Fate Set Right

Chapter 7

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August 2, 1975

Severus debated for at least thirty minutes if he should check if Hermione was awake. Yes, it was five-thirty in the morning and yes, he might miss waking up next to her and seeing her dreadful hair and her open mouth. But regardless, he was bored, and he missed her, and while he would never enter her room to watch her sleep, he was nearly to the point of going in and waking her up.

So he got dressed and headed downstairs. Maybe he could run around the property or see if Mr. McGonagall was already up and ready to start the day. He may have put in enough physical labor to cover the Herbology part of his potions ingredients, a new set of robes, textbooks, and still have more spending money than he had ever had at any other time in his life, but he wasn't about to stop if he didn't have to. He wanted the experience, knowing that working with a Master Herbologist would count towards part of a Potions Mastery. He wanted the reference for when the time to apply came.

And damn it, he wanted to actually stand a chance with Hermione.

He knew heading into his fourth year that he and Lily were drifting apart. She was such a Gryffindor, righteous and bold. She had allowed her housemates to convince her that any knowledge of the Dark Arts instantly meant a Dark wizard, that the lure of it was only strong for someone already down that path. And Slytherins were the worst. Never mind that the house stood for creativity and cunning, its defining trait of ambition twisted into power-hungry.

It didn't help that she was growing more beautiful, while he was merely growing into his nose and hoping puberty would pass soon so his hair and skin wouldn't be quite so oily. She made friends as easily as breathing, while even within his house he was considered nothing more than an acquaintance or a tutor. He was a survivor and he was doing what he could to survive.

But he would have given it all up, risked his neck every day, had Lily Evans said she wanted to be with him.

Going into their fourth year, she was everything.

And then they'd met Hermione.

When she had collapsed on Valentine's Day, he didn't want to admit he was scared. When she went to the McGonagalls' for the Easter hols, he didn't want to admit he missed her desperately. The invitation to join her during the summer felt too good to be true. He was absolutely sure he'd lose her when she showed up unannounced at Spinner's End. But she had stayed and didn't say a damn thing about the way he lived. There was no pity, no disgust, no ... anything. She was just there, talking to his mother, sleeping in a bed next to his, allowing him to lead the way up and down the disgusting river without a word of complaint.

He knew then that she was different in more ways than he had expected. He was infatuated with her. Maybe more than that: he was pretty sure he was being a complete idiot and falling in love with her. And while she may not have been much to look at on the train the year before, he'd have to be blind not to see she was becoming a beauty in her own right. She'd never be a Lily, but that just made her better in his eyes. And puberty wasn't becoming his friend any time soon. Severus feared Hermione would not give him a second look, that she'd fall for Lupin or some Ravenclaw. Maybe even one of the more attractive Slytherins.

He made sure to never intentionally introduce her to any of them.

He doubted affluence mattered to her, but he couldn't argue that money to buy things to woo her with couldn't hurt, even if it was only quills and parchment. Or flowers that doubled as potions ingredients.

Severus stopped short as he made it to the kitchen, seeing Cordelia McGonagall standing in front of a cauldron, ingredients laid out to her left and a book to her right.