A/N: I apologize for the long wait, I have ever intention of finishing this story but life seems to get in the way at times. Thank you to my loyal readers, who have waited not so patiently for this chapter. The next one will follow soon.
Chapter 14 The Couple's Collaboration
As soon as his feet touched solid ground, he released her, taking a step back. He wanted to retreat to his study but the law required that he bed his wife, much to both of their disdain, and she would want to discuss their dinner and their gift first.
"We can't keep her!" Hermione insisted looking at Severus.
He felt a headache starting in his left temple. "I'm not releasing that elf, she will not understand what she has done wrong and does not want freedom." He tried to keep his tone even.
"I won't have a house-elf!" Hermione's voice was almost shrill as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What do you propose I do." She was silently biting her lip and he could almost see the gears turning in her head. He sighed to himself, knowing that she would stand here until she had a solution if he did not move things along. "When you have an idea, let me know."
"How? You're never around." The words seemed to just fall out of her mouth and the look on her face told him that she had not intended to speak.
Severus raised one eyebrow. "When I'm not doing my duties as deputy headmaster than I am here in my study."
"And how do I know if you're up there or not? The door is always locked and you never come down stairs when you are here." She sounded like a child only moments away from throwing a tantrum about not getting her way.
"I didn't know you needed someone to hold your hand all the time." Severus hissed, annoyed at her childish tone.
"I don't need you to hold my bloody hand, but it would be nice to see the person I'm married to every now and then!" She threw herself down in the chair by the fireplace and glared at him.
"Did you forget that we've been forced into this union by the Ministry? Do you expect me to act like a husband from some romance novel when I did not get a choice in this matter?"
"Neither of us got much choice in the matter." Hermione spat.
Severus reached up and rubbed his temple, his headache was slowly intensifying with this argument.
"I just want this to be more than you avoiding me until he fourteenth of every month."
"What do you want me to do? Have meals with you, come discuss my potion brewing with you or to play chess in the afternoons? I am not a social creature, Miss Granger."
"Have you forgotten that we had a wedding ceremony and they gave me your last name? So I am no longer Miss Granger!" Hermione crossed her arms tightly and looked like smoke would come out her ears at any moment.
"I have not forgotten, Mrs. Snape." Severus hissed, annoyed with his wife. "You on the other hand seem to have forgotten who I am. I am not one of your friends, I do not intend to be one; I will be spending my time either teaching or brewing so do not count on too many social interactions."
"So the only time that I get the joy of your company is on the fourteenth and whenever you drag me to dinner with one of your death eater friends."
Severus felt an ache in his right temple starting, this was going to be a horrible headache. "Lucius is no longer a death eater and his family has severed all ties with any of Voldemort's remaining followers."
"He was a death eater! He did awful things!" Hermione's voice was shrill and she was shaking with anger.
"And now he wants to make amends." Severus frowned at her, if this conversation continued much longer they would run out of time and he would be out of patience.
"Is that what tonight was? His attempt at amends with me for his family standing by while I was tortured."
"No one ever said Lucius Malfoy was good at gaining forgiveness; he is only good at bribing people."
"If tonight was his idea of bribing me to forgive his actions he can think again."
Severus' frustration was building in his chest. It was obvious that she would never understand Lucius nor would she try to. He pushed his hair away from his face and took a deep breath. "You'll never understand that they stood by with their hands tied, if they helped you they would have been killed."
"They could have done something to stop Bellatrix."
"The only one that had control of her was the Dark Lord, the death eaters feared her. She would kill you if she thought that you were doing anything to defy her master. Any death at Bellatrix's hands was agony for she liked to play with her victim first." Severus tried to keep the venom from his voice. How could he expect this girl to understand what it was like for their side during the war. What it was like to be surrounded by monsters.
"I still deserve a verbal apology with remorse from them." Hermione whispered angrily.
"For Lucius an apology is an expensive gift, in this case a house-elf."
"That's not good enough for me!" Hermione's voice broke as tears slowly slide down her face.
"I'll tell Lucius."
The two stared at each other for a moment before Hermione stood, brushing the tears from her face. "I'm going to shower." She murmured to herself as she turned to leave the room.
"I think you're forgetting that we are required to follow the law before midnight or face Azkaban."
Hermione turned to face him with anger in her eyes, saying, "at this point I don't care. I've spent the last three weeks without any letters from my friends, I've had no one but a cat to keep me company, and then today I was forced back to Malfoy Manor. After all that, a week in Azkaban will be about the same, I won't have my cat but I will have plenty of death eaters for company."
"I do not plan to spend the next week in Azkaban." His voice was dangerously low and his dark eyes were a light with anger.
"Sounds like your problem." Hermione was smirking and their was venom in her voice. "I was forced to dinner at Malfoy Manor, you can spend a week with me in Azkaban."
"You are an idiot." Severus was walking towards her.
"No, I'm done with all of this." Hermione threw her hands up in the air.
"You don't get to just be done dealing with this and go to Azkaban for a week like it's a vacation." Severus was standing in front of her. "If you ever want a job at the Minister then you have to have a clean record."
"What do you care what I want?"
"I'm not heartless." His words were whispered angrily.
"I don't see you for more than three weeks then you appear just to force me back to Malfoy Manor, sounds heartless to me." Hermione retorted.
"I knew that you would be able to handle going to Malfoy Manor, you are a Gryffindor."
"Its not for you to decide what I can handle." Hermione turned and left the room. Severus could hear her stomping up the stairs, then a door slamming shut.
"What can Maisey do for Master?" The voice startled Severus and he turned around to find the little elf standing by the fireplace, playing with the hem of her pillowcase. He had forgotten that she was still in the room as he had argued with his wife. "Maisey wants to help Master."
Severus turned to the little elf, pondering what task he could possibly assign to her that his wife would approve of or at least not be infuriated by. That's when a thought struck him. "Maisey, I have an extremely important task for you."
The elf bowed deeply, "I would be honored with such a task master!"
"Madam Snape's parents are somewhere in Australia using the last name Wilkins. I need you to locate both of them and return with that information to me. Do not let anyone see you, hear you, or know of your presence; you will only give me any knowledge you have of Madam Snape's parents." Severus hoped the instructions would be specific enough to keep the house-elf out of trouble.
"Yes, sir," squeaked Maisey as she bowed again.
"If you do not follow the instructions I will be forced to present you with clothes." The elf looked terrified and Severus knew that he would have no issues with her.
"Maisey is good elf, Maisey will follow all the orders Master gives!" The frantic words rushed from the house-elf's mouth and she looked ready to cry.
"Good, you may start now and return only when you have the location of Madam Snape's parents." Severus stated with the flick of his wrist. Maisey bowed deeply and was gone with an audible crack, leaving him alone with only his thoughts for company.
He sank into the chair, with a sigh, and put his head in his hands, his headache now pounding relentlessly. He could see now, that dinner had been a useless endeavor. Lucius had told him that the evening was to make amends to his wife and he had forced her to go, much to her disdain, using ever underhanded Slytherin strategy he could devise. He had caused her a day riddled with anxiety until she reached a full-blown panic attack, that even with a potent calming draught, was still boiling just below her surface. She, however, was a true Gryffindor and had faced the dinner head on from the moment they reached the drive way of the manor. The Malfoys had done nothing to make the dinner bearable for her, granted he tried to included her in the conversation a few times but she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she had been oblivious to it and he relinquished the task, though, he probably should have tried harder. Instead, he had focused his attention on Lucius for most of the meal, leaving the task of conversing with his wife to Narcissa and Draco. There was minimal small talk from Narcissa and the two women lapsed into silence more often than not while Draco refrained from conversation at all. And, after all of this, there had been no apology from any Malfoy to make the evening of her suffering worth while. Instead, the dinner ended with an extravagant gift from Lucius that was supposed to a bribe for forgiveness but his wife was not easily swayed by such offerings. Of all the lavish gift that could have been given, it had to be a house-elf. A house-elf to the woman who had worked so hard for their rights and their freedom. Hopefully, his deed for the elf would be seen as helpful and kind by Hermione, he certainly did not want another row with her over the elf.
Severus stood, making his way out of the room and up the stairs to the next floor of their house. For a moment he considered going to bed but his wife would be in there still upset and he had a potion waiting in his study for him to tend. So, he made his way down the hall and opened the door to his study with a flick of his wand.
Up another flight of stairs brought him into his study. It was by no means impressive nor was it remarkably large, in fact it was a rather small space. Two of the walls floor to ceiling were bookshelves filled with his favorite books and research journals. In the nearest corner was a worn leather lounge chair where he could read to his heart's content. On the wall across from the stairs was his desk and his brewing station, which had been scaled back considerable to fit in the space. Above his desk was the only window in the room; it was small and allowed almost no light into the study. To compensate for the lack of lights, candles floated close to the ceiling offering a soft orange glow to the space. It was the kind of study he preferred to work in, quiet and secluded. He crossed the room to his desk and sat in the accompanying chair. With a sigh, he pushed his hair away from his face before reaching down to remove his boots. After he threw his boots aside, his socks quickly following.
Severus stood then and moved over to his brewing station. A low flame kept a small cauldron at constant temperature as the thick black liquid within bubbled. It had the consistency of tar and a faint mint smell drifted up from the potion. A small smile crossed his face, the potion was progressing just as anticipated. It would be ready at dawn for the last ingredient to be added but for now it simply needed to be stirred thrice clockwise before it was left to brew.
With his potion taken care of he was free to do what he wished though he did not have the slightest idea what that was at the moment. So, he crossed the room and made himself comfortable in his leather chair.
Since the day he had begun to occupy this house to present most of his time at home had been spent in here. He locked himself in this room and focused on brewing one potion after another. The only thing that drew him away from this room in the day was his Deputy Headmaster duties and check ups at St Mungo's. Since moving in to the house, Severus had made nine trips to visit Muggleborn students to deliver their letters and accompany them to Diagon Alley. Then, every Saturday he had dutifully marched in to see Healer Hood to have his neck checked, each time being told the same thing he already knew, the wounds were healing well. On his last visit Hood had told him that his neck look so good that they could cut the visits from once a week to once every other week. It was a relief to know that he was on the right track to being free of the Hospital for a long time.
A yawn escaped his lips as he laid back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. Months ago, he never would have imagined that it was possible to sit so relaxed, yes there was still worrying thoughts on his mind, but with Voldemort gone everything else was manageable.
Everything that is, except his wife. He didn't know the first thing about marriage or honestly any real relationships. After Lily, there had only been death eater women or one night stands, neither was exactly great building blocks to having any kind of normal relationship. Though, one could argue that he would never have a normal relationship with his wife since the two had been forced into this loveless marriage. Still he was avoiding her since he was uncertain what she expected of him on a day to day basis. They had mentioned generalized expectations, mostly concluding that they planned to follow this law.
Follow the law, for the time being that was, he was already gathering every law book he could get his hands on to find a way around this situation. He could only assume that his wife was doing the same during her times locked in her study, though he could be wrong. So far, all of his research had added up to nothing and he was left hoping that the riots outside the Ministry would be successful.
Severus shook his head, freeing himself of those thoughts. He was exhausted and dwelling on the law would only wind him up, preventing him from sleep. He really needed all the rest that he could get since he slept so little at a time. Every night was the same, some time in the early hours of the morning he would go to bed, his wife already sound asleep, probably for several hours. If he was lucky he slept for three hours but most nights it was more of a nap. He was awake every day before the sun and climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb her as she slumbered on. The only night that he had slept well had been his wedding night, almost six hours of sleep, it was marvelous. Most of his life, he had slept very little most nights or not at all some nights, so on the few occasions that he managed more than five continuous hours seemed like a miracle. In his childhood, the long hours of the night were used to study, then when he graduated Hogwarts the long nights became about serving Voldemort. Once he became a teacher at Hogwarts the wakeful hours were spent patrolling the castle. Now, his nights were spent in his study, working on whatever project caught his fancy. Tonight, it seemed, would be the first that he would not spend part of it in bed with his wife.
It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights of no slept since his mind was busy swarming with thoughts so Severus summoned the law book he had been reading. He opened the book to where he had left off and began to read. This book dated back to the medieval era, and not surprisingly some of the laws were still in use currently. He began to meticulously scourer the pages, hoping to find something that would repel the stupid law.
Several long hours later, in the earliest hours of the morning, Severus nodded off; the book slide out of his hands to the floor, losing his place.
Severus jerked awake as the sun was rising, feeling like he had just closed his eyes though he knew it had been at least an hour, maybe two, that he had slept. His muscles protested and his joints screamed as he adjusted himself in the chair, allowing himself to fall asleep in this old chair had been foolish. It was moments like this that he felt like he was a hundred thirty eight years old instead of just thirty eight.
He reached up and pushed his hair out of his face before leaning forward to retrieve the law book. Severus set the book aside for later before standing and stretching, even as his body protested. Then, he made his way out of his study and down the hall to the master bedroom. Opening the door he found it dark as Hermione slumbered peacefully in the bed. He crossed the room into the bathroom and took a quick shower, it was only a matter of time before a Ministry official arrived after they're failure to follow the law and he wanted to be ready. Severus dressed in his usual black robes and retrieved his boots from his study. Once he looked his usual formidable self, he made his way into the kitchen, where he seated himself on the counter to drink coffee.
Then it was a waiting game, would his wife emerge or would the Minister official arrive first. A little past seven, he heard the door to the bedroom open. Then he heard her soft footsteps as she made her way down to the kitchen. She walked in looking sullen, wearing an old red dressing robe. Hermione caught one look at him and then became determined to ignore him. She crossed the kitchen to the fridge and retrieved a bottle of orange juice. Then she got a glass out of a cupboard and filled it with juice before returning the bottle to the fridge. She downed it in several large gulps before placing the cup in the sink.
When Hermione made to leave the kitchen Severus cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned around in the doorway to glare at him. "I suggest that you shower and get ready-"
"Dragging me with you to see more of your death eater friends?" Hermione asked angrily.
"No," Severus sneered which caused a jolt of pain through his neck but he ignored it. "There will no doubt be someone here shortly to dole out our punishment for our lack of marital relations last night." Her face paled and she began to tremble. "Do not worry, we will pay the fine and next month follow the law."
"Fine," her voice came out in a whisper that was almost inaudible.
Severus cocked an eyebrow. "You do not really think that they would send couples to Azkaban on their first offense?"
"Well…. No." Relief flooded through her at the realization before she turned away from him and left the room.
He then reached up and massaged his scars that were hidden by his robes. Severus wished that the ache and the jolts of pain would cease but they seemed determined not to relinquish their hold on him just yet. The phoenix tears potion had stopped the poison from killing him and stopped the major blood loss he had experienced but it did not fix him completely. He had to rely on healers to finish patching him up which had been no easy task though Hood had done a remarkable job, considering.
Severus was jerked from his thoughts when he felt a disturbance in his wards, the Minister official had arrived. He stood and made his way down the hall to the front door. Before the official had a chance to knock, he opened the door, startling the tall, bearded wizard.
"Good morning," the man said after recovering. "Are you Severus Snape?"
Severus appraised the man with a frown. This man was older than himself with dark hair and beard. He had bright gray eyes and a smile that could have rivaled Lockhart's. At some point the wizard had been a Quidditch player, a beater most likely, as his muscles were well defined. This was the type of man that could have any woman he wanted but there was no wedding band on his finger.
"Are you Mister Snape?" the man asked again.
"Professor Snape." Severus corrected him with a sneer, he disliked this man already.
"Perfect, I am Greggory Blishen-"
"The head of the Marriage and Family Department is personally checking up on me and my wife." Severus raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
"I do my best to take in my fair share of work just like the rest of the Department." Blishen said with a smile. "Now if we could step inside where there is a place to sit, since your garden lacks that." He glanced around at the overgrown bushes with a slight frown before the smile returned to his lips. "After you, of course."
Severus hated the obvious command but lead the way inside, shutting the door before opening the door to the sitting room.
"Please take a seat." Blishen commanded.
Severus felt his temper flare, this man had no right to come into his home and take over. "Guests first." He insisted with forced politeness.
Blishen frowned for a second before the smile returned as he took a seat in the middle of the sofa. He indicated the chair that was facing the couch but instead of sitting Severus perched on the arm. Obviously, Blishen liked to be in complete control because ever disregard for his instructions was met with a flare of his temper that he was trying his best to hide. To any other person it was probably missed but to a trained spy these were signs he always searched for in conversation.
"Where is Hermione Snape?" Blishen asked in an authoritative tone.
A smirk crossed his face, if intimidation was his game then he was going to quickly find that this was the wrong house for such a strategy. "My wife is upstairs, showering."
An almost wicked smile crossed Blishen's lips. "Then that gives us time to just talk, man to man."
"I am not one for small talk, Greggory." Severus responded as watched for the spark of anger.
He was not disappointed. "Please call me, Mister Blishen, Severus."
"Professor Snape." He corrected. This was probably not helping their case any but he was thoroughly enjoying goading this official.
Blishen frowned for a moment then took a deep breath and plastered the smile back on his face. "Maybe a drink is in order."
"I don't make it a habit of giving drinks out to those who are not welcome in my home."
A muscle in Blishen's neck twitched then he reached into his pocket for his wand. He then conjured up some paperwork on a clipboard and a quill before pocketing his wand. "Maybe it would be best if we started without your wife."
"That is against the law under the Matrimony and Procreation Laws. Section 3 article 27 says that in the event that a home inspection is to be carried out both parties, meaning the husband and wife, must be present for the questioning by a Ministry official."
"You show a very thorough knowledge of the law for a professor." Blishen's anger was obviously boiling just below his smile. A few more prods from Severus would likely result in an explosion.
Severus smirked. "I always make it a priority to have a comprehensive knowledge of any law that pertains to me." He heard Hermione coming down the stairs and let a smile cross his lips. "Hermione, we have a visitor, please join us in the sitting room."
A moment later she entered looking sufficiently better than she had when he had seen her in the kitchen. Her hair had been tamed into a braid and it seemed that she had applied make up to the dark circles under her eyes. She wore a fresh pair of dark blue robes and held her head high. Severus knew she was trying to present herself as well as she could in the situation.
"Hermione, this is Greggory Blishen."
"The Head of the Department of Marriage and Family." Hermione finished his thought as she crossed the room to stand next to her husband.
"Mrs. Snape, pleasure to meet you."
"It's Professor Snape." Hermione corrected with a polite smile.
Blishen frowned for a long moment then took a deep breath. "So both of you are professors, at Hogwarts I presume."
"Yes." Hermione answered.
"Why don't you have a seat Hermione so we can get started." Blishen said indicating the chair.
Severus glanced at Hermione with a raised eyebrow, hoping she would understand that he wanted her to take a seat on the other arm of the chair. Blishen was trying to be intimidating but that would be very difficult for him to do if he was seated on the couch while they were towering over him. Hermione glanced at him then took a seat on the arm of the chair much to Severus' relief and amusement.
A dark look crossed the man's face before he reached up to stroke his beard and it was gone. "What subjects do you teach?"
"I teach Potions and my wife teaches Muggle Studies."
"I wasn't aware that you had taken Muggle Studies past your third year at Hogwarts, Mrs. Snape." If Blishen knew this than he probably knew everything there was to know about them through records and past news articles.
"Professor," Hermione corrected again. "And while I only took it one year, I am more than qualified to teach the subject since I am Muggle-born and was raised in the Muggle world, but you knew that already I assume."
"Did your husband pull strings as Deputy Headmaster to get you the position?" Blishen asked in a polite tone.
"I am insulted that you are insinuating that I could not secure the job myself. I had an interview with the Headmistress and was granted the position on my own." Hermione answered crossing her arms.
"You have been married twenty four days, correct?"
"Yes." Severus remarked shortly.
"And you consummated your marriage on your wedding night?"
Severus glanced at Hermione and was thankful that she did not blush. "Of course, it is the law," he answered.
"But you failed to follow the law yesterday when Hermione was ovulating to have sex." The comment was blatant and almost condescending.
"We did," Severus confirmed.
"And you failed to share a bed last night for the first time since your marriage."
Out of the corner of his eye, Severus saw a look of shock cross Hermione's face but it was gone quickly, he hoped that the official had missed it. "Correct."
Blishen was now genuinely smiling again. "I don't doubt that the two of you have concocted some story as to the reason for this."
Hermione snorted. "We are not ones to lie, Greggory."
"Mister Blishen, Hermione." He replied with a forced smile.
"When you address me as Professor Snape then I will address you as Mister Blishen but seeing as you want to be on a first name basis, I will continue in such a manner until you see fit to change that." Her tone was clipped and with no notion of politeness.
"Right." Blishen replied with a flash of anger in his eyes. "Now your reason for the offenses?"
"Yesterday, I was following Headmistress McGonagall's request to deliver a young witch her Hogwarts letter and explain to her Muggle parents about our world. When I returned we only had a few short minutes before we had to leave for dinner at a friend's house." Severus' tone would have sounded polite to anyone who did not know him but in reality it was the dangerous calm before his anger flared.
"Of course, we could not have marital relations at the dinner table so we intended to when we returned home." Hermione said sweetly, the tone sounded like Umbridge when she was being particularly nasty.
Severus smirked, this was definitely going well in the sense that they were giving the impression of being a united married couple but he was positive that this man would punish them to the greatest extent for their belittling of him.
"Sadly, dinner did not go as well as planned. When we came home we had a bit of an argument." Hermione muttered in a tone that was supposed to sound as if she was ashamed of what happened. "Our first fight as a married couple."
"We did not have our marital relations since both of us slept in separate rooms last night. Both to stubborn to admit responsibility for our part in the argument." Severus offered as he glanced at Hermione for a moment. She smiled at him though he could tell that it was forced but he doubted that this fool would notice.
"That still does not excuse your actions, or should I say your lack of action." Blishen was sounding down right rude now and the smile was gone from his face. Severus took it that no couple he had visited had been this united during his inspection.
"We are both prepared to accept the punishment that the law has deemed fit for this infraction."
Hermione took a deep breath as quietly as possible next to him, she was nervous for the next part. He hoped that she would not start chewing on her lip while in front of this man.
"Before I pass judgment on the case, the offenses grant me the right to search the house to make sure that everything is in order with the law."
Severus waved his hand towards the door. "After you," he said as he stood.
"You, of all people, should be aware that under the law that as Department Head I have the right to search while you both remain here." Blishen replied with a smile as he gathered his paperwork and quill. "It will not take me long."
"Then you, also, know that under the law you are forbidden in any room that contains classified work." Severus was smirking and his eyes glowed with spite. "That would cover my study upstairs and my wife's study across the hall."
"That clause is to clover Ministry officials such as Unspeakables."
"Yes but it also cover a potioneer's unpatented work." Severus was almost outright grinning now that he was besting this man at his own game.
"Your wife is not a potioneer, Snape." Blishen was becoming short with them and was not bothering to hid it.
"I am not but I still have classified work in my study that I am not obligated to explain to you." Hermione insisted, crossing her arms.
"Fine, fine." Blishen almost yelled as he looked between the two. "I will not enter either study,"
"Our wards will tell us if you do and then it will be us having you questioned by the Department of Magical Law enforcement." Hermione told the man fiercely.
"Of course!"
"And remember that you only have fifteen minutes for your search." Severus stated as he follow the official to the door of the sitting room.
"Right." Blishen left the room and they heard him headed towards the kitchen.
"Why did you-"
Severus cut her off, "we will talk after Blishen has left."
Hermione nodded and made a motion to move into the chair but Severus shook his head at her. So she remained perched on the arm of the chair, chewing her lip. Severus stayed by the door of the room listening to Blishen who could be heard moving through the house as he talked to himself in a load grumble and with heavy footsteps. He made sure to use all fifteen minutes of his search time before returning to the sitting room. Severus made sure to return to the chair, perching once more on the arm, before Blishen walked in the room.
"I just have a few more question before I give my verdict." Blishen did not sit on the couch but remained standing next to it.
"Ask away." Hermione said as smoothly as possible.
"There are two empty rooms upstairs, why?"
Severus gave a laugh though there was no humor to it. "It is for the children we will have soon but since we don't know what gender our children will be we have not decorated either room yet."
"Right." Blishen scribbled something in his notes. "Both the back garden and the front garden are overgrown, why have those not been tended to?"
"Since we have only lived here for twenty four days, it is not surprising that we have not gotten as far as tending the gardens. We thought it smarter to take care of the inside of the house first." Hermione replied.
"I see." There was a pause as the man examined the both of them. "Professor Snape does it not bother you that your wife was your former student?"
Severus felt his anger flare again. "It does bother me that she was force to marry me because of a law but we have reached a mutual understanding." He paused to gauge the man's reaction which seemed to look overly confident. "It does help that we have know each for some time. Not only was she my former student but she was, also, a member of the Order or the Phoenix. It gave us a chance to learn about each other before the marriage."
Blishen looked happy with the comment but did not remark on it. Instead he turned to Hermione and asked, "Out of the seven names on the list, you picked him, why?"
"I thought us most compatible," Hermione answered truthfully.
"Even though you had the choice of picking someone closer to your age?"
"Age is just a number." Hermione replied with a smirk. "There is an age gap in lots of relationships, especially now with the marriage law."
"You now own a house-elf, how does that feel, Hermione?"
"It was a gracious gift from a friend, Greggory." Hermione remarked with an even tone. Severus silently thanked his wife for that answer.
"Does it not bother you to own the creature?"
"When someone treats the house-elf with the respect that they deserve, it does not bother me for someone to own an elf." Severus knew by her wording that she was avoiding saying what she really thought of the subject by generalizing her answer.
"Is this what the argument was over last night?" Blishen asked blatantly. "Where is the house-elf now?"
"No," Severus answered, probably to quickly but it was to late to do anything about that now. "I hardly think it is your business what our arguments entail and the elf is on an errand for me, she will return when finished."
"You were both in the war, has it had any lasting effects?"
"Everyone has a few scars from the war," Hermione answered as she crossed her arms, as if protecting her scars from view. "Is that all of your questions because I know Severus needs to check on his potion very soon." Hermione informed the insufferable man before her.
"It is for now." Blishen looked annoyed but spoke calmly, "that just leaves the matter of punishment." At these words the smile returned to his lips. "First, for the infraction of not sharing a martial bed on the night July the fourteenth, the punishment will be a fine of 45 galleons." Severus did not speak and he could only hope his wife would not either. "For the failure to have marital relations on the witch's day of ovulation the punishment will be a year removed for your due dates for producing children. Instead of two years for the first child, it will be only one year and instead of five years for the second child it will be four years."
"That does not sound like a problem," Severus smiled at Hermione in a way that he hoped would keep her silent before turning back to Blishen. "We will be sure to send you an invite to the baby shower." This comment seemed to be Blishen's breaking point because he gathered his things and made his way to the front door. Severus followed him with a smirk on his face. "It's been a pleasure having you."
"I'm sure it has been, Snape." Blishen remarked angrily as he yanked open the front door. He turned around to face Severus and his wife, who had joined them in the foyer. "Whatever game you two are playing is not going to work. This law is not going anywhere so you two are stuck together. And one more wrong move will land you both in Azkaban."
Severus stepped forward. "Let me make something very clear to you, Greggory. We are not playing any game here, everything we said has been the truth. We do not appreciate the insinuations that you have made and thus you are no longer welcome here. I would suggest that you remove yourself from my property before I remove you." With that Severus turned and slammed the door behind him.
He took several deep breath and released it slowly as he stared at Hermione. "Let's have tea in the kitchen." Severus said steering is wife down the hall to the kitchen, away from the front door. The wards indicated that Blishen was in no hurry to leave the property and Severus did not want to be overheard.
Hermione remained silent for a long moment, leaning against the counter. "Is there a reason you felt the need to provoke Blishen?"
Severus chuckled softly. "It was quite easy to get his temper to flare." He busied himself making tea for them both, comforted by the fact that he felt Blishen leave his property.
"That didn't help our case any!" Hermione shouted angrily.
"Calm," Severus said gently to her. "The Ministry sent the head of the department, our fate was already decided."
"I still don't understand why they would."
"Even though Potter cleared my name, many are skeptical of me. They still see me as a death eater. And you are Potter's best friend."
Hermione was quiet as she thought about his words then a look of confusion crossed her face. "Why did you tell him I had classified work in my study. I'm not working on anything but lesson plans."
"That is where you keep that hideous bag with the illegal expansion charm on it, is it not?"
"It is not a hideous bag."
Severus would have laughed but his throat was already tender from over use during their meeting. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Yes, I keep it there, so what?" Hermione hissed angrily at her husband as he handed her a tea cup filled with hot black tea.
"An illegal item like that would have been cause for the Aurors to get involved and a prison stay would have resulted for both of us." Severus replied evenly as he poured himself tea.
"My trunk has an illegal expansion charm on it, too." Hermione muttered.
"My word woman, you're going to get yourself arrested with all these illegal charms." Severus shook his head. "Lucky for us that idiot missed it."
Hermione was silent for a long moment and Severus could see the gears turning in her head. "We only have a year, now."
Severus nodded his head before taking a sip of tea. He set down his cup and looked at his wife for a long moment before speaking. "There is a way we can plan this, if you want."
She set down her cup and stared at her husband. "How?"
"There's a potion that is almost completely guaranteed to get a witch pregnant if taken when ovulating. It is complicated to brew and one of the ingredients can be difficult to attain."
A frown crossed Hermione's face as she thought for a moment. "It can't be a hundred percent guarantee that it will work."
"It's not a complete guarantee but as long as you don't have any problems ovulating then it will work."
"I don't have any that I'm aware of." It felt strange to be taking about ovulating so blatantly. "So it means we can pick when I become pregnant?"
"Yes."
"Is it against the law?"
Severus smirked, "the potions primary goal is not to cause pregnancy, it is merely a little known side effect of it, therefore it is not illegal under the law."
"What exactly is the main purpose of this potion?" Hermione was skeptical about this potion.
"It's the cure for dragon pox."
Hermione was taken aback, "what?"
Severus wanted to laugh at the look of surprise on her face. "Yes, the dragon pox cure also causes pregnancy when taken during ovulating. It's a rare side effect because not to many women want to have sex when they're green and covered in pocks."
"Is it safe to take the potion when you don't have dragon pox?"
"It can cause a headache and nausea in some but for most there's no side effects."
"Are you sure of all this?" This sounded to easy to Hermione, there had to be some sort of catch.
"Yes. I am a potion master, this is my area of expertise." Severus could see the apprehension in her eyes but knew his reassurance meant little to her.
Hermione seemed lost in thought for a long moment. "I would rather use that as a back up plan."
Severus wanted to roll his eyes but refrained for the moment. "You want to wait until the last minute to comply with the law."
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I want to plan this out." She pushed her bushy hair behind her ears as she contemplated their predicament.
"How do you want to plan this?" Severus crossed his arms over his chest and quirked an eyebrow at the witch.
Hermione was silent for a minute. "If my calculations are correct then to have the baby born in the beginning of summer we would have to use the potion in October."
"Why summer?"
"Then I will no longer be teaching and McGonagall won't have to worry about a replacement teacher for the last month or two of the school year."
"Babies rarely do as expected of them." Severus frowned.
"True but the summer is the best plan. The baby will be born just after the year mark so we will be in compliance and I will be free of teaching duties then so I can devote my time to it." Hermione felt strange talking about her future child in such a calculated manor.
"You realize that you will be forced to have sex with me then three more times."
Hermione blushed and cleared her throat. "Or it could happen on its own before then." Severus said nothing as he stared at her. She fidgeted under his gaze, "I think that's the best plan for now."
Severus moved his cup into the sink though it was still almost full and turned to leave. "Now that we have that sorted I must return to the potion brewing in my lab." He heard a deep sigh from his wife but since she said nothing he left the room to escape the need to talk further because his sore throat now burned with overuse. There would be time later for more discussion.