Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply.
Life For Rent
Chapter 24
"Well, here it is." Hermione said excitedly as unceremoniously dumped a stack of parchments on her husband's, now the Headmaster's, desk. Severus pushed aside the papers he was looking at to give hers a cursory glance.
"And what exactly, is this?" He replied holding up the first page and scanning it quickly.
Hermione picked up little Caris Eileen from her bassinette next to Severus' desk and began feeding her. The office had become a combination workspace and nursery for their baby over the last few weeks as Hermione and Severus prepared for a new term. Hermione's office in the dungeons near her Potion's lab also resembled a makeshift nursery. The actual nursery was in the Headmaster's quarters just off from his office. The quarters were designed to mimic that of a three bedroom home and were more than adequate in satisfying the needs of the small family.
"It's the first step in putting my plan of creating more inter-house unity into action."
Severus frowned as he looked at the second page. "It appears to be a stack of schedules."
Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. Severus had been loathing changing anything at Hogwarts. His reasons were twofold, he'd said. One was that he really didn't want to push his luck with the school's governors his first year on the job and the second was that he firmly believed that House rivalries would be as likely to go away as Hagrid's obsession with 'misunderstood' creatures.
"They are schedules. There is one there for each Professor. Instead of having every member of one or two houses in a class together, each year is split into four groups that are a mixture of all the houses. So double potions, for example, would have an equal representation of students from each house. And they are randomly chosen so best friends might be split up and forced to work with other students."
"If only you and your little friends could have been split up." Severus drawled sarcastically.
"Anyway," Hermione breathed, "Students would be mixed up as much as possible. Also, you should encourage all the teachers to set their classrooms up so that groups and study partners are from as many different houses as possible."
Severus reached out a hand and brushed the back of his forefinger over the silky black curls on the top of his daughter's head. The corners of his mouth pulled up slightly as her little lips, lips that were shaped just like her mother's, curled around the bottle Hermione held. Hermione had wanted to breast feed exclusively but knowing that would be difficult at Hogwarts had opted to pump her milk and bottle feed instead. Caris' dark eyes slowly opened and closed as she fought sleep. Severus had known that he would love his child but he didn't expect the pure and unadulterated affection that he held for her from the moment he laid eyes on her.
"She's fighting sleep again." He murmured. Several of the portraits on the walls were silently watching the scene with wistful expressions like so many grandparents waiting their turn to spoil the child.
Hermione looked up from her daughter's face to scrutinize her husband's. He'd been so reluctant to make any changes to Hogwarts on his own that she had taken the initiative and now he was avoiding the subject.
"Don't change the subject, Severus. The schedules, what do you think?"
"Hermione, term starts in a week. It is a little late to be changing the schedules now don't you think? After all, the student schedules would need changing as well." Severus pinched the bridge of his nose to fight a tension headache that was coming on as Hermione raised her eyebrows and smirked at him.
"You already have student schedules done as well don't you?" He asked.
"Of course. It's quite easy to do them all with a spell. And besides, we can't do the first years until they are sorted. Will you at least propose the idea to the professor's? I already have the support of Hagrid and Flitwick, and he is your Deputy Headmaster." Hermione stated.
"You spoke about this with Filius before me?" Severus asked, clearly annoyed.
Hermione put down the empty bottle and held Caris up to her shoulder and patted her little back until she burped. "Does that bother you? I don't see why it should considering you were the one to assign us to work on the schedules together."
"That is true, Severus."
Severus sighed deeply and twisted around in his chair to glare at the portrait of Severus' old friend and mentor. In that moment, Severus cursed the magical artistry that was able to capture Dumbledore's illustrious twinkle in such a lifelike impression.
"Exactly. Technically I was following the proper chain of command. Professors are always supposed to present ideas and concerns to the Deputy before the Headmaster. You said yourself that you cannot treat me any differently than the other professors even though I am your wife. Is that a double standard you set?" Hermione challenged.
"No, don't be ridiculous."
"Oh. So now I am ridiculous? And I suppose you think my idea is ridiculous and I also suppose that you think there are no problems with house rivalries and you would be content to actually promote the stereotypes that define each house. I mean heaven forbid that a Slytherin have any sort of influence from a Gryffindor." Hermione snapped. Caris whimpered a little bit as she felt her mother's arms tense around her. Immediately feeling guilty Hermione willed her muscles to relax and stood up with the baby. Once Hermione began walking her baby immediately settled back down. "Forget it Severus. I am going to go lay her down."
Severus made no move to stop his wife as she walked out of the room with forced calm. If he was so dead set on Slytherins and Gryffindors not influencing each other he would have never married the insufferable know at all. Naturally, she realised that or else she would not have made that comment. In reality, Severus had no really good reason for refusing to make any changes to Hogwarts' curriculum. He'd already agreed to a Fall and Spring dance but he was resistant to anything else.
"Why are you so insistent on refusing her, Severus? Her ideas are sound and worth a try." Dumbledore spoke from his position on the wall.
"I don't know, Albus. I just… its because," Severus once again pinched the bridge of his nose. "She knows she could have discussed the idea with me before Flitwick. I just don't want to make too many changes too soon. Perhaps I am jealous she has all the good ideas. Maybe she should be Head."
"It's just a schedule Severus. And it appears that our Miss Granger, oh dear excuse me, Professor Snape has all the details worked out already." Dumbledore fished through his pockets for a handkerchief and used it to clean off his painted glasses. He perched his glasses back on his long crooked nose and directed his piercing yet coruscating gaze back on Severus. "At the end of the day it is still just a course schedule, and you aren't teaching the classes anyway. Hermione is not going to stop until she gets what she wants and you know it."
"Subtlety was always lost on you Gryffindors." Severus sneered and then bit his tongue. That was exactly the kind of thing Hermione was trying to prevent. And the knowing smile that Albus directed at him signified that the late Headmaster knew it as well.
Dumbledore smiled his scintillating smile once more. "Perhaps, in my youth, if I had a Slytherin friend I would be more dexterous. And if I was so fortunate to have a Ravenclaw friend I would be more logical, and if I were to hold a friendship with a Hufflepuff I would have learned to be loyal to causes other than my own, and as a group, we might have been formidable."
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Hermione put her little daughter down in her bed back in their quarters. She touched the little girl's cheeks and ran a hand down her body. The three month old was just beginning to laugh and coo and her features were changing every day. Hermione completely forgot about her parting comments to her husband as she watched the child sleep. She loved her so much she missed her every moment she wasn't in her arms. Caris was right in front of her sleeping and Hermione missed her already knowing that she was going to have to turn around go do something else.
When she finally did turn around she thought with regret about her cheap shot at Severus. He was being completely obstinate about the changes to Hogwarts. He was nearly implacable on allowing frivolities such as dances claiming that they just encouraged dalliances. Of course when she laughed at his arcane phrasing he steadfastly refused even more. After a few weeks of wearing him down he finally gave in but not without clearly expressing his objections. Hermione thanked him in a way that would be wholly inappropriate to discuss in the staffroom and something told her that it wouldn't work a second time anyway.
The syllabus for her own class was spread out across their kitchen table and she sat down to fine tune the reading assignments. Hermione was extremely excited and equally nervous about starting her post as Potions Professor. She wanted the students to like her but more importantly she wanted them to learn from her. She imagined the older students who would remember her and her husband from when they were both still at Hogwarts would be the hardest to deal with. The seventh years were in their second when she did her final year at Hogwarts so they would likely remember her. And even if they didn't her association with Harry Potter would certainly ring a bell.
Severus never said as much but she knew he had some concerns as well. He didn't want to be feared like he was before. He was a completely different person from before and he hoped that it would help the students learn to respect him instead. Hermione reminded him that a lot of students respected him before and that many never believed Harry when he said Severus killed Dumbledore. That was the first time Hermione had mentioned that night and Severus had immediately closed off. She didn't bring it up again.
Now Hermione was angry with him despite how much she didn't want to be. He had no good reason for turning down her changes. Alright, she agreed that maybe the governors excuse was legitimate but she knew they wouldn't object. The problem was elsewhere and she was sick of him turning so stony when he didn't want to talk about something. As much as Hermione wanted the new schedules she wasn't going to push the issue. She was also angry because he complained about her talking to Filius first. What else was she supposed to do? They were assigned to work on the schedules together after all. Heaving a frustrated sigh Hermione packed up her completed syllabi and placed them in a box to take down to her office in the dungeons.
Caris was still asleep so Hermione called on Winky to keep an eye on her while she was gone. At first Hermione had vehemently objected having a house elf as a nanny but Winky was so happy to finally serve a family again that Hermione caved. Winky absolutely adored Caris and took excellent care of her. The Hogwarts elves were still a little wary of Hermione and since she was a Professor there, they were afraid she would free them all. When she'd arrived at the castle a few weeks previously she had to assure them that they would not be freed but she'd made Severus offer them days off and pay if they wanted it. Of course none of them did and Severus had left that encounter gloating. Hermione would just have to learn more about the elves before she tried to establish more rights for them. Obviously it was going to have to be done delicately.
After two weeks of being back in the castle Hermione still hadn't gotten enough of the sights and the smells. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be in a completely magical place. The last time she saw the castle it was shortly after the Final Battle when restorations were taking place. She was pleased to see that the few changes had been made. The only significant change to the castle was a small memorial placed in entryway by the grand staircase with the names of all the students who died in the battle with their pictures. Hermione had stood at the memorial and wept openly her first night there. Seeing Fred's laughing eyes, and Colin's smile behind his ever present camera captured in the wizard photographs awoke fresh the pain she'd felt that night. Even the picture of Lavender tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder tore at her heart.
Passing the memorial again Hermione paused once more. She traced her fingers over the smooth marble obelisk and walked around it again slowly not removing her hand. There were no words beyond names and dates of birth and death on the memorial. Hermione found that fitting because there were no words to describe what so many young people gave up for the war. When the sadness overpowered her once more to the point of tears Hermione withdrew her hand and continued on her way down to the dungeons. She wasn't going to cry anymore about the war. Just like Severus she wanted to put it behind her.
As Hermione walked away Severus approached the memorial. He had watched her from an alcove under the stairs just as he had done the first night he saw her weeping openly in front of it. He'd noticed she left and went to find her and when he saw her crying in front of the obelisk he'd desperately wanted to reach out to her and hold her. But for him pain had always been so private and she was in a state of despair that he had not witnessed from her before and he didn't want to interrupt. Instead he'd turned and slunk back to their private quarters and slipped into bed so she wouldn't know that he'd followed her. This time however, he waited for her to head down the stairs to the dungeon and then approached the obelisk himself. Out of all the students, only one was a Slytherin and Severus knew full well he died fighting for Voldemort.
Mimicking Hermione's movements Severus ran his hand around the obelisk reading the names and glancing at the pictures. These were his students and he failed to protect them. That hurt more than he imagined it would. He felt the pain well up deep in his belly until it finally reached his throat. He swallowed the sob that fought desperately to escape. Severus circled the obelisk one more time reading the names again and he couldn't help but note that almost all of them were Gryffindors. Hermione's friends were the ones on the obelisk. They were the ones who died to secure his freedom along with every one else's and all he ever did was make fun of Gryffindor sentimentality and reckless bravery. How Hermione was able to tolerate was beyond him. He finally realized that his comments had been unforgivably rude and hurtful.
If there was more inter-house unity maybe Gryffindors wouldn't have been the only ones willing to risk their lives. He remembered that night and how the other teachers had to literally push the Gryffindors out of the castle to safety, even the littler ones. He'd actually seen the Death Eater strike down Colin Creevey and in turn Severus sent a well aimed killing curse at the Death Eater. It was his second to last act for Dumbledore in the war; the last was giving Harry the memories. Dumbledore would say that surviving was the last thing he did for him in the war but Severus didn't survive for anyone. He survived on accident but regardless of whether he'd wanted to live at the time, he had Hermione to thank for saving his life. In more ways than one.
Poor Hermione. Maybe if there was more inter house unity there wouldn't be so many Gryffindors on the obelisk. It was no wonder she wanted things to change so much. Dumbledore was right as well. Any arguments he might have had against Hermione's suggestions dwindled in significance in light of what he'd just seen. Another sob racked his throat but he kept it silenced. He would give Hermione whatever she wanted if it would lessen the pain of her losses. He would give it to her if it would ease the sting of his own failures as well. It wouldn't bring the dead back to life but it would provide a small solace for the living.
Severus turned abruptly from the memorial and followed Hermione's footsteps down the stairs. The doorway to his old classroom was standing open and he could see her listing the ingredients in the student's ingredients cupboard. She turned her head slightly and nodded to acknowledge his presence and then went back to her audit. Severus stepped in the room closing the door behind him with a soft click. He sat on the corner of the desk and waited patiently for Hermione to finish her count before speaking.
"I will need to replace a lot of ingredients. Slughorn took care to leave the castle with a lot of the more expensive ones." Hermione deadpanned as she sifted through several empty jars.
Severus harrumphed in response to her comment about Slughorn. He wasn't surprised, the man was extremely greedy. But Hermione's cold demeanor froze his insides. She was angry with him and he didn't blame her one bit but that didn't lessen the pain. He had frozen her out more times than he would like to count and if it hurt her as bad as it did him he was surprised she was still with him.
"Do you need anything, Severus? I mean I have a lot of orders to place and if you aren't busy maybe you should go be with Caris. She is probably awake by now." Hermione sat at her desk and pulled a sheaf of parchment that was partly under Severus' bum hard to release it causing him to stand up. Hermione knew that she was being unreasonably cold but he had really pissed her off and combined with the weight of the emotions she felt at the memorial she was in a snit. All she wanted to do was place an ingredients order, have a bath, some dinner, and a good cuddle with her daughter.
"Hermione, don't…" Severus began.
Hermione finally looked directly at him. "Don't what? I have work to do and I want to finish it so that I can go relax and be with my baby."
"Our baby."
"You know what I mean." Hermione snapped. "I will talk to you later, Severus."
Severus straightened his shoulders and nodded curtly. She had obviously taken lessons in dismissal from him because he couldn't recall being so thoroughly dismissed from a room. Severus hesitated but then he took a step forward and leaned over to kiss his wife on the top of the head. He wanted to tell her he loved her but his throat was not working. Instead he stroked his hand down her hair and walked away.
Hermione remained frozen in her position until she heard the door close behind him. When she was confident he wasn't going to come back in she laid down her quill, covered her face with her hands, and cried once again.
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A/N: Okay so here is another chapter. This one is a little more angsty than the others. I hope you liked it.
So, for the name, Caris won over Aliena by three votes. I chose Eileen as a middle name because a few people pointed out that Severus really loved his mother and I agreed that should be recognised. I really appreciate the suggestions, particularly one reader who recommended three very unusual names that were Native American, Indian, and German or something or other. I am going to keep those names for future reference.
I had a couple of comments about not liking any of the names that they were too uncommon or whatever so I just wanted to say that I am crap at picking names. Those three names were chosen because they are the names of three female characters from books I have read and loved in the last few months.
Adah is Adah Price from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Aliena is from The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Caris is from World Without End by Ken Follett
All three of those characters were strong and beautiful and the books were wonderful and I would recommend them to anyone regardless of what kinds of things you typically like to read.
And finally, there was a comment or two about them having a girl. One reviewer pointed out that all of the fics where they have kids seem to have girls. I have only read two fics where Hermione and Severus have a child together and in both it was a boy so I did not realise that. That being said, I was being selfish when I chose a girl because I have three sons and I always longed for a girl. I am living vicariously through my characters and I hope you can forgive me that slight indulgence.
Thank you all so much for your support with this story! I have the best readers in fan ficdom. I also have the best beta, Whoopsydaisy, you are awesome!!
