Chapter 6 - Homes Change

Two days after the new year, Severus found himself standing outside an unexceptional house in one of the quiet, leafy suburbs just north of city proper. Based on what he had seen while searching, it wasn't a large house by Sydney standards, but it certainly looked comfortable enough. The house was situated on a rather narrow block and built in a terrace-like style: straight up and down with balconies on the upper floor, fronting the street, yet it was not actually connected to the neighbouring houses.

Just to be sure, Severus compared the house once again to the picture that Hermione had allowed him to take directly from her memories. Something was off, but after a whole day Apparating all over Sydney, the exact point of dissimilarity escaped him, and he couldn't be arsed to give it any more thought. It was the same dark brick he had been looking for and on a funny road that only had one side to it – the other side of the street was just a fence with some bushland and other roads below. It had to be the house.

He circled the true address on the map he had been using and took one more look around to ensure that he would be able to bring Hermione the next day.

He was pleased with how quickly she was recovering. His plan, as it currently stood, was that after visiting her grandparents' old house, he would give Hermione the White Pages telephone directory he had acquired. There were only just over a dozen listings for 'Wilkins, W' in the directory. With Hermione still unable to perform magic, Severus thought he might suggest that she call all the numbers and ask for Wendell or Monica first before he went to assess any promising candidates.

He also hoped that taking Hermione out to see her grandparents' house would provide a boost to her spirits. He tried his best to entertain her and make her feel like she was part of what was going on, but after the excitement of the new year, he could tell that she was bored and frustrated at being left in the hotel, even as she struggled to regain her energy after that night's revels. If nothing else, her assistance, however minor, would begin to ease the strain on his shoulders. He needed a rest.

The raucous laughter of several kookaburras jolted Severus back to awareness. He fervently hoped that no one had noticed him loitering outside the house, staring avidly, while showing no intention of going inside. Cursing himself for appearing the fool – after all, he didn't need witnesses to feel like an idiot – he promptly turned on his heel and strode off down to street to find a more sheltered spot from which to Disapparate.

Curry for dinner tonight?

Hermione's reaction when she first saw the house was not what Severus had expected.

Eyes wide, she bit her lip then choked, 'Oh god, what happened to Gran's roses?'

Severus immediately gathered that the odd-looking, colourful plants that had been artistically arranged in the front garden were a change for the worse, in Hermione's opinion. He realised, too late, that the plants were the difference that he had been too tired to take in when he saw the place the day before. Most of the shrubs – judging by the very prickly nature of everything he saw, they were probably Australian natives – were still quite small. They looked quite recently planted.

'It... it looks so different...'

Severus could have reminded her that since her grandparents no longer occupied this house, she might have expected changes, but he held his tongue. Instead, he wrestled with whether or not to pat her on the shoulder. He decided against it.

Just as he was about to ask her if she was ready to leave, a car drove up the road and into the car port just to the left of the garden.

Bugger.

He knew that he should have Disillusioned them both, but he had become so used to walking around with no one giving him a second glance that he had overlooked the possibility of being caught on someone else's front lawn...

A middle-aged man, with brown hair streaked with grey, emerged from the car door closest to them. Severus' reflex was to stand in front of Hermione, but evidently, he did not manage to do this before the man caught sight of them both.

'Hermione? Is that you?'

The man sounded so stunned, he had frozen halfway out of the car, clinging to the top of the door for support.

'Hermione!'

The woman's startled voice broke through the fog in Severus' mind. These people knew Hermione.

They knew her.

As he tried to catch up with what was happening, the woman – he didn't even see her start to move – had somehow thrown herself across the intervening space and grabbed Hermione into the fiercest hug Severus had ever seen.

'Hermione! I can't believe it... I simply can't believe it. Oh! My darling girl!'

Severus struggled not to appear confused as the woman, whose rather bushy ash blonde hair marked her as Hermione's mother if nothing else did, continued to verbalise an odd mixture of endearments and commands as huge tears rolled down her cheeks.

'Tom! What are you doing over there in the car? Oh, sweetheart, I was so worried about you. Tom? Aren't you coming to say hello to your daughter?'

The man, who was still leaning on the car door as if it was the only thing stopping him from crumpling to the ground, at once seemed to unfreeze. Striding over to his wife and daughter, he all but picked Hermione up when she left her mother's embrace for his own. Recollecting himself somewhat, Severus wondered for a brief moment whether he should just quietly Apparate back to the hotel, but the choice was taken from him when a very bright-eyed Alexandra Granger clutched his hands in her own, happiness written all over her very expressive features.

'Hello. I'm Alexandra Granger, and that,' she said, turning slightly towards Hermione and the man, 'is my husband Tom. Please, do come in. I know that I definitely need a cup of tea.'

Severus tried to protest, but he was brushed off in a way that left no room for argument.

'Don't be silly. It's the least we can do after you brought our daughter to us. What is your name?'

'Snape. Erm, I mean, Severus Snape.'

'Ah, I've heard that name. Are you any relation of Professor Snape? Hermione often wrote to us about her teachers. She always spoke very highly of Professor Snape; she said that he always challenged her.'

Severus wasn't sure what surprised him more: that Hermione had always spoken highly of him or that Mrs Granger had a vice-like grip on his elbow and was forcefully steering him through the front door of her house. Before he knew it, he was seated in the Granger's living room while Alexandra fetched the tea things. Feeling like he was finally getting abreast of recent events, Severus supposed that it wouldn't hurt to sit for a little while. He was quite interested in hearing about how the Grangers had come to recover their memories.

As for Hermione, she was also sitting on one of the sofas, obviously still coming to terms with everything that had happened in the last five minutes. The extent of her scrambled thoughts and feelings was revealed when the first question she asked after her mother had served the tea was, 'Mum, what happened to Gran's roses?'

There was silence for a moment before Mrs Granger seemed to recollect herself enough to answer.

'Oh, dear, I didn't think that of all things would upset you,' she said, patting Hermione's arm affectionately. 'Without proper care, they didn't survive by the time we moved down here.' She then explained to Severus, 'My father was a barrister, and it must have amused him to write one of the most complicated wills known to man. He bought this house when he and my mother moved down to Sydney in their retirement. After they passed, my parents left me the house, but due to all the complications and delays sorting out parts of Dad's estate back in England, it was left untenanted for a few years before we reclaimed it.' Alexandra wrinkled her nose slightly. 'In any case, roses were always very much my mother's thing.'

Severus shifted in his seat and tried to relax. Mrs Granger, at least, seemed to be a very open person. In his experience of open people, they also tended to ask a lot of impertinent questions, hoping or expecting a return of openness. He hoped that Hermione would distract her parents sufficiently during his time at their house.

'So... how are you?' Alexandra smoothed one of her daughter's errant curls. 'You look like you've been ill.'

'I have been, but I'll tell you about it later, Mum. Tell me about you and Dad. I... I didn't expect to find you, well, as you are...'

Severus was not surprised to see Mrs Granger's face cloud over, not with anger, but with confusion and sadness. Seeing his wife's distress, Mr Granger spoke up for the first time.

'Well, I think you're going to have to tell us a little about how it all started first, love.' He spoke calmly without reproach, but his keen gaze demanded an answer. Severus could very much see this man as the peacemaker between his more tempestuous wife and daughter.

Hermione winced but raised her chin defiantly before responding. 'You remember everything I told you all about Harry and the prophecy made about him when he was a baby?'

While her parents nodded, Severus froze and struggled to contain an explosive rant about irresponsibility. So, Granger had told her very Muggle parents about sensitive Order-only information! Little wonder she had sent them wiped clean as Obliviated jellyfish to Australia! However, before he could interject and tell her exactly what he thought of her actions, Hermione had already launched into her story.

'You see, things got a bit more serious after my sixth year at Hogwarts – when Professor Dumbledore was killed.'

Tom and Alexandra nodded. Severus' fingers twitched as he waited for one of them to call him a murderer, but other than a brief glance from Alexandra in his direction, as if to see how he would react, the moment passed.

'Everything is all right now, Voldemort is gone,' Hermione quickly added, 'but at the time, I was really worried that you would both be targets if you stayed in England. And I was right. Voldemort took over the Ministry and round up Muggle-borns and their families. He... he had so much power. I went on the run with Harry and Ron. I hoped that if you had no memory of me and I sent you here, you'd be safe. I couldn't let him find you, not when you couldn't even fight back.'

Hermione was in tears now, and Severus was acutely aware that Mr and Mrs Granger had absolutely no idea how bad the war had become by the end. He added quietly, 'While I do not necessarily approve of the way Miss Granger went about keeping you safe, Mr and Mrs Granger, I do believe that she acted on a well-founded fear.'

'There was fighting?' Alexandra's eyes had gone wide. She had been fixed on Hermione when she saw how upset her daughter was, but now she had her gaze on Severus, a horrified expression on her face.

Since Hermione seemed entirely unable to answer over her hiccupping in her mother's arms, Severus realised that, as usual, the most unpleasant task fell to him. Unable to sit still, he got up and moved to the window before turning to face the Grangers once more.

'There was fighting, and many young lives were lost.' He assessed the Grangers. There was no doubt that they were intelligent, and though he still did not know what they had gone through, he believed that they deserved an explanation. They did not seem to be angry or unforgiving of Hermione's actions, but he thought that they still needed to understand. 'I don't know how much Hermione has told you about blood purity in the wizarding world, but you need to realise that under the Dark... that is, You-Know-Who, life was very difficult for wizards and witches of non-magical heritage. The ones who fled were the lucky ones. The culmination of the conflict occurred on Hogwarts grounds. I was... incapacitated... for some time during the battle itself, but I know that students who had refused to be sent home were involved in the battle, and many others fighting were barely older than that. I believe you are familiar with the Weasleys?'

By this stage, both Tom and Alexandra were ashen. Tom was obviously trying to arrange his features into a fair impression of the stoicism, but Alexandra's eyes were filling as she stroked her daughter's hair while Hermione sobbed into her shoulder.

'Molly and Arthur lost their son Fred. Your daughter had many friends among the fallen. The actions of Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley were pivotal in paving the way for eventual victory. The British wizarding world is in debt to your daughter and her friends for their freedom.'

More silence.

At last, Tom croaked, 'Fred? One of the twins, wasn't he?'

Severus took a deep breath and tried to suppress the nausea that always rose within him when he considered the young people who had left the world while he was still in it.

'Yes. Fred was George Weasley's twin.' He turned back to the window as he saw Mr Granger blink a few times, both men struggling to get their emotions under control.

How odd it was that the sun should be shining and the sky a clear, cloudless blue while they spoke of such tragic things. Rather than curse it as a mockery, however, Severus concentrated on clearing his mind of everything except the feeling of sunshine warming his hand resting on the windowsill.

Grief was a reasonable response to such a tragedy, but no amount of guilt or self-loathing was going to bring Fred and the others back.

'I'm so s-sorry, Mum, Dad. I should have at least asked you first.'

It appeared that Hermione had recovered enough to stutter coherently, and not only that but Severus was pleased to hear her admit to some wrongdoing. He hoped that it would not be long until she regained control of her tear ducts and hiccups, too. At times like this, Severus wished that he could cast Muffliato on himself. He pretended not to hear the soft shushing noises Alexandra made, or Tom's gruff words telling his daughter that they were sorry, too, though for what, exactly, was unclear. Instead, Severus spent the time carefully inspecting his fingernails and willing his right leg to stop twitching. Perhaps it would be worth the rudeness of Disapparating out of the Grangers living room without warning to allow them to have this moment to themselves.

After a few minutes of quiet, the tension had all but left the room when Alexandra asked, 'I'm sure we'll need to talk about all of that again... later... but from what you just said, am I to understand that you didn't finish school?'

Alexandra's tone was gentle, but when Hermione went rather green around the edges of the puffy redness and tear tracks, Severus realised he would have to earn his keep. Again.

'Not many students from Miss Granger's year completed their schooling. I believe the majority of her peers started working right away, in an effort to repair the damage caused by the war.'

Mrs Granger was lost for words, her mouth frozen in a small 'o' of surprise. Severus saw this as his chance to get away for a bit, to leave the Grangers to themselves for a while and to get some much needed breathing space for himself. Watching the way Hermione's family troubles had been resolved made him feel something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Envy. He was envious that Hermione had such a loving and understanding family. Envious that although she had been set apart like him by illness and the burdens of the war, she had a fold to return to, a new place to start if she wanted it.

He did not even make a show of checking his battered, old timepiece. 'Excuse me, Mr Granger, Mrs Granger. There are some things that I must attend to today. If it suits you, I will Apparate to the hotel where Hermione and I have been staying and return to bring her things here...'

'Oh! Of course, I completely forgot that you must have been staying at a hotel.' Mrs Granger instantly snapped back into full hostess mode. 'We have two spare rooms here. By all means, bring Hermione's things and your own. It is the least we can do after you came all this way to find us.'

Severus had to take a moment to think about whether his explanation had come out wrong. No, he had been quite clear. It was definitely Mrs Granger who had just taken the extra step from his assumption that Hermione would return to stay with her parents and proposed that he should likewise make their house his home.

'That won't be necessary,' he started to protest, only to be firmly overridden by Alexandra.

'I must insist, Mr Snape. We don't stand on formality, here. You are welcome to stay as long as you wish. I'm sure there are a lot of things that we have yet to talk about. At the very least, you must come back and eat dinner with us.'

'Please stay, Professor.'

Even here with her parents, she was not as comfortable as he had hoped. He could read it plain across her face that she was desperate for him to stay. She did not want to be left alone. He supposed that it might be best if he did stay close to her for a while longer. After all, the Grangers had yet to hear about their daughter's recent medical history. He was surprised that Hermione had lasted as long as she had today.

'Very well,' he agreed. 'I will settle our account at the hotel and return here with our things shortly.' He added for Mrs Granger's benefit, 'Please don't trouble yourself if your guestrooms are not prepared for guests. The least I can do in return for your hospitality is make them up with magic when I return.'

Thankfully, Mrs Granger was willing to accept that much at least. He had never been comfortable with charity.

Nodding once, briskly, Severus walked out of the room, took a deep breath and focused on the Lowest Basement.

Severus immediately sprawled on his bed when he reached the Golden Niffler and rubbed a hand tiredly over his face.

The afternoon's meeting with the Grangers had left him completely exhausted and thrown him off balance in a way that he sorely felt the need to come to terms with before confronting them again.

I actually found them...

When he had agreed to accompany Hermione to Australia, Severus had assumed that the task would take weeks, if not months. It was clear that she had not expected to find her parents so quickly, either. Severus now realised that he had sub-consciously assumed that in the time it took to find Hermione's parents, he would also have time to slowly start thinking about the war, England and whatever was left of life.

Apparently not.

The temptation to go downstairs and ask for a double shot of Firewhisky was strong, but when it came down to it, he didn't even really feel like doing that.

What in Merlin's name am I supposed to do now?

Fifteen minutes later, the same thoughts kept swimming round and round Severus' head. He did not want to return to England, at least not yet. It had been such a long time since he had been able to breathe freely, and the novelty of new surrounds had not yet worn thin. He had almost no doubt that it would – England was his home, and for his own pride's sake, he would have to go back one day.

Forcing himself to sit up, Severus cast a weary eye over his and Hermione's collective mess. He supposed that finding the Grangers had not derailed his hopes completely. Hermione, at least, still seemed to need him. In fact, he was obligated to stay close to her while her magic returned.

He wasn't avoiding his problems. He just wasn't ready to consider them yet.

Moving over to the small desk where Hermione had scattered a few of the books he had brought her, as well as some ideas that she had obviously thought worth transcribing in note form, Severus noticed that he had received a letter. Since he did not recognise the writing, he cast a few spells before opening it. He needn't have bothered. The author had not even thought it necessary to spell the thing for his eyes only.

Picking up the letter and opening it, Severus read it quickly before frowning and shoving it in his pocket. It was the last thing he wanted to deal with on top of an already difficult day.

Dear Mr Snape,

My good friend John Sanders happened to tell me the other morning that he had run into a couple of British tourists in town, a man named Severus Snape accompanying a young girl, Hermione. Being one of the few Hogwartians residing in Sydney, I do keep up with the Daily Prophet, and I was hoping that you might be willing to give me a slightly clearer picture of the current situation in England than I can get through the newspapers and the few correspondences I keep up with old friends.

The University of Sydney

Waving his wand at Hermione's belongings, Severus was relieved when everything did pack! as he asked it to. Despite what he had told Mrs Granger, household spells had never really been his forte. Shrinking the result and putting it in his pocket, he strode out of the room and down the stairs to settle with Greg.

He wondered what Hermione was telling her parents about him while he wasn't there.

AN: So, we finally got somewhere. Thank you to all who are still reading/reviewing. Many thanks also to my wonderful beta, JunoMagic.