Chapter 7 - Goldmines and Golddiggers

All canon characters belong to JKR. The plot of this story is taken from a movie called "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." I thought it would be interesting to write something a bit different for our favorite couple.

Thanks to June for her beta work and the wonderful suggestions.

Chapter 7 – Goldmines and Golddiggers

Hermione had more than one cup of tea with Reginald. They talked for almost two hours. She finally left after looking over his shoulder and seeing the time on the clock against the wall. With a rushed apology, she bid him goodbye and practically sprinted out of the shop, then Apparated to Harry and Ginny's to pick up Viktoria.

Once they got home, she sent her daughter to have her bath, and she began to make dinner. As she was humming in the kitchen, she detected the now familiar scent of sandalwood and the cold chill that announced the arrival of Severus.

"By your late arrival, and the fact that you are humming that annoying tune, I gather things went well," said Severus as he materialized next to the counter.

"Moon River is not annoying. It was my grandmother's favorite song. And as you asked so nicely," she said as he smirked, "yes, things went well."

She began to chop some vegetables as she continued to speak.

"I left a manuscript at a small firm called Mercury's Wings,"

"Mercury's Wings? That's the worst firm in the wizarding world!" he now bellowed. "All they publish are sickly sweet romance novels." He rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his hair in aggravation.

"How do you know that's all they publish?" she asked accusingly.

"I know because, during my years at Hogwarts, every single book I confiscated from silly hormonal girls was a romance novel published by Mercury's Wings. I suppose I should be thankful you did not know their name." He now began pacing. "The last thing I wished was for my book to be associated with that sort of rubbish."

"Oh, Professor, calm down. It doesn't matter what they published before. The important thing is that they publish this book. If it's any consolation to you, I don't think Mr. Mercury himself is pleased with the type or quality of the material he has been given to now. You should have seen him when he looked at the cover," she said excitedly, now putting down her knife and turning to him. "I swear his eyes almost popped out of their sockets!"

Severus looked to her. For a moment, she thought she saw him pout.

"Really?" he drawled.

"He said that a book about Death Eaters would be a gold mine. And he was so excited to see it was about you."

"Well, of course he would be. I am a war hero, after all." He crossed his arms and lifted his head.

She held back a chuckle and turned to her chopping once more.

"I have to return Wednesday. I'm sure Mr. Mercury will offer me some sort of a publishing deal. Reginald told me that almost no one is offered a deal with their first book, and..."

"Reginald? And whom might I ask is Reginald?" he sneered. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the fact that there was yet another male name in the picture.

"Oh, well, Reginald is a writer I met while at the firm. He was very nice, and it was he who asked Mr. Mercury to give me a chance with the book." She continued her gathering of ingredients and now began to look for a pan. "He was very encouraging when I was telling him about the book over tea."

"Tea? You had tea with him?" He rolled his eyes and was pacing now. "I'm sure he was quite interested. He's obviously a gold digger, as Muggles say."

Hermione threw her head back and laughed.

"You can hardly accuse him of that! I have nothing for him to take. I can barely make ends meet, you know that."

"Yes, now you can hardly make ends meet, wait until Wednesday. I am certain a woman with a publishing contract would be quite the catch for him or any man."

"Well, I would like to think I'm quite the catch for any man now." She huffed.

"You know what I mean, don't try to turn this around now." He stood with his arms crossed once again and pouted like a child.

Hermione shook her head. He was difficult when he became like this, as she realized during their time writing the book.

"If you are going to pout, then you can just go off to wherever you go, and come back when we can have a adult conversation about this."

"I do not pout," he said, crossing the room. He looked down and began to inspect her vegetables. "And you have chopped these defenseless vegetables to the point of mush."

"Viktoria likes them like that."

"Why don't you just give the poor girl a straw along with her dinner?" he scoffed.

"Oh, you are impossible sometimes, do you know that?" she quipped.

He smiled then.

"Yes, I know," he agreed, and then disappeared.

It exasperated her that he always disappeared like that. It made it so that he always had the last word. But it made him happy, so she accepted it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two days passed quickly, and Hermione now found herself at the doorstep of Mercury's Wings once more. When she walked in, this time her greeting was quite different.

"Mrs. Krum, please come in, come in." Wilfred practically attacked her as she walked through the door. "How lovely to see you again. Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you, Mr. Mercury."

"Wilfred, my dear; call me Wilfred. No tea then; well, perhaps coffee? Pumpkin juice? I have some scones, muffins; would you like a sandwich, then?" he offered excitedly.

"I've already eaten; thank you, Wilfred." She sat down in front of his desk, and Wilfred walked around to sit. "Did you finish the book?" she asked hopefully.

"My dear, I could not put it down! Look at me," he said as he motioned to his shabby state. "I haven't slept, I haven't showered, I haven't eaten! I tell you, Hermione ... may I call you Hermione?" he asked as she nodded. "I tell you I devoured your manuscript."

Hermione smiled. If he was this excited, she could only imagine what the rest of the wizarding population would think.

"Now, I have drawn up a contract." He took from his desk a parchment and placed it in front of her. "We have non-copying clauses for wizarding books so you need not worry about someone taking your idea. As you see, Mercury's Wings will assume all costs for printing and advertising. As such, we expect to of course retain the right to a portion of the royalties."

"Umm...how much of a portion are we talking about?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, it's almost not even worth mentioning, really..."

"How much?"

"Seventy-five percent."

"What?" Hermione stood. "Why, that leaves me with twenty-five percent of the profits. That's hardly even worth the time and effort we...I've put into this."

"But Mrs. Krum, you have to understand, this is a standard contract for a first time writer. Why, I'm putting up the money to have the book printed and shipped and promoted. It's more than fair."

"Yes, fair for whom exactly?" Hermione yelled. She leaned forward and placed her hands on the desk, and looked down at the chubby man. "Now you see here, Mr. Mercury. I will not be cheated out of the profits of this book. I put my heart and soul into this. I wrote many a day and night. You read it; do you think I was able to sleep well after writing some of those things? I am a single mother, and I have a small child I need to provide for. I wrote this book so that I might be able to give her things she needs to have a normal and happy life.

"I will not allow you to take the food from my daughter's mouth so easily. I know this is a good book. I know I can take this to any other firm, and they will happily give me whatever I ask. Since you have taken the time to already read it, I will give you the opportunity to right this while I am still in an amiable mood. You either take twenty-five percent and give me seventy-five percent, or I will take my book elsewhere." She crossed her arms and stood straight and firm. She was outraged. How dare he take her work and give her nothing in return. While she was sure that twenty-five percent of the book sales for such a popular book would allow her to live comfortably, she was also sure that Severus would have a fit if he knew someone like Wilfred Mercury was reaping in the rewards from his life's story instead of her.

"All right, Mrs. Krum, no need to be hasty," said Wilfred, trying to pacify the situation.

"I am not being hasty. But if you thought twenty-five percent was good enough for me, then it is good enough for you. Do we or do we not have a deal?"

Wilfred sighed. He knew that if he let her walk out the door, she would take her book to another firm. Better twenty-five percent of a best-selling book than nothing. He made the necessary changes in the contract and offered her a quill. Hermione sat down to read over the changes, and smiled.

"Thank you," she said as she signed the contract, and they shook hands. The printing of the book would begin immediately. He assured her that the books would be on the store shelves by that coming weekend, then set his elves to work on the production of the materials. She also had him add a clause for any translations of the book for other countries. Hermione wanted it made clear, this was her book and she would be paid for her efforts, in any language.

Hermione stepped out of the office and onto the street a new woman. She would never have to worry about Viktoria's welfare. She knew deep down inside that the book she had written with Severus' words would be successful. She looked around the nearly empty street, and wished she had someone to celebrate with.

It would have been nice to be able to share this moment with Severus. But she knew it would have to wait. Severus was not able to leave the home. He told her at the beginning that whatever reason there was for him not having moved on was also keeping him in the house and on the grounds. Every so often she would be out in the garden and he would appear to her, but there was a certain barrier he could not cross. His home and his land were like a prison to him in the afterlife. She became sad thinking about it. He deserved better. After all he had done, he deserved better.

She walked slowly up the street towards the Apparation point, in a sort of daze. Her thoughts of Severus came to a halt as she bumped into someone.

"Hermione," said Reginald. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Hello, Reginald. It's nice to see you again." She smiled.

"And lovely to see you as well. Oh wait; you had an appointment with Wilfred, didn't you? I hope it went well," said Reginald.

"It went quite well. He's going to publish my book," she answered.

"Brilliant! That, my dear, is cause for celebration. You will allow me to buy you lunch, then?"

"I couldn't, really. I must be getting home." She saw the disappointment in the man's face. He had been so kind to her on Monday, listening to her talking about her book. Before she could even think about what she was saying, she found herself inviting him to dinner. He readily accepted, and agreed to meet her at her house at six that evening. As Reginald walked away, she realized what she had done.

'Oh, no,' she thought. Surely Severus would not be pleased. He had not even seen the man and had already accused him of wanting her for her money, money she did not even have yet. 'Well, it's my home now, and he will just have to deal with my visitors,' she thought. She only hoped Severus would not give Reginald the same welcome he had given Viktor's sisters.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I wanted to point out the name Wilfred used for a certain book. ShiloDark has written a lovely story called "The Beauty within the Beast." In this story she mentions some books written by Merlin. Any similarity between the book mentioned by Wilfred and Shilo's story is coincidental. I'm sorry if this caused any confusion. As I was writing this Merlin was the first name that popped into my head when wondering what other book would be seen as a classic in wizarding world.

By the way, if none of you have read her story, please do so, its a lovely piece of work for anyone who loves Lucius/Hermione stories.