Hermione woke the next morning with a pounding headache. She recalled the events of last night, well, early morning, and cringed. She had been drunk enough not to care about embarrassment at the time, but she immediately flushed at the memories.
She turned and found the spot where Severus slept empty. Apparently, he was making it a habit of leaving her before she awoke. She slowly sat up, not wanting her head to spin any more than it was, and saw a vial and a piece of parchment on the side dresser next to her.
Hermione-
I hope to be back before you wake up, but if I am not, please drink the contents of this vial. It should help with the headache.
Severus
Hermione smiled. Severus' ability to care for her in the smallest of ways only strengthened her desire for the man. She downed the contents of the vial, noting that he must have added some essence this time, as it lacked the dreaded aftertaste that a normal hangover potion would have. She wondered where he needed to be this early in the morning, but after her late escapade of the day before, she felt it wise not to question his whereabouts.
She got up slowly got up and made her way to the bathroom, willing herself to get into the luxurious shower. The hot water felt amazing on her tired skin. The bath was well stocked with salts, scrubs, and washes. She opted for a peppermint theme, hoping it would help with any lingering effects of her indulgence from the night before.
She immediately could tell that the shampoo was charmed. It tingled her skull and made her skin feel as if it was dancing. It was the most incredible feeling. I must ask Severus how to do this. It would be the perfect gift for someone like Ginny.
Hermione lost track of time shampooing her hair over and over and scrubbing every inch of visible dead skin. She was on her seventh rinse and repeat, when she was startled by a voice.
"Hermione? Are you okay?" Severus' voice had a touch of concern to it.
"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "Severus you scared me. Yes, I'm alright just enjoying whatever you've done to these bath products."
Severus chuckled. He had charmed the products, but they were really meant for the both of them to use together. Hermione interrupted his thoughts.
"Would you like to come and use them with me?" She purred. Severus groaned. He wanted nothing more than to ravish her right this minute, but he had something important to tell her. Something that couldn't wait.
"As much as each part of me would love nothing more than to stay in the shower all day with you, there is something urgent I must discuss with you." Severus' voice was serious.
Hermione's face dropped. After the events of last night, she had no idea what to expect. He probably realized you're nothing but a child after what happened at the Weasley's and wants nothing more to do with you.
"Alright, Severus. I'll be right out." Severus could hear the sadness in her voice.
"I'll wait downstairs for you." He closed the bathroom door and left Hermione to finish.
Hermione spent a few more minutes under the hot water, and shut off the faucet. She wrapped herself in a large fluffy green towel and sighed. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Using her wand, she dried her hair. She added a light curl, and gave herself a half-smile. She dressed quickly and met Severus in the living room in front of the fire.
"Come," he ordered. She walked towards him and sat next to him on the large couch.
"There is something I-" Severus started, but Hermione cut him off.
"Please Severus I apologize for what happened last night. I never should have put you in that position. You must feel terribly uncomfortable for what we did last night. I should not have gotten as drunk as I did, and I should not have coerced you to reveal our relationship." Hermione started to blink tears from her eyes.
"Hermione, enough! First of all, I cannot be coerced into doing anything. Surely, you know that by now. If I do something it is because I, and I alone have made that decision. Second of all, I am relieved for what transpired last night. Of course, I wish it had been under different circumstances, but nevertheless I believe we can finally move forward with our relationship." He wiped the tears from her eyes. Hermione remained silent.
"Now," Severus continued, "can I tell you what I really needed to talk about, or are you going to continue interrupting me?" He used his professor voice, which caused Hermione's spine to tingle. She nodded.
"Last night I received a late owl from Bill regarding your parents." Hermione's eyes widened, but she did not interrupt.
Severus continued. "I went to see him this morning, and he does believe that he has located them. He has given me all of the information he has, but it will be up to us to do the rest. That being said," he drawled, "we are going to have to leave soon. That is why I had to make a second visit this morning, and why I was later than I anticipated." He rolled his eyes. There was obviously some story behind that visit.
"I am sorry if you disagree with my action, but I felt it necessary due to last night's events." He sighed. "I went to see Professor McGonagall because I cannot just leave my duties without some justification. I told her that I was making her temporary Headmistress for the time being, and I contacted Horace Slughorn to take over the potions classes." Severus stopped and took a breath, "I also told her about our relationship."
"Severus!" Hermione was shocked. "Everyone is going to know now! I don't want you to get into trouble." While not angry, Hermione was confused as to why Severus did this without consulting with her.
As if reading her mind, Severus continued. "I understand I should have consulted with you, but we need to leave as soon as we can, and we didn't have the time for one of your internal moral dilemmas." Severus' voice was emotionless.
"Ouch, Severus. That one hurt." His comment made Hermione feel even more self-conscious than she already felt about the situation.
"I am sorry, Hermione. You know I do not seek to hurt you, but we promised to be honest with one another and this is me being honest. We don't have time for dawdling." His took her hand and squeezed it.
"What did Minerva say?" She asked shyly.
"Not much. But she requested an invitation to the wedding." He rolled his eyes.
Hermione laughed, her mood lightening. That was indeed something Minerva would say.
"Okay, okay." Hermione started whispering to herself. She stood up and began pacing in front of the fireplace. "We're going to get my parents." Her voice slowly began to build, "we are going to get my parents. Severus, we're going to get my parents!" She ran back to him and threw herself into his arms, unwilling to cry at the revelation.
"We are, my love," he buried his face into her hair. "We also have much to get done before we can even leave." Hermione broke from the embrace and looked into his eyes.
"Thank you, Severus." She kissed him hard on the lips. He returned the gesture passionately. With the events over the past few days, there had been little opportunities for anything intimate. Hermione broke the kiss.
"I think we should get to work now, so I can have you all to myself later." There was a hunger in her voice that made Severus ache. As much as he wanted her here and now, she had no idea just how much they needed to do.
"Severus, where exactly will we be going?" Hermione questioned.
He looked at her calmly and replied, "New York City."
Judging by the look on her face, Severus could tell Hermione had no idea how or why her parents would have moved from England, let alone to another continent.
"New York?!" She exclaimed. "Severus, are you sure?"
Severus nodded. "This is why we need to leave as soon as possible. I gather we will need to be there for at least a few weeks. We also need to finish the potions. I will help you make up whatever coursework you need to when we return. I don't want this to affect your graduation timeline."
Hermione stood, looking at Severus seriously. "Well, what are you waiting for. We have work to do."
Severus and Hermione spent the better part of the day in his potions' lab. They had two perfect memory potions to work with, and now they just needed to determine what the key ingredient was.
Severus had an idea of some of the ingredients that would achieve the desired result, but this is what separated a Potions Master from everyone else. He had to know the qualities and properties of each ingredient and be able to understand how they would change a potion. This is exactly what he was trying to teach Hermione. Severus prided himself on his ability to understand how hundreds of various ingredients could change a potion with their individual properties.
He had three ingredients that he believed would have the desired effect: octopus powder, crushed unicorn horn, and wolfsbane.
Hermione stared at the three ingredients, furiously jotting down each of their properties and most common potion uses in her dragon skinned journal. Severus watched her concentrate. He told her she could consult with him at any time, but he knew that she wanted to figure out the answer on her own.
He was certain the octopus powder would do the trick. Normally used to strengthen potions, Severus believed it was the best option because it would not change the base potion as much as the other two ingredients would.
"Unicorn horn is common in antidotes for poisons, but I don't think that is really what we have here, however could an obliviate be like a poison to the mind?" Hermione bit on her quill.
"Do not overthink, Hermione. The basic properties of an ingredient are not likely to change. Do not extend those properties." Severus was stern, but kind. He was in teaching mode now. The outcome of the potion was too important to coddle Hermione's theoretical reasonings.
Hermione nodded. She moved on.
"Octopus powder. Common to strengthen potions, which is what we would want here. But, wolfsbane is used in Wideye Potions, and can be helpful in concussive situations." She bit her lip. "Two possibilities, but only one is the correct one. Is an obliviated brain similar to that of a concussed brain?" She looked down at her journal and started to write furiously. "However," she stopped and looked at Severus. She pointed her quill at him, "when it's used in Wolfsbane Potion, it only just allows the werewolf to maintain its brain post-transformation. It doesn't permanently change anything!"
Severus smirked. He knew that she would figure it out.
"Now, we just need to figure out how much to add." Hermione's feeling of accomplishment quickly disappeared. Severus chuckled.
"Quantity is something that will come to you once you have brewed enough potions. You will begin to understand how the measurements of each ingredient interact with one another. You may need to add less of one ingredient in order to maintain a potion's magical qualities when you add another." He accioed a vial and held it up to her.
"This should do the trick. Ten measures of octopus powder." His eyes narrowed at the vial.
"Ten?" Hermione wondered aloud. "Sorry, Severus. I'm not questioning you, but doesn't that seem like a lot?"
"Remember what it is we are trying to reverse, Hermione. This is just a simple base memory potion, and we are trying to reverse an obliviate on persons who had significant amounts of memories to lose." He watched Hermione make those notes in her journal.
He poured the contents of the vial into the cauldron and made 10 clockwise stirs. The pair watched the potion change from golden to light pink.
"Sir," Hermione covered her mouth, "I mean, Severus, how do you know how many stirs to make, and in which direction, or even what color a potion should be!" She grew flustered at her questions.
Severus chuckled. "For the most part it really is trial an error, however, I happen to know that most memory potions are always stirred in a clockwise direction. As to the amount, it usually takes a full stir to completely mix one measure of a powdered ingredient. You use the amount of measurement as your stir guide. Of course, there are exceptions, but we have not brewed those potions yet. If you recall, we discussed how this potion would be similar to that of a liquid Remembrall, the smoke of which-" Hermione interrupted, "is red!" She exclaimed.
Severus nodded. Hermione continued to write in her journal while Severus removed the cauldrons from their burners to cool. He ladled the contents into vials and wandlessly cleared the station where they had been working.
He looked at the clock. It was almost seven in the evening. They had been working nonstop since that morning.
"Hermione, love, we should eat." Severus had not realized just how hungry he was.
Hermione looked up from her journal. "Severus, I am starving. I cannot believe I haven't eaten anything at all today."
Severus frowned. He should have insisted she eat something to help her stomach after the night she had. "What do you think you could manage right now?" He asked.
Hermione took one look at him and said flatly, "Pasta." Severus chuckled.
While slightly dismayed that he wasn't able to simmer his bolognese for as long he normally would, Severus was quite pleased with how happily Hermione ate plate after plate of the pasta dish.
"I will never get over how well you can cook." Hermione closed her eyes and pushed her plate away. Despite the fact that Severus' dish would have paired nicely with one of his wines, they both decided to skip it after the events of the night before.
"So," Hermione started. "How are we planning for this trip?"
"I put together a tentative schedule that I was going to run by you," Severus replied, wiping his face with a cloth napkin. "I really don't want you to miss more classes than necessary, even though I know you could catch up in no time. While Minerva knows about our relationship, I hardly think it would be an ideal situation for the entire school to talk about it for the next five months." Hermione nodded in agreement.
"We would leave New Year's Eve, as travel is normally slow because people are getting ready for festivities, and I anticipate staying for at least three weeks." Severus rose from his chair and started to bring the dishes to the kitchen sink.
Hermione turned to watch. "Why do you think we will need so much time?"
"While I have the basic location, we will have to take some time to prepare to give your parents the potion. We have no idea what situation we will be walking into, especially given they have left the country." Hermione stood and carried her plate to Severus.
Severus watched her bring her hand to her temple. He pulled her to him.
"This will work, Hermione. Please, trust me." He kissed the top of her head. "Now, we have a few days before we have to leave. I suggest we pack and then try to enjoy the calm before the craziness."
"I have a suggestion of something we can do to pass the time," Hermione's eyes twinkled deviously.
"Oh?" Severus fake questioned, "And what would that be?"
In an instant, Hermione crushed her lips to Severus'. He picked her up, never breaking the kiss, and carried her upstairs.
New Year's Eve came quickly. Between packing for the trip and taking turns instigating ravishments at any given chance, Hermione barely had time to worry about whether their plan was going to work.
Hermione was excited for the trip, as she had never been to America before. Severus was looking forward to uninterrupted time with Hermione without the responsibilities of being Headmaster and professor.
As soon as Severus spoke with Bill, he had made the arrangements to New York- even before he told Hermione. He had taken a liberty with the accommodations in the City, and was anxious to surprise her. This was really going to be the first time they would be able to be a couple in public. Severus was most excited at the thought that he wouldn't have to worry about running into anyone he knew, or having to explain their relationship over and over to members of their community.
The plane trip was uneventful, although at one point Hermione leaned in to Severus and whispered, "I think I'll stick with magical transportation."
When they landed at John F. Kennedy Airport, it was just after eleven in the evening. Severus knew they were going to have a hard time finding a cab on New Year's Eve, so he had studied the route from the airport to the nearest alleyway by their hotel. Once they had collected their bags from the luggage carousel, only doing so as not to avoid suspicion that international travelers were without any luggage, Severus led Hermione to an empty section of a nearby terminal. He grabbed her hand, and they were gone in an instant.
Severus and Hermione landed exactly where he had planned for them. Their hotel on 5th Avenue was just a block away. Severus had wanted to stay somewhere nice, but away from the madness of Times Square.
Severus looked down at Hermione, "Are you ready?" She squeezed his hand and smiled. "I am."
They walked the rest of the way to the hotel hand in hand. It was a marvelous feeling for Severus to be able to love freely and not have to hide it. And if a picture was worth a thousand words, then a picture of Hermione would have been worth a million in that instant.
"Wait," Severus, stopped abruptly. He cast a quick Tempus: eleven fifty-nine. He pulled Hermione close as they waited for midnight. After what seemed like the slowest minute in history, Severus embraced Hermione with enough passion to embarrass the gods. His lips met hers with such severity, it felt as if she was the only thing he had in his life that he could lose. She matched his severity with equal fervor. When he pulled away, he whispered, "May this be the start of endless new years with you."
Hermione placed her hand on the side of his cheek and kissed him once more. "Thank you for making this the happiest new year I have had in forever." She smiled. Severus reclasped his hand with hers, and Hermione squeezed tightly. She began chatting happily about how excited she was to find her parents, and to be in New York.
Only half listening, Severus' eyes narrowed. We're being followed, he thought to himself. Calm, Severus. Do not frighten Hermione.
Severus, however, misjudged his witch. As if she had read his mind, Hermione whispered, "I think we are being followed."
"Do not let go of my hand," Severus responded. Hermione nodded furiously. Keep walking, Severus. Don't let whoever this is know where you are staying.
The couple had just passed the front of the hotel where they were supposed to be staying, when a familiar voice called out his name.
"Severus?"
Stunned at the fact anyone in New York would know who he was, both Severus and Hermione whipped their heads around and stared into the eyes of a man they never thought they would see again: Draco Malfoy.
A/N: o_O what on earth is Draco doing in NYC?! Remember how I said I had a basic idea of where this story was going? Well, this twist came to me yesterday while watching Tom's 19 Years Later live stream. (Anyone else feel OLD watching that?! Yikes!)
Work is getting busy, so no update likely for a few days, but definitely before the week is up! Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. They really make me smile. It's always amazing to know someone is enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Stay safe and well. xx