***Chapter Three***
June 2003
"That was actually fun," she said at the end of the day.
A bit nerve-wracking to be here at Hogwarts for something that she was the focus of.
She'd arrived late last night, and had basically gone right to her guest quarters to sleep once she'd finished setting up because she'd been organizing and making sure she had enough books and things for possibly hundreds of people since before daybreak.
Severus had been with her for a while, but she wasn't very talkative while she set up everything. The fact that she was completely on her own instead of a bookstore or someone doing it for her added to her really concentrating on how she wanted everything. So, he'd left her. She felt bad in bed later, realizing he probably wanted to talk with her. She was particular, though.
He knew that, so she didn't feel really terrible. If she was going to come here for a book signing, she was going to sign books, damn it. And she would make everything as professional as every other book signing she'd done over the years.
"This surprises you?" he asked.
He had not been here with her all day, but he'd come in and out periodically. The students who were in here when he arrived didn't dally, which may be why he didn't stay long when he did come in. He had to know he could be a little scary even today. She imagined he had headmaster tasks, even if it was the weekend.
Did he seem nicer? He did. She was surprised at his interaction with the students he did see. Was he outright friendly with them, no? But he greeted every one of them by name, and sounded pleasant (not bothered) about them being here.
She shrugged a little. "Well, yeah, I guess. I haven't done any wizarding book signings."
"Yes, I am aware of that."
"You are?" That surprised her. Again. How did he know these things?
"One of the students apparently let it slip to Madam Heglie that you were coming to Hogwarts for such purposes when they were at Tomes and Scrolls to pick up a copy of your book. I'm uncertain in the thirty years I've known Madam Heglie that I've ever seen her … angry at me. Until now."
"She was?" That was hard to believe. Surely he had to be one of her best customers.
"Evidently. She didn't say one word to me the last time I was in there, and I swear she went to the back when she realized I was browsing and not there for just one book."
"Well, Glenn doesn't know about the wizarding world, and I admit that I've sort of assumed the books would sell here because of my name. As much as I hate it, in this I've just let it be what it was. So I've spent my time focusing on the muggle world."
"Where Hermione Granger is not a household name."
"Correct. I'm sure Glenn is going to wonder why I'm asking for a couple hundred copies again."
"Glenn is?"
"My agent," she said.
She knew she was blushing, damn it. Why did him asking her that cause that reaction?
"I am relieved to know Glenn will not be questioning my taking you to dinner and a show."
It was a statement, but sounded as if he had a bit of a question. Did he think she'd accept his offer of a date if she was involved with someone?
Maybe it wasn't a date? No, he seemed to be treating it as if it was one as well.
"You still haven't told me where we're going."
She knew they were doing something on the nineteenth of July. She didn't know what or where. Beyond dinner and a show. Attending a show suggested a more formal dinner.
"Allow me to surprise a witch."
"Sure," she said. "I mean, I am allowing you to. That doesn't mean that I don't want to know!"
He chuckled, as if not surprised by her admission. "So, all the little hellions have gone."
"They're not hellions, Severus."
"Spend all day, every day, with them, and you will likely come to my way of thinking."
She laughed, shaking her head a bit. "You might be right. You stayed, though, so you must like it."
"You are correct, I do. I find, now that I can actually be the headmaster, I do enjoy the job. I could do without the meetings and balls," he said.
"Yes, well, I'm hoping Kingsley will have that out of his system now. This was year five, hopefully he'll stop doing yearly ones."
"One can hope!"
"I don't enjoy them overmuch either. I don't think there are many who do."
"I am aware. I believe Kingsley is as well."
"Maybe you can convince him to do a holiday thing or something instead. Still a reason for people to get together, but without the backdrop of war and loss."
"I will suggest it. He'll want that to be here."
She tilted her head a bit, regarding him. Now that he said that, she hadn't heard of Hogwarts hosting a ball since the war.
"You know, the students may enjoy it, too, Severus."
He scoffed.
She stood then. "They were things to look forward to, even you had to have experienced that."
"Not really," he said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
"Never?"
"No," he said. "They were a waste of my time, and only a reminder that others could afford dress robes where I could not."
"I suppose," she said, nibbling on her lower lip. "But Severus…"
"I understand what you're saying, Hermione. I do. I have been trying to focus on doing my job. Ensuring the castle is secure. Ensuring the students are safe while here in said castle. This is probably the first year since the war ended that everything has behaved as it's supposed to. Ensuring all of the staff are who they are presumed to be. As you say, five years have gone by, so maybe things will ease up some."
"Including you?"
He scoffed. She closed the distance between them. Until now she'd been near the table used for the book signing and he'd been across the room.
Intentionally?
She wasn't sure. She set a hand over his wrist, squeezing lightly.
"It's okay to let them have fun on your watch, Severus."
He scoffed.
"I am aware, but it's a difficult line to walk. Too lenient, throw too many parties and balls, I look as if I was guilty of wrongdoing beyond what Albus expected me to have to do. People are still suspect, not the Board of Governors."
"Oh, I suppose, I hadn't thought of that. It's been five years!"
"Miss Granger," a shy voice came from behind them.
Severus scowled in the direction over her shoulder. It wasn't one of his most severe scowls, but it was nonetheless effective. Hermione turned, seeing a boy standing at the doorway. Hovering at the threshold, so he wasn't quite in or out of the room or the hallway. He was clearly deciding on whether Severus' scowl meant he should turn around and leave. He had to be a first year student, based on his height, and, judging by his colors, he was Slytherin.
"Hi."
"The book signing hours are over, Mr. Scowcroft. I know you know how to tell time."
"Yes, Sir."
He was still standing at the doorway, clutching what looked like a rather worn copy of her first book. His eyes darted from her to Severus and back to her and then to his feet. He was clearly uncertain. Nervous? Maybe. He rubbed the sleeve of his robe over his mouth, and Hermione thought upon closer inspection he looked like he might have been crying.
She stepped in front of Severus, squeezing his wrist a bit as she did.
"It's all right, Headmaster. Did you want me to sign your book, Mr. Scowcroft, is it?"
He peered at her and then behind her, clearly looking to see if the headmaster was going to scold him further.
"It's my mum's copy. Someone threw it in the bath because they thought it was mine."
Hermione had to stifle the smirk that threatened to come out. She could just imagine what some Slytherins might think of an eleven year old boy wanting to get his copy of a book about a female witch autographed.
A book authored by a Gryffindor. And a muggleborn.
"Your mum reads my books?" she asked.
"Mr. Scowcroft has two younger sisters, or is it three?" Severus spoke from behind her.
"Three, Sir."
"Ah," Hermione said.
"They've only read the first one so far."
Even without the water damage, she could tell that the copy was rather … worn. She didn't mind. If this boy's family got enjoyment out of it, then she took that wear as a sign of a job well done.
She turned to face Severus, tilting her head a bit. He squinted. She squeezed his wrist again, drawing away and going back to the table. She assumed he was leaving the decision up to her. One more book wouldn't hurt anything. She was here until tomorrow evening, so she'd sign any books anyone brought to her between now and when she left.
"Come on, Mr. Scowcroft," she said, gesturing to the table.
He set his copy of the book on the table and she glanced at it. Severus was now leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, watching her. He looked intrigued, not upset. That was a relief. She didn't want to undermine him. She opened the book, paging through it. She could fix it. She had the capability and know-how to do that.
"How old are your sisters, Mr. Scowcroft?"
"Nine, eight, and six."
"How fun. Your house must be quite busy," she said.
"Yes," he said.
"What's your mum's name?"
"Agatha."
"Oh, I like that name," she said. She pulled a copy of her first book from her bag, opened the book and dipped her quill in ink.
Agatha,
Thank you for loving Serena with your daughters.
Hermione J. Granger
"Now, to avoid the risk of this copy being thrown into the bath again, why don't you write your mum's information down for me. The headmaster and I will go to the owlery and send it off to her. No one else will know."
She slipped him a piece of parchment so he could do exactly that.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, I'd be happy to." Her eyes flicked to Severus and she smiled. "The headmaster was most generous with me, so I feel it's only fair. And I can tell that your mum's copy was well-read. And we don't want her to feel bad that she was the cause for you being picked on. I'm sure she will be glad to know you thought of her."
Severus arched a brow at her with a shake of his head, but still hadn't said anything.
"Thank you, Madam. I'm sorry I was late."
"It's all right, really. I was still here. No harm. The headmaster is right in teaching you to be prompt. Punctuality is important, but things happen sometimes. You were unavoidably detained."
He slid the piece of parchment back to her, brushing some errant strands of hair back from his eyes as he stood upright.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Really. It's my pleasure."
"Back to what you were doing then, Mr. Scowcroft," Severus said.
"Yes, Sir," he said.
He left then and Hermione leaned down, reaching into her bag for copies of each of her books.
"That's very nice of you," he said as she autographed each book. Each daughter got a book addressed to them, thanks to Severus' assistance in providing her their names. (He'd known all along the wizard had three younger sisters, it seemed, because there was no hesitation on his part in naming them off.)
"Family affected negatively by the war, I assume?"
"Yes," he said simply.
"Well, if my book gives them a little entertainment and comfort, I'm happy to give them the other three. Walk with me to the owlery?"
"You volunteered me to do so, so it seems I must."
She glanced at him, tilting her head slightly. Did he not want to go? Was she misreading things? She didn't think so.
"Would you rather not?"
He smirked then, pushing away from the wall.
"I didn't say that."
"You never did say what I'm going to do here all weekend?"
"Well, I was hoping you'd wish to spend time with me."
She smiled.
Oh that was just too … cute. She was pretty sure the word cute was not something she ever expected to associate with Severus Snape in her life. "All weekend?"
"As much time as you are willing. It is difficult for me to leave Hogwarts for extended periods of time. I imagine you realize that's true. I understand you may enjoy passing time with Minerva, too."
"That sounds surprisingly as if you wish to spend time with me, Headmaster," she said, gathering up the books and her other things.
"Nothing surprising about it," he said, taking the books for the Scowcrofts from her.
"It is a little surprising."
"More surprising is the fact that you agreed to my form of compensation."
"You offered."
"I could blame the Ogden's for that."
"You seemed perfectly sober to me."
"Did I?"
"Mm, you did."
"I guess you caught me then."
"That doesn't answer my question, though, as to what you plan on doing with me."
"Well, obviously, your day was already claimed, but I was thinking you'd join me for dinner."
"Sure," she said. She had sort of assumed she'd eat dinner with him. He'd had lunch delivered to her here.
"Not in the Great Hall."
"Oh?"
"We'll take these to the owlery, I'll escort you to your quarters. That will give you a couple of hours to do something if you choose to, and then if you'll meet me in my office around seven?"
"Of course," she said.
"The password for you to enter is skimming stones."
"Not what you were expecting?" he asked. She must have made a face then because she hadn't said anything.
"No," she said.
He gestured to the books he held when they got to the owlery.
"It's a generous thing you're doing."
She shrugged. "I can afford to give away four books."
"I'm sure that you can, but not every successful author would."
"Well, I'm not sure if you noticed even if I'd fixed the water damage on the book, it was rather obviously worn."
"I had."
"They've clearly read it more than once and gotten use out of it."
"Agreed."
"Well, I'd rather someone like that get a free copy than someone Glenn gives a copy to for a radio interview who won't read more than a chapter or two and forget about it after our interview."
"It's funny, isn't it, the differing opinions on worn books."
"You mean like the pristine copy of Hogwarts: A History that I keep protected on a shelf that I only take down once in a while for reference versus my several times read copy of Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera that looks rather tired these days."
"Yes, exactly. Now, don't get me wrong, people who dog-ear books should be hung by their toenails."
"Yes!" Hermione laughed at the thought, but he was right.
Not that she'd hang anyone by their toenails (and didn't think Severus would either), but there was a difference between wear and tear from repeated readings and trips in a bag versus someone folding pages carelessly. Really, just use a slip of paper if you don't have a bookmark handy!
They sent the books off to the Scowcrofts and Severus escorted her to the quarters she was occupying for the weekend. They weren't far from his office if she wasn't mistaken.
Purposely? They certainly weren't near Gryffindor tower.
And just what would she wear for dinner with the headmaster? Not in the Great Hall he'd said. He told her to dress casually when he left her at her quarters. She had no idea what that meant! Casual in June meant different things to Hermione than to the wizarding world.
Morgana. She couldn't remember the last time she cared about what she wore with someone else in mind.
NOTE: Happy Wednesday!
I'm currently on granddaughter watch. Youngest is due March 8. I'm just glad it wasn't yesterday when we had a snowstorm!
Have a great rest of your week, and thank you for reading and commenting. I appreciate you.