*Last Time*

"Uncle Moony, I know you're probably not expecting me to - no no no - Remus? Mr Lupin? Argghh"

"Hermione is everything okay in here?" Harry asked, making his way out the bathroom and into the room the two shared.

"No, I'm trying to start the letter to Uncle Moony, but I have no clue how to go about it!" She sighed in frustration, banging her head down on the table, her hair flowing around to cover her head.

"How about I help? We can sign it off from both of us, maybe it will help convince him that they letter is real and not a joke from someone else?" Harry suggested.

"Sounds good, so how should we start it? I was thinking Mr Lupin would be a bit formal and calling him Remus just sounds strange."

"Uncle Moony it is then, who else calls him that? No-one but us, so he'll be more inclined to read the rest of the letter."

"Okay, now for the rest of it," Hermione mumbled to herself, hoping this wouldn't take an age.

The two spent the next hour or so coming up with the perfect letter, they didn't want it to be too formal but they also didn't want it to sound like they were lying and that it wasn't really them writing the letter.

...

Hermione?" Severus asked, his vision quickly blinded by a mass of brown curls as soon as he opened the door.

"I'm so sorry Daddy, I didn't mean what I said, it just came out! I was so angry, and I - I wasn't thinking when I shouted that at you. You're doing an amazing job at protecting us dad, you -you're amazing and I - I - I love you and I'm so so so - sorry," Hermione sputtered, clutching ont her father for dear life at the thought that he'd reject her.

"I failed you poppet, I didn't check on Harry, I didn't protect him," Severus admitted, smoothing her hair down softly as he knelt down to place her on the floor.

"You didn't fail him Dad, I promise. He doesn't blame you one bit, he - he loves you." Hermione told him, looking up at him as Severus wiped the tears from her face, his eyes shining with love and pain.

"He doesn't know me, I'm just Professor Snape to him, the bat of the dungeon and the one that is mean and cruel to him," He said, bowing his head in regret at the thought of Harry.

"That's not true Uncle Sev,"

"Harry?" Severus' head snapped up at the sound of his nephews voice.

...

She was about to leave when a purple book caught her eye, walking over she blew off the dust that had settled and read the title on the front.

"The magic within us," She read, interested at the information she'd find within in the book, opening it cautiously she turned to a random page, it read.

Auferat Simulare

A spell used on a person so that they (and anyone around them) thinks that magic is being sucked out of the selected victim.

"Why would anyone need to pretend to suck someones magic out?" She whispered to herself, the spell intriguing her even though she didn't know why.

Before she could read anymore a shout echoed throughout the library, startling her and almost causing her to drop the book in her hand.

"Hermione!"

It was her dad, he must have finished his chat with Harry, she was about to put the book away but quickly whispered 'hiccium effingo' and copied the whole book into her journal.

Chapter 13

"Harry! Harry, wake up!" Hermione screamed, she'd been shouting at Harry for at least 2 minutes and he just wouldn't get out of bed. Groaning, Harry rolled over and pulled the duvet up over his face in an attempt to block out the light flooding in from the window.

"Just 5 more minutes," Harry mumbled. He'd gotten hardly any sleep last night because he was so excited for today and just wanted to stay in bed.

"You can't sleep any more Harry, we're going to Diagon Alley," Hermione said, beginning to get frustrated with his behaviour.

"I don't want to get up," Harry whined, snuggling closer to the duvet. That was it, Hermione decided she'd had enough and grabbed the end of the duvet and began trying to pull it off her lazy cousin.

Martha opened the door to see what the commotion was about and watched on in amusement as Hermione tried to tug the duvet from Harry, who'd wound himself around the duvet and was clinging to it for dear life.

"Mioneeee, stooppp" Harry cried while Martha laughed at the scene unfolding in front of her.

"Get *tug* Your *tug* lazy arse *tug* out of bed!" Hermione bellowed, giving one last pull before she toppled over onto the floor, duvet in hand, as Martha and Harry laughed hysterically at her misfortune. Hermione got up, dusted herself off and sent a glare in Harrys' direction before giving in and laughing herself.

"At least, I got you out of bed," Hermione chuckled, as the other two began to calm down.

"Now hurry up you two, Severus and Minerva will be here any minute now and the two of you aren't even dressed," Martha told them, chuckling at the looks of horror on the 12 year olds faces at the revelation that they weren't going to be ready in time.

Finally it was the 24th August, the day that the two of them would be meeting Uncle Moony and going to stay with the Weasleys until Hogwarts started again on the 1st September. If they were being honest then both of them were terrified of how Uncle Moony would react to them when they finally saw each other.

Severus and Minnie were going to come and pick them up from the Grangers, who were at work at the moment and were more than happy for Hermione to disappear a couple of days earlier instead of them having to take her to "that freakish school".

"Why didn't we pack our trunks last night?" Hermione moaned, moving book after book into her trunk as she tried to pick only a few to take back to Hogwarts, failing miserably at her task.

"Why don't you just use your journal for those?" Harry asked, remembering what Hermione had told him about the journal that McGonagall gave him.

"Oh my god of course!" Hermione cried, she used the journal daily yet the idea to copy all her school books completely skipped her mind for some reason.

"I swear sometimes you are so ditsy it's hard to believe you're the brightest witch of your age," Harry chuckled playfully, expecting the movement of Hermiones' pillow being thrown through the air and catching it before it could hit him. He could've sworn he heard 'stupid Quidditch reflexes' before she carried on copying books into her journal.

Smiling to himself Harry got up from his crouched position next to Hermiones' bed and practically crawled up behind her, pillow at the ready, an evil grin spread across his face. Before Hermione could even comprehend what was about to befall her she fell forward, a pillow hitting her square in the back of the head.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, face red and hair static from the impact of the pillow, "I - you - how could you?!" She screamed, shocked by the sudden action from her cousin.

"What can I say? I'm just too sneaky," Harry said, a self satisfied smirk playing across his lips.

As Harry bathed in his own self arrogance Hermione picked a pillow up from her bed, aiming a well placed hit at Harrys' head.

"'Mione!" Harry whined from his position on the floor.

"Payback dear cousin," She laughed, dodging out the way of Harry who was coming at her again with the pillow.

The two laughed and ran, chasing each other with pillows - occasionally getting a hit on the other.

"It's over now Harrikins," Hermione hollered, jumping up onto her bed and grabbing a pillow in her other hand.

"You wish," He replied, the biggest grin ever on his face. Hermione aimed her pillows as he ran over to the bed, expecting him to come for her face. Alas, Harry had other plans, dropping the pillow in his right hand he launch forward, tackling Hermione onto the bed and began tickling her mercilessly.

"Harry! Stop!" Hermione cried, wriggling on the bed as a series of laughs and giggles erupted from her mouth.

"Say you surrender!" Harry told her, chuckling at her reaction.

"I - I - NEVER!" She hollered, relaxing when Harry stopped for a second before attacking again, only this time more violently. Hermione couldn't help the tears of laughter and joy that ran down her face as she laughed louder than she ever had.

"Say you surrender!" Harry repeated, tickling more when she shook her head, "I won't stop till you admit I won 'Mione."

"I - I - I SURRENDER!" Hermione suddenly cried, giving in as the ache coming from her sides became too much due to so much laughing and tickling.

"Didn't think you'd give in poppet."

...

Severus placed his cloak on as he made his way to the front door, today he was picking up Hermione and Harry to take them into Diagon Alley. He'd been looking forward to this for a long time, taking his daughter and nephew out to buy school supplies, it made his heart warm just thinking about it.

Over the past few weeks he'd done some reevaluating of himself, he knew that since Hermione had been taken he'd created a persona for himself, although if he was being honest, it wasn't far from the person he had been before meeting Liv and having Hermione. The only problem now was that his persona was effecting those he loved dearly; Hermione and Harry. He knew that he had to keep up at least a little of the persona if he were going to return as a spy should the Dark Lord ever return, but what was the harm in easing off on the Gryffindors just a bit?

Learning that he not only had Hermione to care about, but also Harry had come as quite a surprise. As much as he revelled in their presence, he wasn't expecting to have both of them back so quickly and it had come as quite a shock to his system when he got Harry back, but as a broken and abused boy, not the happy little boy he remembered from his first couple of years.

Severus loathed to admit it, but he was so riled up he almost stormed into the Dursleys house and killed them on the spot. Every time he looked back on this train of thought he sighed, knowing that it was present in his mind. He knew they deserved to have charges pressed but taking their lives was not the answer, it would only pull him closer to the Dark Arts. He couldn't, he wouldn't, delve so far into them now that he had something to live for again, now that he had hope.

Collecting his wand, Severus made his way out of the house, surveying his surroundings as he made his way down the road and into a little back alley. Checking he was well and truly alone, he spun on the spot, apparating away and to the front of the Granger household.

Upon arriving at his destination Severus straightened his robes and knocked on the door of the house, waiting for it to open. He stood there for a minute, before knocking again - this time a bit louder.

Eventually, the door opened and a small woman with mousy brown hair answered the door.

"So sorry, I was busy cleaning the kitchen and didn't hear the door," Martha said, opening the door fully, allowing Severus to enter.

"You must be Mias' dad, I'm Martha Pettigrew, lovely to finally meet you," Martha reached her hand out, a smile on her face.

"Nice to meet you too Miss Pettigrew," Severus replied stonily, his face a prefect mask. Martha retracted her hand, knowing exactly what all of this was about.

"I understand your worries Mr Snape, but you have no reason to doubt my trust. I've been Hermiones maid since she was little and her friend since she could talk, I'm a squib you see, therefore I'm not ignorant of the wizarding world, and as you may have already figured out, I'm Peter Pettigrews sister. My brother is a pathetic worm and I'm so sorry for anything he's done to you or your family, I've learnt from Mia that he betrayed Harrys' parent, causing their untimely death. Once again, I apologise but I hope that we can learn to trust each other as I do Mia and she does me."

"I will try my best, Miss Pettigrew," Snape told her, his face a little less stony but still cold as he met her eyes.

"Please, call me Martha," She told him, "The children are upstairs, Hermiones room is the second door on the left," She smiled, leaving him to retrieve his daughter and nephew as she retreated back to the kitchen.

As Severus made his way upstairs his cold demeanour from meeting Martha began to slip away as the sound of laughter reached his ears.

He stood outside the door, before opening it slightly and standing in the doorway, the two children on the bed unaware of his presence.

"Say you surrender!" Harry demanded, tickling more when Hermione shook her head, "I won't stop till you admit I won 'Mione."

"I - I - I SURRENDER!" Hermione suddenly cried, giving in due to the ache coming from her sides because of so much laughing and tickling.

"Didn't think you'd give in poppet." Severus said, a smile on his face as he announced his presence to the occupants of the room.

"Daddy!" Hermione hollered, jumping up from under Harry and racing into her fathers arms.

"Hey Uncle Sev, how long've you been stood there?" Harry asked, walking over to Severus and smiling at the affectionate hair ruffle he received.

"Long enough to know that Hermiones' ticklish," Severus smirked, chuckling at the pout on his daughters face.

However, before anyone could say anything more an ear-piercing pop sounded around the room. All eyes turned to the haggard house elf that now stood at the end of Hermiones bed, ears perked and eyes huge.

"Dobby?" Severus asked, surprised at the appearance of Lucius' house elf in his daughters bedroom.

"I - I - Master Snape!" Dobby cried, obviously not expecting him to be present.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped, having gotten over the shock and now more aware, and paranoid, of the little elfs presence.

"I - I - Master Draco told me to come and - and warn Harry Potter sir," He quivered, playing nervously with the dirt stained cloth hanging off his body.

"Malfoy? Warn me? What do you mean warn me?" Harry cut in, striding over to stand next to Dobby.

"Harry Potter sir!" Dobby bellowed, "I is coming to warm you Mister Harry Potter Sir! Harry Potter mustn't go to Hogwarts!"

"Mustn't go to Hogwarts? Of course I'm going to Hogwarts!" Harry replied, his eyes wide at even the thought of not returning to Hogwarts for his second year.

"No! Mister Harry Potter Sir not to return to Hogwarts! It's dangerous! You can't!" Dobby shouted, his eyes watering and hands shaking.

"Okay," Hermione deadpanned, approaching Dobby and kneeling down in front of him.

"Okay?" Severus and Harry both asked at the same time, confused at what she was doing.

"Harry won't go to Hogwarts and be in danger, okay Dobby?" Hermione said, looking the little elf in the eyes, relieved when he nodded slowly before popping out of the room before either Harry or Severus could utter a word.

"Hermione! Of course I'm going back to Hogwarts!" Harry cried in shock.

"I know you are Harry, you will be going back to Hogwarts, where you will be safe and not in danger as far as we are aware. At the moment nothing is jeopardising your safety, now we know to be careful and observe things around us more, in case the danger Dobby's warning us of is real," She stated matter of factly, moving back towards her journal to copy in the last couple of books.

Severus and Harry simply stared at each other, astounded at her logic and quick thinking.

"Didn't think you had it in you 'Mione," Harry admitted, impressed and relieved to have his cousin in his life.

"Had what in me Harry?" Hermione asked, placing her journal in her bag.

"The ability to lie to that poor creatures face,"

"I had to do something, he was obviously not going to let it go until he was told you wouldn't go to Hogwarts," She told him.

"Fair, fair," He nodded.

"Okay, the two of you ready to go?" Severus asked, watching the two of them walk over to their trunks and look at him expectantly, smirking mischievously he answered their looks with a question, "is there anything I can help you with?"

"Please Uncle Sev, our arms are so weak," Harry began,

"We simply can't carry all of our luggage down the stairs by ourselves," Hermione continued.

"If only there was charm to make luggage lighter,"

"And an of age wizard to charm them for us,"

"Now there will be none of that, you sound too much like the Weasley twins for my liking," Severus interrupted before it could any further.

"Who said that was a bad thing?" Hermione chimed, giving her dad a peck on the cheek as he used the feather light charm on their luggage.

"I did," He deadpanned, "Now hurry up, can't have Minerva waiting too long for us,"

"Minnie's going to be there?" Hermione and Harry chorused in excitement.

"Yes, she apologises for not meeting the two of you like she promised, but Dumbledore has had her very busy over the past week or so," Severus informed them, as they walked down the stairs.

"But what will people say when they see you with us and Minnie? Won't they think it's rather bizarre?" Hermione questioned, realising what a spectacle the four of them would make. Harry Potter and his muggleborn best friend going shopping in Diagon Alley with the bat of the dungeons and strict Head of Gryffindor.

"All that will be explained when we arrive at our destination," Severus said, nodding at Martha as Harry and Hermione rushed to give her a hug goodbye.

"See you soon, I'll miss you!" Martha squeezed the two of them tight, relieved and proud that Harry barely flinched this time.

"We'll miss you too Mar," they replied, waving as Severus took them out the house and apparated them to an alley just outside the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Severus!" Minerva cried, startled at them appearing so suddenly - as she hadn't been expecting them for another 10 minutes.

"MINNIE!" Hermione and Harry cried, racing over to her once they'd recovered from the apparation and enveloping her in a hug.

"Hermione! Harry!" She replied, just as fondly, if not a little more calmly, than the two of them.

"We missed you Min," Harry said, smiling as Minerva ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Yeah, we missed you a lot," Hermione agreed.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see you as I promised, Dumbledore had me -"

"- very busy," they answered for her.

"Dad told us," Hermione filled her in.

"Has he also told you of our plan?" Minerva asked.

Hermione shook her head, "No, he said all would be explained when we arrived."

"Very well, we will fill you in now then, Severus if you would like to begin."

"As you know the two of you being seen with both me and Minvera would be very peculiar and, in some cases, dangerous. As a result, I will be altering my appearance to look more like Hermione and will play the role of Mr Granger," Severus began, stopping momentarily at the look that blossomed on Hermiones face.

"You won't look exactly like him though, right?" She asked, her voice small and eyes wide.

"How would you like me to look poppet?"

"Maybe keep your hair the same length? Just make it brown and add a little wave at the ends. Also, make your complexion a bit tanner and shrink your nose, because your nose is very recognisable to students and many other members of the public." Hermione muttered, not wanting to voice the fact that she only wanted his hair long because Richard Grangers was short, only wanted his complexion to look more like hers because Richard Granger was so pale he was almost translucent.

"Very well Poppet," Severus said, raising his wand to his face and altering his appearance to that of Hermiones choosing, "Is this suitable?"

"Maybe change into muggle clothes, I am muggleborn after all," She replied cheekily, feeling much better at the appearance her father had taken on, nothing like Richard Granger but still recognisable as her father.

Almost instantly Severus' black wizarding robes had disappeared and in it's place was a pair of straight leg, dark-wash jeans and a navy polo shirt with the top button undone, paired with some simple grey trainers.

"Very mugglish," Harry commented, remembering seeing almost all the dads dressed in something similar on the playground in primary school.

"What about you Minnie? Are you not going to disguise yourself?" Hermione asked.

"No Hermione, Dumbledore gave me the task of picking Harry up and taking him to meet the Weasleys in Diagon Alley, so it will not be suspicious if I'm seen with him, and as for you and Severus, if anyone asks then we met you in the Leaky Cauldron and decided to walk around together, as the two of you are best friends after all."

"Wicked," Harry cried, taking Hermiones' hand and walking out of the alleyway, not even waiting for Severus and Minerva to catch up.

"You alright 'Mione?" Harry asked, his voice hushed as he clutched her hand.

"A little nervous is all," Hermione admitted, smiling sheepishly up at her cousin.

"You know just because he's pretending to be Richard Granger, doesn't mean he's going to act like him, he definitely doesn't look like him so just try and be calm about it, okay?"

"I'll try Harry, just his name puts me on edge,"

"I know, but I'll be here and you know it's only Uncle Sev, he just looks a little different,"

"Thanks Harry, I love you, you know that right?"

"I know, just as I love you,"

"Where did you two rush off to?" Severus asked, him and Minerva walking after them quickly.

"Just excited to be seeing Ron again is all," Hermione replied, smiling at her dad and taking his hand in hers.

"I can imagine, from what Molly's been telling me he can't stop talking about the two of you," Minerva informed them, her eyes smiling at the joy that lit up on their faces.

"I can't believe it's been so long since we saw him," Harry said, thinking back to the last time they saw Ron, a little guilt seeming to creep up on him.

"Yeah, a lot's happened since then," Hermione added, she too beginning to feel the guilt.

"Enough of that, let's get going," Severus announced, seeing that they were becoming nostalgic on everything that had occurred over the summer.

...

"When are they gonna get here?" Ron asked, for what must've been the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

Arthur chuckled at his son, loving the fact that he was so excited to be able to see his friends again.

"They'll be here soon Ronald, I've told you already," Molly replied, tutting at her youngest son.

Before he could get involved Arthur walked over to Ron and steered him away from his mother and towards the back of the Leaky Cauldron, hoping to relieve Molly of his insistent nagging for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, Mollys' attention had turned back to her only daughter Ginny, who was currently wearing a soar expression as her mother played with her hair.

"Mum, I look fine, stop fussing," She grumbled, crossing her arms and slumping back into her chair.

"You need to look presentable, can't have you going around with mud and leaves in your hair from this morning," Molly admonished.

"You aren't fussing with the boys hair, they were out playing Quidditch with me too,"

"Yes, yes, but young boys are meant to be out and about getting dirty and -"

"Young ladies are not," Ginny finished, her voice mimicking that of her mothers as she continued the sentence she'd heard thousands of times.

George and Fred were stood not too far behind their mother and were watching the scene between her and their only sister unfold, catching eyes with Ginny they sent her a little smirk, before both opening their mouths at the exact same time as their mother,

"Young ladies shouldn't be wrestling in the mud," they mouthed, Molly saying the exact thing at the same time.

Ginny tried to stifle her giggle behind her hands, grateful for her older brothers and their mischief.

Before anything else could be said or done the door to the Leaky Cauldron opened, and entering was none other than Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, with Minerva and Severus (whom everyone else believed to be Richard Granger) following closely behind.

"Minerva!" Molly walked over and embraced the woman briefly, smiling at the comfort her friend gave her.

"Molly, it's so good to see you!" Minerva replied, holding the woman at arms length and give her a once over, she never could get over the motherly instinct to check over her cubs, not matter how old they had gotten.

"You too," Molly grinned, "you must be Mr Granger, it's so nice to finally meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too Mrs Weasley," Severus replied, shaking the womans hand politely.

"Oh, you simply must call me Molly,"

"Then you must call me Richard."

As the adults caught up and chatted about, what the children assumed, were benign subjects the younger generation were having a little catch up of their own.

"Ron!" Hermione cried, racing over to her friend and enveloping him in a hug.

"Hermione! Merlin I've missed you," He replied, hugging her just as tight, before letting go and looking at Harry.

"We've missed you too Ron," Harry said, walking over to Ron and embracing him in a hug.

Hermione watched on, proud with Harry and relishing in his happiness.

"'Mione," The twins chorused, sandwiching her between them and lifting her off her feet.

"We've missed you little bookworm,"

"Yeah, didn't know what we'd do with ourselves,"

"Our brains almost exploded because we didn't have you to tell us when to do our homework,"

"I could've sworn mum thought we went crazy one time,"

"Walked around like zombies, begging for you to come help us,"

"What can I say boys? I have that effect on people," Hermione chuckled, throwing her arms around their necks and pulling them close.

"You sure do 'Mione, you sure do," Fred laughed, lowering her down with the help of his twin.

"We have someone to introduce the two of you too," George said, walking behind George and reaching over to grab something from the end of the table.

"This is the amazing,"

"stubborn,"

"loud,"

"and beautiful,"

"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY!" They finished together, dragging their sister in front of them.

"It's Ginny," She mumbled, her face red with embarrassment as she met Hermione and Harry for the first time.

"Come on guys, you're embarassing her," Hermione told them, grabbing Ginnys' hand and pulling her away from the boys.

"I can't imagine how you ever survived with those two goons as brothers," Hermione chuckled.

"I don't know either," Ginny admitted, liking Hermione already.

"Well I'm Hermione, as you already know," Hermione began, before turning Ginny around so she was facing her cousin,

"And I'm Harry, nice to meet you," Harry said, smiling at Ginny and giving her a little wave as he introduced himself.

As soon as Ginny was turned around and her eyes came into contact with those of Harry Potters her face bloomed into a rich tomato red, a squeak escaping her mouth as he spoke.

"I - I - I er, nice to - nicetomeetyoutoo," She stumbled, before just blurting her words out.

No-one had a chance to address the situation, or Ginnys' peculiar behaviour, as at that moment the adults finished their conversations and were ushering the kids out into Diagon Alley.

"What was all that about?" Harry whispered, walking over with Ron to Hermiones' side.

"I have no idea," Hermione admitted, a little confused by Ginnys' actions.

"Mate, Ginnys' had a crush on you for as long as I can remember. Mum fed her all these stories about The-Boy-Who-Lived, she's grown up on stories of how brave and heroic you are."

"Seriously?" Harry asked, a little freaked out at the information.

"Don't worry about it Harry, I'm sure it's not as bad as Ron's making it out to be," Hermione soothed, not wanting Harry to feel awkward or weird around Ginny, who she was sure was going to be a great friend to the both of them.

As everyone made their way into the alley, Hermione made a mental note to talk to Ginny about her reaction to Harry, because if it made Harry uncomfortable then she sure as hell was going to make sure that it didn't cause him any unnecessary problems.

...

An hour or so had passed since everyone had reunited in the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione was happily holding the hand of her father (even if he currently looked nothing like the actual Severus Snape). While Harry was further in front, chatting and laughing with Ron and the Twins.

They'd already been to Gringotts, as everyone needed to withdraw some cash to buy their supplies. They'd also been to Eeylops Owl Emporium, as Harry and Hermione needed some supplies for Hedwig and Amaya. Now, they were heading towards Flourish and Blotts to get their textbooks.

As they reached the store front they paused, there were so many people bustling in and out of the store. Hermione was sure that it was all because Gilderoy Lockhart was there.

Needless to say, Hermione and Harry were not looking forward to the trip, unlike the other females in the group, apart from Minerva, Hermione had no inclination to drool over the arrogant man.

"'Mione, this is the perfect opportunity to go see Uncle Moony," Harry whispered from behind her, scaring the living daylights out of her.

"Geez Harry, don't creep up on me like that," She hissed back, holding a hand to her heart in shock.

"You should've seen your face," He chuckled.

"ha ha very funny," was the sarcastic reply that came out of Hermiones mouth.

"Seriously though, they're all occupied, Uncle Sev is caught up explaining washing machines to Mr Weasley, Minnie is trying to keep the twins in check and Mrs Weasley is too enraptured by the blonde ponce over there."

"Okay, let's go, we have to try and make this quick though," Hermione urged, dragging Harry out of the store and keeping a hold of him as they ran back towards The Leaky Cauldron and out onto the streets of muggle London.

Making there way to the cafe that they selected Hermione and Harry couldn't help but feel nervous, they had a million thoughts running through their minds.

Would he turn up?

What if he didn't believe them?

Would he even want to talk to them?

"'Mione, is that him?" Harry asked, the two of them had just arrived outside the cafe and had stopped just outside the window, both of them scared to go any further.

"I think it is," Hermione replied, her voice betraying the two emotions she was currently experiencing, nervousness and excitement. There at a small table not too far from the window was a man, his face covered in scars and mousy brown hair littered with scatterings of grey. The battered brown suit he wore hinted at his financial status and the tattered briefcase that lay down by his feet had the initials R.J.L engraved on the side.

"You ready?" Harry asked, absolutely certain that this was Uncle Moony. Hermione nodded, a determined look on her face,

"Let's go."

Hesitantly, the two cousins walked into the cafe, hand encased in the others. As they walked towards the table that sat Remus Lupin they hesitated, then just as they had stopped Remus turned around, his eyes teary and a smile lighting up his face.

"It really is you," He whispered, his eyes conveying so much hurt and sadness that Hermione began tearing up. He'd caught a whiff of their scents as soon as they entered the cafe, his senses picking up the familiar smells that he remembered from when they were babies.

"Uncle Moony?" Hermione asked hesitantly, walking towards Remus slowly.

"Hermione? How? We thought - we thought you were dead."

"It's a long story."

"And Harry, I - I'm so sorry, Dumbledore - he - I couldn't," Remus stuttered.

"It's okay Uncle Moony, we know what the old man can do, we just want to sit and talk," Harry assured him, both himself and Hermione were now stood directly in front of him.

"Can I hug you?" Remus asked, the vulnerability plain as day on his face, before Remus even uttered the last word Hermione and Harry had launched themselves at him, wrapping their arms around him and holding on as if they would never let go.

"Oh my cubs," Remus mumbled, "I never thought I'd see you again,"

"We're here now Uncle Moony," They both chorused soothingly, latching onto his jacket as they tried not to cry. The embrace felt like it lasted hours, yet in reality only lasted a minute or two before they parted and sat themselves down in the chairs opposite him.

"Well, we best get the two of you some hot chocolate and you can tell me everything that's happened to you," He decided, grinning down at the pair in happiness. They only had to wait 5 minutes before the hot chocolates arrived and their story-telling began.

"Well, I suppose we should start off with the night that me and Harry were taken to Aunt Marls ..."

...

The drink with Uncle Moony had gone amazingly, they'd talked for maybe an hour or so and time just seemed to fly by. There were some tears, near outbursts of rage and some laughter along the way, but now they had said goodbye and were heading back to Diagon Alley.

"We've been gone for so long," Hermione muttered, her and Harry were currently racing down the street back towards the Leaky Cauldron. They'd only meant to be gone 15mins tops, but they hadn't anticipated how long the story telling would be.

"What are we going to do? They're going to be so mad," Harry whispered, mainly to himself but still loud enough for Hermione to hear.

It took them only another 3 minutes to get back to The Leaky Cauldron, they'd sprinted almost the whole way, frightened of how long they'd been gone.

"Quick Harry, we need to get back into the Alley, then we can make it seem like we just wandered off to look in some other shops," Hermione cried, urging Harry through the door as the two of them barged through the customers, tapping the pattern on the bricks and running a little longer down the alley before coming to a halt, just a few shops down from Flourish and Blotts.

"We made it, I can't believe we made it," Harry said, smiling at Hermione as they tried to catch their breath.

"I think you spoke too soon Harry," Hermione replied, the smile that was lighting up her face just a few moments ago, was now showing that of abject horror. Turning around Harry gasped, standing just behind them, hands on their hips and expressions that would've made even Voldemort wince, was Minnie and Uncle Sev.

"Where the hell have the two of you been?"

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I'm sorry for not updating this in a while. Thank you for all of the reviews and kind words, they really mean a lot and I love reading them!

*I've recently started a new network on tumblr called fanficnet, on their we review peoples writing that they send in and post about different oneshot and fanfics. If you want your writing reviewed then check out the blog and send us your writing in :)*