A/N: Thanks Bri892 for beta reading
Chapter Nine: SWOT
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Over the next week, life fell into a quiet routine. Her interactions with Snape were cordial and the conversations were solely related to their daughter. Hermione spent her mornings with Sabrina and afternoons reading in her quarters. Often dinner, bathtime and bedtime duties were shared with Snape.
Unless he was doing rounds, Hermione found herself sitting down to tea with Professor Snape after Sabrina's bedtime. She found that he had a wicked sense of humour as they exchanged tales of their daughter's comings and goings each day. He answered her many questions and dismissed her concerns of not knowing what to do with a small child.
"Miss Granger, you do not need my permission to tell Sabrina: No!" Snape continued on, "Certainly, you can deduce how many sweets she can have or if running and screaming in the house is acceptable behavior."
Gathering up her courage, she sat up straight in her chair and asked, "Sir, do you think you could call me Hermione instead of Miss Granger?"
He retorted, "And I suppose you wish to call me by my given name?"
"May I borrow some of the parenting books in your study, Severus?" Hermione blushed as she said his name.
A short burst of laughter left Snape's mouth, surprising both of them.
He stood up, "Follow me."
In his study, the bookcases were meticulously organized by subject matter, then alphabetical by author, title and then volume. Hermione knew he was precise but this illustrated how fastidious he truly was. This reminded her of the Dewey decimal system in a muggle library.
"Here are all the books, courtesy of your mother, on parenting." He pointed to a bookshelf filled with brightly colored spines.
Snape led to her to a painting on the far wall. Hermione could see a hazy shimmer of magic.
"This room contains precious, rare or Dark Arts books so they are warded." Snape swept his wand in the air creating a circular pattern. The wall dissolved revealing a narrow room filled with books and artifacts.
Speechless, Hermione felt herself moving forward towards the books, her hand caressing the spines.
Snape said, "The password is semper tutus*. Do be careful, some books are individually warded."
Hermione shook her head a little, as if clearing her blocked ears. "Sir, I can't believe this."
"Please feel free to borrow anything you like. Your swottiness has a finally paid off. To this day, you are the only person with free reign in the Hogwarts Library since Miss Pince started working here forty four years ago. I still don't have that privilege. Since you can meet her exacting standards, you are welcome in my private library."
Unable to stop herself, Hermione reached out her wand and began chanting under her breath; dismantling the wards on Magick Moste Evile. "This is a different version than the one in the Restricted Section," she stated.
Snape gasped, "How did you remove the wards? I had three layers here!" .
Sliding past Snape in the narrow opening, Hermione returned to the study and sat down by the fire. She opened the uncensored book and started to read.
Still sputtering, Snape huffed out of the secret room and sealed the opening. He stomped over to her and asked again, "How did you dismantle my wards?"
Barely glancing at him, she replied distractedly, "You used the finite algorithm charm and Latin incantations to ward the room. Most of the artwork in your quarters has an Italian influence so I repeated the incantations in Italian. How many versions of this book are there? Are the books in Restricted Section all modified or censored? "
Muttering to himself, Snape began to pace around the study ignoring her questions.
Stubbing his foot on Sabrina's art desk, "Circe! Make sure you secure the wards on the book before you leave."
He left the study, leaving Hermione with the impression that he was about to throw a temper tantrum.
Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back to the book in her hands. After an hour of intense reading and chewing on her lower lip, Hermione returned the book to the secret room. Restoring the the wards as the professor had requested. She scooped up a handful of parenting books before heading to her bedroom.
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The next morning, Snape was still grumbling about Hermione in the staff room. His complaints normally fell on deaf ears but when he mentioned insufferable know it alls, Minerva asked him what had happened.
"That, that little swot took down my wards so she could read a damned book. I didn't even get opportunity to demonstrate the wand motions or the multi-layered Latin and Italian spells. She just took them down as if they were created by a first year."
Intrigued, Professor Flitwick asked Severus to explain his warding system. With a spring in his step, Filius requested a meeting with the Headmistress. By the next morning, he was knocking on the door to Snape's quarters to offer Hermione a position as a Charms Apprentice.
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A/N: Latin Translation: semper tutus ~ always protected (safe)