened his arms out wide in an inviting manner to them.
"Welcome my children. Hermione, it has been too long." The man's voice was joyous but held a vindictive undertone to it. His right hand was held out to her, the ring of God standing on his marriage finger, for her to kiss.
This was one of the many things she detested about the church and it was evident that her two chaperones agreed on the matter as they mimicked her.
"It has been many years, my daughter. I have heard news of your parents and give you my condolences." He spoke, eyeing the two that were with her.
"Thank you father. I have come to sort out the details portraying to their service and burial. If you have time?" Hermione's tone was strong and steady, masking her true emotions and feelings.
"Yes, my child. Is this your grandmother and intended? How nice of them to come with you and to help you with such a tragic thing." The Priest asked.
"Yes, sir. I hope that it is alright that I have brought them." Hermione said. She knew from past experience when her mother took care of her Aunts service, that the Church did not accept anyone inside who was not directly related to 'their' church in some way. They would have kicked her two professors' out if they did not claim this as their true sanctuary. The young woman highly believed that her potions master would rather be tortured before fallowing down another 'righteous' path.
To be fair, Hermione was surprised when they did not kick her out as well. She did not return to any of their services after she had received her Hogwarts letter 6 years ago, but they believed that once you were a member you were always a member. 'When I go, I must remind my future husband to bury me elsewhere.' Hermione no longer fallowed the Church's belief and she would not be there today if her parents had not already purchased their burial plots from this Church years ago.
"Come my child, let us work out the necessary plans for the service." The priest offered his arm to the older woman, eyeing the younger two as Severus offered his to his charge and fallow behind the short priest. Severus was frowning at his ridiculous attempt at having his robes billow out behind him, 'tis an art old man.'