The next morning, Hermione got herself and Atticus dressed for the day and then headed down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Severus hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said there wasn't much in the larder, so she made due with what was available and promised Atty that they could get a treat while they were out. Her sweet little boy then proceeded to spill most of his breakfast down the front of his shirt, requiring an entire outfit change before they could finally get on their way. Hermione grabbed the list Severus had left, the (rather hefty) coin purse beside it, and started to head out the door.

And then realized they were nowhere near a rail station. Should she try calling for a taxi? Was there even mobile service so far out into the countryside? Frustrated, she thought again about her reasons for not simply Apparating them. It was dangerous to Apparate with children who couldn't be trusted to stay still, especially if the adult wasn't strong in the skill. Hermione had very little doubt about her ability on her own. But she knew she wasn't as capable at side-along. And even though it had only happened once, and there had been other circumstances beyond her control, her mind continually circled back to that one time she'd splinched Ron. What if Atticus suddenly jerked or flailed? What if she was distracted by something at the last moment?

Just thinking about it made her feel sick. No, it would have been far easier, but there was no way she could risk it. She was digging through her bag in search of her mobile when Severus walked in. Hermione caught a glance at him from the corner of her eye as she continued to rifle through her bag. He was dressed in black woolen trousers, a black linen shirt, and a snug black waistcoat. Despite the familiarity of the sea of black, it was strange for her to see him without the long, formal frock coat and billowing robes. This more casual look made him appear... more approachable. More human.

"Missing something?" He flicked his wand at the kettle and it whistled.

"I was looking for my- ah, there it is. My phone. I wasn't sure if there was service out here, but I thought I'd try to call for a taxi."

"A taxi?" His brows drew together in a scowl. "Even if you could get one to agree to come, you do realize it would be two hours here and two hours back to town. Not to mention that I imagine the fee would be exorbitant."

Hermione wanted to stomp her foot in frustration. "I don't suppose the night bus comes this far, then?"

"Doubtful."

"Damnit," she muttered, soft enough that Atticus didn't notice. He'd taken up the habit of parroting anything she didn't want him to repeat.

"Would you like assistance?" Severus poured himself tea and sipped it while leaning against the counter. His free hand was braced behind him and he stood with one foot crossed over the other. The relaxed pose yet again seemed at odds with her every memory of the man. She sighed.

"No. But I'm afraid I'm going to need it. I just can't think of any other way for us to get to town. It defeats the purpose of you paying me to do the shopping, though, if you have to stop what you're doing to cart us around."

"It is not your fault that the house is so far from alternative means of transportation. I am not in the middle of anything at the moment, so it's hardly an interruption for me. I can get you both to town, and you can get around from there well enough."

"What about getting back?"

Severus sipped his tea and thought for a moment. "Are you still capable of sending a Patronus?"

Hermione bit her lip. It had been years since she'd needed to even attempt one. And her life in the interim had not been easy. More than one witch or wizard had lost the ability. But her eyes strayed to Atticus and she felt the overwhelming joy he brought to her life well up in her chest. She smiled. "Yes, I can."

"Perfect. Simply send yours after me when you are finished." He drained the last of his tea and pushed away from the counter. "Are you both ready to go?"

"Let me just brush the crumbs off Atty." Hermione picked her son up and gently divested him of the bits of toast that had taken up residence on his jumper. "You're sure you don't mind? It seems like an inconvenience-"

"You'll find, Miss Granger, that one of the traits I retained from my former life is never making an offer I am not willing to follow through with. If it was a bother to me, or I wasn't inclined, I would not have suggested it."

Hermione did see a glimpse of the man he'd been before the end of the war, then. A bit of formality, of rigidity, a small display of that rigorous code of honor that he held himself to. She took a moment to appreciate that he wasn't the type of man to give empty promises. No honeyed words, but no false hope, either. It was... refreshing. "Alright, then. Thank you. And it's Hermione."

"As you say," he inclined his head at her with a small smirk, then turned his attention to Atticus. "Young Mister Granger, shall we take a trip again?" Atticus pointed one chubby finger at Severus and studied him.

"Sev'us."

"Indeed." Severus didn't rush the boy. He waited patiently while Atticus made up his mind. After a moment, he held out his hands. Severus smothered his smile and instead said very solemnly, "You remember your mother's instructions from last time?" Atticus nodded eagerly. "What were they?" The boy paused, sticking his finger in his mouth as he thought. Then he shook his head. Hermione laughed.

"Hold on very tightly, and don't let go for anything. Try to stay still. Can you do that for Severus, love?"

Atticus nodded happily again, clutching at the lapels of Severus's vest and laying his head against his shoulder. Severus cleared his throat, a little startled that a lump seemed to have formed there. "Ready, then?" Hermione nodded in agreement, and Severus let himself be pulled sideways into oblivion, then expanded once more in an alley at the edge of the village. By the time Atticus was looking around, his mother appeared next to them with a soft crack. Severus set the boy down, and he ran to Hermione. When she took his hand, Atticus turned and held out his other hand to Severus.

"You come, Sev'us?"

Severus only stared for a moment. That damn lump was back again. Perhaps he was coming down with a cold. He shook his head. "Severus has more important things to do than go shopping with us, Atty. Can you say 'thank you for the ride?'" Atticus cocked his head to the side, little brows drawn together in consternation.

"You come, Sev'us." It was more of a demand this time. The boy looked two seconds away from stomping his foot. He waved his hand at Severus, fully expecting the man to take it.

"Atty!" Hermione admonished. "That's no way to thank him for his help. Say thank you, young man." Atticus still looked at Severus stubbornly. "Atticus Wendell Granger, now." The little boy huffed, but dropped his hand.

"Tank you, Sev'us." Hermione swung him up into her arms with a smile.

"That's better. Good job." She kissed his head, then looked back at Severus. "Thank you again. I'll send my Patronus to the house when we're done. I hope it won't take more than a few hours, but it might take me a while to familiarize myself with the village."

Severus waved a hand negligently. "None of the projects I am working on today are time sensitive, so you won't be interrupting anything. Just send it whenever you are ready, and I will meet you both back here."

"Alright, then. We'll see you later on." She hitched Atticus on her hip and turned towards the street. Atticus waved over her shoulder at Severus. Now there was a lump in his throat and a tightness in his chest. A health tonic was first on his to do list when he returned to the estate, no two ways about it.


The 'few hours' that Hermione thought she would need to accomplish the shopping turned into several hours. Purchasing the things on Severus's list were easy enough, but all he had down were basic staples that he preferred. Things like tea and beans were well and good, but they did not a meal make. She bought groceries enough for three meals a day, for three people, for two weeks. Then household necessities like loo paper, soap, and laundry detergent.

Atticus was tired and cranky, and threw a fit in the supermarket while Hermione was looking for ripe avocados. Then it wasn't until after they left the store that Hermione remembered that she shouldn't shrink the produce, or it would bruise. So she spent the rest of the afternoon carting around the bags. Lunch turned out to be another disaster. There were only two dining establishments in the little village. One was a pub that looked rather rowdy, and Hermione dismissed it immediately. The other, a little sandwich shop, was packed to the gills with noonday customers.

As they'd stood in the queue waiting their turn to order, one of the handles on Hermione's shopping bag had broken, spilling peaches all over the deli floor. If they had been in a wizarding establishment, she would have simply summoned them all and mended the bag, but of course, there were dozens of muggles around and she was forced to pick them all up by hand. Juggling the bags, Atticus, as well as their sandwiches was nearly more than Hermione could handle.

Once they'd eaten, she found the one wizarding general store in town. Hermione considered shrinking the bags and putting up with bruised produce, but stopped herself when she realized that they weren't just for her and Atty. They were for Severus too, and she was spending his money. Instead, she simply mended the broken handle, cast a lightening charm on the bags, and gathered the other items she needed.

By the time she'd purchased the de-gnomer, ink, parchment, and other potion ingredients Severus had requested, it was starting to get dark and Hermione was at the end of her tether. It seemed as if everything that could go wrong, had. To top it all off, it had started to drizzle. If she had a hand free, it would have been easy to step into an alley and transfigure an umbrella, or even cast a drying charm. But her wand was up her sleeve, and she couldn't get to it without putting everything down in the mud, including Atty.

With her teeth, Hermione pulled Atty's hood up higher over his head and set off for the Apparition point. Once in the relative seclusion of the alley, she shifted Atticus on her hip and had the little boy reach up her sleeve for her wand. He pulled it out, laughing at the little blue sparks that always shot off whenever he touched her wand, and then let Hermione take it from him with the two free fingers she had on her right hand. For a moment, Hermione felt so bedraggled, so chilled and miserable, that she didn't feel she had it within her to conjure her silvery otter. But resolutely, she closed her eyes and picked a happy memory.

The image of Atticus, red and a little squashed, popped into her mind. She remembered vividly the first time she'd held him. After hours of grueling labor, she had memorized every little wrinkle on his nose, the exact color of his eyes, the sound of his cry. It was a kind of love, a kind of joy, the likes of which she'd never known. As if he could sense she was thinking of him, Atticus rested his head against Hermione's heart. Exactly the way he had when the nurse had first handed him to her. The otter, brighter than she'd ever remembered it being, sprung from the tip of her wand and circled around them playfully. Atticus shrieked in delight, and then it flashed out of sight.

Five minutes later, Severus appeared next to Hermione and Atticus with hardly a sound. Even though the memory of holding Atticus for the first time had warmed her, Hermione was still wet and bedraggled. Severus took one look at her and shook his head. With a series of wand flicks, he dried her, heated her, and levitated Atticus into his arms.

"Rough day?" he asked needlessly.

"You don't want to know," she muttered.

"Can you manage those bags until we get back to the house?" He gestured to the bulging produce bags she carried. Hermione nodded tiredly. Severus looked at her askance, not entirely sure she meant it. He grabbed two of the bags, looped them over his wrist, and then wrapped his arms around Atticus. "Holding on tight?" he asked the little boy.

Atticus nodded. "Yes, Sev'us!"

"Good. All ready then?" He waited for Hermione's nod, then Apparated them home. He slid gently sideways into the kitchen. Hermione appeared next to him a moment later. She dumped the bags onto the counter and immediately started the kettle. Atticus squirmed until Severus set him down, then ran around the kitchen happily. "Is...is there any way I can assist you?" Severus looked uncertainly around the kitchen. She was enlarging bags and packages, pulling out items that he didn't even recognize. He might be a master in a potions lab, but in the kitchen he was as ignorant as a firstie. There was a reason he knew the location of every good take out place within Apparation distance.

"What?" Hermione looked up from the bag she'd been sorting through, then cursed softly when she realized the ice cream had melted. "No, that's alright. I'll manage. Thank you for picking us up, though."

He ignored her thanks and gestured to the dripping ice cream container she held. "You can refreeze that with a very simple charm." He noticed her eyes rove upward, as if she was barely suppressing rolling them. She sighed.

"I know. But it's never quite as creamy after that." She cast the charm on the tub and it stopped dripping immediately. "Sorry about that."

"I am not a fan of ice cream, so it is hardly an apology worthy offense to me." Hermione finished putting away the freezer items and started making a sandwich for Atty's dinner. Perhaps not the most nutritionally diverse meal, but it was all she had the stamina for.

"You don't like ice cream?" She found the peanut butter in one of the bags and shot a disbelieving look at Severus. "Everyone likes ice cream."

Severus smirked at her generalization. "Really? I had no idea," he drawled in mock surprise. "If only I'd known, I would have been able to reverse years of personal preferences."

"Ha. Ha." This time, Hermione did roll her eyes. "Well all normal people like ice cream." She handed the sandwich to Atticus and set him at the table to eat it.

"Now that is one thing no one has ever accused me of being."

Hermione shot a glance at him, not sure from his tone if he was offended. In school, she would have expected a scathing insult to follow a statement like that. Far from upset, he looked totally relaxed, leaning one shoulder against the doorway. "I'm sure they haven't," she agreed. Their eyes met, held for just a moment longer than either was comfortable with. He straightened away from the door frame.

"Well, if you're quite certain you require no help-"

"No, I'm alright. Thank you again. For the ride and the offer."

"A pleasure," he replied. Then, after a small salute at Atticus, he turned and left the kitchens.