Disclaimer: Not mine. No money.
Hermione was just finishing tidying up the shelves when the door chimed. Her employer called out his greeting first, "Why hullo Severus! I trust nothing was wrong with your order yesterday."
Snape waved a dismissive hand, "Everything was as it should be, Henry, though it seems one of your delivery girls left something behind."
"Ah, well I'm sure they'll be happy to help you, they're quite the handy pair." Mr. Appleborne smiled and lumbered back to his office to look over his books.
The moment Rose's stuffed animal was pulled from one of any number of deep pockets on his robes, she tore across the shop yelling 'Kitty!' and plastered herself against his legs, virtually bouncing with glee. "You found my Kitty, thank you, thank you, Misser Saype!"
One moment Hermione was panicking, expecting Snape to reprimand her daughter for throwing herself at him, and the next she was trying to smother a smile behind her hand when he merely patted down her strawberry blonde curls. "You're welcome, Miss Weasley."
"You don't know how much I appreciate you returning that, Sir. She's rather attached to it, getting her to bed last night was quite the chore without it." She studiously avoided making direct eye contact with him, unsure if the glow was a one time occurrence or not.
"It was no trouble, Miss Granger, I was in the village on other business at any rate."
She nodded and Rose had finally detached herself from his person, only to tug on his robes, her beloved doll once more tucked under an arm, "Misser Saype," she said earnestly once she had his attention, "Do you wanna have lunch with us? Momma makes the best sandwiches and cookies!"
"Rose!" Hermione felt herself blushing.
She was ignored, in favor of flashing Snape with her brightest smile and begging, "Please, please, please?"
He crossed black clad arms, an almost bemused quirk to his lips, obviously considering Rose's request. That he hadn't immediately declined gave Hermione pause. The surly Potions Master she'd known would never have accepted a lunch invitation from a Gryffindor, never mind a Gryffindor's child, especially when Hermione Granger was involved. But, she supposed, it was an unfair comparison; her Potions Professor had been in the middle of Spying for the two most powerful wizards of their age - she couldn't begin to imagine how stressful that was - perhaps now that both Dumbledore and Voldemort were dead, he'd been able to forgo some of his harsher tendencies.
He still wasn't a handsome man, but his hair looked healthier, his eyes were compellingly dark, but not necessarily frigid, and that hard crease in his brow - that she would wager was a direct effect of the heavy Occlumency shields he'd constantly kept in place - was mostly vacant.
"It would be my pleasure, Miss Weasley, if your mother does not object. Miss Granger?"
She felt herself staring at him bug-eyed. She imagined strangling some sense into herself to rid her of the stupor. Finally, she managed a wisp of a smile and met his gaze, biting back her horror when the glow started again. "We'd be delighted to have you, professor, if you're not engaged elsewhere."
Hermione did her best to ignore Rose's squeal of "Mummy! You and Misser Saype are glowing again!" as the girl clapped enthusiastically.
"I'd not have accepted if I were." Thank Merlin he was ignoring it too.
"Of course. Right this way then." To Mr. Appleborne, she called, "We're off to lunch, Sir!"
Rose led the way up the stairs, Snape following her and Hermione distantly heard her employer wish her a nice break.
"Don't you dare duck out, George Weasley!" Hermione shrieked, stomping into the kitchen.
"This is hardly the way to start family breakfast, 'Mione," he attempted to soothe.
George's parents eyed the two suspiciously, while Harry and his siblings looked ready to start placing bets. "Something the matter, Hermione?" Ginny ventured, absently helping her grinning niece into a chair.
The brunette chose to ignore the question in favor of posing her own, "How. Do I. Stop. The glow."
His curiosity sufficiently piqued, George sat back down, grinning. "I have no idea."
"Glow? What glow?" Apparently even Ron was curious enough to speak around the slice of toast he was busy masticating.
"Did you just growl, Hermione?" Harry laughed.
"Hermione, dear," Molly soothed, stepping away from the stove to direct her to a chair, "Sit down and have some tea. We'll discuss this like the nice, civilized family we are."
That seemed to do the trick as the fight left Hermione's eyes and she took her place at the table. Tea was set before her, though she ignored it, mashing her eyes shut and pinching the bridge of her nose. "George. What stops the glow?"
"I really don't know, the book doesn't say - or if it does, it's on one of the missing pages. How many times has it happened?"
Ron butted his way into the conversation, "What's glowing? Should it not be?"
"It's the spell George did on Hermione last December," Ginny explained, pouring Rose's milk, "Though I would have guessed it'd only glow the once."
"Nope!" Hermione's chirped response sounded on the verge of panic, "Every bloody time we so much as look at each other - ugh! I regret agreeing to be your guinea pig George."
He rubbed the cold patch on his scalp. His father poked at the eggs on his plate, "What was the purpose of testing such an odd charm in the first place, George?"
"Curiosity, and I was researching the theory behind such spells; I've been trying to develop a product, probably chocolate - it'd be a killer item around Valentine's - to do a similar thing, not just make a farce of it like love potions."
Hermione glared at him over the rim of her tea cup as she drank.
"Fascinating," Arthur grinned, almost as intrigued as he could get about muggle things.
Harry grinned as well, "I still want to know who it is."
Percy very quietly said, "It's Hermione's business, she'll tell us if she wants." At the same moment, Rose, who had been grinning madly the entire time, announced loudly, "It's Misser Saype! He's really nice! He saved me from my crayons and brought Kitty home and comes over for lunch when he's in the village!"
Several things happened then. Molly dropped the pan she'd just pulled from the oven, Arthur and Harry stared wide eyed at the girl, Ron slammed his hands down and pushed away from the table so violently his chair toppled over, Percy choked on his toast, Hermione groaned and slammed her head against the tabletop, Ginny whispered, "Professor Snape?" and George laughed. He cackled. Snorted. Wheezed. He fell out of his chair and laughed some more.
"That is too perfect!" He gasped, wiping tears from his eyes, even as Ron slammed the front door upon his exit. "I'm not even surprised."
"I'd better go check on him," Harry said softly, "it's about time we got to work anyhow. Breakfast was great, as usual, Molly."
"Of course, dear,"
"I'd better get going too, Mum," Percy added, righting the toppled chair, "I've got some errands before work."
"Grampa? Why did daddy get so angry?" Rose asked innocently, "Didn't he want to know about the glow?"
George came to a sudden understanding as he watched his former sister-in-law bash her forehead against the table, much to Ginny's dismay. His laughter stopped; her panic, the glares, and demands for answers. It all made sense now. "Snape doesn't know."
The banging stopped. Hermione's head rose. "He knows we glow, I know that much. Whether he knows why or not… I'm not sure."
"Well I for one, think this is fantastic," Ginny grinned, "If Snape is half as brilliant as people claim he is, I'm happy for you, Hermione. You deserve someone with as many brains as you."
"Last I checked, I'm pretty sure she's only got the one brain," George grinned. Hermione threw a biscuit at him.
"Perhaps we should start inviting Severus to breakfast, Molly." his father added.
"And Christmas," she agreed with a laugh, eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Can we, can we?" Rose squealed, clapping.
Hermione groaned and thunked her head against the table again.
