Settling In

Chapter Seven: Settling In

Severus stormed into his quarters Sunday afternoon to find Hermione sitting in the parlor, reading. Her legs were curled up underneath her in his overstuffed chair near the window. The curls in her hair cast off small glints of light as the sun caressed it.

He slammed a tray with a ham sandwich and a goblet of pumpkin juice on it on a table near her. The pumpkin juice sloshed over the sides of the goblet and pooled on the tray.

Hermione squeaked in surprise, but recovered enough to ask: "What's this?"

"You didn't eat lunch," Severus said stonily. He was trying to control an outburst bubbling under his skin. "Your absence was noticed. Mr. Potter and Weasley kept whispering to each other, and several young women in Gryffindor gave me some rather rude looks."

"I wasn't hungry," Hermione said sheepishly. She was torn between being afraid of him and laughing in his face.

She put her bookmark in her book and closed it.

"How would you know if you were hungry or not?" Severus asked with a sneer. "You haven't put that book down since breakfast. You need to eat."

"It's not like I'm putting out a lot of energy," Hermione argued as she placed the thick tome on the small table holding the tray with her lunch. "I ate a large breakfast and I didn't notice the time."

"That's not healthy," insisted Severus with a frown. "You can easily exhaust yourself, and I see you doing that with ease. The Order needs its members in top condition."

Hermione's brows furrowed. "You're making that up! If that was true, Mundungus Fletcher would never have been recruited!"

Severus tightened his mouth. He didn't expect her to see through him so quickly.

"Be that as it may," Severus said loftily, "Fletcher will not be asked to do critical research and you will."

Hermione sighed. It was an excuse, of course, but if it was after lunch, she had been reading for hours without a break. He was standing stiffly before her: back rigidly straight and his arms folded tightly across his chest. His black eyes bored into her.

"Thank you," said Hermione as a small chill went up her spine. "You're right, of course. I'll go set things right after I eat."

-+-+-

"There she is!" shouted Ron to Harry as they soared high above the Quidditch pitch.

Harry waved to Hermione and she waved back from her seat in the stands.

Harry and Ron soared to her and clattered to a stop as their heavy boots landed on the old wooden stands.

"Where have you been?" Ron demanded as he pulled his helmet off.

"Where have I been?" Hermione asked, laughing. "In my quarters with a book. Where else would I be?"

"Of course you were," Harry said, nudging Ron in the side. "It's Sunday. Where else would she be?"

"So, when do we get to see this place?" said Ron, slightly embarrassed, but still annoyed.

"Whenever you want," said Hermione with a wide smile. "You seem to know more about my quarters than I do."

Ron beamed for the first time since Hermione's marriage to Severus.

"We'll change and we can go now," Harry suggested reluctantly.

Hermione knew Harry wasn't looking forward to spending any time with Snape, but this would give Ron peace of mind and Harry was willing to suffer.

"Perfect." Hermione said with a sigh.

-+-+-

Hermione opened the portal to the quarters she shared with Severus and stepped through with Harry and Ron.

Severus was sitting on the black couch in front of the fireplace reading scrolls, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. He gave them an obligatory sneer.

Harry and Ron took in the large window with a view behind Severus, the comfortable chair and table beside the window, the picture with a purring, dozing cat on it.

The wall to the right had a heavy wooden door. A silver tea service and delicate porcelain cups and saucers sat on a cart near the door.

"Err... hello, Professor," said Harry, wondering if this was a good idea.

Ron stayed silent for a change.

Severus took his glasses off and put them in a small black case on the coffee table. "Come to check on Hermione?"

"Something like that," said Harry sheepishly before Ron could open his mouth.

"I expect you'll find everything in order," Severus sniffed as he began liberally marking a scroll in red ink.

Hermione shook her head at all of them. She walked over to the purring cat and whispered the password that opened the portal to her room.

"Incredible," Ron breathed as the portal opened.

Severus looked over at the backs of the trio and allowed himself a small smirk. They'd be occupied all afternoon and wouldn't be able to get up to too much trouble. They were old enough they weren't too irritating and they were in another room.

Babysitting them would no longer be such a tedious chore. At least he wouldn't have to chase them around and loom out of dark corners at the appropriate moments anymore.

"Nice colors," said Ron sarcastically as he took in all the blue. "Feel like a Ravenclaw these days?"

Crookshanks, who was sleeping on the bed, raised his head long enough to blink at the boys, then lowered it and sighed as he settled back into his nap.

"Blimey, Hermione! I'm coming over just to use the loo!" Harry's voice came out of the bathroom.

Hermione had taken to just leaving the door open since no one came into her quarters besides her.

Hermione shook her head as Ron walked wordlessly over to investigate. He wasn't going to make this easy.

"Wow," said Ron, impressed in spite of himself.

He tickled the frog faucet under the chin and a white liquid trickled from it.

"What's that?" said Harry with a surprised look on his face.

"What's what?" Hermione asked as she walked into the bathroom.

"Ron tickled the frog and the water changed to... whatever this is," Harry said pointing at the sink.

Hermione frowned and looked at the trickle of white fluid. She reached out to stick her hand in it, but Ron stopped her.

"You don't know what it is!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione sighed, annoyed, and went back into her bedroom. She was back momentarily with a clear glass. She collected some of the substance and uttered the word carved on top of the faucet to stop it.

"We do have access to a Potions master," she said simply before turning to walk into the parlor.

"Severus?"

Severus turned and saw Hermione holding a cup of white fluid. Ron and Harry seemed shocked and appalled she had called him by his first name. He had to fight down a satisfied smirk in spite of himself.

"We were in the bathroom, and when Ron tickled the frog, this came out instead of water," Hermione explained. "Could you tell us what it is?"

"What?!" Severus exclaimed, looking alarmed. He laid the scroll he was reading on the coffee table in front him and quickly got to his feet.

"What made you tickle the frog?" Severus asked curiously as he took the glass from Hermione and swirled the liquid around in it.

Before they could answer him, he sniffed it, and then gave them a look of disappointment. He took a drink from the glass.

Ron, Hermione and Harry gasped as Severus swished the liquid around his mouth before swallowing.

"Are you insane?" Ron bellowed before he thought better of it.

"Did your mother tell you to say that?" Severus asked sharply.

"What?" Ron asked, confused.

"Nothing," said Severus, waving a hand at him. "It's milk." He sat the glass on the table with the scrolls.

"Milk?" asked Harry in a confused tone. "For if you fancy a drink in the middle of the night?"

Hermione snorted and all the men looked at her. To her surprise, Severus was included.

"Milk is good for your skin," Hermione explained. "I bet it's pumped down from the kitchens. I doubt Helga Hufflepuff could pop over to a Wizarding beauty shop for face cream before we were organized enough to even have a culture."

"Girl stuff," Ron said, shaking his head.

Harry and Severus nodded in agreement.

"Oh, honestly!" Hermione spluttered before she stalked back to her bathroom to figure out how to turn the milk off and the water back on.

Severus looked at Ron.

Ron looked at Severus.

Harry looked at Ron pleadingly. He had a creeping suspicion this wasn't going to end well.

Severus had dreaded this moment. He honestly expected the boy to hex him. Dumbledore expected him to be at least sensitive to the boy's emotions, but how could he be when he expected to be hit by a Killing Curse any moment?

Perhaps he could at least make the boy a bit less homicidal. If this wasn't handled correctly, it could compromise their entire assignment, if not the whole of the Order.

"I know how difficult this must be for you," said Severus slowly before the boy could say or do anything stupid.

"What?" Ron asked, his face an expression of bewilderment. Whatever Ron had been expecting, it hadn't been this.

Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder before Ron said something he'd regret.

"It would have been less difficult for us if you were of age or any of your brothers were available to petition for her," Severus continued.

"What?" asked Ron again.

The boy really was clueless.

"Your brother, Percival, could have petitioned for her," Snape explained patiently to the dumbfounded Ron. "However, it would have meant sacrificing his own intended and it would have looked strange."

"This didn't look strange?" Harry asked, interrupting what would have no doubt been a rude comment from Ron.

"A bit unconventional, yes, but not so strange," Severus said slowly. Harry was the last person Severus thought would help him diffuse Ron.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, relaxing a little. His worst fears had not been founded. Snape was not a bodice ripper in disguise. It didn't mean he was comfortable with the arrangement, it just meant he didn't feel immediately threatened.

"Powerful wizards can lead much longer lives than the general Wizarding population," explained Severus patiently. "Sometimes their spouses don't last a quarter of their life spans."

"What does that have to do with professors pairing off with students?" Ron interrupted.

"Imagine you're 130 years old, Weasley," Severus snapped. "You meet a charming witch 40 years your junior with a familiar last name. In fact, all the women have familiar last names because you taught each one that passed through Hogwarts. All of them. For the last 100 years."

Ron's jaw dropped. "Are some of the Hogwarts professors married?"

Ron tried to imagine a Madame Flitwick. The image he conjured made him shake his head to rid himself of it.

"A few in the past," Severus said stiffly. "It's very hard to see people as adults when you met them all as children."

"So, none are married now, except you?" Harry asked, hoping Snape didn't get angry at him for asking so many questions.

"Binns has a widow," Severus said shortly.

He didn't like discussing his thoughts on the subject. Some people saw it as romantic. Severus thought it was tragic.

"Binns?" Ron asked incredulously. "Are you still a widow if your husband's a ghost?"

"You live in hell if your husbands a ghost," Severus snapped at him.

Ron stood up straighter, startled. He bumped into Harry, taking a step back as Severus loomed over him.

"Lucinda loved that daft dry dishrag, for some crazy reason, and she wilted when he passed," Severus hissed.

Severus didn't notice Hermione standing in the doorway of her room.

"He wasn't really gone," Severus said in a low tone. "He was still here. Bound to the school. Correspondence was dictated to house-elves and delivered to her by owl. She got a notice of her husbands' condition in the same envelope as his death certificate."

Ron paled.

"That's horrible," said Harry, a stricken look on his face.

Severus pushed away the ancient memory of a red-haired girl with the same expression.

"That's not so horrible, Potter," said Severus silkily. "She spends her summers here, watching his transparent form, never able to touch him. He gets to watch her slowly age before him, knowing she will probably not meet him when she passes."

"How do you know she won't become a ghost?" said Hermione from the doorway.

"What?" Severus asked, annoyed he'd been interrupted.

"A ghost is someone who has strong emotional ties to something that keeps them here," said Hermione, sounding like a textbook. "Everyone knows that Binns was held back because it was his last session before the O.W.L.s and he was particularly obsessive about the details of the Centurion Tribunal that year."

"What's your point?" said Severus loudly, making the boys jump. His spooky demeanor vanished.

Hermione folded her arms. He may be her husband, but he was not going to torment her friends for amusement.

Harry and Ron both turned and sat on the couch as if this was something they'd witnessed a thousand times.

Severus felt off guard.

"My point is he's a ghost and she obviously has strong ties to him," said Hermione testily. "If given the option, she would spend eternity here with him. And he's not bound to the school. The O.W.L.s being in Hogwarts is a technicality of location. Moaning Myrtle used to go all over before the Ministry got her to stop causing mischief."

"Fine then," Severus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He can go for a country holiday if he wishes. His wife still has to have to be given the option and you can't predict that." He stood straighter and folded his arms.

"Yes you can, and she would be a logical choice for a ghost," Hermione said insistently.

As Hermione and Severus bickered, Harry's and Ron's heads looked back and forth, as if they were watching tennis.

"No you can't, and there are no probable theories to being transformed into a ghost. Also, being a ghost is not a pleasurable thing," said Severus, furrowing his eyebrows at her. "It would be illogical for her to choose it even if given the opportunity."

"Lucinda would choose to stay," Hermione insisted. "And there is logic to it. We're still learning about the process."

"We? What do you know?" barked Severus.

"Binns began the project my sixth year," Hermione said smugly, crossing her arms. "We interview all the new ghosts that were converted in the last year over Easter weekend. The idea came from Sir Nicholas originally."

"You really should have expected something like that, you know," Ron interjected to Severus from the couch.

Severus sharply turned his head to look at Ron.

"She doesn't ever start something if she doesn't have a hidden play." Ron shrugged. "Except in Wizard's Chess. She stinks at that."

Harry shook his head in agreement.

Severus looked at her dumbfounded.

"Are you serious?" Severus asked, loosening his stance slightly. "Where is your data?"

"Binns has it in his office," Hermione said smugly. "You can see it if you like."

Severus looked at Hermione and saw fiery defiance blazing in her eyes.

She knew she was right, and she wanted him to admit, as her professor, that she was more knowledgeable than him about something.

Infuriating know-it-all.

Her chin was even tilted upward, set stubbornly.

His body responded immediately and he swept his robes around himself dramatically.

'Where in blazes did that come from?' thought Severus embarrassedly. 'I've been spending too much spare time in the company of teenagers.'

"I would," Severus said, reluctantly impressed in her project.

How the girl found the time to do everything, he would never know. The Department of Mysteries would be banging on her door the day after graduation.

Hermione watched as Severus swirled his robes around himself dramatically.

'Annoying bat,' thought Hermione as he retreated to his private rooms. She gave a small smile to his bedroom door as it closed.

"That was incredible, Hermione," Harry whispered so Snape didn't hear him.

Ron just cocked an eyebrow.

Hermione shrugged.

"Forget it," she said as she shook her head. "Come on; let's see what else we can find in there."

-+-+-

Severus closed the door to his room and looked at the bulge in his trousers.

"Who asked your opinion?" he snarled at his erection.

The image of Hermione looking so annoyed at him swam in his vision.

Severus put his hand on the front of his trousers to try and push his problem away. A wave of pleasure surged through him. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the door for a moment before he realized what he was doing.

"Oh, bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he unbuckled his trousers quickly and made for the bed.

At least he could get this over quickly.

-+-+-

"If you smack it on the head you might get pumpkin juice," Harry suggested, snickering as Hermione and Ron examined the stone frog crouched by the sink in Hermione's bathroom.

"Don't be stupid, Harry," Ron muttered as he poked the stone frog with his wand.

It burped bubbles at him.

"Well that was interesting," Hermione remarked as she popped a bubble floating by with her wand. "So there's a way to integrate soap in the water? I wonder how to trigger it?"

"No idea," said Ron, shrugging. His face suddenly brightened. "I have a great idea!"

"What?" asked Harry, who was examining the ivy growing around Hermione's stone bathing pool.

"Let's get Colin!" Ron said as if everyone else in the room was stupid.

"Creevey?" Hermione asked, confused.

"We need his camera!" Ron said, doing a little dance in his excitement.

Hermione wished she knew what he was so excited about.

"His pictures move," Ron began patiently.

"So small things will reveal themselves," Hermione finished softly. "Brilliant, Ron."

"Thank you," he said, taking a deep bow.

Severus left his rooms in a far more relaxed state to find Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Colin Creevey entering his rooms.

Colin was carrying the camera bag the Gryffindors finally talked him into, rather than carrying his camera everywhere. Severus said nothing but gave Hermione an odd look.

As the boys entered Hermione's quarters she stayed back to explain to Severus what they were doing.

He hoped he didn't look or smell odd. He prayed to God his cheeks didn't turn pink.

"Well, if the Ministry asks anyone, we seem to have a valid marriage," Severus said flatly.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"What other Slytherin Head of House would let a pack of Gryffindors trot through his private quarters as they pleased?" Severus gave her a stony look.

Hermione raised her hand to her mouth in embarrassment.

"I am so sorry," she said, turning pale. "I just thought it would make a nice afternoon project and kind of got carried away."

"Who would have ever guessed you would become involved in a project and get carried away?" said Severus sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," she said again, quieter.

"Hermione, that was my idea of a joke." Severus said with a sigh. "I knew I wouldn't be lucky enough to avoid your friends forever."

Hermione smiled at him slightly. He wasn't pleased, but he wasn't surprised, either.

"I can't believe you never explored in there," said Hermione, changing the subject.

"I did," Snape admitted reluctantly. "I believe it was quickly apparent how abysmal I am when dealing with charms. I never thought of a camera. It was a clever idea."

"It was Ron's idea," admitted Hermione.

"I would like to see your results," Severus muttered, honestly sounding interested instead of just patronizing.

"Of course. We'll let you know," said Hermione.

-+-+-

Colin ran down the rows of wooden tables in the Great Hall to where Hermione, Ron, and Harry were eating their lunch a few days after the pictures were taken. A large brown envelope waved in his hands.

"Did you get the film developed?" asked Hermione, making room for him beside her.

"Just finished," said Colin, smiling and opening the envelope.

"Are those the pictures you've been waiting for?" Seamus asked, nodding at the envelope. "Of Hermione's new room?"

"Yea," said Ron, reaching for a picture.

"Wow," said Harry looking over Ron's shoulder.

The picture was a close up of the frog faucet. Bubbles rose out of its mouth. Occasionally one of its feet rose to scratch the side of its head.

"What do you think that means?" Harry asked.

"Don't know," said Ron, shrugging. "But at least it gives us an idea."

Hermione was looking at a picture of her bed when she started slightly.

"What?" Ginny Weasley asked.

The boys were still staring at the frog, speculating how it could work. Hermione quietly slipped the picture to Ginny, who began giggling quietly.

"I wouldn't let Ron see that," Ginny said.

The ivy on Hermione's bed seemed to unwind and trail over the bed from four corners. She could only surmise they were some type of restraints.

"Not sure I'd let Snape see it either," Ginny snickered as she handed it back to Hermione.

Hermione laughed and reached for the other pictures in case there was anything else sensitive showing.

"Hey!" Ron protested as Hermione took a picture from him.

"We have Charms next," Hermione said simply. "Lunch is almost over. We can go over these later."

"Alright," Ron said reluctantly as he handed over the pictures.

-+-+-

Severus walked down the stone corridor to his quarters.

Hermione had classes the rest of the afternoon and he had scrolls from the fourth years to grade. His life was a monotonous, never-ending cycle of homework, grading, and experiments.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he got in his quarters. He breathed in the fresh air coming in from his open windows. The house-elves must have decided his quarters were in need of an airing.

Fresh orange flowers sprouted out of a black ceramic pot on the coffee table.

That house-elf really was fond of the girl.

There were new flowerboxes with red flowers outside the large window in the parlor. Long tendrils of silver and green ivy snaked out of mounted small pots on either side of the window.

The place did look much more pleasant. Besides, both types of flowers could be harvested for potions ingredients. He would have to remember to thank the elf later for his consideration. Hermione would appreciate the gesture.

Severus walked over to the open window in his receiving room and took in a deep breath of fresh air. He could smell the vapor rising from the lake in the warm weather.

The scrolls could wait. Today was a perfect day to take in a little recreation.

-+-+-

Hermione decided to go to her quarters to do a little reading before dinner.

The library was her normal choice, but her new books were waiting for her in the small bookshelf Dobby had built near her bed.

"Should we bring you something to eat later?" Ron had teased, knowing she would never get to the Great Hall if she stuck her nose in a book.

"I'm near the kitchens now," Hermione reminded him. "I'll grab a bite later."

The boys had reluctantly said their good-byes to her, and she began her descent to the quarters she shared with Severus.

Hermione opened the door to their quarters to find light spilling in through all the windows, including through the doorway to her room, which should have not been open, and the door to Severus' room, which she had never seen open before.

Hermione drew her wand and went to Severus' door first.

She peered into his room to see a large bed with a black bedspread and a mahogany headboard. There was a small table near the bed with an oil lamp on it. A small wooden chest with a lock lay at the foot of the bed.

The walls were lined with books and a window was set into the wall to her right. It was wide open, thick black curtains pulled back and thin, white under curtains moving with the breeze.

The wall to the right had two doors. Hermione guessed they were for the closet and bathroom since she saw no wardrobe. She decided not to peer into those yet, but uttered an incantation that locked them from the outside.

She didn't want any unpleasant surprises if this was an ambush.

Hermione approached her rooms warily. As she began to walk into them, she met Crookshanks, who meowed loudly.

"Hello?" she heard Severus call out.

"Oh, hello," called out Hermione, feeling a bit silly. "Be right in."

She hastily ran back to his rooms and unlocked the doors before he thought she was crazy. She would have to try harder to make a good impression if she wanted to be in the Order.

Hermione entered her rooms to find Severus perched on the oversized ledge outside her window. She tossed her book bag on the table before walking over to him.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, slightly worried. Her best thought was that some type of moss growing on the castle was a useful potions ingredient. Her worst was that he'd been Imperiused and was about to jump to his death.

As she walked over to him, realization dawned on her and she rolled her eyes at the ceiling.

"Fishing," said Severus, snapping his line out over the water.

Hermione peered out the window and saw that behind the decorative gargoyle, there were was a generous ledge.

"There's room for another if you'd care to join me." He smirked as if he already knew her answer.

"I think I'll pass," said Hermione, turning slightly green as she looked down several hundred feet to the water. The line and reel were obviously enchanted. "Thanks anyway."

"Suit yourself," Severus sniffed. He felt a tug on his line and focused his attention on it.

Hermione turned to see Dobby entering her rooms with various containers.

"Will Madame want her dinner with the professor?" Dobby asked politely.

"I suppose I will," Hermione sighed. She had planned to spend her evening reading, but if dinner had already been arranged, there was no sense in not taking advantage of the situation. She took her book bag off the table and set it near her bed. "The table is fine, Dobby. Thank you."

Hermione watched as Dobby unpacked rice, seaweed, sesame seeds and several small trays. He lifted the lid off a small bowl of crab and began chopping.

"You know, Dobby," Hermione said as she watched him prepare ingredients, "you don't need to wait on us. We're capable of going to the Hall for meals like everyone else."

"It is Dobby's pleasure, Madame!" Dobby beamed. "And it is no problem at all since Madame and Professor sleep so close to the kitchens!"

Hermione wanted to point out that the kitchens were at least two floors away, but instead she asked: "What are you preparing for us?"

"Sushi, if I can catch a decent sized tuna," Severus said from the window, struggling with his line.

"There's no tuna in this lake," Hermione said, thinking about the time a distant cousin had treated her to sushi in London.

"There is if Dumbledore decides there will be," said Severus with a smirk as she watched him flick his wand in the direction of the lake.

She supposed she'd been naive to think he'd reel it in by hand when he could use magic.

Dobby began chanting under his breath as the fish glided through the air to the table.

As Hermione watched, the fish was cleaned, cut, prepared, and chilled before it even reached its destination. The scraps were whisked into a small iron pot as the thin slices of fresh fish fell onto the cold rice dobby had packed into small squares.

"This is wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed. "Thank you."

"Thank you for letting me break into your quarters to provide us dinner," Severus said as he climbed in through the window.

"Like I really had a choice," Hermione said sarcastically, although she really hadn't minded. She had spent the last seven years sharing a room with two other girls. One person passing through occasionally was still far more privacy than she was accustomed to.

Hermione watched as Dobby chopped vegetables, seafood and different wraps to prepare dinner for herself and Severus. The result was a rainbow of food, set neatly on colorful trays across the table. Small black enamel trays of pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce divided the table, and chopsticks lay near the black six-sided plates Dobby had set out.

Dobby cleared away his containers and bowed slightly before he left the room.

"I got the pictures from Colin," Hermione said as she walked over to her book bag. She fished out the large brown envelope.

"Excellent," said Snape as he sat down and put his napkin in his lap.

Hermione sat across from him and handed over the envelope. He opened it and started looking at the pictures as he reached out his chopsticks and started filling his plate.

Hermione watched as he flipped through the pictures. He stopped abruptly and his eyes widened.

"What?" Hermione asked, praying he wasn't staring at the picture of the bed.

"Has your bathroom mirror ever spoken to you?" Severus asked sharply.

"What? No! Why?" Hermione frowned at him.

Severus got to his feet and drew his wand.

Hermione reached up slowly and took the picture from him. It was a close up of her towel rack. In the background, an elderly, white-haired witch peered out from the mirror.

She winked.