"Fuck!" exclaimed Hermione in frustration, throwing herself onto her bed. Once again, one of her ideas had not worked. "What am I doing wrong, Lancelot?" she asked, the raven crowing pitifully from his perch on her desk. For a fortnight by now, she had been sitting in her room almost non-stop, trying to get the pair of parchments to transfer words to each other when she wrote on them. Dozens of times she had gone through the runic sequences, ordered new books on her Blotts Book and ultimately failed again with no visible progress. Even after several trances of evaluating her attempts in her memories, she could not identify her mistake.
"If only I could write to Severus. Bloody hell, I should have just told him about it. But no, it had to be a secret," she thought, annoyed by her own arrogance that now seemed to have caught up with her. Severus would surely be able to comprehend her processes and find the mistake. But it was too dangerous. But why was it dangerous? Who would notice Lancelot dropping a roll of parchment through a chimney or an open window at night. Ravens were everywhere, after all, and from what she'd seen in Severus' memories, Spinner's End was no exception.
"You know what, Lancelot? We're going on a trip!" she said, sitting up. Even if she didn't reveal herself to Severus, maybe she would at least get to see him. Sullenly, she stood up and opened the window. Just as she was about to turn, she stopped in her tracks. What if there actually was an opportunity to meet Severus? From everything she had learned about him, one thing stood out strongly. He was a loner who didn't socialise at all when he was at home.
Would the Muggles around him even notice that she was visiting him? After all, she could be a relative. Hopefully, she grabbed her shoulder bag and packed a stack of parchment, her Blotts Book, a few items of clothing and the folding map of Britain she snatched from her mother's car without further ado. She then shrunk the bag and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans before transforming.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Lancelot. Hermione nodded and cast a disillusionment charm over herself before flying out the window and closing it behind Lancelot with a wave of her wing. After all, no one would miss her. Her parents were in Canada by now, travelling the country in a caravan. If all went according to plan, Hermione would fly to Vancouver the following week to join them on a short city trip.
The two quickly left central London behind and Hermione enjoyed the view of the increasingly rural countryside. Several times they flew lower so Hermione could read the signs for the motorways and secondary roads. She had scouted out on the map beforehand which compass direction they had to fly in and which larger towns were in the vicinity.
They finally arrived in Cokeworth after a five-hour flight in the sparse light of dusk. Hermione didn't have to look far to spot the large factory chimney that towered over Spinner's End. It looked exactly as it had in Severus' memories and she looked around searchingly as they flew over the long street lined with brick houses that differed only slightly.
They flew to the end of the street and landed on the roof of the house where Severus lived when he wasn't at Hogwarts. To her surprise and disappointment, however, there were no lights burning behind the dim windows of the house. Where could Severus be? She glanced at Lancelot, who had taken up residence on the roof beside her.
"What now?" he asked, and Hermione didn't know how to answer him.
"That's not what I expected. I expected him to sit in his wing chair and read like he usually does at Hogwarts," she said, trying not to show her disappointment too much.
"Anyway, it was a nice trip."
"Very funny. I'll wait a while for now," Hermione replied, squatting down on the ridge of the roof.
"I'm starving, I'm going to look for something to eat," Lancelot said.
"Go ahead and fly, I'll wait here."
"Don't you want anything to eat?" her raven asked and she shook her head. She was very much hungry, but she hadn't lost hope that she would actually meet Severus after all. If need be, she could fly to a nearby fast-food restaurant and eat something there before she went off to forage with Lancelot. He fluttered away and Hermione exhaled in frustration. It had been a stupid idea to fly halfway across England without even knowing if she would be able to meet him. At least the trip had cleared her head for once. She began to stalk up and down the ridge of the roof on her claws. Slowly, darkness fell.
Where could Severus be? The answer to that could be many and varied. He could be at Hogwarts, sorting out the stocks of potion ingredients. He could also be consulting with Dumbledore on how to proceed in the future. Worst case scenario, he had been contacted by Death Eaters. Now that she thought about it, there were a variety of places he could be. While she was still going over all the different scenarios in her head, her surroundings changed. She spun around and couldn't suppress a delighted crow as the small, overgrown garden that belonged to Severus' house was illuminated by the light from its windows.
"What now?" she thought, getting a little angry with herself for not having even planned how to face Severus unnoticed in the first place. Again, she walked up and down the rooftop, stalking, thinking of how to prevent him from thinking she was an intruder and cursing her before he recognised her. At the same time, of course, she couldn't let his Muggle neighbours know that he had a visitor.
After a quarter of an hour, she finally decided on the path that was closest to what a Muggle visit would look like. She fluttered behind the house and transformed back into her human form in the shadow of the stone wall, which was not illuminated by the street lights. She stretched her arms and legs after being a raven for so long before casting a disillusionment charm over herself and walking slowly around the house to remain cloaked. She peeked through a window as she made her way past, but couldn't see anything as there was no light on in the room. Arriving at the front door, she knocked softly so as not to make too much noise. She hoped he had heard the knock and listened into the silence for a while before knocking again, this time a little louder.
Instantly the door opened by a crack and a black eye peeked out from the darkness of the gap in the door.
"It's me, Hermione," she whispered, having to stop herself from giggling as Severus' eye widened in shock. He stared through her for a moment but seemed to realise from one of her movements that she was disillusioned.
"Terrace," he hissed, closing the door as quietly as he had opened it. Hermione slowly crept back around the house and climbed over the small garden gate. She realised that the door to Severus' terrace was already ajar and slipped through. She stood in complete darkness and winced as the door slammed shut behind her.
"I told you it was too dangerous!" hissed Severus behind her. She rolled her eyes and ended the disillusionment charm before turning around.
"I'm glad to see you too," she said wryly, but the black eyes that glittered in the darkness showed no emotion. "No one saw me, okay? Not even you knew I was here. And I don't believe you didn't put every protection spell you know on this house."
"Indeed. Apparently, my security is too lax. Are you hungry?" asked Severus, and Hermione rushed forward into his arms. She sank into his warmth, his scent and the feeling of security for a while until he pulled her into a kiss. "I missed you," he said when they had broken away from each other and Hermione couldn't stop the tear from rolling down her cheek.
"I've missed you too! So much that I couldn't take it anymore. And I'm about to starve!" she said and with a chuckle, Severus let go of her. He waved his wand, whereupon the shutters closed one by one. Then a switch clicked and an overhead lamp bathed the plain living room in the yellowish light of an old bulb, making Hermione squint.
"Your hair!" she exclaimed in surprise as her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked at Severus. He smiled and looked at her uncertainly, as if waiting for her opinion. "You look great!" she said, surveying the neat short hairstyle that many young men in London wore. It really did look good on Severus.
"Thank you," he said and she could see in his eyes that he was relieved that she liked it. She giggled and stroked the short hair on the side of his head with the back of her fingers. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and looked at him apologetically as her stomach growled loudly.
"I have some bread and cheese, I usually eat at the pub," he said and Hermione nodded eagerly. She followed him into the kitchen where he had a small table set a few seconds later. Hermione reached hungrily for the bread and smiled at Severus, who watched her with amusement. "How did you get here anyway?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and Hermione shrugged.
"Magic," she said in a mysterious voice and Severus snorted and cracked a smile.
"Very funny. But I suppose there's a good reason you're not telling me," he said and Hermione nodded with an apologetic look. She wolfed down two slices of bread and then leaned back, relaxing.
"How are you feeling? Has the mark gotten stronger?"
"Yes. I'll be fine."
"Heavens, did you talk to Dumbledore during the holidays?"
"No, he's not at Hogwarts. I've been there a few times, cleaning out the supply cupboards."
"Do you think he has a plan? I mean, if HE comes back, we have to be prepared. We can't just sit around until it's too late."
"You're right, but Dumbledore, as always, reserves the right to tell me only what concerns me."
"And what concerns you?"
"Depending on where I am when I receive the call, I will continue my activity and only join the Dark Lord when my role as an agent permits."
"That is all?"
"Yes. Dumbledore trusts me, I think. He also knows that I will die if I break the oaths."
"He could have at least run a few scenarios by you, don't you think?"
"Hmm," Severus growled thoughtfully, finally nodding. "We'll see, the mark isn't strong enough yet for it to happen any time soon. Let's talk about something else. Like why you're visiting me when it's far too dangerous for both of us."
"Okay," Hermione said, ignoring his reprimand. She pulled her shrunken shoulder bag from her jeans pocket and enlarged it in her hand. Then, with a wave of her hand, she levitated the dishes into the kitchen to make room on the table.
"Wait, let's be really safe. Follow me," he said, walking quickly towards a bookshelf that, after a wave of his wand, swung aside to reveal a staircase.
"Where are you taking me, Professor Snape?" said Hermione, trying not to laugh as she put on the most submissive voice she could manage. Severus rolled his eyes and waved her down the stairs. As soon as Hermione set foot on the first step, torches flared up on the walls and she immediately felt reminded of Hogwarts.
The stairs led into a large basement room. Hermione was amazed when she caught sight of the fireplace, next to which hung a large bowl of Floo powder. The rest of the room was very similar to Severus' private room at Hogwarts. There was an armchair in front of the fireplace, while the walls were almost entirely bookshelves and cupboards. She had to chuckle when she spotted the poster of the Chudley Cannons. Apparently, this was the only safe place for Severus to show off his passion for Quidditch.
"Cosy, I didn't expect this when I saw the stairs," Hermione said, conjuring a large table and with a flick of her fingers lighting the fireplace, which flared brightly and began to burn crackling. Then she unwrapped the parchments and her notes and neatly lined them up on the table. "Okay, I've been trying for weeks to get the next sequence to transfer the ink, but it's just not working. I was hoping you'd find my mistake if I did the next attempt step by step in front of you."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?" asked Severus, looking over her notes with interest. Hermione remembered that she had hidden her plan from him to make a surprise of it.
"Sorry. I'm trying to transfer written words from one parchment to the other. The connection should work both ways, like an exchange of letters without an owl."
"Wow. That's a brilliant idea," Severus said, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
"Theoretically. So far I've managed to get the parchments to connect and maintain the link. As of last week, I can also write on the first of the two and the other parchment copies the words, but it only works in one direction."
"That in itself is a great achievement. It's been a while since I've used runes and arithmancy, but I'll do my best."
"Oh come on, you have Outstanding N.E.W.T.s in runes and arithmancy!"
"You looked up my exam results in my memories?"
"Perhaps," Hermione said, glancing awkwardly to the side. Severus grinned and shook his head.
"Perhaps giving you full access was a mistake," he said teasingly and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Alright, shall we do it as we did in private lessons? You'll describe each step to me before you perform it?"
"I'd love to. But I would also very much like a cup of tea," Hermione said, smiling as Severus immediately waved his wand without further prompting, whereupon two cups of steaming ginger tea appeared in the air in front of them. She took a hearty sip and then let the cup itself float in the air above her. The tea triggered the nice, familiar feeling inside her that she had been missing.
"Okay, I'm relatively sure about the first runic sequence. I engraved 'bond', 'eternity' and 'protection' among other minor runes. Those three are the strongest runes, so I engraved them using the fourth Merlin table," she said and when Severus nodded encouragingly after a moment's consideration, she performed the sequence on the two parchments. Normally runes were engraved with the wand, but she had already found at Hogwarts that she had more control over the magical drawing with her index finger, which allowed her to get purer runes. Once the runes were engraved on both parchments, she used the chart to let magic flow into the runes, as she had already learned to do with spells in Arithmancy class. When she was finished, the runes glowed silvery and disappeared into the parchment. The first step was accomplished.
"That looks good," Severus said, lifting one of the parchments close to his face to examine it. "Good idea to weave in a rune of protection."
"Thank you. Well, here comes the part that drives me mad. The sequence seems to be correct, and so do the connections, because the parchment accepts them, but the transmission doesn't work as it should according to the rune sequence."
"Hmm, then tell me step by step what you did in your last attempt," Severus said, reaching for her notes where she had documented each attempt.
"Okay, so the rune sequence consists of 'writing', 'transmission', 'twin', 'message' and 'colour'."
"Why colour?" asked Severus, looking at her over her notes.
"Colour is interwoven with message. The parchment is supposed to change colour when something is written on the other parchment. That way you can see when you have a new message."
"Good idea. The sequence looks good to me. Is the colouring working yet?"
"Yes, but as I said, only on one side. I'll then use the fifteenth Merlin table to engrave the sequence."
"From the number and intensity of the runes, that sounds correct," he said, scratching his chin.
"Do you want me to engrave the sequence? It hasn't been right so far," Hermione said and Severus raised a finger thoughtfully. She took a sip of tea and let Severus think.
"It all sounds right. Draw the runes for now, please. Maybe you got one of the runes wrong."
Hermione nodded and began drawing the runes into the parchment one by one using magic with her index finger. At each rune, she glanced at Severus, who nodded with a grumble.
"Those are good."
"Okay," Hermione said, summoning the parchment with the Merlin table from the pile of her notes into her hand.
"Let me see that," Severus said, holding out his hand when Hermione had already been about to engrave the runes. She handed him the parchment and his eyes darted from left to right as he inspected the table.
"Where did you copy this from?" he asked, looking at Hermione with a furrowed brow.
"Numerology and Grammatica," Hermione said in surprise, looking at him in wonder.
"Do you have it in there?" asked Severus, pointing his wand at her Blotts Book. Hermione nodded and selected the book in the index of the Blotts Book. After finding the fifteenth Merlin table in the table of contents, she opened the book to the right page and placed it on the table so they could both look inside.
"I think you got the page wrong. The copy here is page 355."
Hermione looked at him in disbelief, then her eyes fell on the open page. The fifteenth table was printed on page 354. Hermione groaned and smacked her forehead with the flat of her hand. Severus chuckled and patted her back encouragingly, instantly improving her mood.
"Unbelievable. I would have never guessed I got the copying wrong. Alright, now with the correct table," she said, reading through it carefully before setting the book down over the parchment and raising her finger over the runes. She let the magic flow through the runes and immediately noticed the difference. The runes lit up at the same time, not one after the other as in her last attempts.
"Looks good," Severus commented, and Hermione completed the engraving about a minute later. As before, the runes disappeared into the two parchments. Instantly, Hermione pulled towards her the inkwell and quill that lay on the table. She took a tensed breath and wrote 'Hello Severus' on the left parchment. Whilst she was still writing, the right parchment turned green and the letters appeared on the other parchment.
"So far so good," Hermione said, exhaling excitedly as she pressed the quill to Severus' hand. He took the quill and as he placed the tip on it, its colour changed back to the original colour of the parchment. Hermione's eyes widened as, at the same moment, her parchment turned green and, little by little, the words in Severus' stout, delicate handwriting appeared on it as if he had written directly on her parchment. She let out a cry of joy and fell around Severus' neck. He embraced her, laughing, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"This is truly remarkable," he said and Hermione pulled him into a heartfelt kiss. The butterflies in her stomach danced with joy at her success and her reunion with Severus.
"Thank you!" she said, pressing her ear firmly to his chest.
"I didn't contribute much," he replied and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Right, of course, any average wizard knows all of Merlin's tables by heart and could have helped me realise my mistake," she said wryly and Severus snorted in amusement.
"I have you to thank for that."
"What do you mean?"
"You helped me expand my mind."
"You did? That's great!"
"Indeed, thank you, Hermione. My life has turned around 180 degrees since I met you."
"That's sweet," Hermione said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "When did you do it?"
"A week ago. I spent three days and nights in a trance."
"It was two for me. Congratulations. It's great, isn't it?"
"Oh yes," he replied, smiling at her.
"Do you have the Pensieve?"
"No, so far I've only sorted my mind."
"Next time you're there, think how handy it would be to have a Pensieve in your mind. That's how it worked for me."
"Okay, thanks. But back to your invention," he said, releasing Hermione from his embrace. She looked down at Severus' words. 'Greetings, Daughter of the Raven' was written there and Hermione couldn't stop her eyes from getting moist. Then she remembered something.
"Lancelot! I completely forgot about him. Could you go outside and see if he's looking for me? If he's there, he'll respond to his name if you speak to him."
"Sure, be right back," Severus said and climbed the stairs with quick steps. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and took turns writing words on the parchments to test them further. Sure enough, each stroke was transferred exactly as it was drawn on the corresponding parchment.
She turned as she heard the bookshelf and footsteps on the stairs. Even before Severus entered the room, she could hear Lancelot's reproachful crowing and exhaled in relief. Lancelot was sitting on Severus' shoulder and made no move to leave it either when she held out her arm.
"I'm sorry, I should have let you know," she said, putting on her puppy-dog eyes, which elicited a delighted crow from Lancelot. "He likes you," she said, giggling as Severus glanced sideways at the raven staring at him with one eye.
"Good, tell him he's welcome to stay on my shoulder."
"He understands you as well, you can talk to him as you would to a human. His response options are limited, but if you want, I can look in his mind for the answer when you ask him something."
"Really? Amazing," he said, glancing at Lancelot, who nodded. "Are you hungry?" he asked, grinning as Lancelot bobbed up and down on his shoulder and nodded, crowing.
"Lancelot! You've only just eaten two mice, you glutton!" cried Hermione angrily after quickly checking his memory, and Lancelot hid his head under his wings. Severus laughed, which made Hermione's butterflies dance again. It was so rare that he actually laughed, but to her, it was the most beautiful thing in the world.
"If I may give you some advice, don't mess with her," Severus said amusedly to Lancelot and Hermione grinned.
"Exactly! But let's cut the jokes, there's still a lot to do."
"Which is? You did achieve what you wanted, didn't you?"
"Yes, but that was only the first step. I still want to cast spells on it to increase security and we still need to test the range."
"Hmm, okay," Severus said with interest and stood beside her at the table. Lancelot fluttered up to the table and examined the parchments. He seemed to realise that it had worked, for he bobbed and crowed delightedly.
"Thank you, Lancelot," Hermione said, having read his congratulations from his thoughts.
"Truly a remarkable raven," Severus commented, chuckling as Lancelot puffed out his chest.
"Don't say that too often or he'll get cocky," she said, smiling when Severus chuckled. "I was hoping you could help me with the Identity Charm. I have used it before, but only to activate a spell."
"Sure. How did you imagine it? Like the parchment scrolls I send you at Hogwarts?"
"That would be a good first step. Maybe we can get the person who writes in it for the first time to be identified with it?"
"Challenging, but certainly achievable. Am I inferring correctly that you want to sell the parchments?"
"Not for now, but I might get the idea protected when it's complete. I was at the Ministry a fortnight ago and saw the tons of memos. They'd really benefit from a parchment like that."
"Right, you should definitely get the idea protected at the Magical Patent Office. It's truly brilliant. And be careful to get it protected as accurately as possible so no one can copy it."
"Sounds like I could use you there," she said sadly. Of course, Severus would be able to help her with the wording, but on the scene, she would be on her own.
"I'll help you as much as I can," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "What other enchantments would you like to put on it?"
"It would be a hassle to have to engrave and enchant a new parchment every time it's full. I'd like it to automatically delete older messages when it runs out of space."
"Good idea, but the parchment pressers won't thank you."
"All those memos and letters create far too much rubbish anyway! And the Blotts Book has been able to establish itself too, although fewer books are being printed as a result."
"All right, I was just going to remark that you might run into some headwinds there."
"We'll see about that when we're done. Before then, we need to get all the spells on first."
"Okay, let's get to it then," Severus replied and began to go over the identity spell with her. It was relatively easy to roll up the parchment and cast the spell on it, but it had to be repeated each time once the seal was broken.
"We need another rune sequence, the spell won't be enough," Hermione said and Severus nodded thoughtfully. Hermione took a sip of tea as Severus settled into his chair and smiled as Lancelot fluttered back onto his shoulder. When his gaze fell on his watch, he looked up abruptly.
"Don't you have to get home? Your parents don't know you're with me, do they?" he asked and Hermione shook her head.
"They're in Canada. I had to convince them a bit to let me stay here alone, but the events in our world were too important to me."
"Okay, you can sleep down here if you want. Or you can take the hearth to the Dripping Cauldron."
"I'll obviously sleep here."
"Never mind," he said, chuckling and raising his hands as a sign that he was just offering suggestions. Hermione conjured an armchair opposite him and dropped into it. It was a very plain armchair, but she was getting better at conjuring larger objects. Severus raised his eyebrows appreciatively.
"I think I've done enough experimenting for today. The breakthrough with the Merlin table was already more than I was hoping for. In fact, I doubted for a few days that it was even possible."
"You're underplaying as usual. The link and the sequence for transferring the ink alone are outstandingly crafted. If you can get that protected well enough and then sell the parchments, you'll make tons of gold."
"None of that matters."
"What do you mean?"
"I made it mostly for us. Because I couldn't write to you otherwise."
"Oh, right," Severus said, and she could tell he was a little embarrassed that he'd only been thinking about the financial side.
"I don't know about you, but I've missed you since I left your office after our last private lesson," she said, looking shyly at him.
"I... Don't get me wrong, I've missed you too, but I've spent so much of my life alone that it's not so bad for me to be alone again. Knowing that we will see each other again."
"I know, I understand that. I just hope we can use the parchment so as not to compromise your cover," she said, blinking rapidly to not allow the tears that welled up in her eyes.
"Definitely. You wouldn't believe how excited I am to be able to communicate with you like this," he said, smiling at her, which put her at ease.
"I was a little afraid I was constricting you too much. I need a lot of attention, I think."
"And you deserve every second of that attention."
"Thank you," she said in a choked voice. The dam had broken and tears were rolling down her cheeks. "May I join you?" she asked, and Severus nodded. He welcomed her with outstretched arms and hugged her tightly to his chest as she sat down on his lap. Lancelot fluttered onto the back of the chair and settled there. Severus gently stroked her arm and she breathed in his scent as she pressed her face to his chest.
"Thank you for coming here," he whispered and she lifted her head. "I didn't realise how much I wanted this until I saw you in my living room."
"Thank you for letting me in. I honestly expected you to kick me out. After all, I promised you I wouldn't pull any stunts like that."
"How could one slam the door in the face of such a beauty?"
"Are you flirting with me, Professor?" she breathed, looking up into his black eyes. "Have you changed your mind about..."
"No, Miss Granger. I was merely complimenting you on your wonderful beauty," he replied, and the compliment comforted Hermione over the fact that she would likely have to continue expecting nothing more than kisses from Severus.
"Thank you for your words, Professor," she said with a smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She drew circles around a button on his black robe as she considered speaking her thoughts. "Worst case scenario, I sleep down here alone," she mused, grinning mischievously at him. "You do realise that if you take me up to your bedroom, I've already done almost everything we could do?" she said with the look she knew was driving both Susan and Tonks out of their minds.
"Stop it, please," Severus said with a pained expression and Hermione felt something move beneath her bum.
"Hello, someone's listening to me," she said with a grin and giggled as Severus blushed. "Don't worry, I'll give you as much time as you need," she said, resting her head back against his chest.
"Thank you," he said tersely, hugging her tightly.
"This will do for now," she said, closing her eyes as she moved her head to find the perfect spot. She enjoyed his warmth and the crackle of the fireplace for a few minutes while she thought about whether she should tell him about Tonks. It was only fair that she be honest with him. She didn't know how to start and was getting so jittery that she had to get up.
"Are you alright?" asked Severus and Hermione nodded after settling into the opposite armchair. She cursed herself for not being able to appear confident, just as she had with Tonks in the beginning, and for having to show her nervousness so openly.
"I, um, have something to tell you," she began with a shy look and Severus frowned. "I met a witch at the Ministry who was really nice to me and..." she continued, faltering as she looked up into his face, from which his black eyes scrutinised her sharply.
"And?" he prompted her to continue. His tone was cold and Hermione felt fear rising within her.
"And she invited me to her flat. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a date at first, but... It was definitely a date," she said, growing more anxious as she saw his expression darken.
"Did you sleep with her?" he asked in a cutting tone and Hermione felt a sharp twinge in her nose.
"Yes, but... But you said that..." she sobbed, wincing as he cut her off.
"That was exclusively referring to Hogwarts. I thought that was perfectly clear."
"I... I... Please don't be mad," she said pleadingly, looking into Severus' still expressionless features.
"I'm not mad, just disappointed," he said quietly and Hermione would have preferred him to yell at her. She sobbed loudly when she couldn't stop the tears and hid her face behind her hands. Had she misunderstood him so badly in the summer when he had told her to live her life as it came and not to take him into consideration? Had she misjudged him that much? What did that mean for their relationship? She couldn't wait for his next words and made a connection with his thoughts.
"Little killjoy," he said and Hermione took her hands from her face in disbelief.
"You fucking asshole!" she exclaimed loudly, glaring at him angrily for a second, but she couldn't help a relieved, but annoyed smile after realising he'd been joking and testing his poker face. "You... Oh! You deserve a Bogey Bat Curse! I thought... Fuck!" she cried, sobbing again.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed it so far. But it was really fun."
"Really great! Fuck!" she exclaimed, torn between actually cursing him or falling around his neck. She finally decided on the affectionate option and pressed her face into his chest as he put his arms around her. "Don't ever do that again! Promise me you'll never do that again!"
"I promise," he said in a serious tone, stroking her back. "Apology accepted?" he asked as she looked up at him.
"Don't know yet," she said sullenly, looking up into his face, which now showed a smile. He stroked her cheek with his thumb and Hermione closed her eyes.
"So... you met a witch?"
"That's what you'd like to know now! You should have thought about that before!" she said, playfully annoyed, and giggled when he made a pout. "Only for a kiss! And only if it's a good one."
"I'll do my best," Severus replied and Hermione sighed as he kissed her softly and hugged her even tighter. Her resentment was finally gone now and she enjoyed the moment, forgetting everything around her. Severus gently pulled her back to the armchair and Hermione giggled as he lifted her up and sat with her. She snuggled close to him and enjoyed the closeness for a few seconds.
"So you want to know more about my date?" she finally whispered, smiling as she felt a slight tremor run through his body.
"You don't have to tell me everything, but I'd like to know who it is. If she's not my age, I might have been teaching her."
"You definitely have been teaching her. She graduated when I was in first grade. I don't know if it was just a nickname, but she introduced herself to me as Tonks."
"Miss Tonks, I see."
"Can you remember her?"
"Very well, actually. She wasn't very good at Potions in her first years, but she picked up enormously in her fifth year and improved herself to an outstanding through hard work. I have rarely seen such an improvement, it really impressed me at the time. What does she do at the ministry?"
"She is just finishing her apprenticeship as an Auror," he said.
"Then she's using her talents, I'm glad to hear that. I hope it was a good date?"
"Several dates in the last two weeks actually, but yes, very good. She's really great," Hermione said, unable to stop herself from blushing. "So... You're really not mad?"
"No. I meant exactly what I said at the time. And the fact that you came to me today because you missed me shows me that my decision was right. And as long as you don't start anything with Potter, I don't have a problem. I really couldn't forgive myself for losing another woman to a Potter," he said and Hermione snorted.
"I wouldn't do that to you. And you won't lose me either. I'm staying with you whether you like it or not," she said, smiling and tapping the tip of his nose with her index finger.
"Never wanted anything more than that."
"Thank you," Hermione said, stroking his cheek as she looked deep into his black eyes. He smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead before pulling her tightly against his chest. They sat closely entwined in Severus' armchair for a few minutes and Hermione felt how quickly she drifted off to sleep at his side. Before she actually fell asleep, however, she jerked up.
"What's wrong?" asked Severus, looking a little dozy himself. Hermione stood up and rubbed her tired eyes.
"Nightmares. I haven't been able to sleep normally since..." she said and he knew immediately what she meant. He quickly stood up and wrapped his arms around her.
"Okay, if you clear the table, I'll conjure up a bed for you."
"For me? Or maybe us?" she asked tentatively, trying not to blush. Severus seemed to weigh it up for a few seconds. "I just don't want to sleep alone, I'll behave," she said, giving him her best puppy-dog look, which made him laugh.
"Okay, okay," he said chuckling and Hermione happily cleared her things from the table before making it disappear. Severus then waved his wand and a large bed appeared in the middle of the room. "I'll change upstairs, you can brush your teeth upstairs if you like," he said and Hermione shook her head.
"That's okay," she said and with a sweep of her hand her toothbrush appeared in it and a bowl of water in the air. Severus nodded and climbed the stairs. "Do you want to sleep here too or would you rather go out again?" she asked Lancelot, reading from his thoughts that he wasn't tired yet and would find a place outside. She nodded and began to brush her teeth.
She put on her pyjamas and giggled when Severus called down from the stairs sometime later to check if she was changed.
"You'll have to find out for yourself," she called, grinning as he came downstairs with a sullen look on his face. "All safe, don't worry."
"Your pyjamas were longer last time," he noted and Hermione giggled as his gaze travelled up and down her body in her short pyjama bottoms and T-shirt several times.
"That was in Scotland back in February! Would you please let Lancelot out first, he's not tired yet and wants to sleep outside," she said and his expression brightened. He stretched out his forearm and Lancelot landed on it seconds later, crowing happily.
"Your bond with your raven is truly unique," Severus said as he returned.
"I'm glad you two are getting along so well," she said, happy to see the joy on Severus' face when he nodded. She waited until he had settled in bed and eventually rested her head on his chest as she snuggled close to him, sighing tiredly.
They shared a kiss and wished each other a good night. Hermione levitated Severus' wand onto the armchair after he had put himself into a trance so he wouldn't accidentally sleep on it. She enjoyed being near him for a few more minutes and his calm, rhythmic breathing soothed her.
She bit her lower lip as she briefly felt the urge to go wandering with her hand resting on his chest, but she kept her promise and also put herself into a trance so as not to let Lord Voldemort into the world of her dreams.
When Hermione awoke the next day, Severus was still fast asleep. She enjoyed being close to him for a few minutes, but became increasingly fidgety and finally got up when the urge to do something overcame her. She crept up the stairs and, with a nonverbal Alohomora, opened the secret door that led to Severus' living room.
The room, like the rest of the flat, was sparsely lit, with only a few rays of sunlight filtering through the closed shutters. She went into the kitchen and took a look inside the fridge. She was disappointed to find that it contained nothing except a little cheese and butter and briefly toyed with the idea of going to the supermarket, but she didn't want to violate Severus' trust.
"Actually, a good way to practice my conjurations," Hermione thought. She knew, of course, that food couldn't be conjured out of thin air, but it could very well be conjured from a familiar place. It took a few tries, which Hermione put down to the range, but eventually, she managed to conjure four eggs, some bacon, milk, cocoa, a banana and toast from the fridge of her house in Fulham, which was well-stocked for her and Lancelot's supply.
Hermione put everything that needed chilling in the fridge and satisfied her hunger with the banana for the time being. She wanted to let Severus sleep in and conjured her bag from downstairs with her notes, parchments and Blotts Book. She spent the early morning working on the rune sequence she was going to use in place of the Identity Charm, making quick progress as she had already worked ahead in the trance.
She also thought about what Severus had said in terms of protecting her idea. She needed copy protection if she was actually going to be producing and selling multiple copies of the parchments. Hermione contemplated for a while and when she thought of the Marauder's Map, it occurred to her that she already knew the best example of copy protection. The map could not be cracked by any analysis spell and made it clear to the curious that they should stick their noses in other matters. She chuckled and searched Spellman's Syllabary for suitable runes to put copy protection and privacy protection in one sequence.
She was searching for a suitable rune for identifying the person using the parchment for the first time when the bookshelf beside her slid quietly to one side. She chuckled when she saw Severus' relieved look and stood up.
"Good morning! Sleep well?" she greeted him, wrapping him in her arms.
"Yes, and you?" he said, yawning and stretching. She nodded and ran over to the fridge to prepare breakfast. She giggled at the astonished look on his face as she took the eggs and bacon out of the fridge.
"How did this get here?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Magic," Hermione said, waving her hands theatrically. Severus rolled his eyes. "No, really, conjured from my fridge at home," she said, looking at him questioningly when he just stared at her. "That doesn't make food bad, does it?" she asked uncertainly and he shook his head slowly as his expression darkened.
"You don't even know!" he said upset and Hermione looked at him confused.
"Don't know what?"
"How good you are! Most witches and wizards barely manage to conjure things in the same house! And you snap your finger once and conjure things from your house in London!" he exclaimed and Hermione felt the blood rush to her head.
"It's taken a few tries," she said softly, looking down at the floor in flattery.
"It's impossible not to praise you," he said, shaking his head and dropping into a chair at the kitchen table. "Unbelievable," he chortled and Hermione giggled.
"Do you want breakfast or not?" she said with a laugh and he nodded. She directed the pan with the help of magic and a few minutes later they were eating toast with scrambled eggs and bacon together. Severus contributed black tea, which tasted great, just like his ginger tea.
"How's it coming?" he asked, nodding to the pile of their notes.
"Good, I have an idea of how the copy protection and identity are supposed to work together."
"Interesting."
"Do you remember the Marauder's Map?"
"Lively," he replied wryly and Hermione giggled.
"The map has copy protection and also identification of the user, but anyone can use it who says the password. I want to make the sequence similar. However, I want only the person who owns the parchment to be able to read what's written on it, without any identity spells at all."
"Sounds good to me. Would you like me to help you with the runes?"
"You could go shopping instead! All you have at home is cheese," Hermione said, laughing as Severus grimaced. "Not a fan of supermarkets?"
"Not particularly. I usually eat at the pub round the corner or the Dripping Cauldron."
"You never cook?"
"No. Is that hard to imagine for a man who spends most of his life at Hogwarts?"
"Not that, but for a Potions Master who spends all day cooking ingredients in a pot," she said, laughing out loud as she saw the realisation on Severus' face.
"I never thought about that," he said in astonishment, joining in her laughter.
"At least now I know what I'm getting you for Christmas," Hermione said and Severus rolled his eyes but continued to grin at her.
"You could take me out to dinner too," she said, rolling her own eyes as his expression turned serious again. "No one knows me here! I could be related to you? Mayebe I am fromme la France?" she said, putting on a heavy French accent at the last question.
"No, too dangerous. I have taught generations of wizards and witches and most members of our society know what I look like. And after your photo with the minister in the Daily Prophet, your face is also more familiar than you might think."
"Never mind," Hermione said sullenly. "Can you at least let some light in? Don't you have any protective spells against Muggles and intruders?"
"I do, but I've lost a bit of faith in them since last night when none of them stopped a young witch from knocking on my front door."
"Oh," Hermione said, giggling. Had her raven form been undermining the protection spells? "I can help you if you like," she said, summoning her Blotts Book into her hand.
"Not a bad idea," Severus replied, and the two of them spent the morning putting any protection spells on Severus' house that he didn't already have anyway. He decided against the Fidelius Charm in the end, though, in order to remain accessible in case his role as a Death Eater was called for.
"Much better," Hermione said when Severus finally flung open the shutters to let in the sunlight. He then disapparated to go shopping for the two of them. Hermione returned her attention to her parchment, making good progress after her morning's research. Before Severus had even returned, she had put the rune sequence on the parchments. She was just about to look for the appropriate table for the runes when Severus appeared behind her with a soft plop.
"Bloody supermarkets," he grumbled, putting the food Hermione had written down for him into the fridge and kitchen cupboard.
"Thank you for your sacrifice," Hermione said, chuckling as he growled softly. "I mean it, thank you for everything," she said, hugging him from behind.
"It's alright," he said, looking at her rune sequence with interest. "Looks good, but isn't there something missing to write the text for the copy protection?" he asked and Hermione looked over her rune sequence again.
"You're right!" she said, flicking through Spellman's Syllabary. She read out some suggestions to Severus and they agreed on a combination of 'Thief' and 'Protection' that led to 'Written Word' with a link. Severus showed her how to bind a spell, in this case displaying the copy protection message, to the runes. They checked together that Hermione had picked out the correct table for engraving the runes and Severus watched her intently as she began to engrave.
"Looks good," he said as the runes disappeared. "Specialis Revelio," he said and Hermione let out a squeal of delight as the text they had formulated together earlier appeared.
"You're amazing, thank you so much," she said, giving him a kiss.
"You did the work, I just contributed one or two corrections," he said, but Hermione shook her head.
"Don't undersell it, please. I could never have done it so quickly without you. Now let's do it again, to test the privacy part," she said, summoning a pair of blank parchment pieces into her hand. Severus waved his wand and conjured a cup of tea for Hermione, who smiled happily at him. She kissed her palm and blew the kiss to him before she began to draw the runic sequences on the blank parchments.
"Good, now it gets serious," she said, handing Severus the second parchment. She wrote 'Hello' on her parchment. As expected, Severus' parchment changed colour and Hermione waited eagerly. She snorted loudly as she read his reply, 'Who's writing?' "Very funny!" she said, pulling the parchment from his hand with a summoning charm. "It works!" she exclaimed, jumping in the air.
"Congratulations! May I see?"
"Here," she said, levitating her parchment towards him.
"Nothing to see, very good!" he said, looking proudly at the parchment. He then tested the copy protection with a few spells and was satisfied when none of them got through. He suggested letting Dumbledore test the parchment, but Hermione was confident in Severus' abilities. She didn't think anyone else could crack the parchment if Severus couldn't. The two of them spent the afternoon working on the sequence that would delete older messages to free up space for new text.
Hermione cooked pasta with Severus in the evening, which was as much fun as brewing potions with him. However, in this case, she was the teacher, although her cooking skills were also limited to a few dishes. In the evening they took a break from working on parchment and read together on the couch. Hermione felt very comfortable and had to restrain herself from fanning the flames too much. They spent the next day like that and Hermione was very sad when she said goodbye to him the following afternoon.
"I'm going to miss you!"
"Me too, but at least we can write to each other now because you're a genius."
"You're a genius!" she replied teasingly, as if he had insulted her, and fell around his neck for the third time since they had first said goodbye to each other.
"I really must be going, Dumbledore is expecting me in a minute," he said, giving her one last kiss. She disillusioned herself and stepped through the terrace door into his garden. As quickly as the spell would allow, she crept towards a row of trees and changed into her animal form when she was sure she was out of sight.
After not too long, Lancelot joined her and the two glided across the undulating fields of England towards London, while Hermione told him that she had finished the parchment with Severus. She wondered what Dumbledore and Severus would discuss. She was sad when she arrived in her room later and walked through the empty house once to make sure everything was still in place. Her mood brightened, however, when she returned to her room and caught sight of the green parchment on her desk.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well and that you enjoyed reading this Chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I had great fun with all the runic work the two of them did together and I hope it's not confusing or anything. Anyways, thank you for reading and also thank you to all the people that already left reviews, favourites and follows, it really means a lot!
See you next time!
Kasing