Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I updated. Since I last updated, I've gotten married, gone on my honeymoon, and accepted a residency position for next year. Life has been a bit crazy. I also just got an iPad, which should help with my ability to write at work, at least for the next week. After that, all bets are off since I start my ER rotation.

I also recently published a new story called "Building a Family." It's based on Tin Man. Only the first chapter is currently up, but the second one is in the works. Please check it out!

And, of course, reviews are always appreciated. Have a great weekend!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter; it is the property of J.K. Rowling.

The following day, Snape and Hermione went to the courthouse. Ms. Salk met them outside. "Good morning, Mr. Snape, Hermione," she said, smiling.

"Good morning, Ms. Salk," Snape replied, shaking her hand.

"Good morning," Hermione echoed softly.

"How are you doing, Hermione?" Ms. Salk asked her, smiling kindly.

"I'm all right," she replied, her voice sounding a bit younger than usual.

Ms. Salk turned to Snape. "How is she really, Mr. Snape?" Hermione scowled; she hated being spoken about as if she wasn't there.

Snape glanced at her warningly before turning back to Ms. Salk. "In my opinion," he said, she's coping as well as can be expected."

"Have you considered taking her to see a child psychologist?"

Despite the genuinely worried expression on the woman's face, Hermione's temper surged inside her. "I don't need…"

"If the need arises, I will," Snape interjected, shooting Hermione a sharp look. "However, for now, I think we'll see how we do on our own." His voice was firm, effectively ending the conversation.

Ms. Salk nodded, seemingly reassured. She glanced down at her watch. "It's time for our appointment. Please come with me to Judge Matthews' chambers."

They followed her through the corridors, stopping at a dark wooden door with an opaque glass window that said "The Honourable Judge Joseph F. Matthews." Ms. Salk knocked on the door.

"Come in!" a man's voice called.

Ms. Salk led Snape and Hermione into the office. A portly man with a fringe of white hair and a white mustache sat at a large mahogany desk in the middle of the room, buried in paperwork. "Hello, Judge Matthews," Ms. Salk said, holding out her hand to shake.

He looked up, smiled, and stood up to shake her hand. "Good morning, Ms. Salk! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She gestured to Snape and Hermione. "This is Mr. Snape and his niece, Hermione Granger. They're here to finalize Mr. Snape's guardianship of Hermione."

"Severus Snape," Snape said, extending his hand to shake the judge's.

Judge Matthews shook his hand. "Judge Matthews." He looked at Hermione. "I take it you're Hermione?" He extended his hand.

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, sir," she replied, taking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And you as well. Please have a seat, Mr. Snape, Hermione." He gestured to a couple of chairs in front of his desk. They did so while Ms. Salk took a chair off to the side. "How are you doing today?" Judge Matthews asked them.

"Quite well, thank you," Snape responded. "Happy to take care of this and have the chance to move forward."

"I can understand that." Judge Matthews paused. "What do you do, Mr. Snape?"

"I'm a chemistry teacher at a boarding school in Scotland," he replied. "Hermione attends the same school."

"I see." He made a face and winked at Hermione. "I hated chemistry in school. That's why I went into law instead of medicine." Hermione forced a smile and he turned back to Snape. "We need to talk about you taking guardianship of Hermione here."

"Obviously," Snape responded drolly.

Judge Matthews looked startled for a moment, but recovered quickly. "By that, I mean you will provide care for her until she is eighteen years of age. You will clothe her, feed her, and provide a home for her. You will provide a stable environment for her. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir," Snape replied calmly.

"Good. Now, Hermione, I have a few questions for you." Hermione nodded. "Mr. Snape, would you mind stepping out for a moment so I can speak with Hermione alone? I'll have Ms. Salk come and get you when we're finished."

"Of course." He stood up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Judge Matthews turned back to Hermione. "Just a few questions. Do you understand what is happening here?"

She nodded again. "Yes, sir. My uncle is going to be my guardian because my parents passed away."

"That's right. Can you explain to me what that means?"

This time she couldn't help herself. She rolled her eyes, and then answered, "It means that he's going to take care of me until I grow up since my parents can't."

"Yes. I have one last question for you."

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you want to live with your Uncle Severus?"

"I'd rather live with my parents, sir, but that's not really an option," she replied cheekily.

"Hermione," Ms. Salk said, her tone annoyed. Judge Matthews seemed amused.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, sir," she told the judge. Since I can't be with my parents, I'd like to be with Uncle Sev."

Judge Matthews smiled. "Good. Ms. Salk, would you retrieve Mr. Snape for me?" Snape walked back in and sat down again. "Everything appears to be in order, so I'll just sign these papers, and you can be on your way. Are you going back to Scotland today?"

"Tomorrow," Snape replied. "Since we're so close, I thought we'd take in a couple of London's sights today and stay the night."

"Wonderful!" Judge Matthews signed and stamped the forms, and handed them to Ms. Salk. "Leave your address with Ms. Salk and she'll mail a copy to you within the week."

"Thank you," Snape replied.

The judge stood up and Snape, Hermione, and Ms. Salk followed suit. Judge Matthews and Snape shook hands again. As they were leaving, Judge Matthews looked at Hermione and said, "I'm sorry for your loss, Hermione. But you're a lucky girl to have an uncle who loves you so much."

"Thank you," she mumbled. If only he knew, she thought to herself.

Hermione and Snape followed Ms. Salk to the front of the courthouse and into a small, empty office. She pulled a small notepad out of her purse and gave it to Hermione. "Write your address down here, dear," she said, handing her a pen.

Hermione stared blankly at the page for a moment before writing down the address that her parents had used to send her letters at school. Her eyes blurred with tears for a moment, but she blinked them away before anyone could see. She handed the notepad back to Ms. Salk.

"Thank you, dear," she said. Ms. Salk turned to Snape. "Even though Judge Matthews finalized the guardianship, I'm still going to have to come for a few home visits."

"Home visits?" Snape asked blankly.

"Yes. I need to come visit you in your home to make sure it's suitable for Hermione."

"Oh."

"I'm sure it will just be a formality in your case," she shrugged, "but rules are rules."

"I see. When will you be coming?"

"I'll come for the first one a week from today. Will ten o'clock in the morning work for you?"

"That should be fine. Will you be able to get to Scotland that easily?" Snape's tone was silky, despite wondering how it would be possible.

"It shouldn't be a problem."

"What about the other visits?"

"They'll be surprise visits. We feel it's important to be sure that the children are being well cared for whether or not we're planning a visit."

"I see."

"Do you have any questions?"

"No, not at the moment."

"Well, feel free to call if you think of any. I'll see you in a week then." She paused. "I'll bring the paperwork with me then."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure. Enjoy your time in London!"

"Thank you."

After they left the courthouse, Hermione turned to Snape. "How can she check on us at Hogwarts?" she asked him, echoing his thoughts.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'll have to ask Aunt Min, since she's already been through this."

"Are we really going into London today?" she asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Yes. Is there anywhere you haven't been before?"

Hermione paused. "I've never been to the Tower of London."

"To the Tower we go then."

oOo

Snape almost smiled as Hermione laughed at their Beefeater tour guide's shouts about how he loved "twelfth century military architecture" as opposed to the Tower of London's bloody past. He followed her through the crown jewels exhibit, although she hardly glanced at the glittering displays. Her reaction to the history museum particularly amused him. She rushed from exhibit to exhibit, lamenting that she didn't have a camera with her. Such a little know it all, he thought to himself, although he couldn't bring his past contempt to the thought.

"Hermione," he said, after they had spent over three hours in the museum, "we need to be heading out."

"Just a few minutes more?" she asked, giving him puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"

"All right," he relented, telling himself that he would do anything to keep her quiet. "I'm going to head toward the gate to examine the wall enhancements. I'll expect you to meet me there in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, sir!" She ran off to the next exhibit.

He left the White Tower, and walked toward the gate, ducking into a small gift shop unseen by muggles, and purchased a copy of A Magical History of the Tower of London by Alexandra Beauchamp. He left the shop and waited. Right on time, Hermione joined him and began chattering about what she'd seen after he left. When did I become the person who children chattered to? he wondered.

oOo

The day following their return to Hogwarts, Snape invited Professor McGonagall over for tea. After he had poured the tea, Professor McGonagall took a sip and asked, "Where's Hermione?"

"Scrubbing cauldrons," he replied, taking a sip himself.

"I see." She took another sip. She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face before setting her cup down. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of tea today, Severus?"

"I can't just ask you over for tea?"

Professor McGonagall smirked. "Not unless pigs have suddenly sprouted wings and begun to fly."

He took another sip. "I can make that happen," he sneered. And then another sip.

"I'm sure you can. So can I. But I'll ask again, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Snape sighed. Only Professor McGonagall could read him this well. He set his teacup down. "The social worker for Hermione's case needs to come see her 'living situation,' but she's a muggle. I was wondering what you did when you were in my position?"

Professor McGonagall blushed slightly and let out a nervous giggle. Severus gaped at her. "Aunt Min?" he asked, looking at her with astonished eyes. "What'd you do?"

She coughed nervously again. "I confounded him," she said softly, her voice hardly more than a whisper, hiding another giggle.

Snape's mouth dropped open. She what?, he thought to himself. The same woman who harped on me about the Statute of Secrecy every summer? Even when we lived at Hogwarts? "But…but," he stuttered, "you always told me…"

"I know," she replied, looking slightly abashed. "I know I always told you not to do any magic around muggles. But sometimes you do what's necessary. I couldn't cast glamour charms or transfigure the entire castle to look like a muggle school, so I just made him think that it was."

"But how?" He still couldn't believe it.

"I transfigured some things to look like muggle items, but mostly, I just fed him what he wanted to hear and he saw what I wanted him to."

"How did he get past the muggle-repelling charms?"

"Albus canceled them for a short period of time. I met the social worker at the gates and confounded him so quickly; he never realized that he was going into a castle." Snape nodded, still trying to absorb what she was saying.

"Can you cancel the muggle-repelling charms?"

"I can."

"Will you?"

"I will. Just let me know when."

"Tuesday."

"I'll take care of it." Professor McGonagall returned to sipping her tea.

They finished their tea amicably, with Hermione joining them at the end, only slightly disgruntled about cleaning cauldrons. All the while, however, Snape wondered about the surprise visits and what he would do about them. And then the awful answer came to him. I'm going to have to resort to Legilimency.

Please review! Thanks and have a great weekend!