Chapter 15: Scientific Planning

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

As usual, I'd like to thank VIVAvivacious for all of her help as my beta.

--

So perished the hope founded on the wonderful being who thus ceased to be. In the study room to which he was never to return, the water buttercups he had brought from the country were still fresh.

– Marie Curie

--

Newtown, Reading: 9th January, 2010

The two weeks following Christmas had raced past, and soon Hermione had returned from her extended trip with Snape to a sweet, secluded cottage in southern France. Her first stop the day after her arrival home was, of course, the home of the Potters. As she walked up from beside the shed in the Potters' backyard, she contemplated the happy events that had occurred over the past three weeks.

She had gotten engaged to Severus Snape, enjoyed a lovely Christmas with him and all of her friends, who had congratulated the two of them and welcomed Snape into the fold, and then had spent two weeks in paradise with not a care in the world before the new school term forced her to return. She was visiting her best friends that day with a very specific purpose in mind: to ask Ginny and Harry if they would consent to being part of their wedding party.

She walked up to the kitchen door and knocked before letting herself into the house. She could hear talking coming from the front sitting room and made her way towards it. The first person she spied was little James, sitting on the floor surrounded by crayons and colouring pencils with a big sheet of butcher's paper spread out beneath him.

'Aunty 'Mione!' he squealed excitedly, jumping up and running to hug her around the legs. 'I've been drawing and colouring in!'

'That is wonderful,' she replied, walking further into the room while holding the boy's hand.

She saw Ginny sitting on the lounge chair with a magazine in one hand while she gently rocked the bassinet that baby Lily was sleeping in with the other. Albus was fast asleep in the armchair before the fireplace, and Harry was nowhere to be seen as far as she could tell. Shucking off her winter coat, she hung it over the arm of one of the chairs and sat down beside Ginny while James returned to his masterpiece.

'How was the holiday?' the younger woman asked with a grin.

Hermione smiled back. 'It was very nice,' she answered. 'Lots of reading and picnics and spending time out of doors.'

Ginny smirked at her. 'So there weren't any other extracurricular activities you indulged in while you were there?' she asked curiously.

Hermione blushed shyly then. 'We weren't intimate that way, if that is what you are asking,' she replied. 'We haven't actually done much more than snog a fair bit and feel each other up. I'm not sure when I got the impression, but I think we might be waiting until we get married. Not on purpose, but I think he is trying to respect me or some silly chivalrous nonsense like that.'

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. 'Well, I have to say I am surprised. I thought that Snape would be one of those take-as-he-likes kind of men,' she said with a giggle. 'Are you going to tell him he doesn't have to take it so slow?'

Hermione shook her head. 'I kind of like that he is such a gentleman,' she admitted. 'He's not like other men.'

'He certainly is not,' Ginny concurred. 'So, what brings you by our humble household this morning?'

'I had a very particular request to make,' she replied with a smile. 'I'd be very happy if you would consent to being my maid of honour. I was going to ask Harry if he'd stand in as one of Severus's attendants as well.'

Ginny beamed. 'I would love to!' she squealed, hugging Hermione tightly in her excitement. 'Oh, this is so exciting! So have the two of you decided a date for the wedding then?'

Hermione nodded. 'Yes, we were thinking about having it in the middle of March, so we have to get some of the wedding planning happening rather soon so invitations can be sent out to everyone.'

'That makes sense. Well, Harry should be getting home soon, and I'm sure he'll be thrilled to accept as well,' she said with smile. 'We are both truthfully very happy for you, Hermione.'

Hermione smiled back at her friend, and they sat and watched for a while as James doodled. A little while after, Albus yawned and stretched to wakefulness. He joined his brother on the floor, and they shared the paper and crayons. Harry returned from his errands two hours later and greeted Hermione with a huge hug, then took a seat in the armchair Albus had previously been occupying. Hermione asked Harry to be a part of the ceremony, and he graciously accepted.

'After all, Snape is not really so bad any more,' he said teasingly.

Hermione threw Albus's stuffed dinosaur at him and pulled a face. 'You had better be nice to him, Harry Potter. That is my fiancé you are talking about,' she quipped.

Hermione stayed until nightfall, and she left having been assured that her friends were going to support her marriage to a man who had once been the bane of their existence at Hogwarts. She took her coat off and hung it up in the cupboard by the front door of her home. She wondered for a moment where the two of them would live once they were married. Would they live in her house? Or would they live in his and put her house up for rent?

Resigned to ask Snape that question the next time she saw him, Hermione went to the kitchen to fix herself something to eat for dinner.

--

Greenwich, Ipswich: 17th January, 2010

Snape wandered from one side of his laboratory to the other, pacing while he read through the contents of Lupin's journal.

He had stumbled upon a bit of interesting information in the middle of the journal, which had given him pause. He and Hermione had been working slowly on the research for the Lycanthropy cure, making certain they did not miss anything crucial. They had to be sure that every stage they went through was perfect so they did not have to come back later and revise mistakes.

Lupin made reference to another werewolf he had met whilst travelling the Asian continent who had been afflicted with the genetic mutation for a lot longer than Lupin himself had. Apparently, during their time travelling through Nepal, they stumbled upon a witch doctor who had been including a certain root of a tree that grew near the Mahabharat Range in a potion she gave to others who had also been afflicted. The root was of the broad-leaf rhododendron, common to that area, amongst others; however, it was the soil in the area that was an important key to the success of the plant in the treatment.

The remaining problem was the combination of that plant with the existing ingredients in the Wolfsbane potion.

In this instance, Snape had no choice but to consider giving up on simply improving the Wolfsbane potion, which would mean having to come up with something else. It was something he and Hermione had discussed before, but they had decided to leave that as a second option. They had done a little research into the rhododendron family before, but as they had discovered, the plant itself was exceedingly difficult to match up with other ingredients without causing a negative chemical reaction. Lupin's journal entry simply confirmed yet again what they had already discovered which, annoyingly, would set the two of them back a few weeks in their progress.

He sighed wearily and closed the journal, placing it back on the table with the rest of his and Hermione's combined research. Walking upstairs, he went to his sitting room and lit the fire, tossing some Floo powder into it and calling out Hermione's name and address. He was aware she had made plans to be in London that day to speak with a wedding planner, but he had hopes he would catch her either before or after her errands. Her head appeared in the flames moments later, much to his relief.

'Hello, love,' she said with a smile. 'What can I do for you?'

'We might have a bit of a problem with the Lycanthropy cure,' he said seriously, watching as her smiled faded into a worried look. 'It isn't something we can't solve, but it does mean a fairly decent set-back.'

'Okay, what seems to be the problem?' she asked, having appeared to resign herself to the idea of problems.

'It's a problem with the ingredient that we were hoping to use to increase the strength and longevity of the potion – the rhododendron roots,' he replied. 'We won't be able to use the Wolfsbane potion as a base to work from.'

Hermione nodded slowly and sighed. 'All right, I will come through,' she said. 'If you could just move back for a moment...'

Snape moved out of the way and allowed Hermione to enter his home through the Floo connection. The flames returned to their normal colour, and she immediately moved into his arms and gave him a hug. He returned the embrace and kissed the top of her head before they parted. He grabbed her hand and led her towards the stairs that went down to the lab.

'I went over our own research countless times and found no way to incorporate the root into the potion,' he explained. 'And Lupin's journal confirmed this. The root from the plants that grow in that particular area of the Himalayas neutralise all types of gene mutation and disease, and we will need to incorporate it into a potion base that will increase the strength and make the mutation neutralisation permanent.'

Hermione nodded. 'I suppose we'll be going from square one now,' she said with a heavy sigh. 'I was so convinced that using the original Wolfsbane would be the key to this project.'

'It was wishful thinking, my dear,' he said, reaching out to tuck an errant curl behind her ear. 'On both of our parts. Do not despair, though; there will be plenty of time for us to complete this potion together. There are things coming up in the near future that are slightly more pressing.'

'Like what?' she asked with a smile.

'Our wedding plans, perhaps?' he answered. 'If I recall correctly, you were going to meet with a wedding planner in London today. Have you already been there?'

'Yes, I met with her this morning, actually,' Hermione answered excitedly. 'I think she will be just perfect for the job. We talked about venues for the wedding and the reception. She suggested a garden wedding with a Ministry of Magic representative presiding over the ceremony. I think I would prefer to do something a little different.'

'Did you want to tell me what your idea was?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

'Well, if you approve of the idea, I would really life for us to get married in Scotland. There is a beautiful Wizarding town on the coast with an anvil. A Ministry-registered official could preside over the wedding – Minerva, I am certain, would be more than happy to perform the ceremony. We might be able to get permission to have Alice and Frank attend, which would allow you to have him as your best man.'

Snape nodded when she finally finished speaking. 'All right, that sounds like an acceptable plan. We will have to invite people fairly soon, I imagine, if we are to give them enough warning, and book the location. And about the reception location?' he asked curiously.

'We could have a little dinner party at Grimmauld Place. Harry would be happy to allow us to use the dining room there,' she replied. 'It's such a big place, and it would mean that Molly would be satisfied as well – she's been nagging me since Christmas to allow her to help with the wedding plans and the catering for the reception.'

'Well, by all means, if that will get Molly to cease her incessant pestering, allow her to do that,' he replied, walking over to where she was seated on a stool beside the bench and wedging himself between her legs. 'Is there anything else about the wedding plans that you would like to impart to me?'

'No, I believe I have told you all there is to know for now,' she said with a smile, wrapping her arms around his neck. 'However, if you would like to involve yourself in the plans a little more, I would be more than happy for you to have some input. Unless you are just happy for me to have my way with the planning?'

Snape chuckled and shook his head. 'I will write you a list of people I would like for you to invite, and anything you want me to handle, I will be happy to do for you. However, weddings are more or less a woman's territory.'

Hermione laughed, and Snape couldn't help but to lean in and nuzzle her neck, placing a kiss just behind her ear. She stopped laughing and made a small mew of pleasure, so he continued, kissing his way down her neck and pausing to nip at her collarbone. He stopped and looked up into her eyes, and he saw that her pupils were slightly dilated.

'Should we perhaps start working on the project?' she asked, wriggling in his embrace to straighten the jewel-green silk blouse she was wearing.

Snape shook his head. 'Let's go and sit upstairs,' he said, moving out from between her legs and grasping her waist to lift her off the stool. 'I've been working all day, and I'm tired.'

He led the way upstairs and then stoked the fire, tossing on a few more logs so it built up again. He joined her on the lounge before the fire and summoned a blanket to drape over her legs. She tucked her legs up beneath her and rested her head against him. He lifted his arm so it was draped around her and held her close while they simply stared into the fire.

'Severus?' she asked after a while.

'Hmmm?' he replied tiredly with a yawn, leaning against the chair heavily and closing his eyes.

'I wanted to ask you a few things regarding our future,' she said, sitting up a little in his embrace so she could see his face.

He opened his eyes and looked at her then, curious to hear what she wanted to talk about. 'Do tell,' he prompted.

'I was wondering, when we are married, where are we going to live? Are we going to live at my house? Or did you want me to live here with you and rent my house out? We never really talked about what we would be doing there...'

Snape pondered for a moment. He would be happy to move into Hermione's home with her, if it was her wish. However, if she was not against it, his house was slightly larger, and he would be thrilled if she were to consent to moving into his home. They could renovate her house slightly and make it suitable for renting, and if they ever had need of it or wanted to sell it, they could do that, too.

'It is entirely up to you, my sweet,' he answered with a smile, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead. 'I am perfectly happy to live in either home.'

Hermione smiled at him then. 'I think it might be nice if we live here together,' she said with a smile. 'I'd be happy to rent my home out for a while. It would be a nice little bit of extra income for us. We could eventually sell it one day.'

Snape nodded. 'I think that arrangement would work very well for us,' he agreed willingly. 'Are you content to continue living there until we are married, or would you want to come and live with me sooner?'

'Would you want me to come and live here with you?' she asked, looking at him in surprise. 'I didn't think you'd be willing to sacrifice your personal space so soon...'

Snape smiled and shook his head at her, making a clicking noise with his tongue. 'You are a silly woman,' he said simply. 'I do not consider you living with me an invasion of my personal space. I would be more than happy to have you come live with me before we are married. This way we could make any reparations on your house that are required sooner, and you could do with it as you wished.'

'I would love to come and live with you,' she said quietly, a blush infusing her cheeks with colour. 'But where would we put all of my books?'

Snape felt a laugh bubble up and did not bother to hold it back. He threw his head back and let it fill the room, much to Hermione's surprise. 'My darling woman, we will be able to fit your books in the library upstairs. There is more than enough shelf space for new additions. And there is also room for another bookshelf down here.'

Seemingly pleased by his response, she settled comfortably back into his embrace, and the two of them resumed staring into the fireplace as Hermione chattered away about plans for her house. Snape listened to her, feeling his eyes drift closed as her sweet voice washed over him. He really was in love with that woman.

He woke a little while later lying down on the couch with Hermione asleep and snuggled up against him. The blanket was covering the two of them, and the only light in the room came from the glow of the logs still burning in the fireplace. He paused to look down at her sleeping face for a moment and smiled sleepily.

Yes, Severus Snape was a very happy man indeed.

--

To be continued.