Hermione stretched, yawning, and tilted her head to look at her wristwatch lying on the grass beside her. She squinted as the glass of the watch broke in the warm sun and blinded her for a brief moment. It was a wonderfully relaxed Sunday afternoon and almost the entire school was clustered around the black lake. Exams were already a week behind her and Hermione had enjoyed every day since the incident in Dumbledore's office, knowing that she had almost never returned to her body.
Dumbledore had summoned her to his office again the day after her overnight stay with Severus to speak with her privately regarding her relationship with Severus. He hadn't been thrilled that Severus was now fully aware of the Horcruxes, but Hermione didn't care. She would never again hide anything from him that was so essential to his task. If Dumbledore only wanted to feed his chess pieces with just enough information for them to be functional, then he should do so, but she would not go down that path.
Severus had pointed out to her that Dumbledore only ever revealed as much as he felt was necessary and that she should be more careful what she told him. He had told her how completely distracted he had been when he had caught sight of the diadem, even though Hermione had been lying on the floor unconscious in front of him after her hard impact. This circumstance had put a crimp in the complete trust she had previously placed in Dumbledore. Was she nothing more to Dumbledore than a powerful piece on the chessboard in the game against Voldemort? She pushed those dark thoughts out of her mind and stretched on the grass.
She yawned again and looked around. Susan and Ginny were flying around the towers of the Quidditch pitch on their brooms. The end of the Quidditch season, with Hufflepuff winning the cup for themselves, didn't stop them from pursuing their favourite pastime. Losing narrowly to her best friends would have upset Hermione terribly a few weeks ago, but seeing the ecstatic joy on her friends' faces after the recent events had made her get over it quickly. She would just go all out next year and get the Quidditch trophy without Lord Voldemort in her mind and atop her head.
Luna was lying on her stomach next to her, reading Witch Weekly with her legs crossed above her bottom because, as usual, she had devoured the latest Quibbler the day it had come out. As she let her eyes wander further, she recognised Harry sitting alone by the large oak tree where Lancelot had made his nest and was seemingly talking to himself. Curious, she stood up and walked towards Harry after checking the fit of her bikini.
"Hi," she said, smiling as Harry flinched. When he recognised her, however, his features relaxed and he smiled back.
"Hi, Hermione. Say hello to Hermione, Sirius," he said and Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise as Harry held out a square piece of glass to her with an image of Sirius Black in it.
"Hi. Wow, you look great, Hermione," the image of Sirius said and Hermione smiled sheepishly.
"You too, Sirius!" she said and Sirius grinned widely. He revealed white, perfect teeth and his face was no longer haggard as Hermione had last seen it months ago. His hair was no longer matted either, but shiny and reached his shoulders. He resembled the Sirius she had seen in his memories, but his eyes could not hide the years in Azkaban.
Harry lifted the piece of glass in front of his face again and blushed as he chided Sirius. Hermione giggled and settled down next to Harry, curious about the magic that must be behind the glass. Sirius was twitching his eyebrows suggestively and was now blushing himself when he realised Hermione could see him.
"Is that like a phone?" asked Hermione and Sirius looked like he needed to reflect on what a phone was, but Harry was already nodding.
"Sirius gave the mirror to me. He's got the other one. We can talk to each other through it."
"Wow, did you buy that somewhere, Sirius?" asked Hermione hopefully. This mirror could be the solution to the problem of her not being able to have contact with Severus during the holidays. Sirius shook his head, however, and he must have detected the hope in her tone because his pitying look already suggested that she couldn't hold out much hope.
"No, Remus made the mirrors in our sixth year at Hogwarts. I was trapped at home every year during the holidays and missed James and the others. Remus truly saved me. James had the other mirror then. Remus, unfortunately, didn't manage to make two mirrors again. He's tried it, like, a hundred times, but couldn't do it again," Sirius explained, and Hermione had to hide her disappointment.
"It's really good to see you again, Sirius," she said, her heart soaring as Sirius beamed at her.
"Hasn't Harry told you yet?" asked Sirius. Hermione frowned and turned her head to Harry, who in turn was looking at Sirius with a furrowed brow.
"How could I, you just told me to invite her ten minutes ago," he said. Sirius laughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Right, well then, as master of the house, I might as well invite you myself. Hermione, I would love it if you would come and visit Harry and me at our new country residence for a few days during the holidays," Sirius said and Hermione nodded, beaming.
"Then I'll arrange for you to become part of our ward right away. You can then visit us by Floo powder whenever you like," he said, but Hermione shook her head.
"Muggle houses don't get connected to the Floo network, Sirius," Hermione said, at which Sirius' expression darkened.
"Blimey, I completely forgot about that. Then I'll pick you up via Side-Along Apparition. You just send an owl when you have time and I'll pick you up."
"Okay, thank you very much, Sirius. Are you guys going to the World Cup?" replied Hermione. Sirius looked questioningly at Harry, who rolled his eyes this time.
"Right, sorry! I told Harry earlier that I've got tickets for the final, you're invited too of course," he said and Hermione gasped.
"That's really very nice, but are you sure, Sirius? Surely the tickets are expensive?"
"True, you're right. A few Galleons are worth a lot more than the life you gave me back, of course," Sirius said, now rolling his own eyes theatrically.
"Not so loud! Alright, don't choke on your sarcasm!" exclaimed Hermione laughing and Sirius and Harry joined in her laughter too.
"I like her, don't you dare put her off, Harry," Sirius said, laughing barkingly as Harry looked at him with his eyes narrowed to slits. Hermione giggled and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Sirius. He really has improved," she said, grinning mischievously. Harry groaned in annoyance as Sirius burst into barking laughter again.
"Don't take it to heart, Harry. We're only joking," Sirius said sternly and Hermione raised her head to look at Harry who was staring down at his feet with a grim expression. She apologised and stroked his arm as she read his emotions. She could sense fear of loss. Was Harry worried that she didn't return his friendship? She probed deeper into his feelings and was glad that he felt nothing more than friendship towards her. She felt so much of that, though, that it almost overwhelmed her and touched her a little. Harry really did have a big heart and she was recognising more and more of his mother in him.
"Thank you so much for the invitations, Sirius. I'm really looking forward to spending time with the two of you," she said, glad to see Harry's mood improve at those words. They talked a little more about how Sirius had been since his release from St Mungo's before he said goodbye and the mirror showed only Harry and Hermione waving.
"I'm really jealous of that mirror," Hermione said and Harry nodded as he smiled at her.
"It's really great. It's just so much better to be able to talk to Sirius instead of just writing to him."
"Have you two gotten to know each other better yet?"
"A bit, but I think it'll come quickly when I'm staying with him. He's really nice. I don't even know how to handle it," Harry said, laughing.
"Because of the Dursleys?" asked Hermione seriously and Harry nodded as he looked in the mirror. "You'll be fine. With everything you've told me, a leaky tent in the forest would be better than living with your aunt and uncle," Hermione said and they both laughed.
"Absolutely," Harry said and Hermione noticed that his tone had changed. "Hey, um, if you don't want to, you don't have to visit us in the summer," he said sheepishly, his gaze fixed on the grass at his feet and Hermione frowned. Had she made him feel that she wasn't looking forward to it, or even that she wasn't interested in his friendship? She had been stuck in exam preparation for the last few months and had actually spent a lot more time with Susan, Ginny and especially Luna.
"Hey!" she said softly and Harry looked her in the eye. "I'm really excited! I just needed some time to myself after the exams, but that doesn't mean I don't want to spend time with you!"
"Okay," Harry said and Hermione smiled as his expression relaxed. "Congratulations on your exams, by the way. Fred and George were telling me how well you performed."
"Thank you," Hermione said, resting her head on his shoulder again as before. Their eyes met in Harry's mirror and they both giggled.
"The fact that you're so good at magic always blows my mind. I always thought the others would have a huge advantage because I grew up with muggles, but you grew up without magic too and you'll probably be the youngest minister ever in two years or so," Harry said and Hermione gave him an amused frown.
"I can't be," she said and giggled when Harry looked at her in confusion. "The youngest ever Minister of Magic was Arcadia Smith in the thirteenth century at the age of twelve, so that's already out of the question," Hermione explained, grinning when Harry snorted.
"Don't say it," he said with a grin and Hermione pressed her lips together, giggling. "Damn it, I'm going to start reading History of Magic tonight, okay?" he said and they both laughed.
"Of course, haha! I'll quiz you then when I visit," Hermione quipped and Harry looked at her through the mirror with a feigned grimness.
"But seriously, your magic is really good. I wish I could be as good as you in at least one subject."
"You're good at Defence Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said, which was true. Professor Lupin's classes had been the only subject this year where Harry had been less distracted by his friends and had really done well in class.
"That's just because of Professor Lupin," Harry said and Hermione looked at him sternly.
"That's not true! You did well in the Dueling Club with Professor Dumbledore too! Professor Lupin just manages to give you confidence."
"Hmm, maybe," Harry said and Hermione looked at him sternly after sitting up and facing him on the grass.
"Okay, I'll show you something," she said, pulling her wand out of her plait where she often kept it when she wasn't wearing a robe. Harry looked baffled for a moment and then grinned. "The magic that flows through each of us, like our blood, flows around us all the time and if you focus on it, you can feel it and direct the magic. Professor Dumbledore showed me last year how to direct your magic more intentionally into charms," Hermione said, lighting her wand with a simple Lumos. Harry looked at the glowing orb at the tip of her wand with interest. "If you don't support the flow of magic, even the simplest charm can fail," she said, deliberately making the ball of light first flicker, then go out as she worked against the natural flow of her magic. "But if you feel the magic and use it just right," she said, and Harry jerked his arm up to shield his eyes from the glaring ball of light that appeared at the tip of the wand, blinding Hermione as well. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, blinking rapidly.
"Wow!" said Harry, looking at Hermione admiringly as she stopped the spell. "That was really cool."
"It's not that hard if you concentrate and had Albus Dumbledore as your teacher," Hermione said with a grin and Harry laughed. "But we can practice a bit if you like," Hermione added and Harry nodded enthusiastically. He carefully stowed the mirror in his shoulder bag and pulled his wand out of it.
Hermione explained the basics to him and Harry managed to feel his own magic after a while and was actually able to make his lighting charm a little brighter after he relaxed and concentrated. Hermione praised him for his progress.
"That was really fun. You should apply for Defence Against the Dark Arts next year," Harry joked and Hermione smiled but could see the same sadness on Harry's face that she felt when she thought about Professor Lupin not being their teacher next year. He had blabbed in his seventh-grade class during exam preparation and revealed that he was a werewolf. The Slytherins' letters to their parents had done the rest and so Dumbledore had to look again for a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the coming school year.
Hermione had been waiting all year for something to happen as a consequence of Voldemort's curse, which Dumbledore said he had placed on the subject. Several times she had considered starting the rumour herself in order to spare him the nasty consequences that Quirrell and Lockhart had suffered. At least the school advisory board had decided to let Professor Lupin finish the year instead of dismissing him immediately.
"But I'm sure you'll see him at home sometime," Hermione said, giggling when Harry looked at her questioningly at first, until he seemed to remember that he wouldn't be living with the Dursleys anymore and a relieved expression came over his face.
"Right! I'll ask Sirius to invite him over for dinner sometime when you're there."
"Yeah, that'll be great! Want to go for a swim?" asked Hermione and Harry nodded. He took off his t-shirt and stood up. Like Hermione, Harry wore mostly Muggle clothes in the summer because wizarding fashion didn't have anything short for summer. She still wondered how Susan, Luna and Ginny used to put up with their long summer robes when the summer sun blazed down on them.
"Luna, are you coming to the lake?" called Hermione, waving at Luna as they walked towards her. She lifted her head and stood up smiling. Like Susan and Ginny, Luna had got herself a bikini during the Easter holidays. The turquoise blue fabric matched her eyes and blonde hair perfectly. Luna and Harry had Hermione cast a spell to catapult them into the lake and the three of them spent the rest of the afternoon in the water. Later, Neville, Ron, Susan and Ginny joined them and they tossed Ginny's practice quaffle to each other until it was time for dinner.
That evening Hermione settled happily next to Luna in one of the big wing chairs in the common room. Resting her head on Luna's shoulder, she wondered if she could manage to enchant an object, like Professor Lupin, so that she could contact Severus without using the flea network or letters. It had to be disguised like the mirror so no one would know what it was. She admired Remus Lupin, who had accomplished such complex enchantments as the mirror and the Marauder's Map while he was still at school. She raised her head at the idea that had come to her at the thought of the two items.
"Flash of thought?" asked Luna with a smile, and Hermione nodded eagerly. Immediately she pulled out a sheet of parchment and conjured her thunderbird quill to record her thoughts. "That sounds exciting," Luna said, following her quill with interest. Hermione smiled and rolled up the parchment after the ink had dried. She trusted her friend not to tell her idea to others. She rested her head on Luna's shoulder again and took a contented breath.
"What's on your mind, Luna?" asked Hermione after a long silence, raising her head after Luna hadn't answered for a while. She saw that Luna was avoiding her gaze with a red face. She grinned and resumed her position on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. But I always have an open ear, you know that," she said, looking into the enchanted fireplace that blazed before her without giving off heat into the room.
Luna just breathed her thanks to her and pulled Hermione closer. She closed her eyes and thought of Severus. He had no one to lean on but Hermione. She was lucky to have such great friends. Thinking of the beautiful day at the lake, she dozed off happily on Luna's shoulder.
She dreamt of Severus and herself in the forest clearing where she had been supposed to brew the antidote. This time, however, he helped her and, by a happy coincidence, the antidote became a love potion, which they both consumed and sank down happily on the forest floor, warmed by a spell. They kissed and let their hands wander. As Hermione ran her hand along Severus' robe along his forearm, he suddenly cried out as the fabric over his arm burst into flames, revealing the pulsing, jet-black Dark Mark. Hermione cried out as she looked into Severus' face and saw the red eyes of Lord Voldemort staring back at her. She awoke abruptly, breathing heavily as she heard a soft voice from far away. Panicking, she looked around the room and realised she was in the empty common room. The fireplace had burnt down but the room was still lit by a few candles.
"It's all right, you're at Hogwarts, safe with me in the common room," said the whispering voice of Luna against her ear as her hand gently brushed over Hermione's arm. Hermione took a deep breath and tried to blink away the tears that blurred her vision.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked after she had collected herself and sat up.
"No, I was still reading," Luna said and when Hermione looked into her eyes, her friend blushed. Shocked, she stared at Luna. Had she said something in her sleep? Spoken Severus' name?
"Did I say something in my sleep?" she asked, closing her eyes, braced for the worst.
"No, but ..." began Luna, giggling. "But you were moaning. At least, until you shuddered and screamed. It didn't sound like an orgasm though," she said and Hermione could feel her face getting hot. She pressed her lips together and looked into Luna's blue eyes, which were examining her with interest. "Don't worry, I have dreams like that sometimes too," Luna said and Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Don't look at me like I'm a little kid!" said Luna grimly and Hermione couldn't disguise her surprise.
"Sorry, Luna," she finally said, blushing as Luna smiled mischievously at her. She wasn't off the hook yet.
"So, who made you moan like that? Susan?" asked Luna and Hermione's mouth dropped open in surprise. She would have to take another lesson from Severus to eventually get her facial expressions under control.
"What makes you think Susan?" she asked, desperately trying to get the blood out of her face. Luna looked at her knowingly. Hermione was glad she assumed it was about Susan, not Severus, but it still came as a shock to her.
"There's a lot of sexual tension between the two of you," Luna said, giggling when she saw Hermione's shocked expression.
"Merlin! Is it that obvious? Luna, please don't tell me the whole school knows," Hermione said in a panic. Luna shook her head, giggling.
"I don't think so. I can see your connection. Dad says I'm the only witch in Britain who can. There's a branch of seers who can see connections between magical beings. He spotted it early on and helped me train it."
"Wow," said Hermione, who had read a lot about seers but had never heard of this ability. "And you can see in my connection with Susan that ..." she said, looking awkwardly to the side, unable to say the last part of the sentence aloud.
"Yes," Luna replied with a grin, "but your connection to her is different and not as strong as the one to ..."
"Luna! No one must know about this! Please, in all the world, no one must ever even suspect!" it burst out of Hermione before Luna could voice what Hermione had already suspected. A cold shiver ran down her spine. What if more wizards or witches had this ability? Severus' status as a double agent was in grave danger because of this. For a brief moment, she considered casting a memory charm on Luna, but a second later she remembered that it wouldn't make any difference because Luna would recognise it the next time she laid eyes on her and Severus.
"Don't worry, Hermione. Not a word will ever escape my lips, I promise. I think it's truly wonderful."
"Oh Merlin, since when do you know about this?" asked Hermione, burying her face in her hands.
"Since the bond between you has grown stronger. I see you together every day in the Great Hall, remember? But don't worry Hermione, I think it's really sweet. When I first arrived at Hogwarts, there was no connection between Professor Snape and anyone. I always felt very sorry for him. But there was a point last year when there was a tenuous connection from you to him that grew stronger and stronger. Then when you came back from St Mungo's this year after your dragon pox, there was a strong connection between the two of you. I think he was very worried about you."
"Well, while we're at it, it won't matter if you find out the truth about it," Hermione said, peering over at Luna, who was looking at her with interest as if Hermione was telling her something about an article in 'Transfiguration Today'. "I didn't have dragon pox, that was just an excuse to cover up the real story. I was with Professor Snape doing a private lesson in a forest in Scotland. I was supposed to be brewing an antidote and I made a mistake with an ingredient. I poisoned myself badly and he saved me."
"Aww," Luna uttered a cute sound of emotion and wrapped Hermione in her arms. She was overwhelmed by the security she felt as Luna gave her so much encouragement and support.
"So you weren't dreaming about Susan, you were dreaming about Professor Snape," Luna whispered in her ear and Hermione nodded. She could feel her ears getting hot again. "Were you ..." asked Luna suggestively and Hermione's head shot up from their embrace.
"No! Well, um, we kissed. But then it turned into a nightmare," she said sheepishly, looking up at Luna.
"I'd like to kiss someone sometime too," Luna said dreamily, looking into the remains of the fireplace, still glowing slightly. Hermione was amazed that she had missed Luna having such thoughts. Perhaps her special relationship with her had blinded her in that eye.
"Anyone in particular?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Luna blushed and Hermione guessed that she had been thinking of someone in particular before too, when Hermione had asked her what she was thinking of. Luna pressed her lips together and shook her head. She was so sweet, it almost brought tears to Hermione's eyes.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me anything. But know that your secrets are safe with me."
"Thank you, Hermione. Maybe another time," Luna said and Hermione nodded with a smile. She pulled Luna close and nuzzled through her blonde mane of hair while she thought for herself.
"So if you can see the connection between me and Susan, you must see another connection on Susan," Hermione said, looking down at Luna, whose head was now in her lap. Luna nodded and enjoyed the head massage with her eyes closed.
"She likes Ginny," she said. "And Ginny..." she continued to speak but stopped abruptly. Her eyes flew open and she looked up at Hermione with a guilty expression.
"And Ginny?" asked Hermione promptly. She could hold back her curiosity at Luna's feelings until she wanted to tell her, but when it came to her other friends, she needed to know what Luna could see about them. Luna blushed and closed her eyes before starting again.
"And Ginny likes you."
"What?" asked Hermione in surprise, shaking Luna a little to get more out of her. "Are you telling me that Ginny likes girls?"
Luna squirmed a little, obviously embarrassed that they were talking about Ginny's love life.
"Not exclusively, I don't think. She liked Harry Potter when she first came to Hogwarts. But since you woke up from petrification last year, her romantic connection to him faded and hers to you has grown much stronger. But I'm not sure she's really strongly in love with you. Her connection to you is more like yours to Susan."
Hermione felt the blood trying to make its way into her head and managed to stop it this time.
"Wow, that really is a lot of news," she said, taking a breath. "And Ginny's connection with Susan?" she asked hopefully.
"Purely friendship so far," Luna said sadly and Hermione could tell she felt the same as she had since she knew about Susan falling in love with Ginny.
"But the fact that Ginny isn't averse to women at least gives us a glimmer of hope," Hermione said and Luna nodded with a smile. She could tell by looking at her that Luna thought, as she did, that Susan and Ginny were a good match.
"It would be wonderful if they could find their way to each other," Luna said dreamily and Hermione heaved a sigh. How was she supposed to deal with the information that Ginny was interested in her? She thought the redheaded Hufflepuff was very pretty and her funny ways very appealing, but she couldn't possibly put her best friend in the position of doing whatever with her crush before Susan even had a chance.
"Luna, I have to insist again that you promise me that no one will ever find out about me and Severus."
"No one will ever find out from me, I already told you that," Luna said.
"I know, but it made me a little insecure that you let it slip that Ginny has a crush on me," Hermione spoke her thoughts.
"I didn't promise Ginny anything though, she doesn't even know that I know," Luna said seriously and Hermione felt bad for making her feel like she didn't trust her.
"I'm sorry, Luna," she said, looking at her friend with her best puppy eyes. Luna smiled and pulled her into a hug. They cuddled some more until Luna yawned and stretched, at which point Hermione noticed how tired she was too. The shock of someone knowing about her relationship with Severus had made her suddenly wide awake, but now she felt her body craving sleep. She wished Luna a good night and made her way to her dormitory to get some more dreamless sleep in a trance before she planned to start researching her idea the next day.
First of all, the next day she paid a visit to Professor Lupin, whom she saw wandering around the castle grounds. She asked him a few questions without voicing her actual intention. He couldn't remember all the spells completely, but he was able to help her with the first runes she would need to implement her idea.
Hermione spent the next few days alternating between the lake and the library, soaking up as much as she could about enchanting items and runework before the holidays began. She made her first steps in her plan to enchant a piece of parchment so that, like Harry and Sirius' mirrors, it would connect to another piece of parchment and both parchments would show what was written on the other. After a few long evenings in the library, she eventually ordered all the books on her Blotts Book that might become helpful in bringing her idea to life.
She also tried to research the feelings Ginny had for Hermione. She was relieved that Luna had been right, because Ginny wasn't madly in love with her, but was mostly physically attracted to Hermione and curious. Since she knew this, she could also see it in Ginny's looks she gave her when they lay together by the lake or had a swim.
Hermione's research into her project was interrupted a few days later by a Ministry owl delivering a letter from the Minister of Magic. Hermione's eyes widened as she read the highly official letter from Cornelius Fudge. In the letter, he invited her to spend a day with him at the Ministry to experience what day-to-day life was like at the Ministry of Magic. Apparently, the examiners had told him about her, because he was already congratulating her on her successful O.W.L. exams.
The visit to Fudge was scheduled for the first day of the holiday. It would not be a boring holiday if she collected appointments at this rate. With time at Harry's and the Quidditch World Cup finals, she would at least have a couple of weeks at the beginning of the holidays to work on the parchment.
Just as she was beginning to miss Severus, she received a note inviting her to the last private lesson before the holidays. They had agreed that this time Hermione would teach him and show him everything he needed to know so he could try to expand his mind.
"Ready to switch roles?" asked Severus with a smile after hugging her tightly in greeting. Hermione giggled and nodded.
"Shall we go over to the classroom? Maybe I can get into character better then," she said, having to pause for a moment to keep from laughing before continuing. "POTTER! What the hell have you done now?! Aren't you able to count? The blackboard says THREE hyacinth blossoms! Five hundred points deducted from Gryffindor!" she bellowed and Severus frowned at her for a moment before they both laughed.
"Utterly cheeky, but also well met," he admitted and Hermione stuck her tongue out at him with a grin. She settled down in her favourite armchair in Severus' chambers and thanked him for the tea, which a hovering teapot poured for her a second later. "Shall we begin?"
As Hermione already knew, Severus was very gifted in the magic of the mind. It wasn't difficult for him to put himself into a trance after a few attempts. However, he did not yet manage to advance into the manifestation of his unordered mind, so she recited to him the knowledge from some of the helpful lessons of Sigmund Freud that she had attended in Dumbledore's memories.
She felt diabolical delight in assigning Severus homework. He seemed very motivated, however, which was understandable given his future role as Voldemort's servant. She tried to support him as best she could.
"What a year, hmm?" said Hermione when dinner time came around and they had both agreed that she had taught Severus everything he needed to know. Severus smirked and nodded.
"If you don't mind, I'd be delighted to have a little less action next term."
"I'll try," Hermione replied sheepishly, playing with one of her braids. "Oh, I didn't even tell you I got a letter from the Minister," she said, slipping her hand into her shoulder bag where she let the letter fly into her hand with a summoning charm. Severus raised his eyebrows appreciatively as the letter floated towards him. His eyes flew quickly over the parchment and a smile played around the corners of his mouth as he let it float back.
"Congratulations. Seems the examiners couldn't keep their mouths shut," he said, smirking. "I know someone who graded your written Potions exam who might be persuaded to tell you the result."
Hermione smiled and put on her innocent girl look that she knew Severus couldn't stand.
"And what would I have to do for that, Professor?" she purred as she played with her braid again and had to suppress her giggles as Severus shuddered and scowled at her.
"If you keep this up, I'll reconsider," he said seriously and Hermione smiled mischievously at him.
"I'm sorry, but it's really a lot of fun to see you cringe like that," she said, trying to beg forgiveness with her puppy eyes. As usual, it didn't take long for Severus to chuckle and shake his head. "Then I ask again, all grown up: what would I have to do to know my grade? How about a kiss?" she asked, standing up as Severus acted as if she'd named a price far too low in the haggle. She grinned as he stood up and hugged her tightly before their lips touched and Hermione let herself fall into the wonderful feeling that only he could bring out in her. She looked up at him expectantly when they had separated again and giggled when he still acted as if he needed convincing.
"Alright, I have it on good authority that you got an Outstanding on your Potions written exam," he said, smiling as Hermione bounced up and down in his arms in delight. "A near-perfect exam."
"Near-perfect?"
"You got the conversion from griffin claw powder to unicorn hair wrong. You could have just written down the standard recipe for the strengthening solution and you would have gotten full marks. Actually, I might have deducted points for showing off if you'd had that one correct as well."
"I just knew the corrector knew enough about potions to understand my recipe," Hermione replied, crying out with laughter as Severus tickled her.
"All joking aside, you turned in the best exam by far, I'm really proud of you."
"That's because I have the best Potions teacher by far," Hermione said, giving him a kiss on the nose. "Thank you for everything, Severus," she added, looking into his black eyes. "I could never have done any of this without you. You've always been there for me since we met in my parents' living room, I never really thanked you for that," she said, putting her index finger to Severus' lips, who was apparently about to speak back. "You always helped me, no matter how trivial or embarrassing it would have been for others to talk to me about certain subjects. Thank you," she said and sank into another kiss with him that made her knees go weak and the butterflies in her stomach dance.
"You've been different from every student I've ever known from the very beginning," Severus replied after a short pause. "You enriched my life at Hogwarts every day and that's what I want to thank you for," he said and Hermione had to fight against her eyes getting moist. She smiled and sighed as she nuzzled her cheek against his chest while he hugged her tightly. "I'm really going to miss you," he said and Hermione, still fighting the tears hard, nodded. "I should be all grown up right now and say that the holidays are only a few weeks long and we'll see each other again soon enough, but it feels bloody long."
"Yeah," Hermione said, on the verge of telling him about her idea of the enchanted parchments, as she had many times that afternoon, but she didn't want to get her hopes up. After all, she didn't know if her plan would even work. If she could actually create that parchment, the surprise would be all the better. "I'll miss you too," she said, hugging him tightly. They remained like that for a few moments until he released Hermione from his grasp and kissed her softly again in farewell. She ran her hand through his black hair and caressed his cheek.
After one last, intense eye contact, she said goodbye, feeling how she missed him even as she walked to Ravenclaw Tower. She would see him in the castle and at meals in the Great Hall over the next few days, but that wasn't enough for her for quite some time now. The reality of Severus' impending abstinence made her motivation to continue working on the parchment even greater.
On the last day before the farewell feast, she made her first breakthrough. She had managed to connect the two parchments with a sequence of runes. However, it was not yet possible to read the words that had been written on one parchment on the other. Hermione concluded that she would need a separate sequence of runes to transfer the ink. Nevertheless, she resolved to enjoy her last day at Hogwarts this term to the full and packed her suitcase before breakfast to spend the sunny day first with a bit of Quidditch with Susan and Ginny and then a last swim in the lake with her friends.
The graduation feast was grand as always and was made even sweeter for Hermione when Penelope, in her last year at Hogwarts, lifted the house cup for Ravenclaw even though Hufflepuff had won the Quidditch cup. Hermione hugged her prefect and Head Girl as they held a small party in the common room later that evening over the House Cup win.
"I wish you all the best for your future, Hermione. Maybe I'll see you in Diagon Alley or the Ministry sometime," Penelope said, immediately pulling Hermione into another hug.
"Thank you for everything, Penny! You've been the best prefect anyone could ask for," Hermione said, letting her tears roll down her cheeks as she said goodbye. She could hardly imagine daily life in Ravenclaw house without Penelope.
After the emotional goodbye, Hermione went up to her dormitory where she pushed open the window and greeted Lancelot who had already been waiting for her on the window ledge. She changed into her raven form and flew after her companion for the outing she had promised him.
"The Elder is proud of you, I can feel it," Lancelot said as they settled on the top gable of the Astronomy Tower after a lap around the castle grounds. Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. Lancelot nodded and bobbed up and down, causing her to laugh as usual.
"Thank you, Lancelot. It really has been an exciting year. I'm sorry I haven't had as much time for you," she said, draping a wing over Lancelot's back. He moved closer to her and cooed in a relaxed manner.
"It's all right, I've had enough to keep me busy," he said, and Hermione was grateful that he proved to her every time that he loved her as unconditionally as she loved him.
"I'll try to write to the others a lot so you don't get bored in London."
"That sounds good," he crowed, dropping backwards. Hermione laughed and did the same, only to glide across the black lake beside him a second later. She enjoyed the warm evening air gliding through her wings. It felt a little like the calm before the storm.
She had taken her O.W.L. exams, prepared for three years and was now expecting to be told by Severus every day that Voldemort had returned. The Dark Mark was still becoming more prominent on his forearm by the day, although it was nowhere near as strong as it had been when he was alive.
She wondered how her daily life would change in the near future. Dumbledore had kept a low profile with her about planning his next steps, but the search for the Horcruxes was still high on the priority list, as long as the last piece of Voldemort's soul was out there somewhere. It was hard to imagine that the two they had destroyed were not even half of the Horcruxes they knew of. How much more could a soul endure? She was jolted from her thoughts by Lancelot as he turned off towards the Forbidden Forest, crowing. She followed him and told him about her school year as they glided along through the starry night.
"I'll see you in London tomorrow night!" she called to her raven as she flew towards her window late that night. Lancelot preferred to fly himself all the way to school and back to London by now. Hermione could understand him on the one hand, but on the other, he had always provided excellent entertainment in the presence of her friends on the Hogwarts Express.
With a bittersweet mixture of anticipation and sadness, she put herself into a trance once in her bed. The next morning she said goodbye to Professor Lupin, Hagrid and the rest of the teachers before boarding one of the horseless carriages with Luna, Susan and Ginny and taking one last look at Hogwarts. The beautiful castle still had the same effect on her as it had when she first crossed the Black Lake. She could hardly wait to return.
Author's Note: Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well. I've had a few ideas for year four and did my best to lead to a few of them in this conclusion of year 3. I hope you liked it. As always, if you did, I would be delighted to read a few lines from you. Also thank you to all the people that already left reviews, favourites and follows, it really means a lot!
See you next time!
Kasing