Sub rosa

suhb ROH-zuh| adverb

1: confidentially; secretly; privately

Minerva McGonagall knew a secret. It was one of those secrets that was a shock to discover, but once it was known, you wondered why it was such a shock, because it actually made sense in a strange kind of way. It wasn't a huge secret, life-changing or perilous. At least, not for her. She supposed it must be for the two of them.

The first time she had come upon them in the second-floor corridor behind the statue of Gwen the Green-faced, she had thought they were students. After Merlin only knew how many years, she was well acquainted with the sound of lips on lips and the muffled whimpers and groans of a couple sneaking around after hours. She well knew that any student over fourth year should be fully capable of casting a silencing charm, and yet it seemed that in the heat of the moment, it was forgotten nearly every time. The distinctive sounds ceased abruptly when the headmistress cleared her throat and informed the couple that they had exactly sixty seconds to make themselves decent and vacate their alcove.

When after a few seconds, the form of Professor Severus Snape had emerged from behind the statue, she nearly fainted from shock. He said nothing, his face expressionless, obviously aware that he had been caught red-handed. Upon recovering herself, she had squawked, "Severus Snape, there had better not be a student behind that statue!"

He had crossed his arms over his chest and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Why, yes, Minerva. After all these years, I have decided to break every rule of this school and of common decency by cavorting with a student because my passion was just too strong to contain." His voice dripped sarcasm like honey.

There was a snorting laugh from his partner in crime. "It's just me, Minerva."

The old headmistress had blinked owlishly at her potions master. "Professor Granger?"

The woman in question had stepped around the statue, poking at her disheveled hair. "We do apologize, Minerva. Had we known you were patrolling tonight, well, we would have actually made it back to my rooms. I assure you that we do not frequently cavort in the halls."

"I should hope not!" Minerva had spluttered. "Imagine if you were caught by a student out of bed."

"They would very much regret their decision to wander," Severus had drawled menacingly.

Minerva had stared between the two of them, her mind still racing from the discovery. She noted the ease with which Hermione Granger, her history of magic professor of three years now, leaned into Severus's side. His posture, in turn, was loose and familiar. "How long has this been going on?"

Hermione had squinted at Severus, clearly calculating. "A year? And a few months maybe."

"One year, three months, and seventeen days," he had answered, staring Minerva in the eye.

Professor Granger snorted again then. "He keeps expecting something to go terribly wrong, and so he keeps a running tally of exactly how many days he has 'wasted his precious time' with me."

Minerva herself had looked into the blazing eyes of the man she had known for more than thirty years and she had known with conviction that that was most certainly not the reason that he knew exactly how many days he had been running about with Hermione Granger. Minerva had smiled then. "See that you contain your activities to private spaces, then." She had turned on her heel to continue her after-hour patrol.

"Minerva," Hermione's voice had reached after her. "We aren't telling anyone. Please keep it to yourself."

That was more than a year ago, and Minerva had never found them in a dark alcove again. She observed them at mealtimes and staff meetings – the only times she really saw the two of them together – and besides the fact that Severus looked healthier than he ever had before and ate more than he previously had, there wasn't much to see. While they sometimes sat beside each other at staff meetings, they showed no inclination toward one another aside from an ease with the closeness of their bodies. Where other staff members would shy away from Severus's leg pressing against theirs on the squished staff room couch, Hermione actively seemed indifferent. She almost came to believe that she had dreamed the entire encounter. Until one particular staff meeting on September 20th, five years after Hermione Granger had begun teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Hermione, what's that on your hand?" squealed Septima, snatching the hand in question.

Young Professor Granger blushed. "It was my birthday yesterday. My, er, boyfriend proposed. Finally."

"Boyfriend?" squeaked Filius.

Minerva smiled behind her hand, her gaze wandering to Severus, who had entered the staffroom only a moment ago. He was leaning against the wall beside the door, face expressionless, but eyes aglow. Perhaps she hadn't dreamed the encounter after all. He did not seem inclined to sit. Keeping close to the escape route, perhaps.

Septima had continued to coo over the ring on the hand of her formerly favorite student. "How long have you had a boyfriend? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone!" The two had formed a loose friendship over the years that Hermione had been teaching.

Hermione had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Three years? We were keeping it a secret."

Severus cleared his throat and pushed himself off the wall. "Three years, one month, and three days," he said lowly, stalking across the room to her. He put a hand on her waist and pulled her toward him. She followed bonelessly, her face full of surprise. "Today would be three years, one month, and four days, my dear, but we are no longer dating. Today, we have been engaged for one day."

The staffroom was so quiet Minerva could have heard a pin drop. Hagrid burst into tears on the couch began to blubber.

"Will you get married here at Hogwarts?" Septima blurted. "We haven't had a wedding in, what… twenty years?"

"We haven't really talked about it…" Hermione looked up into the face of her fiancé. Minerva held her breath. "Yes, of course we'll get married here."

Hagrid blew his nose loudly into an oversized handkerchief. "I'm j-jes s-so happy for yeh both," he bawled. "Yeh d-deserve each other." He dissolved into tears again.

The couple seemed surprised by the lack of protest that they heard. It seemed that no one really cared that he was an ex-Death Eater or that she was nineteen years younger than he. Minerva snorted. She could have predicted that. After all, as she pointed out, there was really no one else who would be able to keep up with Hermione. And Severus would need a woman as pigheaded as he was.

This time at staff meeting, when they sat beside each other on the couch, Hermione was curled into his side, and Severus's hand was wrapped around hers. Minerva couldn't help but notice that his thumb continually ran over her ring and a small, unconscious smile lifted the corners of his lips.