and i know it's over still i cling
The subsequent days pass by Hermione in a haze as she slowly returns to the routine she had missed so much. Upon her return, the castle had greeted her like an old friend, its halls cocooning her in an unmistakable warmth as she passed through them. The professors had also all been mostly glad to see her upon the start of the term, except for one Professor Snape but Hermione wasn't surprised. He had resumed his old post as Potions Master and head of Slytherin house following his release from Madam Pomfrey's care. Both Hermione and Harry had played a large part in getting the Ministry to overturn his conviction of Professor Dumbledore's murder, seeing the memories he had shared with Harry had been a major part of their decision. Hermione assumed that the Ministry still wanted to keep an eye on him, as he had been a double agent for nearly two decades and they must be unsure of what his plans were, so, along with a few others from the Order, she assumed that he had been coerced by the Ministry to remain teaching at Hogwarts for the time being.
Shaking thoughts of the professor out of her mind, Hermione continued on the path ahead of her, the early morning air nipping gently at skin and hair. It was now the weekend, meaning all Eighth Year students were allowed to travel to and from Hogsmeade Village freely earlier than the rest of the student body. Professor McGonagall had allowed for it as all of the Eighth Year students had been offered to return with the condition that they may come and go from the castle on weekends, but visits further than Hogsmeade had to be presented to the headmistress prior. Most of her peers had remained in the castle that morning, mainly Harry, Ron, and Ginny who were still fast asleep in Gryffindor Tower, but Hermione had plans that morning.
Before boarding the Hogwarts Express, Sirius had expressed to her that he would be in Hogsmeade the following weekend for a reason he didn't specify but that he wanted to at least see her. So there she was, walking alone on the path to Hogsmeade to pay her biological uncle a visit. He had told her to meet him around eight that morning at the Shrieking Shack, somewhere she hadn't been or thought much about since her third year at Hogwarts, but nothing more in regards to what their visit would be about. Hermione thinks that there's no real reason for the visit, only that Sirius wants to spend time with his long-lost niece, which Hermione completely understands. She'd love to get to know Sirius outside of him being a fellow member of the Order and Harry's godfather, she would also like to learn about her biological parents and who would be better to tell her about them?
A visit she hadn't told any of her friends about, knowing that at least Harry would want to come with, meaning Ron and Ginny would most likely tag along as well. She had told them that she was going to pay Tomes and Scrolls, the local bookshop, a visit early that morning and, luckily and quite obviously, none of them had volunteered to join her.
The world around her was quiet as she walked, the rest of the world slowly waking up around her. She hadn't seen anyone when she was leaving the castle, which didn't strike her as odd as it wasn't even 7:30 by the time she had left. Despite this, Hermione couldn't help but feel as though she was being watched and had been for a while now. The hair on the back of her neck raised, fear shooting through her although she couldn't bring herself to turn around to see if she truly was being stalked by something. It had been stupid for her to leave the castle alone, with how many Death Eaters and their supporters were still on the run, most of which would love nothing more than to take down Hermione Granger.
Her feet slowed until she was standing perfectly still, unconsciously holding her breath as the pressure she was applying on her wand began to make her hand scream in pain. The sounds of birds and insects in the distance were the only things that reached her ears, as well as the pounding of her own heart in her chest. The bend in the path ahead obscured her vision to see if there was anyone distantly ahead of her but that wasn't what was worrying Hermione. It felt as though something was, and had been, nipping at her heels, waiting with bated breath for her to turn around and face whatever it was. Bracing herself with a deep breath, Hermione clenched her wand as hard as she could before she spun around on her heel. She had to turn around, to convince herself that whatever was stalking her was merely a figment of her paranoid and war-addled mind.
And there was nothing.
Only the sight of the path that she had already traveled down in front of her and Hogwarts looming in the distance greeted her as she spun around, her heart launching itself into her throat so fast it startled her enough that she lost her footing. Hermione's vision swam for a moment as her feet slipped, and within a matter of moments, her ass hit the dirt where her feet had just been. It happened so fast that Hermione didn't realize what had happened until pain hotly shot up through her body from where she had landed on her backside, a hiss escaping her lips. Everything in her at that moment wanted to give up, just to lie down in that exact spot until someone found her, but Hermione knew that she couldn't do that. She still had to meet Sirius and she was very easily going to be late if she didn't get going soon.
"Granger? What are you doing?" A familiar sneering voice asks from behind her.
The sudden voice makes her jump back into a standing position, her wand slipping out of her grasp as she jumps as a small yelp tumbles out of her lips. The owner of the voice, Professor Snape, is looking at her with what could only be described as a confused look when she finally turns to look at him, her wand still discarded on the ground nearly perfectly in between the two of them. What was he doing out of the castle so early in the morning? The first thing Hermione notices about the Potions professor is that his recognizable black robes are nowhere to be seen, but have been replaced by a more casual black button-down shirt, black slacks, and black loafers. He is skinnier then Hermione's ever seen him, but that could be because he wasn't wearing his robes or a result of him nearly dying only a mere few months ago, but his skin wasn't nearly as pale nor his hair as greasy. He looked good, younger than he has in years and Hermione could almost describe him as handsome.
Wait.
There's no way that she was checking out her professor, especially not Professor Snape!
"N-nothing, sir, I slipped" Hermione stammers out, embarrassment hot in her cheeks.
"You....slipped?" He repeated with an arched brow, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he spoke.
Hermione nods, her cheeks still hot and undoubtedly still red.
"What are you doing out of the castle so early? And alone?" Professor Snape questions her, all emotion except annoyance gone from his features.
Should she tell him the truth? That she was on her way to meet Sirius? From looking through the memories that he had given Harry, Hermione knew how the Marauders had treated Professor Snape during their days at Hogwarts together so she doesn't think that would necessarily go over well. But lying to a teacher was something that Hermione never liked doing, unless it was Umbridge then it was completely acceptable in her opinion. But she didn't have time to be interrogated by the Potions professor, if she was late she didn't want Sirius to think that she was flaking on their plans. Especially with how new their familial relationship was, or at least it's new to her, she didn't want him to think anything bad of her, or think that she thinks badly of him.
"I'm meeting up with someone in Hogsmeade, sir" Hermione says, purposefully vague in the hopes that he won't ask any more questions.
The professor regards her for a moment, looking around them the next, before returning his attention to her.
"Just because McGonagall allows you Eighth Years to go to Hogsmeade whenever you wish, that doesn't mean it's safe to go traipsing around by yourself" Professor Snape all but snarls at her, but Hermione catches a flicker of concern in his dark eyes.
"Sir? What do you mean?" Hermione asks, knowing there haven't been any Death Eater sightings in the area since the Battle of Hogwarts.
"What I mean is that any fugitive Death Eater would love nothing more than to kill you to get back at Potter!" Professor Snape snapped at her, looming above her with his fists clenched at his sides.
The weight of his words settled uncomfortably against Hermione's skin, dragging her mind away from any thoughts of making it on time to her meeting with Sirius to thinking about what if someone had been following her. Had it been a Death Eater they wouldn't have wasted any time in using the killing curse against her, whether out of revenge or to prove a point Hermione wouldn't get to know. She wanted to shy away from the truth in the professor's words, to think that she would be able to handle herself if anyone decided to try and attack her but she was scared. Scared of the fact that she may have to fight again, scared that there were truly people out there who would love nothing more than to see her and her friends die, scared that she would be afraid for the rest of her life, forever looking over her shoulder and holding her wand until her knuckles turned white.
"They wouldn't come this close to Hogwarts again" Hermione can hear herself naively say in an almost whisper.
Professor Snape barked out a laugh at that, Hermione jumping at the sound. Had she ever heard the man laugh before? Surely not, but of course the first time would be completely at her expense.
"You're not that naive, Granger, don't act like it. It'll get you killed" He says.
Seamlessly, he uncharacteristically crouches down then and wordlessly picks her wand up from the ground. Now able to see the path behind him, Hermione's eyes widen slightly as sees another familiar face coming towards them. The obvious distaste on her biological uncle's face, visible even at a distance of a couple dozen feet or so, morphs into an expression of confusion mixed with anger when his eyes land on Hermione while Professor Snape is crouched down. Why are the two of them on the path to Hogsmeade at the same time? Sirius was supposed to be waiting for her at the Shrieking Shack! Was she much later than she thought that she was? The black-haired man stands back up in one fluid motion, curbing Hermione's train of thought for the moment, his hand now containing Hermione's wand outstretched between the two of them like an olive branch, an unreadable expression on his face. Why was he being somewhat nice to her? He'd never been even remotely kind to her, let alone any of the students, since she was a First Year so why was he starting now?
"Thank you, sir" Hermione says as she takes her wand back.
Before the Potions professor could say anything to her in return, Sirius' voice rang out in the morning air around them.
"Hermione!" He calls out to her.
Despite the man's voice being nearly directly behind him, Hermione notices that Professor Snape doesn't physically react to him at all. His facial features morph and are taken hold by a very similar look of distaste that Sirius had just been wearing, the man in question now walking around Snape so he could practically be standing between Hermione and the Professor. The latter of the two looks between Hermione and Sirius with an arched brow, conveying none of his thoughts on his face.
"What are you doing out here, Black?" Professor Snape all but spits at the other man.
"I don't see how that's any of your business, Snivellous" Sirius snaps back at him, a sneer on his face.
Professor Snape turns his attention back over to Hermione, looking at her with a gaze that she could only describe as inquisitive. Would he think the same thing that Ron did, that she and Sirius were in some sort of intimate relationship? The thought of someone else thinking that made bile rise in her throat but she knew that Professor Snape would be the last person that Sirius would want to know the truth about their relationship.
"See you in class, Granger" Professor Snape says, pointedly ignoring Sirius entirely as he begins to walk off in the direction of the castle.
"Got nothing witty to say, then?" Sirius called after him, clearly trying to get a reaction out of the other man.
"Sirius! Grow up for Merlin's sake!" Hermione chastises him, annoyance quickly building inside of her.
Could he not act like an adult in the presence of Severus Snape? Would the two of them always be transported back to their Hogwarts selves whenever they were forced to interact with each other? The thought didn't help to assuage the annoyance Hermione was feeling, no it made it worse in fact. Professor Snape was a proven war hero, despite what some people wanted to say, and all Sirius could do was greet him with childlike insults?
Hermione sighs.
"Snape wasn't bothering you, was he? You were a bit late so I figured I'd come and try to find you" Sirius explains, wholeheartedly ignoring her previous comment.
"No, he wasn't. We just ran into each other, is all" Hermione explains.
Sirius nods.
"Wanna grab some breakfast? The Three Broomsticks must have something prepared already" Sirius asks her as they both begin to walk towards the village.
"Sure" Hermione says with a nod.
"Say, did your adoptive parents take everything to Australia with them?" Sirius asks after a beat of silence.
Hermione looked at him for a moment, confused as to why he'd be asking her that. From what Hermione could remember, they had left the house with almost everything inside it when they sold it, to her without knowing that it was her as she got one of her Muggle friends to stand in for her during the purchase, before leaving for Australia. Most of their clothes and personal effects were taken but none of the furniture was and none of Hermione's belongings were either. She had been back to the house only once since the war ended, the memories of her childhood mixed with the knowledge that the Grangers would never remember what she did was too much for her at the time. Still most of the time, a day had yet to go by where she didn't miss her parents.
"Not everything, why?" Hermione asked in return.
"Regulus, your father, left you a letter after he died. It was sent with you when the Grangers adopted you" Sirius explains.
The thought that she possibly had something tangible left behind by her biological father nearly brought tears to her eyes. Of course, there was no way that she could bring him back from the dead but with this letter, she could have a little piece of him, something that he specifically wanted her to have. The Grangers kept all of her baby stuff in boxes in the attic of what is now her house so there was a possibility that it was in one of those boxes, kept up there until the time was right. That possibility ignited something within herself, the need to learn about where she came from burned brightly within herself and she would stop at nothing until she knew everything there was to know about the House of Black and the Travers family.