Chapter 11: A Birthday Present For Hermione

September 19, 1997

Hermione pulled her two children into an emotional hug. "Oh, how I've missed you two." She hugged them tightly and each of them buried their heads in the crook on her neck.

"We miss you too, Mummy," her youngest child, Sebastian, said. He was just seven years old.

She ruffled his black curls and kissed his forehead.

Sebastian hugged her tightly. "I love you, Mummy."

"I love you, too, sweetheart." Then, she turned to her firstborn, Elaine. She ran a hand on her straight brown hair that now reached her waist. "Your hair is longer, Lainee."

"It's only been two months, but it's growing fast Mum," Elaine said. "I've been waiting to see you again so you could give me a haircut."

She smiled at her daughter affectionately. Hermione was the only one who would give her daughter a haircut or a trim. They were very close, and it broke their hearts when they had to send them away in June before Dumbledore died.

She turned to Severus. "How long can they stay?" she asked her husband gently.

"They can stay the night. I'll Apparate them back to the safe house in the morning," Severus replied in an affectionate way that no one outside their family had ever seen. "I'll have the guest room ready. One of them could take the master's bedroom, and the two of us will have the couch."

"Thank you," she smiled at her husband gratefully.

"You're welcome, darling."

"Mum, look, we have something for you!" Elaine said with excitement, gesturing to the dining table. There was a round cake with a single pink candle on it. The cake was very similar to the one Hermione baked for Severus fifteen years ago.

"Aunt Alona helped us make it for you!" Sebastian stated proudly. "And I prepared a picnic basket for you. I was thinking, maybe we could go to the Room of Requirement and request a meadow…"

"We miss our outdoor picnics, Mum," Elaine added fondly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dears. We cannot make use of the Room of Requirement because it's currently occupied by some students."

"Is there D.A. again?" Elaine inquired. "Is the ministry after Dad?"

"What's D.A.?" asked Sebastian.

Hermione gave them both a sad smile. "Things will get better, dears. Don't worry about that for now." She approached the table to check what else they brought her. She saw a wooden picnic basket with some Tupperware inside. "Oh, egg rolls and sandwiches!"

"I cooked the egg rolls and Basty prepared the sandwiches."

"Thank you, my babies." She kissed each of them on the cheek.

"We also wrote you a card!" Sebastian exclaimed.

They sat at the table and Hermione read the birthday card her children made for her while Sev sliced the cake and served each of them. After reading the letters and eating the cake, Hermione's gaze went to the wooden basket.

She looked at it carefully and concentrated on a memory.

"Where did you get this basket, dears?" she inquired.

"It came with the groceries when we bought some goods at a Muggle supermarket with Aunt Alona last week," Elaine replied. "Why, Mum?"

She shook her head slowly. "I think I've seen like this before, but I don't remember when. Maybe it's a common item in Muggle supermarkets."

Sebastian shrugged and continued eating his slice of cake.

"I'm tasting tea in the cake," commented Severus. "What flavour is this?" he asked the children fondly.

"Is it not good?" asked Sebastian, looking worried.

Severus looked at their son affectionately. "It is good, son. I'm merely curious why it tastes like tea."

"We've tried the matcha flavour," Sebastian explained. "Elaine and I remembered when the four of us went to Japan when I was four… I liked those matcha-flavoured snacks and Mum liked the matcha pastries, too."

Hermione gave her children an appreciative look. "I miss those."

"When could we travel again?" Elaine asked sadly.

Hermione and Severus turned to each other and shared a knowing look. "Perhaps, next year, children," the patriarch declared.

They finished their desserts and talked a bit about the children's activities and homeschooling. Elaine and Bastian told Hermione and Severus about their daily routine at the safe house with Alona and their friends, Kaiser and Empress (Kingsley and Alona's children). In the middle of their conversation, Elaine and Kaiser both yawned and admitted that they woke up at dawn to bake her cake. Hermione sent them off to bed, but not before kissing them both on the cheeks. Severus went to get himself ready for the day.

When their children were peacefully napping, Hermione sought Severus and found him in the bathroom. "Sev, could I borrow the Pensieve?" she asked gently.

He gave her a curious look. "Darling, what's mine is yours. You need not seek my permission. You even Polyjuiced as me without asking," he chuckled.

She smirked at that and stepped towards him and ran her hands on his naked chest. "Well, this body is mine, as you promised 15 years ago. But the Pensieve? It belongs to the headmaster."

He pulled her body to him and held her firmly. "Ah, but darling, sometimes you are the headmaster… and sometimes, the headmaster's boss," he whispered against her ear.

She giggled and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "If only people know that you belong to me, not to the Dark Lord."

He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Always and forever yours, darling."

.

When Severus left the Pensieve in their private rooms and left to bark orders to the Carrows, Hermione concentrated on the memory: her 18th birthday while on the run with Harry and Ron. She did her best to get the "panoramic view". When she was successful, she dove into the Pensieve and took a trip down memory lane.

.

September 19, 1997

Today was her 18th birthday. In the Muggle world, it was a big deal and a very important moment. It was the legal age. Her parents would have thrown her a party if she were not a witch. Or if things were normal, her parents would surely send her a heartwarming letter and special gifts, just like when she turned 17 one year ago.

But right now, she wasn't at Hogwarts. She wasn't at home, either. She was practically homeless. She, Harry, and Ron had been on the run for three weeks now. Ever since the mayhem at the Ministry, they could not return to Grimmauld Place anymore.

They had been living in a tent… and they'd been changing places every week. Right now, they were in Ashdown. Harry left very early to find something to eat, and Ron was still in bed because he was on the watch last night.

She was with her best friends, but she was still very lonely.

She was longing for her parents.

She tightened the shawl around her. It was her mum's. She wasn't here, so Hermione felt like she had to depend on the shawl to feel her mother's love.

She was thinking of her parents when she heard footsteps running. She got up and reached for her wand. A few seconds later, Harry's head appeared in front of her. The rest of his body was still hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. He was grinning.

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" He threw off the cloak and handed her a wooden picnic basket.

"Oh, Harry!" she exclaimed happily, reaching for the basket. "Where did you find this?"

"Queen Elizabeth Picnic Garden. I'd been there when I was still studying in a Muggle school. It's a place where families could have picnics and fly kites in spring and fall. There are also some stores where they could buy food, so, when I saw that lying on an abandoned table, I took it and left them money instead."

She gave Harry a one-sided hug. "Oh, Harry, thank you! Come on, let's wake Ron up."

The three of them shared the most decent meal they had in three weeks. Ron said the cake was weird because it tasted like tea but ate it anyway because he was hungry. The egg rolls were new to them but still delicious. They all agreed that the sandwiches were probably prepared by a kid, but still tasted good.

Hermione Granger's 18th birthday was still a happy one, despite their living conditions.