Disclaimer: Not mine, never been mine. I'm not making a single knut.
"Welcome back, children!" Dumbledore stood in the open doors of the school watching the foursome make their way up to the castle.
"Albus, I'm 38," Snape reminded his employer, glowering at him, and glaring at the three students when they chuckled.
"My boy, to someone as old as I am, you're but a toddler," Dumbledore replied. "Now, why don't you leave your bags here and the house elves can take care of them. Time for some tea in my office, don't you think?" With that, he started to walk towards the office in question.
Snape's face became shuttered and immediately dropped his bags and Hermione's. Placing his hand on the small of her back, he pressed insistently on it as he quickly steered her through the castle. Draco and Harry both kept pace behind the couple, and walked briskly after.
Walking into the headmaster's office behind him, Snape asked, "Albus, what's all this about?" The three friends heard him cut himself off, however, and hastened into the room. He was standing in the center of the office like a statue, disgust etched in every line on his face as he stared at the guest standing by the headmaster's desk.
"You!" Harry's voice was full of hatred.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, me," simpered the pink clad figure of Delores Umbridge.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked rudely, standing in front of Hermione.
"I see you have yet to learn to reign in your temper, Mr. Potter. This doesn't involve you," she said, giving her sweetest smile. "I'm here on official business pertaining to a Ms. Hermione Granger and a Mr. Severus Snape."
"Professor."
Umbridge blinked, looking around at the three students that had all said the word in unison. "What?"
"Pertaining to Hermione and Professor Snape," Harry answered, glaring.
"Yes, well, if Professor Snape would kindly follow me? I need to ask you some questions," Umbridge said.
"I most certainly will not. I demand to know why I am being questioned, as well as why Ms. Granger is being subjected to this too," Snape snapped.
"Very well; Mr. Potter, Mr…Malfoy"-here, she sneered at the blonde, who stiffened under her gaze-"please leave. This does not involve either one of you."
Immediately, protests rang up from different sides of the room. Dumbledore finally held his hand up for silence.
"Delores, I believe that they do play a vital role in what you're here to discuss. They are witnesses," the headmaster said, carefully keeping his eyes on only the ministry official.
"You are not the one to make that decision, however, Albus," she simpered.
"Ah, but I am. As Headmaster of Hogwarts, I have the power to act as guardian to anyone in this school, even over age," he said, stalling her from talking. "If I believe that a person under my care or employment is being treated unfairly or if I believe I have an idea to make the transaction run smoothly, then I have the power to enforce it. You have not taken them from this school to the ministry; therefore, I still have control over most of the situation. You can, of course, relinquish my control by taking them to the ministry, but you don't have sufficient cause to do so, which means you won't be taking them anywhere without a ministry order."
By now, the pudgy toad-faced woman was red in the face from anger.
"So," Dumbledore said, smiling slightly, "I say that Harry and Draco shall be allowed to sit in as reliable witnesses on the condition that they stay quiet unless spoken to." He turned finally to stare piercingly at the two males, who both nodded and said, "Yes, sir."
"Fine," Umbridge snapped. "Sit down, all of you." She conjured four straight backed uncomfortable wooden chairs.
Draco sniffed disdainfully in the direction of his chair and with a flick, transfigured it into a pure black bean bag chair. With another flick, from Harry's wand this time, the bag expanded to fit both men comfortably. Draco smiled at his boyfriend and pointed his wand towards the bag until it was so filled with stuffing they sat about high as the Hermione did in her chair.
Hermione had transfigured her chair into an elegant black wingback. After she sat, she crossed her legs, placed her left elbow on the armrest, and rested her head against her hand. She wore a look of utter boredom.
Snape simply refused to sit, choosing to Vanish the chair in front of him.
Looking around at them, Umbridge's mouth tightened, but she chose to forgo commenting.
"Ahem. I am here to question and investigate the inappropriate relationship between Potions Master, Severus Snape and Head Girl, Hermione Granger."
"You mean our completely legal relationship?"
"Severus…," Dumbledore warned.
"Legal though it may be, it is still inappropriate!"
"Then…why is it legal?" Hermione asked.
"Are you confessing to being in an illicit relationship with your Potions professor, Ms. Granger?"
"Oh, Merlin no!" Hermione said, raising one eyebrow. All around the room, eyes widened slightly, except for a pair of blue twinkling ones. "That's ridiculous. No, I'm in a completely legal relationship with a man who used to be my Potions professor. However, Professor Dumbledore here has been my Potions professor for the last couple of months. So, no, I am definitely not in a relationship with my Potions professor." She smirked at the angry, gaping woman.
"The ministry has gotten many complaints about your relationship. Students are saying you are treated differently. Is it not true that you have the highest grade in your year in Potions?"
"Yes, but I always have ever since I started this school when I was 11. If you wish to see my tests to validate my claim, ask my professor. Although, I'm not sure Professor Dumbledore would fudge my scores."
"Is it not also true that you both not only danced together at both a Halloween masque ball and a Yule ball, but you also kissed at both?"
"Yes, Ms. Umbridge. You see, when you're in a relationship, you enjoy spending time with the other person in that relationship. You should give it a try sometime."
"Severus…," Dumbledore said again, softly, and tried to suppress the smile on his face. Harry had turned his snort into a very unconvincing cough.
"You were in front of students!"
"Yes, and so were other couples!" Hermione said, smacking her hand on an armrest and rolling her eyes. "We have formed a completely legal relationship, wherein we danced like a normal couple, talked like a normal couple, and kissed like a normal couple…as did other pairs of students! And I have already given testimony that my grades in class were earned by hard work, and given to me by the headmaster of this school. It might also interest you to know that he went back and re-graded all the assignments from the beginning of the year as well."
"The ministry has reason to believe this relationship is a farce," Umbridge said. "Therefore, it is not covered by law."
"What," Snape said softly, dangerously, "do you mean by that? What reason?"
"We received an anonymous tip that you two only planned this relationship. It said you both just want everyone to assume you're together. What I don't understand is why? Why would a Potions Master with an, ahem, questionable past want to put himself in the spotlight and under speculation and investigation by pretending to date a mu….ggleborn Head Girl? And why would this Head Girl submit herself to jokes and teasing, being cast off as a pariah, just for people to believe it? The reason must not be good. And that is exactly what I'm here to figure out. What are you two trying to hide?"
Hermione gazed unwaveringly at the woman. "Nothing. As odd as it may seem, we actually care for one another. Strange concept, isn't it?"
This time it was Draco's turn to snort.
"I don't believe you."
"Mr. Potter, Draco, would you please give your input on the relationship between Hermione and Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, Mr. Potter; please, do tell. Try to explain to me how this came about, when all reports say that both of these people have loathed one another for years," Umbridge smirked at Harry, ignoring Draco altogether.
"War."
"Excuse me, Mr. Potter? What does war have to do with them?"
"That's how this"-he gestured in the direction of his best friend and his professor- "started. If it weren't for the war, these two would never have decided to get together. They worked together during the war after Hermione's 6th year. They spent hours in a lab, her brewing all sorts of healing potions for Madam Pomfrey and the Order, while he worked on more…creative…potions to bring down the other side. When she would finish, they would collaborate and brainstorm ideas to create potions that could help, heal, wound, and destroy. They're brilliant. So, you see, Voldemort is quite the matchmaker." He quirked an eyebrow as he smirked, and heard Severus chuckle quietly.
"Yes, and then we would all be working together to train. They became friends, which must've just gradually turned into something more, like it does in most cases. After the war, we all went our separate ways but when we came back for school, and they saw one another…it was, no pun intended,…magical," Draco added.
"Thank you, Mister Malfoy, but I didn't ask you. I was still talking to Potter," Umbridge snapped, not looking at the blonde, who rolled his eyes. He set his hand over Harry's when Harry made to get up.
"Well, both Draco and I have explained the circumstances. I'm sure whoever gave you a tip was just a disgruntled student who can't pass a test, or a disgruntled parent who is upset their child can't pass a test," Harry said.
"No. This isn't over. I'll be watching you two, and eventually I will get you," the ministry woman told Snape and Hermione, who just glared.
"Now you're just looking for trouble," Draco said. "You can't just accept that maybe they haven't done anything wrong! You're so hell bent on revenge that you can't see anything!"
"Silence! I will not be reprimanded by some death eater's gay spawn! No one will take the word of you or Mr. Potter anymore! I will finally bring in this death eater; this sorry excuse for a man. And if I have to bring his little slut down with the coward, then so be it! I-"
"That is ENOUGH." Harry stood now and took a few steps towards the woman he had cut off. She seemed to be smart enough to be scared by the look in Harry's eyes to not continue her rant. "Don't you dare speak another word about Professor Snape. He is one of the BRAVEST men I have ever known. He's done things that you wouldn't attempt in your deepest dreams. He's seen things that would give you nightmares for years to come. He almost died on a daily basis. And all anyone can say is how much of a coward they think he is."
"You don't understand, Mr. Potter, who he really is."
"And you think you do? No, you don't. Get out of here, Delores. None of us are in the wrong here, and you won't find ways of making it seem like we are. Yes, he was a death eater; he made a mistake in his life. But so does everyone. We all see that your parents made a huge one. But he's been paying for his, ten times over. So. Get. Out," Harry said firmly.
"You think this is a game, Mr. Potter? You're not a little kid anymore. You're legally an adult now, and as such, you can be TREATED like one. Other's may have issues in disciplining The Chosen One, but believe me, I do not. You don't want to mess with me," she replied, glaring at him.
Harry raised the back of his hand in front of him. "Yes, I seem to remember that you don't have a problem with discipline. However, I don't mind. I survived an encounter with Voldemort almost every year in school. I fought him in a graveyard and returned to tell the tale. I was in the ministry with a group of 5th and 4th years up against a pack of death eaters. And I'm not sure if you remember, but last year I stood toe to toe with Voldemort himself. I looked into his eyes and saw death. And I also won," Harry said softly, adopting Snape's way of speaking dangerously. "Telling me I'm going up against you rather feels like a vacation after all that."
Umbridge huffed and looked around. Draco stood behind Harry, his hand on his shoulder. Hermione sat in her chair, glaring at the woman. Snape stood to the side of Hermione's chair with one hand resting on its back, and the other hand holding his wand. Dumbledore sat at his desk, peering sternly over his spectacles at her. Without another word, she swept from the office.
XXX
"Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, and Ms. Granger; I trust you all had a good holiday?" Professor McGonagall greeted them their first Tuesday back. "Good. Well, I hope you have all been practicing; today we're going to start digging in deeper for our transformations. I believe, with the speed in which you have all been grasping this art, that you may all achieve your shapes by the end of the month."
The three friends looked at one another excitedly. Snape had watched as they all practiced and studied at least once a day over the holiday.
An hour later, the exhausted friends were packing up to leave when McGonagall called Hermione over.
"I'll just be a second. You can wait outside if you want to," she told the boys, and walked over to her teacher.
"Severus' birthday is this Friday, on the 9th," her professor told her without preamble.
"What?"
"His birthday. He turns 39. I'm telling you this for a few reasons. One: to piss him off; he hates his birthday and hates if people make a spectacle of it. Two: to warn you that he may be in a foul mood and you might want to stay clear of him that day. And three: I hope that you will ignore the second one. Severus has had a hard life, and that's putting it mildly. He deserves more than what he gets and he deserves more than what he thinks he does. I give you this information in the hope that you will use it towards making it out to be a happy birthday. I think after 39 years he deserves at least one."
With that, McGonagall swept from the room leaving a speechless Head Girl behind.
"What should I do? If I show up with a cake and streamers, he'll probably hand me over to Malfoy himself, gift-wrapped and all. If I don't do anything, he'll be happy, or at least pretend to be, but I'll feel like shit."
"I think you should do something. Last year on his birthday, we sat around the house drinking expensive whiskey. I told him 'Happy Birthday', he inclined his head, and then we went back to getting pissed. And I have a feeling that was probably his best birthday in a long time. The man deserves more," Draco told her, looking up from his animagus book.
"I agree," Harry said, not looking up from his Potions essay. "I remember the birthday before second year when you all sent me cards; I wanted to cry because I had never gotten one. The smallest gesture can make a difference."
"But what do I do?"
"Come on now, it's not that hard to figure out. He's a bloke, and deep down, even the most honorable men are still men," Draco told her, going back to his book.
"What's that supposed to mean? Should I just….oh. OH," Hermione's eyes grew wide, and her grin matched it.
"There you go," Draco murmured, smiling.
Friday couldn't come fast enough for Hermione. She had a plan, and it was damn well going to work. She just had to get through dinner first.
She hadn't talked to Snape all day. She had carefully avoided him, as part of the plan. She had the house elves in on the plan. Now, she just had to calm down and go through with the plan.
Taking a swift glance behind her, Hermione's eyes met McGonagall's for a second, and the older witch winked. Hermione broke out in a huge grin once more, confidence coming back.
"Breath, Hermione," Harry said, rubbing her hand. "It's going to go great."
"And we better not see you until sometime tomorrow. Or later, if it goes really well," Draco told her, giving her a lascivious wink.
She saw the staff starting to rise and students start to trickle out; it was time.
"Wish me luck," she said, smiling knowingly at her friends.
"Tell him I said happy birthday when all the...uh…festivities are through," Harry said, wincing slightly. Hermione just laughed and trotted off.