A/N: Wow. Guess you guys really liked chapter seven! Thanks for the reviews! I love to hear your speculations!

Chapter Eight

Hermione sat in the Great Hall and watched the Welcoming Feast. She wasn't sure how long her residence in the castle would last, but it would at least extend another few months. It was possible it would last until the headmistress kicked her out. The history of Hogwarts was vast.

At some point, she would have to ask Minerva if her status as a Godmother interfered with the fountain being at Hogwarts. Would she have to stay in the castle or nearby in Hogsmeade or would it follow her? Who knew how this fairy magic worked?

And why was she a fairy godmother anyway?

But for now, she had her comfortable suite to call home in the happiest place she knew. She sat at the High Table, far at the end of the professors, moving Professor Snape in one seat. He was no longer the newest person in the castle. She sat on one end, Neville on the other, both watching the impossibly small first years come through the magnificent set of doors for the Sorting ceremony.

She looked around the hall at the returning students present. Almost everyone was there. A few students had perished in the battle, but it was thankfully few. Luna was there, sitting with her friends, and the Creeveys were introducing themselves to the new Gryffindors. More than once she heard about the battle and the name Harry Potter.

As was becoming habit, Hermione's hand played in the little coin pouch at her side, the smooth, cool bits of metal sliding through her fingers. So many people, she thought. Most of them just needed a little push. A kind act. A Godmother.

Would Harry and Ron ever know they'd had one at their side for years?

Her hand pulled out a few of the coins in her purse and she peered down at them discretely under the table.

The one on top was Colin's.

Hermione sighed.

Colin was a well-meaning and enthusiastic classmate but there were times he drove Hermione absolutely nuts. However she didn't think being a Godmother came with stipulations for obnoxious individuals. Everyone deserved to have their wish.

Even Colin.

She squinted against the glare of the candelabra on the slightly mottled Galleon. "I wish to spend a whole day with Harry Potter."

Hermione sighed again.

Of course he did. She supposed she should be thankful that it was something that would be easy for her to accomplish but she was pretty sure she was going to have to guilt Harry into it, maybe even call in one of the hundreds of favors he owed her. She was becoming hesitant to bring anyone else into her wish fulfillment. Each one was a chance at being discovered. She preferred to remain discretely benevolent.

She dumped all the coins back in her purse, swished them around, and grabbed just one out.

Colin's.

There was no getting around it then. She would have to owl Harry.

~~HGSS~~

An owl turned out not to be needed as Hermione was invited to lunch at the Burrow that weekend. Not being actual staff of the school, she could come and go as she pleased and eagerly accepted the invitation.

Soon her good mood dissipated as she encountered Harry's resistance. "Please, Harry? It's just for a day," she pleaded.

"But he's annoying!" exclaimed Ron before swallowing his bite of pie.

"You're annoying!" shot back Hermione, wondering what exactly she had ever seen in him. She loved him like a brother, but honestly, he really could be, well, Ron. "But that doesn't mean we don't want to be friends with you or hang around you."

"Thanks, Hermione," he told her. "You know how to make a bloke feel special."

She sighed. Again. She had been doing that a lot lately. Being a Godmother wasn't all smiles and foolish wand-waving. "Colin has always looked up to you, Harry. He is one of the biggest supporters you have, if not the biggest. And you've always given him the brush off. It seems like he's been having a hard time since he's come back to the school. Yesterday when I came out of the library, I saw him just standing in the hallway where that sixth-year died. It would really boost his spirits if you, I don't know, invited him for a game of Quidditch or something. He never got a chance to tryout with everything that happened."

Harry glared at her, and she knew she'd won. "One day, that's all I ask. And we'll forget about one of the assignments I've done for you."

"Great," said Harry with false cheer. "Now I'll only owe you for most of the rest of my life."

Hermione smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure I can come up with more things for you to do for me," she said and tousled his hair before taking a big bite of her own pie.

~~HGSS~~

"Hermione! Hermione! Hermione!"

Hermione blearily looked up from her morning toast. "Yes, Colin?"

"I just got a letter from Harry! Harry Potter actually wrote to me!"

"Good to know the skills he learned are being put to good use," Severus muttered beside her and she nudged him.

"That's excellent, Colin. What did he want?" Hermione asked politely.

Colin held up his letter. "He is coming to the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match and wants to know if I'll sit with him! Like he even has to ask! I'll have to decide which camera to bring!"

Hermione cringed. Poor Harry, stuck with Colin literally sticking a camera in his face. "I'm sure lots of people will be taking pictures. Maybe you can leave yours behind so that you can really enjoy the game."

"Harry doesn't bring a camera," said Colin seriously, "so maybe I should leave mine behind too. I'll have to think about it. Thanks, Hermione!"

"Anytime," she said to the small retreating boy and nibbled at her toast.

"Friend of yours?" Snape asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Of a sort. Worships Harry."

"I know. We all know," Severus told her before leaving the table, leaving her wondering what else the teachers talked about during the school year.

When the big day came, Hermione dragged herself out to the field. She really didn't mind casually watching the game. It was more the intense competitiveness that boggled her. But she couldn't turn down a chance to be out with her friends in the beautiful early autumn air.

Or the chance to maybe have a reason to cast a glance at the teacher's box on occasion.

Soon, Hermione realized that Harry and Ron weren't pestering her at all. They hadn't asked if she saw a certain feint or the Hufflepuff boy who was just hit with a bludger. Her side of the bench was quite quiet. She could have even brought a book for a change if she wanted.

Harry laughed at her side and slapped a laughing Colin on the back. "You're right, they don't stand a chance this year. What do you think of the barrel roll from Anderson? That could be a major factor this season."

"Oh definitely. From what I've seen in practice, none of the other players have anything that will stand up to it. I wish I had my camera to show you. When he decides to…"

Hermione tuned out Colin and just watched the scene unfold. Harry and Ron seemed to be genuinely enjoying Colin's company, joking, chatting, going over strategy and pointing out certain signature plays. Colin really had seemed quite down when he came back to the castle and it was refreshing for a moment to see things as they may have been if the previous year hadn't happened.

"Would you guys like to come up to the Gryffindor common room?" asked Colin, eagerly. No doubt he would love to bring in Ron and Harry to show the first years. Hermione was old news, and truthfully never was as interesting.

The boys surprisingly agreed. Hermione wondered if it was because they wanted to hang out with Colin longer or if they just wanted to see their dorm again, but either way, they followed him up to the Fat Lady.

"Wonder quest at the start of term!" exclaimed the Fat Lady. "I haven't had that much fun in years!"

"What?" asked Harry, confused.

"Oh, yes, um, password?" asked the Fat Lady, winking at Hermione.

Colin shrugged at the boys. "Pesky Pixie."

Once inside, they were mobbed by former classmates and tiny first years.

Colin sat down next to Hermione on the couch while Ron and Harry greeted some friends. He had brought his camera down from his room and was taking a few photos. "I really wish I'd would have had this earlier to catch some of the action, but you're right. I had a really great afternoon just being able to talk to Harry. He's so…normal."

"You'd be surprised at just how normal he is," Hermione told him. Having met him before she even knew who he was, her hero worship had died almost as soon as it had started. Beating Harry at pretty much everything in the classroom helped, and then spending the year in a tent with him sealed it. There was nothing he could do to impress her anymore. "He likes beans on toast. All of his socks have holes, and he had to wear his cousin's hand-me-downs to school for years until he could go shopping on his own. He's just a regular guy."

"But amazing," Colin told her reverently.

"Sometimes," Hermione agreed.

She felt a little left out as the boys sat and rehashed the game, but more surprised that the three really got on together. It turned out that Colin was pretty normal himself once his camera was out of his hands and Harry had been knocked off his pedestal. She quietly slipped out the door and went to the library.

In the week since the students had returned, Hermione had accomplished almost nothing. Now that they were back in school, and after the rocky year they had just had, many students were taking the opportunity to freshen up and study in the library. That, coupled with the Muggleborns who hadn't been able to attend the previous year, meant that the library was the busiest place on campus, next to the Great Hall at dinner.

She took advantage of no longer being a student and used the library after hours, but that didn't give her near the same amount of time she had been used to over the summer. During the days, she walked the halls, making notes on curious passages on the portraits, interesting art or furniture, and any passages that she hadn't covered in her school days.

But with the first Quidditch game of the year now over, Gryffindor would be celebrating their victory and Hufflepuff would be licking their wounds, so at least two of the houses would have vacated the library. Hopefully it would be quiet enough now for her to work, and empty enough for her to find a table.

Laden with her current research material, she found an empty table near the back. Setting the large stack next to her, she sat down and got to business with her Muggle notebook and pen.

Before long, she heard the chair on the opposite side near the end of the table scrape along the wooden floor. She frowned and peeked to see who was going to interrupt her peace and quiet.

Professor Snape, for he was in full Professor Mode now in his black and buttons, shot a short look back at her before cracking the spine on his book. She quickly ducked back behind her stack. Why did she feel like she wanted to panic?

It wasn't as though she hadn't seen him nearly every day for weeks. Not in those robes every day, of course. And not surrounded by students. But they had settled into an uneasy friendship.

She would leave him to his reading for now; he must be doing something important if he was willing to brave the library.

They sat in silence and passed the early evening. Occasionally she would sneak a look around her slowly dwindling stack of books. If she caught his eye, she would just smile and go back to her book, the smile unknowingly lingering on her lips. Her nervous fingers kept threading through the curls of her hair until she finally just put it up in a ponytail.

Severus was not unaware of her, even if he didn't greet her initially. He was still haunted by the previous weekend and the quest with Sir Cadogan. The fair maiden, her hands bound, waiting to be ravaged by a dark and sinister man.

It was at that moment that he really allowed himself to realize Hermione was no longer his student. And by not being his student, she was no longer off limits. He let himself realize that he didn't want her to be.

He watched her little grin peek over from the books stacked beside her and after she went back to her studies, he noticed he was smiling too.

He quickly wiped it away.

Hermione realized as the evening progressed that this was her favorite day all week, and as the sun began to dip below the stained glass window, taking the evening heat with it, she wasn't ready for it to end.

"Professor?" she asked, automatically assuming his old title. "Um, Severus?" she corrected with a grin. It felt good to address him so informally. A third year from the table across from them stared at her with wide eyes. "Have you seen the suit of armor on the third floor by the portrait of Merlin? Well, Merlin was there last I looked. He does have a tendency to travel."

Severus looked up from his own book and closed it slowly. He wasn't entirely sure he was still absorbing the information anyhow. "I have. He has always seemed a bit peculiar."

"I agree," she said. "He doesn't really fit in with the rest of the décor and he certainly doesn't fit the era of the rest of the wing. Do you have an idea of his origin?"

They chatted as students slowly drifted out of the library. Soon, they were the only ones remaining as the torches were lit up. The whoosh of the flames igniting startled Hermione.

"Goodness, I didn't realized it was growing so late in the evening. I was really enjoying our conversation."

"Well, we are adults. It doesn't have to cease just because the library is closing," he told her before he really thought about it.

Her breath caught in her throat and she didn't immediately answer.

He seemed to realize his statement could be laced with more than one implication. "I have two chairs that are far superior to these, and I may be able to scrounge up a tea service."

Hermione's face relaxed into its familiar grin. "That sounds lovely. I don't have to be up for anything in the morning anyway."

"I do," he told her, "But a little extra edge will keep the students on their toes."

"Mustn't let them think you're getting soft now that you're not Headmaster."

They left the library and settled into the well worn chairs in front of his warm hearth, with a teapot and some finger foods on the small table between them.

She poured them each a cup, and took in the fact that she was sitting in his quarters. It wasn't the first time she had been here, but it was the first time she had been invited. Harry and Ron would be having a fit.

"I hated being Headmaster," he told her suddenly.

"Under the circumstances, it's easy to see why," she told him softly. "I know it probably doesn't mean much with everything that's happened, but Ginny and the others, they understand. Maybe not at first, but when we got back into contact with everyone, we explained what we knew. Word spread quickly. I hope they didn't make the year too hard for you."

He scoffed and pulled at the end of his shirt sleeve. "I was following the orders of bloody Voldemort and you're worried about me."

One of her shoulders shrugged. "It's not like you were still doing it for the love of the job."

"Truer words were never spoken."

She led the topic to safer waters after that. She soon realized that there may be no one in the castle that knew as much about the castle itself as he did, outside of Filch perhaps. He had spent long nights for many years with only the portraits for company. He had wandered all the halls and learned most of the secrets. The hours were filled with pleasant conversation, and she was pleased to think that their uneasy friendship was becoming more comfortable.

"I'm enjoying this," she told him in her typical Gryffindor manner. It didn't really occur to her to be subtle or keep it a secret.

"I've had worse nights," he banally responded.

She huffed. "Oh really? Well it's nice to know I'm not the worst company you've been in!"

"Not usually. But you have your moments."

"Well, I suppose that makes two of us."

"Cheeky."

She hid her grin behind her teacup. It was nice to be able to be open and honest with someone about the difficulties of their past, and have him be secure enough that he didn't explode in her face. He knew that his teaching persona wasn't exactly a candidate for Teacher of the Year. But behind the scenes, though he wasn't terribly outgoing, he was still just a man who occasionally enjoyed passing an evening in conversation with a pretty girl.

And she was a pretty girl who was enjoying an evening of conversation with an intelligent man.

When the clock struck one, her body announced it was time for her to go with an utterly unladylike yawn.

"That dull?" he asked.

"Mmm, terribly. I had a horrid time, Severus. Be sure not to invite me again," she told him with a bit of sleepy silliness.

He led her to the door and cracked it open for her. "If you found it that intolerable, I'll be sure to invite you as often as I can."

"I look forward to it," she told him as she left.

As she slipped past him to head down the hall, his face had a startled expression. Beneath the hairline of her ponytail, a tattooed trail of stars led below her collar.

My, my, Miss Granger, he thought. What other secrets do you keep?