Chapter 9
"Some of it's just really dumb"- Peter Gabriel
The following two weeks passed quickly and before Hermione knew it, her 17th birthday was only a day away. She went throughout the day normally, her classes were normal, her meals were normal, her apprenticeship was normal, though Madame Pomfrey did give her the next day off. She did her homework in the common room with Harry and Ron and then went to bed.
The next morning she woke up, dressed and headed downstairs. She barely made it off the steps when she was greeted with a very loud "Happy birthday, Hermione!" She looked up and saw that all her friends, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Fay were all sitting on the floor surrounded by presents and cards. "Good morning guys." Hermione said with a yawn. "Come open your presents 'Mione." Harry called. Hermione walked over and sat down in the middle of the presents. The first one she opened was from Fay, it was a really pretty cashmere scarf, glove, and hat set. Ron visibly recoiled when Hermione opened it, due to the color. It was a beautiful, shimmery emerald. "I thought you would like it even though its Slytherin colored." Fay said quietly. "I love it, thank you." Hermione told her as she reached for the next gift, Harry's, a book of advanced healing potions. Harry was the only one who knew what she truly like and wanted. Neville got her a new quill and ink well, Ginny got her a very pretty silver necklace, and Ron got her a ton of sweets from Honeydukes. She had a large box from Molly and Arthur with fudge and sweets in it, alng with her parents gifts. Blaise and Daphene both sent her a card along with Dumbledore and McGonagall. Madame Pomfrey's gift was the afternoon off. Once everything was gone through, one lone piece of folded parchment lay on the ground. Hermione picked it up and unfolded it to find just two words
Happy Birthday
"Who's it from?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. It just says Happy Birthday. Nothing else." Hermione said
"Odd." Ginny said.
Hermione nodded and the group headed down for breakfast. Hermione's plat was already piled high with pancakes and bacon. She smiled and silently thanked the elves and dug in.
*HGxSS*
Severus' day went by slowly and his apprenticeship dragged out, by the end of the day all he wanted to do was sit down and play his piano and drink a couple of glasses of whiskey and go to bed. As the anniversary drew closer, Lucius and Narcissa started to worry more and more about him and how he would handle himself.
Eventually the day came to an end and Severus retired to his room. He poured himself some whiskey and sat on the floor next to his bed. He laid his head back against the wall and eyed the wooden box under the bed. He was tempted to open it and drown in the memories. Memories and alcohol. His fingers just made contact with the box when there was a loud pop in the living room. He pulled himself up and found the little house elf waiting for him. "Yes Lottie?" He asked her. "I left the young miss the note for you." Lottie said with a smile. "Thank you." Severus said while slightly kicking himself for even writing Granger the stupid birthday note in the first place. "Is the Malfoys coming to visit this year, sir?" Lottie asked, pulling Severus out of his thoughts. "Yes. Yes I believe they are." He said with slight sadness in his voice. The little elf walked up to Severus and laid her hand on his knee, he looked down at her and she gave him a small smile before popping away. Severus sat there for another minute before seating himself at his piano and playing the pain away.
*HGxSS*
Over the next weeks Hermione became a usual sight at the Infirmary. She was there almost every day, helping with all types of injuries. She saw Severus several times, he was always in the office, restocking the potions stores and figuring out what he needed to brew for them. She and Poppy treated him twice more for injuries following a death eater meeting. Hermione was constantly be called in the middle of the night to help with sicknesses and injuries from late night duels. She was accustomed to waking up and running to the infirmary now. Days flew by and Halloween drew closer.
A/N So just to be clear with Severus' part of this chapter, No you guys aren't missing something. I'm purposely being cryptic and annoying. Leave a reveiw letting me know what you guys think he's going through. Also next chapter I'm making a time jump to Halloween to move this story on. 3!