Since 1970

Chapter 52

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

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Chapter 52:

November 25, 1995

(the present)

Hermione dashed from the girls' dormitory to look for Ginny, but she was cornered by Harry and Ron at the bottom of the stairs.

"Mione!" Ron called cheerfully.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade?" asked Harry tentatively.

Hermione smiled at the boys and raised her hands to touch their shoulders. "Good morning! Yeah, I'm going to Hogsmeade. Wanna meet up sometime later? Have you seen Ginny?" She looked around the common room.

Ron's ears turned pink and Harry blushed. "Ginny said she has some catching up to do with Transfiguration, so she's decided to not go to Hogsmeade today..."

"And uh... we cannot meet you later," Harry admitted nervously.

Hermione turned to her best friends and smiled kindly. "Oh, of course! You're going with Cho and Lavender, right?"

Ron's eyes widened. "You... you're not mad?" he asked.

She beamed and pulled Ron into a hug. "Why would I be mad? I'm happy for you, Ron," she said sincerely.

Ron returned the hug and even lifted off the ground happily. "Thanks, Mione."

"I guess I'll just see you around, then," she told the two wizards.

"Yeah. And you know, we can go down together," Harry said cheerfully. "Just the three of us."

The three of them went down together and on their way to the Entrance Hall. They still had half an hour before they leave for Hogsmeade, so Hermione told the boys she would go looking for Ginny. They told her to go to the library and she thanked them. But instead of going to the library, Hermione headed to the dungeons. She knocked on Severus's office and she heard his voice telling her to enter.

Severus was behind his desk, currently marking papers. He was scribbling on parchment rather aggressively, his forehead creased. Hermione chuckled and approached him, standing across from him at the desk.

"Was that my paper?" she joked as Severus put away the parchment he had just marked and looked up at her.

Severus gave her a tired smile and warded the door before pulling back his chair and opening his arms for her.

She walked around the desk to stand between his legs. Severus hugged her and buried his face in her chest. "You never write nonsense essays," he mumbled contentedly.

She smiled and ran her fingers to his hair fondly.

"But I prefer your essays the first time you went to Hogwarts... with me. After you were cursed and then went to school for the second time, Mona and I had a theory that your know-it-all attitude was because of the curse."

Hermione hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Get off me," she replied but neither of them made any move to pull away. Severus laughed.

"I think we should get going. Where's Leo? And Ginny?" she asked.

Severus pulled away and rose to his feet. "In my private chambers. Come on, let's check on their playdate." He took her hand and they entered his private chambers together. They found Ginny and Leo on the couch, the former was reading a book and Leo was listening, his eyes fixed on his Aunt Ginny. But the moment she approached, Leo jumped into Hermione's arms.