A New Year

Hugs and chocolate go to Madbrilliant for the beta-ing of this fic.

................................................

Chapter 9 – A New Year

Following Christmas day, many of the guests of Grimmauld Place began to slowly drift away and back to their own homes and lives.

Hermione had been quite unwilling to return to Hogwarts so soon and had been delighted when Severus had suggested that she stay at Grimmauld Place with Harry and Ginny until after New Year's. The only catch had been that Severus had already promised to return to Hogwarts for New Year's so that Filius Flitwick and the other staff that had stayed could take a short break during the holidays. As disappointed as he was that he would not be able to ring in the New Year with the woman he had come to love, he wanted her to be with her family – because her friends were her family.

Hermione, meanwhile, was extremely put out that Severus was going back without her, but she would never tell him that. She just wanted to spend the evening with him. But for the sake of harmony, she was going to stay with the Potters. Merlin knew she loved Harry, Ginny, and little Lily. But she had spent the past few New Years with them already, and she wanted to share one with him – the man that she had come to love with her whole heart.

So when Severus descended the stairs with his black formal teaching robes back in place, ready to head back to Hogwarts, Hermione stood silently in the front hall waiting. Harry and Ginny had gone down to the kitchen to give them a little privacy. She clutched her hands behind her back a little awkwardly, looking at her shoes as if there was something suddenly interesting about them. Severus watched the witch as she did this. She was very beautiful that morning, dressed in a nice floral skirt and a white blouse, with a clingy red sweater to complete the outfit, her curls clipped back out of her face. But even then, she was trying to hide behind them.

'Hermione,' he said in a low, even voice.

She looked up at him then, flashing him a small, unsure smile. 'You're ready to go back then?' she asked, knowing the answer already.

'I'm afraid I must,' he replied, walking to stand right in front of her.

'Yes, I suppose you do have to,' she said with a small sigh. 'Well, are you going to Floo back or Apparate?'

'I will Apparate back,' he answered, hesitantly touching her shoulder. She smiled at that, which emboldened him to let his hand slide down her arm, ending at her hand, which he took lightly in his own.

Hermione looked down at their joined hands and felt a wave of sadness sweep over her at his touch. She wasn't going to see him again until the end of the holiday. He had insisted she take a long break from the castle for all of the hard work she had done in the weeks before the Yule Ball. Severus saw her downcast eyes and saw her sad expression. Surely she was just a little upset, but it would pass when he was gone, and she would have a good time with her friends. Using his free hand, he coaxed her to look up at him with the hand on her chin.

'I will see you the day before term resumes, yes?' he asked, trying to comfort her in his own, awkward way.

Hermione nodded. 'I will be back bright and early the day before term starts,' she replied, having won that argument with him.

He lifted the hand he was holding up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles gently, before letting her hand fall between them, and stepped back. He Apparated with a pop, leaving Hermione standing in the hall by herself. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked to the kitchen door, heading downstairs to join Harry, Ginny, and Lily. They were all at the table: Harry with a mug of coffee, and Ginny with Lily in her lap, trying to feed the little one her breakfast.

'Is the coffee good this morning?' she asked, having not gone down to the kitchen that morning yet.

Harry nodded. 'Yes, Professor Snape made it this morning,' he answered, letting a small smile creep onto his handsome features, knowing it would throw Hermione.

She walked over to the counter and poured herself a cup of strong black before joining Harry at the table, sipping it. 'It is good,' she said with an almost-sigh. Who was she trying to fool?

'You know, Hermione, you don't have to stay here with us just because you think you have to,' Harry said slowly, trying to see if she would take the bait.

'Don't be silly, Harry. Of course I want to spend time with you,' Hermione snapped, but even then, her voice was a little absent and there was no sting behind it.

Ginny and Harry both observed her behavior, watching as she idly stirred a spoon around in her coffee, leaning her head on one hand, her elbow propped-up on the table. She really had it bad for the former Potions master. They were both very happy that she was in love, and that the stoic man, snarky as he was, seemed to love her back. They both had feelings for each other, and were both now aware of it, and yet they were not really doing anything about it. If ever there was a pair that went around the process of starting a relationship slower than a turtle race, it had to be them.

But after Christmas they had all promised to back down and not push any more. They may have planted the seed, but it was their turn to take the reins and see if their tentative friendship and relationship would bear fruit. Ginny fed another spoonful of mashed pumpkin to Lily, who was gurgling and trying to suck on her hand at the same time, getting herself a little messy. She decided to put Hermione to work as a distraction. If they were going to ring in the New Year that night at Midnight, they were going to have to cheer Hermione up a little beforehand.

'Hermione?' she asked gently.

The brunette looked over at one of her best friends. 'Yeah, Gin?' she answered, removing the spoon from her coffee and drinking the last of it.

'Lily is a little messy,' she began, indicating the messy young thing on her lap. 'I was wondering if you could give her a bath for me while Harry and I nip out to the store to buy some groceries.'

She smiled, knowing exactly what they were trying to do. Well, she had to be honest; it might even work for a little while. 'I'd love to give her a bath,' she said, standing and going over to pluck Lily out of her mother's arms. 'Come on, messy; let's get you all fresh smelling for mummy and daddy.'

About an hour later, Harry and Ginny returned with bags full of shopping. Hermione was sprawled out on the rug in the sitting room with Lily and an assortment of her stuffed animals and picture books. The fire was stoked and warming them, sending a lovely glow around the room. Hermione was a real natural with their daughter, and they hoped that she would one day know the joy of holding her own baby against her chest, to teach how to walk, talk, and read books.

'We're back,' Ginny announced as Harry hung their coats on the stand.

He picked up the shopping back and took everything down to the kitchen, giving Ginny a pointed look on the way. While they were out, they had a little discussion about what they were going to do with Hermione. Harry had suggested that they let her do what she wanted to all day without trying to distract her. Then they would send her back to Hogwarts that night to make sure that she got to be with Severus on New Year's. Not just for Hermione, but for both of them.

'You're a natural, 'Mione,' the redhead told her.

Hermione looked up at her friend and smiled. 'It's easy, I guess,' she replied. 'You just sort of let them do their thing, and learn for themselves when they are like Lil. I used to babysit a lot of the neighborhood kids in the summer while we were at Hogwarts when I wasn't staying with your family at the Burrow.'

'I didn't know that,' Ginny replied.

'Mum and Dad always regretted that they couldn't give me any other siblings to play with when I was young. So they tried their best to make up for it, and encouraged me to be friends with the other children in my street, and even tried to encourage me to keep friends with people from school,' Hermione answered with a wry smile. 'But it was kind of hard to try and have conversations with people who only knew that you went to some sort of boarding school in Scotland.'

Ginny nodded. The pair of them sat in front of the fire until midday, just talking and swapping stories about their childhood that they had not had the time to share before. It was fun, and simple, and it had made Hermione feel a whole lot better then she had that morning. At lunch time, Harry finally popped in to tell them that lunch was served, and all three females had given him a kiss on the cheek for being lovely, and they headed down to the kitchen to eat.

After lunch, Hermione retreated to her room for a short nap as she had hardly slept the night before, tossing and turning because she had known that Severus was leaving. She slept the afternoon away without interruption, and when she awoke, she went for a long, hot shower to soothe her muscles and joints a little. Dressing in comfy jeans and a loose, dark green sweater, she went downstairs to find Harry and Ginny alone in the sitting room, snuggling together on the couch. Once she was fully in the room, she could see that Lily was there too; asleep and curled up in a ball on the armchair, with a pillow under her little head and a blanket draped over her.

Later on still, dinner was a quiet affair. Everyone seemed to have very little to say, and they all just ate in peace. Lily was looking around, grinning with chubby pink cheeks, making the occasional gleeful gurgling sound, making everyone smile in spite of themselves. By eleven-thirty, Lily was up tucked in her bed, and Harry and Ginny were standing in the doorway to the sitting room, watching their friend stare sullenly into the fire from her armchair.

'Hermione, please go to him,' Harry said to her seriously.

'I said that I would stay here,' she replied quietly, barely even whispering.

'We'll send your things back to you tomorrow. Please just go to see him right now and be happy,' Ginny said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

Hermione looked up at them and saw the seriousness of their expressions. Stunned as she was, she still nodded and stood from the armchair, hugging them tightly. Wordlessly, she went to the fireplace and Flooed back to her chambers at Hogwarts. She stepped into her rooms there, cold from lack of use, and its location. Squaring her shoulders, she then decided to Floo to Severus' office and check if he was there. She stepped into the green flames, called her destination, and stepped out of the fireplace, dusting off imaginary soot when she got there.

'Hermione, what are you doing here?' asked a voice from an armchair near the fireplace in the office.

'Ringing in the New Year with you, of course,' she replied, walking up to him and giving him the most loving smile he had ever seen.

He stood up then, and without waiting another minute, pulled her into a fierce embrace, holding her to his body closely. The grandfather clock in the room began to chime then too, and he pulled back from her so that he could see her beloved face. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and, as the clock struck its last chord, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her.

'Happy New Year, Severus,' she whispered into his ear when they parted.

'Happy New Year to you,' he said before kissing her lips chastely again.