A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Sci Fi September Steam/Cyber Punk AU
Word Count: 651
The whirling of gears pulled Hermione from her sleep. She opened one eye to see her husband fiddling with something on the nightstand. He had obviously been awake for a while if the fact he was dressed was any indication.
"What pretell are you doing?" she asked, looking over at him. His black hair was pulled back and plaited. His pale skin shone in the moonlight. Hermione tilted her head watching him for a moment.
"I'm working on fixing this infernal thing," he answered, pulling a screwdriver from the back pocket of his black trousers.
"The alarm does not need fixing, Severus, darling. It chirps at dusk fall and is silent the rest of the time."
"Exactly, Hermione. Once, it chirps once and then is silent. What if we do not hear it chirp?" he asked. "What if we miss something important because we, in our slumber, did not hear it?"
"Have we overslept ever?" Hermione asked, looking at her husband.
"No," he answered. Hermione nodded, sliding from the bed. The cream colored silk sheets fell to the floor in one fluid motion.
"Then why are you really toying with the thing?" she asked, pulling open the doors of her wardrobe. She studied the array of dresses, settling on a deep emerald green one. It was completely free of embellishments and dazzles.
She turned the flipped the switch on the wall causing the coil style lights to buzz for a moment before lighting up the room with artificial light. She had to admit, she did find they were a godsend, so much more useful than candles. Not that she didn't have a few of those scattered around also. They did help set a scene better than this new electricity.
"I was looking for a part," Severus finally admitted. Hermione tilted her head, her curls falling over her shoulder and down the back of the dress. She picked up a golden belt with several pouches, affixing it around her midsection.
"For what?" she asked. "And why would the part be in my alarm and not the workshop?" she asked. Severus turned, his hands full of gears from the alarm clock. She could still see the small device trying to tick. Several of the numerals had fallen to the floor.
"Fixing the Thestral," Severus answered, referring to the steam powered carriage he'd been building. Hermione sighed. So far, the device had been nothing but trouble. She would have said it was cursed if she believed in that sort of superstition. She did not.
The whole point of the Thestral was to provide them a safe way to travel the streets during the day, when they were both asleep. The last time Severus had had a break through, one of their coven, a younger vampire named Ron had met his untimely demise. Hermione wondered if his family still blamed them.
"And why do you think you've figured it out this time?" she asked, rising from her stool. She grabbed the pair of bronze goggles hanging on the mirror. She slipped them over her head.
"Lucius, he's agreed to fund the project," Severus answered.
"And what does Lucius want in return? He has no interest in a steam powered carriage, not when he has those lighter than air flying devices," she replied.
"Who knows with Lucius. Hermione, this could be it, this could be our freedom. Imagine, being able to leave the manor during the daylight without dying, imagine the world we've missed."
"Imagine the books they've written and we've never seen," Hermione muttered. Severus smiled as he took her hand in his. She nodded.
"Shall we set to work then, my love?" he asked. Hermione nodded again, grabbing the welder they kept behind the bedroom door.
"We shall," she agreed, wondering what life might be like during the day. She might finally get to see one of the new zeppelins everyone was talking about.