Summary: Harry and Ron come for a visit
A/N: Thanks for reading! Our quartet is reunited. We've got a few more chapters left. This is clocking in at 38 right now. :)
Chapter 31
There was a knock on the door. Severus moved to answer it. He grinned widely when he saw his friends, embracing Ron and patting him on the back. He did the same with Harry. The boys moved into the flat and were accosted by Hermione next.
"Merlin, it's good to see you both," Harry said.
"Yeah, this is brilliant!" Ron agreed.
"Come on in," Hermione said. "Have a seat; dinner will be ready in a little bit."
"Smells great, Hermione," Ron offered.
"Aw, thanks!"
She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the three men to themselves.
"Hermione, do you need any help?" Severus called after her.
"No, love, just visit with the boys. Everything you did earlier just needs to be plated up."
Severus turned back to Harry and Ron who had settled on the couch. He joined them.
"So, are you a great Potioneer now?" Harry asked.
Severus chuckled. "Almost. I have a little bit to go before I am fully accredited. I am working on something to help our neighbor. You'll meet her at dinner. She's a bit star-struck at the thought of meeting you two."
"Well, you told her we're both taken, right?" Ron asked.
Severus grinned. "She's a little old for you two, so I wouldn't really worry about her making advances."
"Ohhh, yeah, okay. Well, looking forward to meeting her," Ron said.
"I will warn you that you will probably get hugged… tightly," Severus advised.
"We'll be on the lookout, Severus," Harry said with a grin.
Severus chuckled before standing. "I'm going to help Hermione. Despite her saying everything was ready to go, I know she could use a hand."
He disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the boys to themselves.
"They look happy, yeah?" Harry asked Ron.
Ron nodded. "I think they are. Makes me happy."
"Definitely."
At that point, Hermione emerged from the kitchen with a large platter with bratwurst and sauerkraut on it, and Severus carried a salad and a bowl of mash as he came in behind her. They both set the food on the table and motioned their friends to have a seat. With perfect timing, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," Hermione said as she made her way to the door. "Lotte! So glad you could come!" she cried as she greeted their neighbor.
"Are they here yet?" Lotte mouthed so only Hermione could hear.
She nodded. "Come on in and meet Harry and Ron," she said with a wink.
Ron and Harry had stopped moving when there was a knock at the door, so they were still standing by the table when Hermione brought Lotte in.
Hermione motioned Lotte over to them as they said hello to her.
"Lotte, this is Harry, and this is Ron," Hermione said as she pointed at them individually.
"Ohh! It's so great to meet you!" Lotte said in perfect English.
Harry found himself in a crushing hug. He looked up at Hermione, who just shrugged. Seeing what happened with Harry, Ron braced himself, but he still lost his breath as she squeezed the life out of him. Finally, he was released and could breathe again. He smiled wanly at Lotte.
"Pleasure."
They all settled down at the table and Severus served everyone, letting them each help themselves to the salad.
"So, how is Auror training? The measly number of letters you've both written haven't said much," Severus said.
Ron's cheeks pinked. "Sorry, mate. I've never been one to write, just ask Hermione."
"He's right. It's been a miracle we've gotten what we have from him."
"That still leaves Harry. He knows how to put quill to parchment," Severus teased.
"I apologize as well. Between Auror training and spending time with Ginny, I don't really have any free time to write. Besides, if it weren't for Hermione I know we'd never hear from you at all."
"I will admit that you are right," Severus conceded.
"So, tell us about being Aurors," Lotte broke in.
"Training ends next month," Harry said.
"It's been fascinating," Ron said. "I think I've learned more these last few months than I ever did at Hogwarts."
"Oh, Ron… if you hadn't learned at Hogwarts, you wouldn't have the skills to be an Auror."
Ron scrunched up his face. "I think I learned most of that while we were training with each other for the war."
Hermione shook her head. "I'm going to just drop it."
"Best idea yet, Hermione," Harry said, causing everyone to chuckle.
"So, what are you doing as a Potioneer, Severus?" Ron asked.
"I developed a cure for the poison I created for Voldemort with Madam Groeberg's guidance. I have sent it along to our Ministry and the German Ministry."
"Why the German Ministry?" Ron asked. "There were only a couple of vials missing, all in the UK."
"The potion is not unique to the Voldemort poison. It is a variant of the Common Poisons Antidote. It will cure almost any poison, so it is more of a universal cure. Madam Groeberg advised to send it to the two Ministries. They will release it worldwide, but she wanted to make sure this Ministry had initial access to it."
"That's brilliant, Severus," Harry remarked.
"It gives me some comfort being the creator of something so vile in the first place."
Lotte piped in then. "From my understanding, you had no choice, isn't that right, Severus?"
His eyes moved to hers. "Yes, but it has been a burden on me since I started working on it."
"I'm glad you were able to make a cure, then."
"Hopefully, it will never be needed," Ron mused.
They all nodded.
Severus glanced back at Lotte. "I'm also working on my final mastery project. It will take some time to work everything out."
"What are you creating?" Harry asked before taking a bite of sausage.
"It's actually to help Lotte. She has terrible arthritis in her spine. Nothing has been able to help much. I'm trying to find something that will give her relief so she can regain her mobility."
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. "Lotte, we've seen Severus in action when it comes to potions. He's the best. If anyone can find something, he can."
"You didn't tell me you were working on that for your mastery!" Lotte said. "I just thought you were going to work with Frau Groeberg."
"I was, but she urged me to create it myself as my final project. I'm just in the early stages. It will take some time and study."
Lotte smiled at him. "I have faith in you, Severus."
His cheeks reddened, and he looked down at his plate. "Thank you, Lotte."
Seeing Severus' discomfort, Hermione broke into the conversation.
"So, I've been in contact with Professor Dumbledore. We've worked out several aspects of my curriculum, and I've been creating lesson plans."
"That's perfect, Hermione. What kind of things are you putting into it?" Harry asked.
"Well, we'll learn some about Muggles and the dual world a Muggle-born witch or wizard has to live in. I think I'm going to assign all the Purebloods a fake Muggleborn family and have them hypothetically live with them. Choices they make will affect the family dynamic."
Ron arched his brow. "That's not a bad idea. They could learn a lot by having fake Muggleborn parents."
"And I'll do the same for the Muggle-borns in the class… giving them hypothetical Pureblood parents."
"How are you going to give them parents, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I've developed a series of spells to create… Well, it's kind of like a Muggle computer database, but one based on Arithmancy. Students will record their actions during the day and the equation and spells will come up with an outcome from the parents."
"It's an amazing piece of magic," Severus broke in. "I've watched her develop it."
Hermione smiled at him. "I've also created units on all magical creatures so we can learn about how they live and what their desires are. Each year will revisit all of the topics and expand on them. There's still a lot to figure out, but the Headmaster is pleased with where we're at with planning."
"Are you excited to teach at Hogwarts, Hermione?" Lotte asked.
"Seems like you were born to do that," Ron mused.
"Thanks, Ron! I think so too. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm sure I'm romanticizing it a bit. There are always challenges with something new."
"True, but you're brilliant, and you're talented with magic. You're going to be a great role model. I bet the students will love you," Ron told her.
"I hope so. At least most of the time. As a teacher you need to have order, and that sometimes cheeses off the students."
"Yes, but you are incredibly likable," Severus said. "You will be the darling of the faculty."
"Well, I'll be the youngest; I don't know about being the darling." She paused. "I guess Neville is there too. We'll both be the youngest, but he'll have a year over me of experience as a teacher-apprentice."
Severus gave her a level look. "You will still be the darling of them all. I'm willing to wager quite a bit that you will."
Hermione raised a brow at him. "I'll keep that in mind. We'll discuss prizes for the winner later."
Harry cleared his throat. "Yeah, you should definitely discuss that later."
"What's wrong, Potter, is our conversation making you… uncomfortable?"
"It's making me uncomfortable," Ron chimed in.
Severus smirked at Ron. "Fine. Change of subject… How's Lavender?"
Ron grinned like a loon. "She's amazing. I think I'm going to propose next month."
"You need to wait to have the wedding for when we're back in the UK," Hermione told him.
"It won't be for at least a year. Lavender will want the best of the best."
"What about you, Harry? Are Ginny and you tying the knot soon?" Severus asked with an arched brow.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I want to ask her to marry me, but she's so busy with school. I think once she's graduated, we'll discuss it. We don't see enough of each other. I go up there for every Hogwarts weekend, but that's about all the time we have together."
"You love her, don't you?" Severus asked.
Harry nodded. "Very much."
"Well," Severus continued. "Don't be timid. I'm pretty sure she's ready to be Mrs. Potter."
"What about you two?" Harry shot back.
Severus' eyes shot over to Hermione.
"We… umm…"
"We need to finish our year here before we talk about anything more permanent," Hermione advised.
Severus looked at her gratefully, smiling in relief.
"Nice cover, Hermione," Ron joked.
Severus glared at him causing Ron to shrug. Severus calmed down. His friend was just asking natural questions. Severus did want to ask Hermione to marry him, but he didn't want to do that until they had moved back to Britain. Hermione had obviously understood that without them even discussing it.
"You should take your own advice, Severus," Lotte piped in. "The sooner the better."
Hermione came to the rescue again. She placed her hand over Severus'.
"We are fine as we are for now. I'm sure the topic will come up sometime in the future."
Lotte smirked and shook her head at them. "Young love…"
Later that evening, when everyone had left, Severus brought up the seeming elephant in the room.
"Hermione, about Ron's question about us marrying…"
"Severus, there's nothing to talk about. We love each other. When the right time comes, we'll take that step."
He pulled her to him. "I just don't want you to think that I don't want that. I do. But we both need to finish up this year. We have too much to accomplish."
"I agree. Severus, don't worry about it. The time will come, or we'll just live together forever. We don't have to get married if we don't want to."
"That's true, but I want to. I just didn't want you to feel I didn't want to be with you."
"You're here, aren't you?"
"And I will be… forever."
She smiled then and kissed him passionately.
"I love you," he murmured.
Her kiss was all he needed for a response.