Chapter 5
Hermione strolled through the corridors in the dead of night, a contented, relaxed smile gracing her lips. It was chilly with the winter weather approaching and the general coolness of the stone walls, but she enjoyed the gentle bite of the atmosphere. It kept her alert, kept her awake, kept her strong . She often did this on her last night spent at Hogwarts during these trips, and even social visits to see Minerva. Her last few years at the school had been filled with such turmoil and chaos, she forgot how peaceful Hogwarts could truly be.
As she remained lost in her thoughts, she turned a corner and slammed into what she initially thought was a buttoned brick wall. “Oh!” Hermione exclaimed, and suddenly two large hands were steadying her by her upper arms. “I’m sorry, Severus,” she gasped, shaking her head. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“I’ll need to mark the calendar,” Severus teased as he let go of her and tilted his head. “Can’t sleep?”
“Not much these days, no,” Hermione said with a bashful smile, shrugging her shoulders. “Between running the country and… dealing with things, it’s easier to just stay awake. I get more done that way.”
“The country thanks you for wandering the halls of Hogwarts at eleven p.m.,” Severus said, the corner of his lips twitching.
Hermione ignored his jibe. “What are you doing? Patrols?”
“Mmhm,” Severus hummed with a nod, his hands in his cloak pockets. “Minerva asked me to cover for her. It’s been quite an uneventful night, I must say. Everyone must be on their best behavior for the Brightest Witch of Her Age. I thought I’d caught someone and lo and behold…” He looked her up and down.
Hermione blushed, despite herself. “I hate that nickname, you know.”
“How about insufferable know-it-all?”
Hermione glared at him and shook her head. “Don’t even.”
Severus chuckled under his breath, a sound Hermione realized she’d never heard before. It made her insides melt. He was like a completely different creature – minus his usual dry insults. She didn’t take them personally anymore and he didn’t scare her as he once had done when she was a teenager. She found him annoying still, but she was sure the feeling was mutual. He’d practically said as much already.
“I always miss this place when I leave,” Hermione said, wanting to prolong the conversation instead of let it fall flat and give him an excuse to leave. “Even with everything that happened. My good memories here far outweigh the bad.”
Severus huffed. “How very sentimental of you.” He looked up and around, as if inspecting the cracks in the walls. “There are more ghosts haunting the castle now. Have you noticed? Children.”
Hermione frowned. “I know.” She hadn’t wanted the conversation to turn so depressing. “I’m surprised you wanted to come back and teach.”
“Nobody else would have me.”
So much for not depressing him, Hermione scolded herself. She started again. “After being here for so long, do you ever find any new nooks and crannies you haven’t seen before? I’m sure the castle is full of them.”
Severus nodded and gestured for them to start walking. “One of the things I quite enjoyed about becoming a teacher was the liberty to explore the grounds. There are many places here I never knew existed. I believe I have every nook and cranny, as you say, memorised now, but… I can see how you’d view it in a new light having returned after so many years. You ought to find that blasted map one of your pet apes has and bring it with you the next time you visit. I, of course, could never get it to work, but I’m not an idiot,” he muttered. “I know you wouldn’t use it for nefarious purposes like the Chosen One did, but it still might help you.”
Hermione shot him a look at the blatant insults to her friends, but let it slide. “Ape is a bit strong for Harry.”
Severus raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, then briefly down to her hand, then back up. “But not your husband.”
“No.” Hermione did not offer anything else on the subject.
Severus cleared his throat after a few beats of silence and continued. “I took a page out of your book recently.” When Hermione looked at him, he went on. “I suggested to Minerva that the house elves here in the castle ought to have assigned uniforms, rather than the rags they wear. If they’re going to work freely here, they may as well look the part,” he said. “She told me she wrote it down, but that there were other things that took precedence over it at the moment. Not necessarily a pressing matter, but at least it’s on her radar,” he muttered. “It’s no S.P.E.W., but…” he chuckled.
“That’s important. It’s a very good idea, actually. I’m glad to hear that you’ve been thinking about them.” Hermione answered, smiling to herself as she thought about S.P.E.W. Her first real foray into enacting change. In hindsight, she was extremely proud of her teenage self. She had always gone above and beyond, even when it had put her at extreme risk.
As they continued, Hermione looked up at him and bravely poked his arm. “Come on then. Show me somewhere I won’t know about.”
Severus looked down at her and she could tell he hadn’t expected that. She smirked when he nodded, then followed him. It wasn’t long before he led her through a hidden door – one she had never known existed until now – into a courtyard resembling a garden. “Wow,” she muttered, her eyes wide as she looked around. “Has this always been here?” It was utterly beautiful. Almost Italian in style, with rows and rows of beautiful flowers, various herbs and other plants that would be useful in remedies and potions. It was unsurprising that he knew about this place. It was beautiful. She had never known. It did make her wonder as to how many places there were like this. Never mind that bloody Room of Requirement.
She moved to sit down on one of the benches in the garden, taking a moment to truly take it all in. She smiled to herself as he perched down on the bench next to her.
“Isn’t it rather odd that we’re… socialising?” she remarked, before cringing at herself. Why did I say that? She didn’t want to make things uncomfortable. But, it was a little odd, just how comfortable that she felt around him already. “I probably didn’t word that well, but you understand, I’m sure. I spent so long afraid of you, quite frankly. Now that I’m all grown up, that seems completely ridiculous.”
“Not completely…” Severus mumbled.
She looked up at him with a small smirk, shaking her head. “I feel like you and I are going to continue to debate though. I’m sure.” She was confident that he’d allow her a peek into his other research once she officially got this project approved.
“Is that what we’re doing, Miss Granger? Debating?”
Hermione blushed, again . “Everything with you feels like a debate, Severus.” She looked around the garden and took it in. She would spend every spare second of her time here if she could. Her house had rather fallen apart in the last few years with her growing unhappiness. Ron was usually working with George and ‘too tired’ to do anything else when he came home, and she was running England so she didn’t have the energy either. Nor did she find it in herself to care. Their house felt like a prison most days, and Hermione got up as early as possible to go to work and came home as late as she could manage. There were some nights when she just stayed in the city to avoid seeing him. She never thought it would get this way between them, being total strangers in a loveless marriage, but age and post-traumatic stress had changed them. She wasn’t the same Hermione and he wasn’t the same Ron.
She often got jealous of the seemingly perfect relationship Harry and Ginny had. They had two children with another, she was sure, on the way soon. Their house was always filled with love and laughter, and every time Hermione visited, she never wanted to leave. She had always dreamed that’s what she and Ron would have, but she’d been naive. She’d been in love with the idea of love.
“Do you enjoy your position?” Severus asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
“Yes,” Hermione answered truthfully. “I really do. It’s hard, of course, but I never expected it to be easy. It’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
“Winning a war wasn’t fulfilling enough?”
“That was more like duty. All of this is optional.”
“Fighting battles that weren’t yours should have been optional. It shouldn’t have even been on the roster . Your youth should have been spent sneaking around with your friends and grabbing drinks at the Hog’s Head, not sneaking off to kill the most powerful Dark wizard of all time. Or brewing Polyjuice Potion.”
Hermione’s sad smile turned into an amused one. “You knew it was me?”
“The cat version of you was one of my favorites. Beating it by a very slim margin was Petrified Hermione. It was an exciting year for me.”
Hermione’s jaw dropped and she scoffed. “Excuse you! That was deeply traumatic for me, both times! I never thought I would go back to Regular Hermione.”
“Are you Regular Hermione now?”
Hermione paused and thought about that. She sighed again and looked down at her hands in her lap. She picked at the edges of her cuticles. “I am Minister Granger.”
“Not twenty-four-seven.”
“Feels that way.”
Severus frowned and regarded her carefully, a few ticks of silence settling between them. He broke it. “So no more setting robes on fire when people are trying to save your best friend from falling a hundred yards to the ground?”
Hermione snapped her head up, all sad thoughts forgotten. “You knew about that?”
“It was one of my favorite cloaks. I got it as a birthday present.”
Hermione couldn’t help but laugh quietly as she brought both hands up to hide her face. Groaning under her breath, she shook her head. “Gods, what a mess. I really thought I was helping. I’m sorry–”
“There’s no need,” Severus said, putting a hand up. “I know you were trying to help. So was I. Both our efforts seemed to have been in vain in that instance. But I don’t know if arson would have been my first idea…”
“Listen,” Hermione laughed as she dropped one hand to her lap, but continued visoring the other on her forehead. “You wouldn’t even believe half the things I’ve done. People have this image of Hermione Granger that just…”
“You mean the weekly spreads in The Daily Prophet about Minister Granger’s latest scandal aren’t peak journalism? I’m crushed.”
Hermione grumbled again and glared his way at the subject change. “Don’t even get me started on that bitch Skeeter. Should’ve kept her locked in a jar.”
Severus’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline and his eyes widened. “I… beg your pardon?”
Hermione blushed and cut her eyes to him. “Like I said… you wouldn’t believe half the things I’ve done.”
“You can’t just mention the words ‘Skeeter,’ ‘locked,’ and ‘jar’ without elaborating, Granger. I’m on the edge of my seat here.”
Hermione sighed and rubbed her forehead, then looked up at the charmed ceiling. “She is an unregistered Animagus. A beetle. In… our fourth year, during the Triwizard Tournament, I saw her transform and hide out in the hospital wing to dig up Merlin knows what on Harry. I got so angry I just… saw red… and trapped her in a jar. I kept her there until the end of the year. Kept her quill too.” She peeked a look at Severus, who looked a cross between downright horrified and endlessly amused. She widened her eyes. “I poked air holes in it! And gave her food and water!” Hermione exclaimed. “She lived, didn’t she?!”
Severus opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “I… Of all the things I expected you to say, none of that was included.”
“What else could have possibly warranted me trapping her in a jar?!”
“I didn’t know if our definitions of ‘jar’ varied,” Severus said with a smirk. “Thank Merlin you weren’t fighting for the Dark Lord. We wouldn’t have stood a damn chance.”
Hermione laughed under her breath and shook her head. “My kidnapping, arson, potion-brewing days are behind me, I’m afraid.”
“You’re a has-been, Granger. Happens to the best of us.”
“You’re one to talk,” Hermione said, testing the waters a bit. At the small huff of a laugh he gave, her chest tightened with happiness. “It’s getting late. I’ll be no good tomorrow if I don’t at least attempt to get some rest.”
Severus nodded and stood. “Alright.”
“Sorry I interrupted your patrols,” she murmured as they exited the garden. “I hope nobody got into too much trouble.”
Severus made a low noise in the base of his throat and held his hands behind his back as they stood at a crossroads in the corridor – one direction leading up to the staff tower, the other the dungeons. “With all the points I’ve stolen over the years, I suppose a night off is overdue. Thank you… for the company.”
Hermione smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll stay for breakfast tomorrow then head out after. But I will get back to you about your research. I promise, Severus. I told you it’s a priority and I mean that.”
Severus’s eyes softened and he nodded. “I believe you.” His eyes moved from her briefly, over her shoulder, then back down to her. “Goodnight, Miss Granger.”
Hermione smiled again. “Goodnight, Severus. Thank you for showing me everything.”
Severus didn’t do anything in response except walk away without another glance back. She watched him until he was out of sight.