46: Birthday Surprises

Chapter 46: Birthday Surprises

Dedalus Diggle's funeral was held on Hermione's birthday. She and 'Sebastian' went arm in arm, though he glamoured her to look older, blonder, and even a bit taller. After all, she wasn't supposed to be in company of Harry and Ron, and she wouldn't want to cause trouble in public. So they went together and spoke to no one.

They rarely spoke to each other, in fact. Though they were physically there for each other, offering comfort, it was generally silent. The two of them still hadn't discussed the results of her confrontation about their true feelings for each other. She was determined to give it more time; he was determined not to speak about such nonsense at all.

After the funeral, Severus took Hermione to the Burrow for a small birthday party. Not only did she not want to deal with crowds of people like Harry's party had included, but it seemed somehow wrong to have a loud party shortly after a funeral...even if there had been a greater number of people who knew she and Harry were still talking. That left Tonks and Remus, the assorted Weasleys, Harry and Professor McGonagall on the list of those invited. Not that sixteen, with herself and Severus, was an inconsiderable group.

The look on Harry's face when she brought Sebastian into the Burrow, holding her hand, was priceless. His face turned red as he forced himself to greet Severus politely, as one would a slight acquaintance who was involved with one of your best friends. A moment later, he glared at Hermione for inviting his least favorite person in the world, regardless of her husband's real affiliations. He and Severus spent the rest of the party pretending the other did not exist.

Molly Weasley, on the other hand, threw her arms around 'Sebastian' and gave him a rib-splitting hug. "Oh, I know her parents are a little leery of Hermione getting serious so young, but after all, these are war times, and you never know what might happen. In fact, it would be best if you married up as soon as possible. I've been trying to get Remus and Tonks to set a date all week. Under the circumstances, it would be the best thing, don't you think? I don't hold with this Muggle fascination for staying single until one is well into their twenties, or even in their thirties. No, we should start our families while we're still young enough to enjoy them, don't you agree?" She sent a dirty look at Charlie, who...twenty-five and still single...was trying valiantly to ignore his mother's rant.

Hermione said something non-committal and offered herself up for a hug so Molly would stop touching her very uncomfortable husband. Though he held Hermione regularly, he still was far from a demonstrative person in general.

There were several other references to Tonks and Remus 'needing to get a plan in place, put their lives in order, it was time, after all,' before Hermione realized what the big deal was. Kingsley had seen Tonks buying the books on pregnancy. Obnoxious, gossiping man. And once again, Tonks and Remus were stuck in the middle of a fiasco because of her. Not knowing how to extricate herself, Hermione sighed and decided to figure it out later. When Severus heard the reference too many times, he sent her a confused look. She bent over and explained, and he smirked in understanding. At least one of them was enjoying the others' discomfort.

All was well after that until Harry, Ron and Bill started discussing their expectations for completing their project at Hogwarts the following day.

"Oh, I want to come along. I'm feeling perfectly fine now!" Hermione's face was bright and hopeful until 'Sebastian' spoke up.

"You most certainly will not go back there."

She blinked at him in surprise, both in his words and the underlying emotions behind them. "Of course I will, it's my project too."

"Of course you can come, Hermione. We wouldn't want to do it without you. That's why we waited so long." Ron sent Sebastian a sour look.

"You cannot go. You still aren't completely healed from your last adventure there." Sebastian lowered his voice, trying to avoid the attention they had already garnered from everyone in the room. He was angry and something else she couldn't place.

"I'm a grown woman; I'll go if I want to."

"How are you going to get there? Apparate?"

The bastard knew she couldn't Apparate on her own yet. "I'll Floo to the Three Broomsticks and fly over from there." Of course she didn't mean on a broom.

"The cottage Floo is not connected to the network."

"Is she staying with you?" Molly asked. "You know it's highly inappropriate for you two to be sharing quarters without a chaperone. I really must insist she stay here or return to stay with her parents now that she can't live at Headquarters." She fell silent when Hermione held up her hand to hush the woman, without taking her eyes off her husband.

"I'll create a Portkey if I must."

"An illegal Portkey? Do you know how?"

"I can learn in a night. I'm sure you have all kind of books that could teach me illegal things." She was a bit nasty about that, but knew it was true. Whether those illegal things included Portkeys was another question.

"Really, Hermione, maybe you shouldn't..." Bill didn't get very far with that thought.

"You can't help them; you already admitted your powers aren't back up to strength, which means you probably couldn't produce a Portkey in any case. This whole conversation is completely pointless. You aren't going." Severus stood so he could tower over her. At least that was the reason she chose to assign for the move.

She stood as well, determined not to let him dictate to her. "You can't keep me wrapped in cotton wool, you know. I'm not a fragile child."

"Maybe you should stop thinking about yourself and what you want, and start thinking about..." He stopped mid sentence and stalked out of the room. He hadn't finished the thought, but she heard the words 'thinking about our child' echoing in her ears anyway.

The silence around them was deafening. Hermione closed her eyes after he slammed the door behind him, and she didn't open them again for a long moment. When she heard a throat clearing, she lifted her head and looked around the room, giving them all a tight smile. "I guess I better go talk with him."

The door clicked behind her as she pulled it closed. She saw her husband walking along the shrubbery which led to the chicken coop. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was looking at the ground. His emotions were in turmoil: Anger, worry, irritation, fear.

As he was walking a rather leisurely pace, for Severus I've-got-to-make-every-move-with-precision-and-haste Snape, she figured it wouldn't be long before she caught up. When she did, Hermione fell into step beside him, offering him the chance to speak when he was ready or to stay silent a while longer if that was his preference.

By the time he spoke up, his emotions had calmed, but the fear was still present. "I can't stand the idea of you walking into that trap again," he finally said. "You and those twits put our baby at risk, put yourself at risk." He stopped and turned toward her. "Put the whole damned war against Voldemort at risk because you didn't call for help when you needed it."

"I never thought of you as the type to be so anxious to be a father," she said lightly, though she didn't meet his eyes.

"Nor did I, but the more I've thought about it, the more I've grown to like the idea." He reached out and touched his finger to her chin, lifting her eyes to his own. "I love the idea of seeing you grow lush with our child, for what it will mean. For our future when it is so uncertain." His mouth twisted in irritation. "I find myself in one of my most hated positions."

"Having the eyes of every Weasley in existence know your private business?"

He glanced toward the house and grimaced. "That too, but no, even worse is having to admit I was wrong and you were right,"

She brightened at that admission. "You're going to let me go?"

He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, and leaning down so their lips were only a breath apart. "No, my sweet. I'm going to try and keep you wrapped in cotton wool as much as I can because I love you. It isn't just the enchantment, and if it were, it wouldn't have worked on us anyway. You make my life worth living and give me hope for a far better future than I've ever imagined. That's why I want you to be careful, need you to be careful...far more alert than you've had to be in the past. I wouldn't have a reason to continue on without you and our child."

His lips finally made contact with hers, and she was sucked into the sweetness, a sweetness that had never existed before, a joy she hadn't been able to fathom, as they shared the blinding power of hope between them. The kiss deepened even more, and their hands began to caress each other. The kiss deepened and grew stronger, almost fierce in their longing for one another. As she was about to ask him to Apparate them back to their cottage, she heard someone coughing behind them.

"If that's Umbridge, I say we start with the Cruciatus Curse and work our way to Avada Kedavra," Hermione muttered when Severus pulled away.

"Lucky for me I'm not Umbridge, then." It was Remus standing behind her.

"What do you want?" Severus asked as he slid the hand that had been on Hermione's breast down around to the small of her back.

"First off, I'd prefer if I didn't have to worry about you two stripping down to nothing here where anyone could see you. Second, we all wondered if you were going to come back, though I warn you, Molly is bound to start in on you about getting married right away, tomorrow if necessary. She's upset enough about the two of you 'living in sin;' if she had even a hint that it's you having the baby and not us, she would be strong-arming you into a ceremony today. And we all know that's not possible right now. I swear since Bill's wedding ended, she's been chomping at the bit to plan a second one."

"Well, as we're already wed, I don't think we can help her." Severus said, though he didn't release his wife.

"And as you are unable to tell her the truth about that, it is unlikely to help you. Are you coming back to open presents at least? This is Hermione's birthday party, and a party without the guest of honor can be so dull."

Hermione groaned and pulled away from Severus' chest, putting her hair and clothes back to rights. "With the twins around, no day could possibly be dull."

"Too true. Though the two of you managed to add some excitement to this gathering." Remus smiled and turned back to the house.

Severus lifted his wand at the man's retreating back. Hermione placed her hand on it and pushed it down. It took surprisingly little effort. He grumbled, "Come on, just one little hex. I promise not to do anything permanent to the man."

"If you're not careful, I'm going to start calling you Ronald."

He scowled and resheathed his wand in his sleeve. "Fine. It's your birthday, ruin my fun if you must."

"I must." She took his wand hand in hers before he could reach for the wand again and tugged him along. "So what is the father of my child going to give me for my birthday?"

He smirked. "I've been working on it for a while, but you'll have to wait to find out. Now is not the time."

When they returned to the party, Harry looked about ready to vomit, and Tonks looked very amused. Hermione supposed the whole lot of them had been standing with their noses pressed to the window glass, waiting to see if they would hex each other or make up. It looked like Harry would almost have preferred the first option.

*****

Severus and Hermione returned to the cottage well after dark had fallen, but the cottage had lights burning in the windows. "Sometimes I love house-elves," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Do you mean if you had a chance to let Twinkie go, you wouldn't rush right out and hand all elves clothes?" His voice was teasing as he held the front door open for her.

"Perhaps not, as long as they were well cared for, wanted to be there and received the kinds of benefits even elves deserve."

"Like holidays off, medical care and retirement benefits."

"Exactly."

"Hmmm. House-elves can make very accomplished babysitters, you know." With the door shut and warded behind them, he twirled her into his arms.

While he nibbled on her neck, she fought to maintain her higher brain functions. "That may be, but when we eventually leave this place, we won't be able to take Twinkie with us, will we?"

He shut her up with a kiss, leading her toward their bedroom in the back.

*****

Morning broke over the nearby hill, and Hermione awoke in her husband's arms, sighing from bliss. She knew the boys would be at Hogwarts collecting the cup today...with Bill's help this time...and that she wouldn't be going with them. At the moment, she felt too self-satisfied to care. Every intimate moment with her husband was more perfect than the last, more fulfilling in some different facet. If this continued indefinitely, she was bound to become thoroughly impossible to live with, so full of contentment and joy, she would drive everyone but Severus away from her.

"Smug, I see."

Hermione tucked herself more securely in his arms. "Very. Good morning, my love."

"And good morning to you too, my love." He hummed softly after finishing his greeting, causing the skin of her neck under his lips to vibrate and goosebumps to appear. Then again, it might have been the words he'd used. My love. He actually meant them now, they weren't sweet nothings, words for show.

"And what have we in store for this beautiful day?" she asked, turning in his arms to face him.

"Wondrous revelations, something I meant to show you last night, but ran out of time. No matter. It will be all the better in the daylight, and Twinkie will still have all in readiness." He kissed her again deeply, drowning her in its sensuality. As she allowed herself to be dragged under, he pulled away. "Best be getting up and ready. Much to do, you know."

She groaned, but after a moment, propped herself up, then got out of bed and padded to the bathroom for a shower. This had better be good.

When they were both dressed and had finished breakfast...her stomach may have been a bit picky at that hour, but tea and toast were still more than welcome...Hermione sat back in her chair and watched him for a long moment. "So, what's this surprise you have for me?"

His face stayed blank, but he didn't block his emotions from her, which told her he was both excited and nervous. "If you think you're ready." Severus stood and took her hand, leading her from the room and out of the cottage. When they reached the front gate of the garden, he tucked her hand in his elbow. "Fancy a walk?"

She furrowed her brow at him and cocked her head to the side. "Sure." She had no idea what he had up his sleeve, but she was willing to take some time figuring it out.

They walked east over the rolling ridge and through a thickly wooded copse. When she came out on the other side, she gasped as the manor house the cottage was attached to came into view. It was a magnificent edifice, all white marble, three stories high, and at least three hundred foot wide, from her best guess. Windows seemed to be everywhere, glistening in the sunlight.

The gardens were bursting with flowers, more organized than the one around the cottage, but not really formal either. A large fountain erupted at one end of the courtyard and poured down into a pool of water, which fed a small stream. It then emptied into a pond of at least twenty foot in diameter. There was the glimmer and flash of ornamental fish in the pond when the two of them grew close enough to see them.

Benches were scattered around the extensive grounds under trees, near a natural stream, beneath arbors, by the rose garden. A huge white gazebo held court on the far end of a large expanse of grass, and one end had stairs along the entire side. "Those walls fold out so the stairs can be used by large crowds entering and leaving," Severus said, noticing her attention on them.

"It's incredible. Who lives here? This isn't Malfoy Manor is it?" The belated thought had dread filling her stomach.

A sardonic eyebrow lifted. "You can't honestly think I would put you so close to scum like that and at their mercy."

A moment's thought and she shook her head. "No, of course not. It's only that maintaining such a home would require great wealth, and Malfoy was the only wizard I knew whose family bragged of their money."

"There are other families in the wizarding world with power and wealth. This home does not boast nearly as much of either as the Malfoys had at their disposal a couple of years ago. This is the sole remaining holding of a once-powerful wizarding family, whereas the Malfoys have at least half a dozen similar or gaudier structures that I'm aware of. Probably more. Unless Narcissa gets another child from her husband before he comes to an ignominious end, those holdings will be split up at her death. Especially if her death is brought on by the Dark Lord's demise. These holdings will revert back several generations, or be held in trust for the next heir, when he or she comes of age, depending on the situation."

Fascinated, but not fooled into thinking he had answered her question when he hadn't, she pressed again. "But who lives here?"

They had arrived at the garden doors to the home, and Twinkie pulled them open. "No one has lived here in years, except for the house-elves." He guided her into the salon, which was large, light and airy. The furnishings were covered in rich fabrics and shined with polished woods. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and sparkled from an unknown source of light; the candles were not lit at the moment.

He took her from room to room: a huge library with two floors, two dining rooms...one for entertaining, another 'smaller' one for family gatherings of no more than twenty. Bedroom suite after bedroom suite, parlors and sitting rooms, a billiards room and quiet nooks. And out of every window was another slice of the magnificent gardens.

Hermione was enjoying the tour, but she still had no idea why they were there or who owned the place. He had been most evasive on that point, but she was sure there was a reason. She could feel it bubbling inside him.

As they turned back toward the huge sweeping staircase that led to the front entrance, Hermione noticed the row of house-elves lining up between the bottom of the stairs and the entrance.

Severus stopped at the top of the stairs, and she was able to count no fewer than twenty-five house-elves; some looked to be merely children. Twinkie stood at the head. "What are they all doing down there?" she asked. A house-elf's first duty was to remain invisible in most wizarding houses.

"They are waiting to meet their lady." He turned her toward him and looked into her eyes. "This home has been the property of the Princes for generations. It is where my mother grew up. My mother's death predated those of my grandparents by several years. They had been unhappy with her choice of husband, had denied her any part of her inheritance if she married the crude Muggle. I don't believe they would have minded if he had been Muggleborn, if he had been talented, good, kind, intelligent...in short, all the things you are. But he was none of those things. He was loud, abusive, and a drunk. They weren't so happy with me either, hearing rumors of my activities in the Dark Arts."

Hermione found herself blinking rapidly, trying to take it all in. "But they left you the home anyway."

"No, my sweet. They left you the home, the money to maintain it, and everything that went with it. The home would only go to my wife, not to me, and only if she was good, pure, talented and had integrity. You have all those things in spades. If I had never married, or had married the wrong sort of woman, the property would have gone to the next closest relative of any good report. It's a kind of magical binding that doesn't require solicitors and courts to enact."

Hermione felt faint. He must have sensed it, because he swept her into his arms and carried her down the stairs. It was all very much like a Muggle romance, except that when the house-elves began to gather around them, eager to help, he snarled at them to make way and carried her into the nearest parlor.

When she was lying on a sofa and had managed to regain her head a bit, Hermione clasped her husband's hand. She didn't meet his eye, but instead, focused on his long, perfect fingers and tough calluses. "So if all you needed to do to gain such wealth was to marry, why did you not do so years ago?"

"Come, Hermione, think for a moment, would you? By the time my grandparents, whom I had never met, died, I was already acting as a spy, and it was before the Dark Lord's first defeat. What woman fitting that description would have had me? And how would I have kept her safe if she was willing to marry me? The only reason we are not both dead now is because the Dark Lord thinks you have been deluded into believing in me, and he has no idea of our true situation."

It made sense, but she was still trying to take it all in. "So why didn't you show it to me before?"

Twinkie came over, his head hanging in shame. "Do not blame the master for this, mistress. Blame Twinkie and the other house-elves. We will all shut our hands in the oven if Mistress likes." The other house-elves around her nodded gravely. "The house was not ready for Mistress to see when Master came to visit after he left the castle. We had to punish ourselves most severely for not being prepared as good house-elves should."

"They had maintained the structures and basic work in the yard, but it is frustrating for house-elves to work on a house when it is uncertain there will be someone to see it in the next several decades...that was one reason Headquarters was such a mess when it came back into use. The Manor has been polished to a rare shine, the yard manicured, and many other tiny details seen to while we honeymooned in the cottage. Twinkie was quite upset to see you were working in the garden yourself, blaming himself for not having it, too, in readiness in the few days notice I gave for the cottage to be prepared, until I told him how much you enjoyed your work there."

"I really have enjoyed it, and the work you have done on this place is incredible. I forbid you to punish yourselves for not having it ready when we first arrived. I much prefer to stay in the cottage for the time being, as it is cozier, though we may find uses for the main house soon. Very soon. And I intend to use the library's considerable offerings starting immediately."

Severus chuckled in her ear. "Of course you will, my little bookworm. Would you like to go up there and begin scanning the shelves while the house-elves prepare us a light luncheon?"

"As soon as I have met them all, I would." Though her world had turned upside down yet again, Hermione told herself she should be getting used to such upheavals. There would be time to digest all of this later.

*****

Harry, Ron and Bill were back in the Chamber of Secrets, rubble was strewn everywhere from the blowing up of Salazar's head, but the bottom half of the carving was still in place. Bill cast a charm on the mouth opening once again and began removing the few curses that remained.

In twenty minutes Harry had changed into his capuchin form and climbed inside the structure, returning in a minute with the cup in hand. When he changed back, they exchanged smiles and began the journey back up to the school so they could deliver the final blow on this Horcrux.

*****

Hermione and Severus were tucked up in their bed at the cottage that night...at Hermione's request, as she was still trying to take it all in. "You told me once that I couldn't give Twinkie clothes because the owner swore he couldn't do without the elf. But I'm the owner."

"And by marriage that makes me, more or less his owner as well, and neither of us could direct the house-elves as efficiently as he does. He runs the house and sees to every detail, so I repeat: we really can't do without him. Enact any holidays off you wish, offer them health care and any payment for their services that you can get them to accept, but please don't let them go. Remember how Crouch's elf couldn't find another place and wallowed in depression? Do you want to do that to any of those bright, smiling elves?"

He really was a master manipulator. She sighed. "Of course not. We'll see what they need, what they will accept and go from there. You indicated there were sufficient funds to run the estate. How sufficient?"

"I have only taken a passing look at the books. The funds grew while the home was empty as it had no witches or wizards to care for and house-elves are fairly self-sufficient, but if we live on the estate, the growth of the funds will at least slow if not stop outright. You will have to take a look and determine what you want to do with what there is and what it will take to maintain the estate. You really owe it to my progenitors and to our children to pass the place on in a healthy state."

"Blue bloods and their worries about passing wealth along." Her comment was more teasing than anything. She wanted to see the home prosper and grow under her hand and intended that it should be so. "I'll look at it and see what I find. Aren't you intending to take over that aspect?"

"Only if I must. You are the true owner, after all."

Hermione blinked, then accepted the reality of the statement. She now owned a manor house and twenty-five house-elves. Who would have thought?

________

AN: A big thanks to ll of my reviewers for your kinds words. Thanks to my beta, countrymouse, and to LadyInTheCloak for helping me repent the errors of my ways. lol