Author's Notes: Wow, I'm actually quite surprised that in the end I got a few reviews for the last chapter. Reviews are pretty hard to come by these days and after so long out of the game I've lost pretty much all my fans so to get some positive reviews was brilliant so thanks guys! There's probably going to be only 2-5 chapters left of this depending on how carried away I get with the couple of scenes I still want to do.
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply
Chapter Thirty-One
Hermione made her way to her own quarters to change into some nicer clothes now that she was free of the infirmary. She pulled out a simple and practical, navy dress and rummaged around for a cardigan of some kind to wear over it before noticing something in her mirror. When she looked into the mirror's reflection she saw a shiny package on her bed.
Pausing her actions she moved to the bed and lifted the small box. Seeing no label on it at all she carefully lifted the lid, making sure to keep her wand in her other hand just in case. After years of being so on edge it was a hard habit to break; even then it didn't have to be something sinister, a Weasley product or two had caught her off guard before and she had learnt her lesson quickly.
Inside sat a cloth of black velvet which she opened carefully also.
"Oh…" she breathed, detecting nothing sinister she reached out and lifted the glinting object. A beautiful, silver comb with black and blue sapphire stones set into it in an ornate design and a few matching hair pins. Perfect. She glanced over at the dress she had been about to put on, whoever it was probably knew that blue was her favourite colour or perhaps that sapphire was her birth stone.
In her work with potions she wasn't able to wear much in the way of jewellery, as anything that dangled was a risk but these were perfect. They would help hold her unruly hair out of the way and be tucked behind her head away from the heat and fumes. She lifted the piece of parchment she spotted beneath them.
'Something to tame that hair of yours
Severus'
She laughed aloud to herself at his note. Severus Snape was on of a kind, some things about him would never change. She made quick work of getting changed before heading towards his quarters with his wrapped gift in hand.
When he opened the door to let her in she grinned and handed him his present straightaway. He arched an eyebrow at her as she practically shoved them both into his rooms and closed the door behind them.
"Thank you for my present, now quickly open yours before I explode!" she said excitedly.
"Well aren't you acting more odd than usual…" he murmured.
"Stop looking at me like I'm a mad woman and just open the present!" she snapped. He sighed dramatically and pulled the packaging open to reveal a book. His eyes glued to the title, his fingers carefully ran across the spine.
"Where did you find this?" he asked quietly.
"It required some help I'll admit." She replied. "I had Draco point me in the direction of some specialist book suppliers that might be able to help and fortunately one of them knew of someone who had a copy."
"This is…" he trailed off and looked at the witch rather intensely for a moment. He didn't really know what to say. "Thank you, this must have c-"
"What else did you think I was going to spend my stupid reward money on if not books?" she cut him off quickly.
"Good point." He conceded.
"Can we read it?" she beamed.
"Oh I see, no ulterior motives in buying me this at all were there?" he chuckled.
After the couple had joined the other staff and remaining students in the hall for Christmas dinner, Hermione followed the headmistress to her office.
"Other than the obvious…is there anything I need to know on a more Professional basis, that may affect your positions and working relationships?" Minerva asked her carefully.
"Severus and I are romantically involved but that's about as far as we've gotten with the topic." Hermione nodded.
"So no name changes or maternity leave on the immediate horizon?" the older witch asked.
"No, nothing like that." Hermione assured her. "It's all early days really."
"Right, well then as your employer all I have to say on the matter is that obviously any inappropriate behaviour where students may be present is against the regulations so to be careful." She nodded. "And now that that part is out of the way we can talk properly."
"I didn't realise that there was much more to tell." Hermione laughed.
"How long have you two been keeping this a secret?" she asked, passing Hermione her tea before beginning to pour her own.
"It wasn't so much keeping it a secret as…well there wasn't anything concrete to tell." She shrugged. "Honestly…being around him so much simply allowed me to see the things he doesn't let people see…and of course he was very supportive about the situation with Gideon and through my apprenticeship. Once we began to realise that there was some sort of mutual attraction, he did what he does best and resisted it in every way he could… There was some shouting over that of course…and some tears…but in the end it was Molly that pointed it out to me."
"That you loved him?"
"Oh no, I'd not long figured that one out myself… He came looking for me, storming into the Weasley's kitchen apparently." She replied, a smile twitched on her face at the thought. "She pointed out that he hasn't exactly had much in the way of loving relationships of any kind and that maybe I shouldn't be listening to what he was saying but more what his actions were saying."
"He truly was completely out of sorts for a few days there." The older witch smiled. "More irritable than ever but looking like he was a bit lost at the same. I'm very happy for you both, you deserve to find happiness."
"Thank you." She said softly.
"And the scars?" she asked shrewdly. Hermione felt her face heat up in embarrassment.
"I um…apparently I was a pure witch. I'd never even heard of the term before Severus brought it up." She admitted.
"Well…it's not overly common these days." Minerva frowned. "I'm sorry, Severus brought it up did you say?"
"Well…I had an issue brewing a fertility potion, we couldn't figure out why and then he asked if I'd…well anyway he found out then." She summed up awkwardly.
"You do know how rare it is for such magic to actually be bestowed upon both partners don't you?" the headmistress asked. Hermione nodded in response.
Early Boxing day morning found Hermione knocking briefly on the Weasley's front door, before opening it herself quietly. The wards allowed her entrance without alarm, the Burrow was quiet, with the exception of Molly stood in kitchen preparing breakfast.
"Good morning dear." She greeted her warmly.
"Morning Molly." She smiled. "I hope you had a nice Christmas, I'm sorry I missed it."
"You don't look sorry, you look happy." The older woman said observantly, hugging her. "Look at that lovely blush." The older witch stood back and looked at her critically. "My goodness just look at you, you look healthier than ever…spending the night with Severus clearly agrees with you."
"Molly!" Hermione gasped. Molly just shushed her and moved back to the breakfast.
"Oh Hermione you're hardly a child." She tutted. "I take it that it was your pure status that caused your rather remarkable physical appearance?"
"Yes." Hermione nodded, knowing that if anyone understood Molly would. "It worked on Severus as well." Hermione gasped in shock as a plate smashed to the ground.
"Blessed Merlin! Hermione that is wonderful news!" she exclaimed; hugging her again, tighter than before. "I'm so happy for you! And Severus…finally finding happiness after all these years." Hermione saw tears in the older witch's eyes. Suddenly it seemed a lot more important.
Severus loved her, truly loved her. The magic had deemed their love pure and real. Marriages were built on less. Severus was it for her…as good as her soul mate…that was huge.
"I…" she trailed off not knowing what to say.
"There's no rush dear." Molly said comfortingly, as if knowing exactly where her thoughts were heading. "It is a very wonderful thing, everything else can wait."
"R-right, of course." She nodded.
"Now, there's some presents over there with your name on and there are some other youngsters upstairs that need waking up for breakfast."
Nodding swiftly Hermione made her way to the stairs and straight to Ginny's room. She knocked loudly and then went in when all she heard was a groan of protest.
"Sorry but your Mum sent me for wake up du…..ty…" Hermione paused as both Ginny and Harry sat up in her bed half asleep.
"Morning." Harry mumbled sheepishly. Ginny just groaned and flopped back into the mattress.
"Harry!" Hermione whispered. "You know Molly will kill you for being in here!"
"Yeah, yeah…ring on the finger…" he replied, reaching to the floor to grab his t-shirt and pull it on.
"Just go wake Ron up and don't go downstairs at the same time as us." She waved him off. Harry narrowed his eyes at her.
"Oh God you shagged him didn't you?" he asked, screwing up his face at the thought.
"Is there some sort of sign stuck on my face?" she asked, throwing her hands up.
"Out Harry, girl talk!" Ginny said, suddenly wide awake and shoving him from the bed. Harry stumbled from the room as the red head tugged Hermione to sit with her. "Tell me everything!"
"Well…Severus and I are officially romantically involved." She confided.
"And?" Ginny asked impatiently.
"Well it was great…until I got rushed to the infirmary because I started bleeding. If I wasn't in so much pain at the time I would have been so embarrassed. Only nothing was actually wrong. Long story short, the magic from my first time healed us both in and out. No more scars. My internal scarring is gone too…I should be able to have children." Hermione held out her arm to prove it.
"Wait…what?" Ginny asked in shock. "You never told me you couldn't have children."
"I didn't tell anyone…after the attack at the ministry, when I was injured. I had some internal damage that meant I probably couldn't ever have children. There was apparently nothing they could do." She shrugged sadly. "Somehow the extra magic I was gaining by being a pure witch meant that it was starting to heal me inside and when Severus and I…spent the night together the magic raised healed us. It healed every scar in and out…Severus too." She explained. "Obviously that was a one time thing. I'm not pure anymore, no more massive power boosts or magical healing should I gain any more scars in future. Actually the pain sort of ruined the moment after my first time…but the times after that have been amazing too."
"Merlin's balls Hermione you've only been gone one day!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Yes one day but two nights." Hermione grinned, her face heating up. "Come on, let's go and bang on some doors and get some breakfast."
The bell sounded and Severus grudgingly dismissed his students for lunch. He cleared the classroom and warded it shut behind him, before making his way down the stairs after them towards the main castle.
"...it was mad!" he heard the trail end of some gossiping third years near the entrance to the great hall. He was about to snap at them to stop gossiping and get on with their lunch, when what he heard stopped him.
"Yeah three students went to the infirmary with Professor Granger! I've never seen a cauldron blow up like that!" the tallest boy exclaimed.
"But she was wicked fast, got a shield up in seconds to stop anyone else getting hurt and shoved Higgin's out of the way. Reckon he'd have blown his face up otherwise!" another joined in. Severus didn't hear the last of the conversation, he span on his heel and swept straight back towards the staircases.
"What happened?!" he demanded, bursting into the infirmary. He scanned the beds and found one student sat on a bed and on the one across from it Madam Pomfrey stood treating Hermione.
"Just a little potions accident." Poppy assured him, as he approached them. "No harm done." He reached for Hermione's chin and carefully stroked the undamaged skin next to a burn on her cheek.
"I'm fine." She assured him.
"No harm done?!" he growled, taking a closer look at the burns being treated on Hermione's arms. He span on Daniel Higgins, who still sat on the end of his bed with a bandage around one hand and a patch on his head. "What idiotic mistake did you make this time?!"
"I-I…it was an accident!" the boy spluttered. "I'm sorry Professor."
"Severus!" Hermione exclaimed in horror.
"Silence woman, you could've been seriously hurt! As it is those burns will take days to heal properly!" he barked at her before turning back to the student. "You! You will be serving detention with me for the rest of term and consider yourself lucky that I can't expel you!"
"Severus Snape!" Hermione shouted, standing from her cot. "He is not in your house, nor did you witness the event. It is not up to you to decide his punishment."
The boy looked between the two Professor's as Madam Pomfrey came to give him another once over.
"You're free to go Mr. Higgins." She told him.
"Urm…thanks." He nodded, quickly hopping off of the cot and leaving the wing completely unnoticed by the two Professor's now fighting amongst themselves.
"Hermione dear, how have your first few weeks of teaching properly been?" Minerva asked the younger witch as they made their way to the hall for dinner.
"Fine actually...even the older years seem fairly well behaved." She told the older witch.
"That may have something to do with Severus." The headmistress chuckled. "They're all terrified that if they upset you he will torture them."
"Why?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"My dear, you can't possibly have missed the rumours?" Minerva blinked in surprise. "After the potions accident last week. The whole school has been abuzz with rumours of Severus rushing to your bedside and then you two having a lover's spat in the infirmary."
"Oh…" Hermione cringed. "I take it Daniel Higgins told all his friends that Professor Snape raved at him like a lunatic because I could've been hurt…it wouldn't have taken much for them to draw their own conclusions."
"Yes well…I take it Mr Higgins escaped Severus' wrath relatively unscathed?" the headmistress asked.
"That would be where the lover's spat came in." Hermione frowned. "Does Severus know about the rumours?"
"Oh I've no doubt." She nodded. "Part of him is probably secretly glad that it is now common knowledge that you are his. I doubt any students will be willing to risk his wrath by causing problems in your class."
"Still…it would've been nice to have them respect me for my own abilities." Hermione sighed.
"I wouldn't worry about that, rumour has it you weren't afraid of Severus so I'm sure that makes you somewhat terrifying in your own right." Minerva chuckled.