Chapter 2

He smiled as he smelled his wife's scent. The scent of jasmine and lilies will forever remind him of only one woman. Helen Granger gave him her hand when he needed it most. From that day on, he knew he would be faithful to her until the last moment of his life.

He turned, slid his fingers into her wavy hair, and pulled her into a kiss. After a moment, he regretfully cut it off. - "It's not that I don't enjoy your presence but.. It's not in your habit to interrupt my work."

The brunette pulled out a beige envelope from inside her robes. It wasn't hard to see who wrote them. - "Do you have some spare time? Our daughter writed us earlier than she agreed to."

Severus remembered the last conversation he had with Hermione before she left for Hogwarts. At first, opposed to it, he tried to dissuade her from this decision. Only Igor Karakov convinced him that he should let her go. Unlike him, she had someone to count on at that school.

He smiled and, after stealing another kiss from her, quickly said, "Yes, I have time. For you I will always have time."

xxx

She didn't think much about what it would mean for her to win against a trained professor. She just wanted to see what the man who led her father's suicide attempt with his friends could do. She wanted to confront her father's stories with reality. It wasn't until later that she realized she couldn't. Many years had passed, and now they were both different people than when they were young.

Her dad told her about a boy who, along with his friends, took every opportunity to abuse him. The boy who made being at Hogwarts hell. Only now did she realize that what he was saying was true. Perhaps James Potter was different than in his youth, but he was still self-absorbed. It was evident from the disbelief written on his face immediately after the defeat.

Hermione sometimes wondered what had caused the conflict. Her father once told her that at first he thought it was about his friendship with Miss Evans and his Slytherin affiliation. It wasn't until years of therapy that he realized that James Potter just needed a victim. And he didn't need a reason to bully someone. He needed an excuse.

"What are you thinking about, my Mila?" - Victor's hoarse voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned to him and smiled back, "About Dad and Mr. Potter."

"Don't worry. I doubt he approached you. Not after what had happened between them in the past. Anyway... If he tries, he'll have to go through not only principal Karakov but also me and the other boys in our year. Neither of us wants to incur the wrath of Severus Snape." - A smirk appeared on Krum's face.

"He's a Gryffindor. Or rather, he was a Gryffindor. It is said that Gryffindors lack self-preservation instincts."

Hermione looked down at the table they were sitting at, then bit her lip nervously. The Bulgarian thought that his friend was thinking of something else. He knew her so well that he knew she was just wondering how to ask him something.

He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him, then whispered in her ear. - "What's on your mind right now?"

She sighed, turned around without leaving his embrace and looked him straight in the eye and said, "I'd like to introduce you to someone. He's the only boy who doesn't treat me like some devil in disguise."

"I promised my uncle I'd take care of you, not keep you in a cage. Has our tough, cold and uninterested in boys Hermione Granger finally fallen in love?"

The deepening blush on her face made him want to continue teasing her. He knew, however, that his friend was very shy, especially after what she had to go through at the beginning of Durmstrang. This someone must have been special if he caught her attention despite her habits.

"Victor! It's not about that. I just liked him."

"Don't panic. Go get him, I'd love to meet him and even try not to scare him too much."

He knew he wouldn't keep his promise not to scare the Slytherin boy. He had seen her fight for her position in school too many times. Every scar on her body was a reminder of how she had fought to change her position. How she changed the fact that her black uniform, instead of symbolizing that she was Muggle-born, symbolized that she had won every duel in the last four years of schooling. She climbed from the last rung of the ladder to the very top.

xxx

"Don't be so nervous..." - Crabble whispered looking at the growing irritability of his blond friend.

"How? She's so… friendly with him. Plus, my father wants to talk to me. After dinner. Before he goes home. Although I wanted to discuss something with him, the fact that HE wants to talk to me is disturbing. This will not bode well."

The stocky Slytherin hadn't seen Malfoy like this in a long time. Insecure and anxious. Not since the day Harry Potter turned down his offer to befriend him. It was the first time Lord Malfoy's son had made such a decision without consulting his father. A father who was completely against that idea.

Only recently have they said that the animosity between the two families has always existed. However, the animosity turned to abyss after Severus Snape's disappearance. Legendary Slytherin. A wizard who escaped from Hogwarts.

"Vincent?" - He looked up to see Hermione Granger with a shy smile on her face. The witch focused her eyes only on him. He wasn't used to being given so much attention. Usually he was just a background for others.

"Yes?" - he asked, trying not to pay attention either to the surprise of his roommates or to Draco Malfoy's furious glare.

"Could you give me some of your time?" - The blush on her cheeks deepened. - "I'd like to introduce you to Victor."

"Sure, I'm going now."

Startled, he got up and walked over to her. He didn't look back when her slender hand touched his shoulder and took his arm. Not when she smiled at him. Also when she leaned over to him and whispered a thank you in his ear.

Vincent Crabble knew he was going to be interrogated when he returned to the Slytherin Common Room.

xxx

"Severus Snape's daughter?" - Sirius growled so that James could feel the vibrations coming from his voice all over him. - "Tell me I heard wrong."

Potter started walking around the garden trying to calm down. He already regretted yelling at his wife. He didn't want the tension between them to rise. When he was sure he would be able to speak calmly, he said, "Is it so strange that Snape has a child? A wonderful, intelligent and talented child?"

He wiped a tear that rolled down his cheek with the back of his hand. He felt as if a noose was tightening around his neck. In an instant, he felt all the repressed remorse that he had carefully hidden deep within himself for years.

"Calm down James." - he felt a Lily's hand on his shoulder. - "You know very well Sirius didn't mean it. The thing is, if Sev has a daughter, that means… That means he's alive."

Prongs tensed up when he heard with what sentiment his wife pronounces the name of her former friend. It had been so long since they'd mentioned him that he had no idea that Lily still hadn't forgiven herself for her behavior after the incident at the lake. Snape had used the forbidden word against her, but he was trying to make amends. Only after he disappeared did she come to the conclusion that that one word had been provoked by the situation they had maneuvered him into and she had reacted too impulsively.

"Just because he has a daughter doesn't mean Severus Snape is alive." - Remus, forgotten for a moment, chimed in. - "That means he lived long enough to father a child. James, do you know how old she is?"

"I don'y know but she's a year above than Harry."

"What a surprise." - Moony snorted - "Severus Snape has created a life that you and Sirius didn't suspect him of. I wonder if he was ever in love with Lily. If not, do you know what that means?"

Nobody answered. James knew that he would bully Snape with his friends anyway. Lily was just an excuse. And a nice reward for separating Beauty from the Beast. But did Beauty choose the Beast in the fairy tale?

xxx

"Victor is my friend. He promised my father he would look after me. Like I need a protector." - She put her head down and looked at him and smiled.

"You know that being introduced to Victor Krum is a dream of many wizards? He's a Quidditch genius."

Surprise flashed across Hermione's face. - "Come on. He's just the guy I grew up with."

Crabble looked back at his friends once more. He noted that Draco Malfoy's skin was redder than the red of the Weasley family's hair.

He knew he was screwed.

xxx

I liked this chapter. and you? This story was supposed to be just a plot bunny released from my head for now. I am writing without any major plans. How do you like the direction I'm going? Is it even worth going further? I've been doubting my writing skills lately. Regards, Katie Krum