AN: I don't own Harry Potter. If only...
Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and faves of this so far.
I know a few of you have been asking, so here's your answer. The love interest I have planned for Ron is coming. I haven't forgotten. I have this story all planned out, and his girl will be entering the story in the next couple of chapters.
This chapter will explain about the whole 'Madam Pince is Snape's mum' thing, for those of you wondering about that.
I know that usually after the wedding comes the wedding reception, but I want to get back into the original storyline I had, so I'm just gonna skip that.
Alright, my lovelies. Go! Read and enjoy!
"Okay, Ron," Hermione said as they all gathered in the driveway, preparing to go to the reception for Eileen and Filius, "if you'll hand Nicholas to me, I can get him strapped in his car seat and we'll be off."
"Alright." Ron said, carefully handing him over to his mum. He watched as Hermione buckled Nicholas into his seat, placing a kiss on his forehead as she pulled away.
"Since you'll be beside him, please keep watch of him while we're on the road. He'll probably go right to sleep, but his bag is right behind you just in case." she said.
"Sure, Hermione." Ron said as he got in.
"Hey, little man." Harry said as he leaned into the back from the opposite door.
Ron, who was still new to this whole baby thing, watched Nicholas with intrigue. He hadn't been around babies since Ginny, and being only a year old at the time, he didn't remember anything about it. For the most part, to him anyway, Nicholas just lied there like a lump as Harry made faces at him.
"...and Ginny and Draco are riding with Mum and Lucius." Hermione said, going over things with Severus once more. She trusted her friends to keep an eye on her son while she and Severus talked just a few feet away.
"While mum and Filius will ride with me. I know, Hermione." Severus sighed. "We will meet you at the hotel, love. Go save our son from dunderhead one and two." he said, kissing her again before walking over to his own car.
Hermione opened the door of her car and got in, placing the key in the ignition before buckling her seat belt while Harry quickly got into the front passenger seat. "Okay, guys. We're off now, so keep a watch over Nicholas, Ron." she said.
"Why are we driving there, again?" Ron asked as they started down the driveway in their small, three car parade, Hermione in the lead.
"Well, Ginny can't apparate because of the baby, Draco won't leave her behind, I can't apparate with Nicholas yet, Eileen and Filius don't know where we're going, and Mum can't period. So, with the seven of us having to drive anyway, Severus suggested we all just drive." she said. "Except your family, Ron. They all apparated to the hotel." she added as they stopped at the end of the driveway and waited for a car to pass.
"And we couldn't floo because..."? he asked.
"The hotel doesn't have one." Hermione answered simply as she turned left onto the main road from the driveway.
"Oh." he said.
"Where are we going anyway, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"There's a wizarding hotel about half an hour from here, The Bewitching Bed, where we're having the reception." she said.
"The Bewitching Bed?" Harry asked with a snicker.
"I know." Hermione nodded. "Silly name, but it's actually a great hotel. Severus and I stayed there on our wedding night." she said with a smile.
Ron groaned and threw his head back on the headrest. "Ugh. I don't think I wanted to know that." he said.
Harry looked back at Ron with a smirk. "What was your wedding like, Hermione?" he asked.
Hermione turned right onto a small country road before answering. "Oh, it was wonderful." she said. "Didn't you two see it in the pensieve?" she asked.
Harry and Ron both looked a little sheepish at that. "Uh...no. We haven't finished the memories yet, Hermione." Ron said from the back. "Between trying to catch up with everyone, and then once we got jobs, we kinda..."
"We just forgot, to be honest." Harry finished for him. "Like Ron said, we've been trying to catch up to the present, and forgot about the past."
Hermione smiled. "Oh. Well, that's alright. You two can watch it later when you have time, and it'll be like you were there." she said. "There's also a memory that'll answer your question about Eileen, Ron." she added.
"What question?" Harry asked.
"I asked if Eileen was really our librarian at Hogwarts or not." Ron answered. "I didn't spend much time in there, so I don't remember what 'Madam Pince' looked like." he said with a blush.
The three friends passed the next twenty minutes in relative silence with the occasional comment from Harry or Ron, and listening to the music coming softly from the radio. Before they had left, she had put in a classical music CD to play for Nicholas. She had read that classical music was extremely beneficial for babies, so she often had something playing for him. Plus, she had always enjoyed it. Classical music was very soothing.
"Here we are." she said as she pulled into driveway of what looked like a very nice Manor house.
True to their word, two days later found Harry and Ron in the basement of Lucius and Helena's home, preparing to dive back into the past and once again witness something they missed while they were off finding themselves.
"Alright, this one is labeled with the word 'Eileen', so let's start with that one." Harry said while Ron nodded. After pouring the memory in the pensieve, they took a deep breath and leaned in.
Harry and Ron landed in front of a brown brick two up two down in a very run down kind of neighborhood, and turned at the sound of heels clicking on the pavement. Hermione was walking with a couple of cloth grocery bags in her hands, obviously in a hurry to get in out of the cold. They watched her knock on the door a couple of times, rocking back and forth from foot to foot in an effort to keep warm. After a few more knocks with no response, she stepped off the small porch and went to the window on the right, peeking in.
Hermione stood there for a few moments before setting the grocery bags on the porch. Pulling her coat collar up around her neck, she swiped her hand across her left cheek before turning to walk away.
"So, I guess their relationship wasn't always beer and skittles." Harry murmured.
"Guess not." Ron agreed.
Suddenly, the door was wrenched open and Severus came flying out, nearly tripping over the two bags on the porch. Looking with wide eyes, he turned his head in the direction Hermione was walking, and called her name after her.
"Hermione, wait!" he shouted.
"No!" she shouted back. "Don't mind me, after all, you looked quite busy!" she yelled.
"Dammit, woman, would you wait?" he shouted.
"Piss off, Snape!" she yelled back at him.
Severus had caught up to her by this time, and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him.
"It's not what you think, I swear." he said.
Hermione looked up at him with a dark look on her face. "Really? So, you weren't in an intimate embrace with another woman, then?" she asked.
"Severus?" a female voice called from his step. Harry and Ron, as well as Hermione and Severus, turned their heads to see Madam Pince standing there with a look of confusion on her face.
Hermione gasped. "Madam Pince?" she whispered. "My God, Severus. The woman's old enough to be your mum!" she said, and turning to Severus, she slapped him, making him release her arm.
"OW! Dammit, Hermione!" he shouted, rubbing his cheek and opening his eyes to see her walking away again. Running this time, he caught her and put her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.
"PUT ME DOWN! RIGHT NOW, SEVERUS SNAPE, OR I SWEAR..." Hermione yelled, pounding her fists on his back.
"YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME, GRANGER, IF IT'S THE LAST THING YOU DO! NOW SHUT IT!" he yelled as he carried her back to his house, shocking her into silence.
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, Severus." Madam Pince said as he carried Hermione into the house and dropped her on the sofa.
Severus nodded at her, not taking his eyes off Hermione in case she decided to try and run again. "Very well." he said.
Hermione sat stiffly beside Severus, keeping her gaze on the floor.
"Now, are you going to listen to me, or do I have to restrain you first?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.
"Well, as I'm dying to hear your excuses," she said sarcastically with an eye roll, "I'll stay."
"Good. Now, that woman..."
"Madam Pince, you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, Irma." he nodded.
"Oh, 'Irma', is it?"
Severus sighed as Hermione interrupted him.
"Irma Pince is my mum." he said, not bothering with excuses.
Hermione turned to him with a disbelieving look on her face. "Pull the other one, Snape." she said.
"That is the truth, Hermione." he said, making her snort.
"I'm sure it is." she said sarcastically. "Am I allowed to go, now?" she asked, standing up.
"No." Severus said, pulling her back down. "You will not be leaving until you believe me." he said.
"You expect me to believe that's your mum? Come on, Severus, you can come up with a better lie than that." Hermione said.
"Severus, why don't you wait in the kitchen and I'll talk to Miss Granger." Madam Pince said as she stood in the doorway.
Nodding again, he walked past her and she closed the door quietly. Eyeing her favorite student in all her years at Hogwarts, she walked over and sat beside her.
"Miss Granger, Severus wasn't lying. My real name is Eileen Prince-Snape." she said. Hermione turned her head to Madam Pince, making the older woman sigh. "I can see you still don't believe me, so here." she said, pulling a small photo album out of her robe pocket.
"This is me holding Severus when he was only around six or seven months old." she said, handing Hermione a black and white picture.
Hermione smiled a bit at the picture before handing it back to Madam Pince. "So, if you're Severus' mum, why the fake name?" she asked.
"When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was first in power, he periodically offed the families of his followers, testing their loyalty. When Severus found this out, he came up with a plan to hide me away in the muggle world, but Albus stepped in and offered me the position of librarian at Hogwarts. We spread word that I had passed away, so I couldn't show up at Hogwarts with the name Eileen Snape. Albus allowed me to come up with a name, and..."
"So, you became 'Irma Pince', keeping your name in a way." Hermione said, finishing her story.
Eileen nodded. "Exactly." she said with a smile.
"And Severus' father?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, well, he passed right before that in a fight at a pub, actually." she said.
"I'm sorry." she said.
Eileen shook her head. "Don't be. Tobias was a vile man who honestly got what he deserved." she said. "I'll send Severus back in so you two can talk, dear." she said, patting Hermione's knee before standing.
Severus came back into the living room and sat beside her with an 'I told you so' look on his face.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Severus." Hermione said, staring at her shoes.
"You really believed that not only would I see someone else behind your back, but that I would date a woman who is nearing seventy?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No. I just...I was waiting for you to come up with a reason to stop seeing me, and jumped at the first sign it looked like you found one." she said.
Severus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Never." he whispered, before the memory ended.
Harry and Ron pulled away from the pensieve and sat on the sofa behind them.
"Now I remember her." Ron said. "She kicked me out of the library a couple of times for eating in there." he said, making Harry chuckle.
"Boys? Would you like to join Lucius and I for lunch?" Helena asked from a few steps up on the stairs.
"Sure, Mrs...Helena." Harry said, still getting used to calling her by her name.
Ron shrugged. "I could eat." he said, making Harry roll his eyes.
"Of course you could." Harry whispered to himself. "After lunch we'll watch Mione's wedding." he said as they went upstairs.
"Ha! Can't wait to see ol' Snape getting all sappy and gooey over a girl." Ron said with a laugh.
Review please.
In the next chapter, we'll witness Hermione and Severus' wedding, just FYI.
Til next time!
XOXO - Onyx Obsidian