Summary: Experiments and Holidays

A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone.

Chapter 32

Severus had completed the Arthritis potion and let it sit for a day. He now had three mice in front of him in a cage. Madam Groeberg observed from the side of the room as he cast a spell on them to induce arthritis in their spinal columns. The mice began to move about with greater difficulty, some were bent oddly and limped along. Severus cast a diagnostic spell to confirm they were now riddled with arthritis.

He looked over at Madam Groeberg.

"I will give each rodent a quarter drop of the potion."

She nodded at him to move on. Taking an eye dropper, he pulled a tiny amount of potion from the bottle he had decanted it into. Picking up a mouse, he nursed the potion into its mouth. The mouse drew away probably because of the terrible taste.

Severus dosed the other two mice, returning them to their cage.

"I'm thinking it should take an hour or so to work, as Skele-gro takes some time to mend bones."

"All right," Madam Groeberg said. "We have time to whip up some hangover potion."

"Ah yes, our best seller."

Madam Groeberg leaned in toward him. "It's because of the beer."

Severus chuckled as he moved over to another table to start the brew. They both worked together as they waited for the time to pass. Severus lost track of time, so when the alarm he set sounded, he was slightly startled. He quickly bottled up the hangover potion and went to check on the mice.

"They seem to be moving normally again," he called out to Madam Groeberg.

She wandered over and watched Severus cast the spell to diagnose the mice. He arched a brow as he saw the results. Looking over at Madam Groeberg, he waited for her to say something.

"Severus, you just found a cure for arthritis. Why are you so blasé?"

"I… I don't know what to say."

She went up to him and grasped his arms. She excitedly said, "You just found a cure for arthritis! You did it!"

He smiled shyly. "I did do it, didn't I?"

Matilda jumped up and down. "Yes, you did! They'll be writing about you for years. Maybe centuries."

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help."

"I barely did anything. You came up with the idea, the substitutions, researched everything, and made the potion."

"Merlin, I wasn't expecting it to work the first time through."

"Your study of how things react with each other helped you to be successful the first time. Now you know that's usually not the way things work."

"Of course."

"We'll have to do some more tests before we can announce it to the world," Matilda said as she turned excitedly. "We'll need to try it on some other animals, then get a group of people to see how it works on them. Lotte will have to sign a waiver, but she can be the first human tester if you'd like."

"I'm sure she'd be willing to do so to get some relief," Severus advised.

Hermione burst into the flat, looking for Severus. He usually got home before her when she was working at the bookstore. She spied him in the kitchen, frying up some schnitzel.

"Hi!" she greeted enthusiastically.

"Hi," he drawled before putting his arm around her and kissing her lovingly.

She released him quickly, causing him to frown.

"You'll never believe what happened today!" she cried.

Severus realized she was pulling away from him due to excitement. He arched a brow at her. "Do tell."

"I met someone from the German Ministry! His name is Friederik Schultz, and he's the equivalent to the Deputy Minister. We struck up a conversation. Did you know that every month community members are allowed to come into a group meeting and air any grievances or discuss things that the Ministry is thinking of enacting?"

"Really? That sounds very forward-thinking."

Hermione nodded. "Evidently, this Ministry is very concerned about the population and doing right by them. They also are very against discrimination and regularly have seminars on awareness. I told him I was developing a curriculum that mirrors their viewpoint, and he was very excited. He asked me to join the future seminars and to present one on Muggle-borns in the UK and how we deal with Muggles."

Severus grinned widely. "That's wonderful, Hermione!"

"We had been discussing some of the issues in the UK, and Friederik said he wanted to have the community and Ministry aware of issues in other countries and this would be a great opportunity for both them and me to grow. Severus, this is going to do marvels for my curriculum!"

Severus kissed her quickly and turned back to his schnitzel, which was about to burn. He turned them quickly as he talked with Hermione.

"This is wonderful news, Hermione. With what you learn from the German Ministry, you will be one of the foremost authorities of Wizarding diversity in Britain."

"I don't know about that…"

He turned his head toward her. "No, really. Who in our world even cares about this topic? I mean, I know there are Ministry departments for Magical Creatures and general law-making, but those are to restrict, not to help others understand. Our world is very backward when it comes to acceptance of others who are different from us. I mean, it sounds like the war could never happen here in Germany because of the effort that is put into understanding those who aren't like us."

Hermione nodded. "That's exactly what I thought when Friederik was explaining about their diversity efforts."

"No one else will have that knowledge or the desire to put it into effect, Hermione. You'll be educating the next generation to be more open-minded, and maybe you could even help our own Ministry to enact some of the things you learn from the German Ministry."

"If they'll listen."

Severus nodded. "True. Change takes time. The Ministry might not want to hear your ideas."

"Especially since I'm Muggle-born." She frowned. "It always comes down to that, doesn't it?"

Severus left the stove and put his arms around Hermione. "Even if they won't listen to you, you can effect change with what you teach the students. The Ministry won't know what hit them when open-minded witches and wizards start working for them and demand change."

Her arms wrapped around him, and she hugged him fiercely. "I hope so, love."

"It will happen, Hermione. You will be fostering it every day with the students."

Hermione and Severus appeared above the Burrow, descending after Portkeying to the Weasley home. They landed lightly as the door was thrown open and Molly Weasley burst out, her arms wide open.

"I was watching for you two! Merry Christmas!" she cried as she enveloped them both in a hug. "It's so good to see you both! How are you?" She paused momentarily. "Oh, come in from the cold!"

Severus grinned after her, and Hermione shook her head. They followed her into the home before she turned expectantly for their answers.

"We are well, Molly," Severus offered. "It's nice to be home."

"You're taking care of yourselves, right?"

Hermione smiled and took Molly's arm as they made their way into the sitting room. "We are, and we have a lovely neighbor who we are very close with. She keeps an eye on us too and makes sure we have everything we need."

"I'm glad."

They entered the sitting room, which was filled with people. Severus moved off to greet Ron as Hermione hugged Ginny and Harry. The twins waved in tandem from the corner seats. Angelina Johnson sat on the arm of Fred's chair. She smiled and nodded. Arthur wandered in with a tray full of butterbeers, starting to pass them around. Bill and Fleur were chatting with Charlie, Percy, and a witch with brown wavy hair.

"Oy, Snape, good to see you," Ron called out to him as they approached one another.

"Same. Where's Lavender?" Severus asked.

"Oh, she'll be down soon. She had a headache and went to lie down before the party fully started."

Severus nodded in acknowledgment. "It will be nice to see her. How is your job?"

Ron grinned. "Harry and I are full Aurors now. It's brilliant. During that last month of training, they taught us several spells to use for apprehending people. I really like it."

"Brilliant. I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"What about you? Still the little darling of German brewing?"

Severus chuckled. "I suppose you could say that. Things are going well."

"What about Hermione?"

"Oh, she'll tell you. She's doing great. Taking the Ministry by storm."

"I thought she didn't want to work for the Ministry," Ron remarked.

"She doesn't. Just ask her about it."

"All right, mate." He turned and made a beeline for Hermione, leaving Severus shaking his head at Ron.

"So, tell me about working for the Ministry? I thought you didn't want to do that," Ron asked as he accosted Hermione.

She laughed. "Oh, I'm not working for the Ministry, but if I were, I would want to work for the German one. They have overcome a lot of the issues our Ministry deals with."

"Oh, come on, Hermione, they can't be perfect."

"No, they're not, but they've gone out of their way to accept diversity. Muggle-born witches and wizards are not discriminated against, nor are magical creatures."

Ron looked impressed. "That sounds brilliant. How do you fit in?"

She looked between Ron, Harry, and Ginny. At that point, Lavender came up to them, as did Severus.

"Oh, love, are you feeling better?" Ron asked as he put his arm around Lavender's waist.

"Much better, thank you. I thought I heard some commotion down here, so I decided to join everyone."

"You're just in time. Hermione was just about to tell us about her working for the German Ministry."

"Ron!" Hermione cried with a shake of her head. "I told you I'm not working for them! I was, however, a guest speaker at one of their seminars."

"Seminars?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, they have a monthly open house for any community members who want to attend. They discuss upcoming laws and agenda items, and they run a seminar on equality of some kind. They wanted me to share how Muggle-borns are treated in Britain. I spoke on Muggles as well."

"What did they think?" Harry asked.

"Well, they were intrigued. They were a bit shocked that Muggle-borns had to struggle so to have any status. I had several people come up to me afterward to ask more specifics. I even had a few job offers."

"What a great opportunity, Hermione!"

She nodded. "It was. And I've been invited to attend the other seminars for as long as we're in Munich."

"Brilliant," Harry said.

"I bet you'll find a lot of ideas for your classes next year," Lavender chimed in.

"That's my thought as well," Hermione replied.

Severus put his arm around her. 'She was brilliant. Madam Groeberg let me have some time off so I could watch her presentation. It was spectacular."

"Thanks, love," Hermione said with a smile directed at him. He gave her a shy smile back.

Arthur walked to the center of the room. "Happy Christmas Eve everyone. We're still expecting some other guests, but there's food in the kitchen. Please help yourselves. We're happy to have our entire family here to celebrate with us. It's exciting to have Severus and Hermione here from so far away. For those of you who are here for the first time…" he nodded toward Percy's date, "Welcome!"

Everyone clapped and some went into the kitchen to get food, led by Ron and George.

Hermione turned to Lavender. "So, how are things with you, Lavender? Are you still at Madam Malkins?"

Lavender smiled. "Yes! I've been promoted to Merchandiser. I search for new styles to add to the shop. I've done some traveling with this new position."

"That's brilliant!"

"I love it. It's really fulfilling."

Severus smiled at Lavender. Looking around, he stiffened at the couple that had entered the sitting room. Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks were greeting Molly. The younger witch held a small baby in her arms.

Hermione noticed him becoming guarded and looked to see what had caused it. "Professor Lupin!" she said in surprise.

The group turned to look at the newcomer, but Hermione squeezed Severus' arm, giving him a concerned look. He'd managed to avoid Lupin during the battle and the gatherings afterward, but now it seemed that he'd have to converse with the wolf, as he was heading straight for them with his wife in tow. Severus grit his teeth and pushed down the desire to move to the other end of the room. His eyes moved to Hermione, who was still looking at him. He gave her a slight nod before turning back to the couple that had now come up to them.

"Hello, everyone!" Tonks greeted. Lupin smiled at them as well.

Harry slapped him on the back. "Good to see you, Remus! It's been ages."

"Well, I've been busy working with the Werewolves, trying to help them acclimate into our world."

Hermione piped in then. "Oh, I was wondering if you'd be a guest speaker in my class next year, Remus. I've developed a curriculum to teach tolerance and help the students to understand everyone who makes up our world."

Lupin's eyebrows rose. "That sounds wonderful, Hermione. Yes, I would be willing to give a lecture if you'd like. Just let me know when."

"Thanks, Remus. I'll let you know."

Ron wandered up with a plate of food then. "Hey, Remus. Cute kid."

"Thank you."

The baby turned and looked at Ron, giving him a toothless grin, his hair turning blue. Everyone chuckled.

Lupin turned to Severus. "Would you mind having a private chat?" he asked.

Severus frowned but nodded. The two men headed into the kitchen and out into the backyard. Remus turned to Severus and sighed.

"I had wanted to speak to you at the party after the battle, but there were so many people there."

Severus felt uneasy. "Lupin, I don't really think there's anything to say to one another."

Remus' lips thinned. "I wanted to apologize, Severus. Even during the worst of it, I never did that."

"Is that all you needed?" Severus asked in a clipped tone. He turned and started stalking away.

"Severus?"

Stopping, he sighed and turned back to Lupin.

"Having a son, it's given me a lot of time to think. We were such arses to you. Yes, you fought us, but we were the instigators. And what Sirius did in fifth year…" He looked down. "I was too mortified to say anything to you then, but I regretted it from the instant I understood what happened."

He was quiet for a bit. "Having a son who is a Metamorphmagus… someone who is different… I can see him being bullied in school."

"That's the thing, Lupin. I wasn't different. The only thing different about me was that I was a poor kid in Slytherin. Something you Gryffindors couldn't bear. So, you all took any opportunity to make me wish I'd never been born."

Remus put his hands up in surrender. "I know. You're absolutely right. As somewhat of an outcast, I felt like Sirius and James liked me, so I had to keep that friendship. I let them get away with things I never should have, especially when I was a Prefect. I was wrong to do that. As a youth–I'm sure you can understand this–I was starving for friendship and acceptance. I let my sense of good and bad be buried by that need. Thinking about Teddy…" He swallowed hard. "If he had been in your shoes and had been treated that way by people in his class… I would never wish that on anyone, let alone my son."

Severus was quiet for a minute, sizing up the man in front of him. He understood that need to be accepted. He'd had that desire as a youth as well. Finally, his shoulders relaxed. He looked Remus in the eyes.

"I understand what you're saying. We were both very young, immature, and starving for attention. I also did things I regret so that I could fit in." He tilted his head in acknowledgment. "I accept your apology. I'm not interested in being friends, mind, but we were both young and stupid. Thank you for recognizing that."

"Took me long enough, right?"

"Well, I did disappear for a couple of decades."

Lupin grinned. "That's true. I wish I could have a do-over like that."

Severus shrugged as they both turned to go back into the Burrow. "I'm an opportunist."

Lupin laughed at that. They entered the house and separated. Severus found Hermione and moved up next to her, placing his arm around her waist and giving her a loving look.

"All right?" she asked.

He nodded. "We actually had a decent conversation. He apologized for his actions while we were in school."

Hermione smiled at him. "Good. He needed to, really, and the man I knew was nothing like the boy you've described."

"We were both very different at that time in our lives. We both could have done things very differently."

Hermione leaned up and kissed him softly.

"What was that for?"

"You're marvelous. I love how understanding you are about all of this."

He shrugged. "It's the truth. I wasn't a saint back then either."

"I love you," she murmured.

He grinned at her. "You too."

Turning back to their friends, they became absorbed in conversation, enjoying the camaraderie with everyone.