Chapter: 12… Hodgepodge is Hullabaloo, Hullabaloo is Hodgepodge!

Disclaimer:

Only the plot is mine, nothing else. This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers, but I thank the readers with them, too.

Beta acknowledgment:

I'm eternally grateful to my wonderful betas, Writermerrin and Annie Talbot, without whom my story would be just like the chapter title here.

~*hg*~

Hermione opened her eyes to find four very concerned faces...Severus, Rose, Harry and Ron's faces...with worries pouring over her. She looked around confusedly to find out another somewhat concerned, beautiful face with green eyes and a mildly curious, also amused face with a mop of wild black hair...Harry's parents! Everything came back to her... She had fainted, once again!

The last thing she remembered was Ron's unearthly face...so familiar, so dear, yet so distant. The same face had a look of relief, like the others. In Harry's hand was a wet washcloth, which obviously had been conjured magically in order to tend to her. Severus was holding her in one of his arms and patting Rose's head with his other hand in an effort to comfort her. Rose was shaking with tears.

Just at that moment, Rose saw her mother's open eyes and hugged her fiercely; Hermione sat up and hugged her back. "I told you, Poppet...Mum's okay." Ron said to his daughter. Before helping her to sit up and letting her go, Severus asked if she was feeling okay, Harry asked the same thing, too. She nodded and turned her attention to her late husband.

"Hello, Ron."

"Hi, Mione. You gave them, especially her," he nodded to his daughter, "a good fright".

"Didn't mean to. I don't know what's wrong with me... anything about you, and I go like that!"

Hermione stood up straight. She was embarrassed.

"Looks like someone cares about you." He looked at Snape.

"It's really not ...not yet..."

"Relax, Hermione, I would be relieved if he did. He's more loyal than any Hufflepuff, braver than any Gryffindor, smarter than the Ravenclaws, and already a Slytherin to the core. No one could be more suitable for you." Ron added as an afterthought, "Except me of course."

Hermione followed his gaze to find a mesmerized Severus. The way he was looking at Lily Potter's spirit made Hermione feel a twinge of jealousy inside... He would never look at me like that! She forced her gaze to Ron. "How are you, Ron?"

"Super! Wish I could show you how fantastic things are here. Things that me and Fred do... I'm good, Hermione. I just worry about you three being alone out there. Looks like I don't have to. I want you to be happy as before, happier, if possible."

"Fred and I," she corrected automatically.

"Yeah, that." Then he looked at Harry and said, "Take care of my family, will you?" Harry nodded silently with watery eyes.

~*hp*~

Severus was back to reality with a mocking laugh. "Looks like Snivellus has finally managed a girl of his own."

"James!"

"What! Look how he ..." Childishness hadn't died, even if the man had.

"James Potter, I warn you again, you leave Severus alone!" said James' angry wife.

"Thank you, Lily. Though his words carry no value to me, he died foolishly, didn't he?" Severus tried to be a better man, but failed. Because he could resist rising up against Potter's baiting no more than James Potter could resist baiting him. Even after his death, this man could toy with Severus Snape's temper.

"Only because you...!"

"Stop! Both of you. That was a long time ago. He's changed since. I forgave you. You protected my Harry with your life," Lily intervened. "Since when is dying to protect one's family a foolish thing, Sev? James made no less a sacrifice than I did."

Severus pretended that he hadn't heard the last part of what Lily was saying. He said, "I missed you, Lily. I thought if I died, we could be to..."

"We were never meant to be together, Sev; even in death, my place is with James. I think it's wonderful that you've found her." Lily said nodding towards Hermione.

"Um... Mum, that's Hermione...Ron's wife and my best friend." Harry pointed to his late best friend as he corrected his mother.

"I know she was Ron's wife. He talks nonstop about his family. I think she's perfect for Severus."

His mother's post-mortal match-making astounded Harry. He'd never thought of anyone but Ron with Hermione, and he'd never thought anyone with Snape. Yes, Harry knew about Snape's fascination with his mum, but that was like some fairy tale that you knew about, but never had experienced first hand. He couldn't picture him in any romantic or domestic situation with Herm...well, with anybody.

Ron was saying something to him... Oh, about taking care of his family. Harry's eyes watered up. Of course, he would. Hermione was like his own sister, not only his best friend from when they were eleven. He would do anything for her, as would she for him; Ron should know that. He assured Ron of it.

Ron kept on telling Hermione how he wanted her to move on. He was also reassuring Rose that he wanted her mum to be happy, even if it was with Snape or Neville.

Snape, who was gawking all dopey-eyed at Harry's mum while word-fencing with Harry's dad, suddenly looked startled and asked Hermione, "You like Neville? Longbottom?"

Hermione, who was religiously listening to Ron's sermons to their daughter, answered without turning her head, thus missing his facial expression, "Uhha, sure, I do. I like Neville."

Harry noticed that Snape went stiff at once, looked away from Hermione to Mum, then looked back and said, "Congratulations are in order then."

A confused Hermione asked, "What? What are you saying, Severus?"

However, Snape had already moved away with his Lily-gazing, pointedly ignoring her question.Then Harry's dad decided to put his two Knuts in,

"My mistake, Snivellus, not one of your own yet? Couldn't get out of the habit of wanting the second-hand..."

"Stop it, Dad! You're rapidly losing my respect when you disrespect my friends." Harry could not imagine how it must have been when these people were in school every day.

"You call him a friend!"

"Sure do. Mum did, too."

Ron was talking to Snape. He was saying, "She may look tough, but she's still very fragile inside. If you care for her, keep in mind not to hurt her."

Snape told him, "I care about all my students and faculty, Mr. Weasley. She is no exception, but perhaps this particular subject should be discussed with Professor Longbottom."

Hermione asked him, "What are you two talking about?" Then she turned to Ron. "No, Ron, don't... Don't go yet." But Ron blew kisses to her and Rose, waved at Harry, and slowly faded away.
Snape continued his chat with Lily until the Potters said their goodbyes to each other. Hermione kept on holding Rose tightly to herself, sniffling.

Snape said, "The Dark Lord had no idea, did he? He turned it into a Horcrux without testing it for any other powers."

Harry sent him an affirmative glance before he told Rose, "Well, Rosie, you are better off without the stone of Death. Its last-known possessor committed suicide. This stone only complicates things. We hardly need to invite more complications in our lives." He pocketed it.

"Don't you mean, 'the stone of the dead,' Potter?"

"No. It is the stone that Death himself gave to the second Peverell brother. You should read a book or two that aren't about dark magic or potions, for fun; maybe start with an easy children's book like Tale of the Bardle Bidle... or something."

"It's The Tales of Beedle the Bard," Hermione corrected automatically.

And Snape sneered. "Once a know-it-all, always a know-it-all, I see. By the way, Mr. Potter, I do read for fun... we just have different understandings of said word."

Raising his hand as if surrendering, Harry laughingly said,"Whatever makes you happy. By the way, can't you simply just... talk? One might loose teeth at your age uttering the hard sentences that you do! Just wondering."

Snape didn't dignify it with an answer; instead he turned around and said, "Good night, Miss Weasley, Healer Weasley. Good-bye Mr. Potter." And he walked out, billowing his cape as dramatically as ever before anyone could say the farewell back to him.

"What was that about?" asked a puzzled Hermione.

Harry replied to Hermione, "I wouldn't know, and I am not sure I would want to know."

Harry walked Rose and Hermione to their quarters. Normally Rose would sleep in her dormitory, but after everything tonight, she wanted to be with her mum. Ginny was already there; she had put Hugo to bed. Before the Potters left, Hermione said, "Harry, may I have the stone for a while?"

Ginny did not ask anything; she would have her story later from her husband. She saw how Hermione looked and did not want to tax her anymore. However, Harry said,

"Hermione, you know how dangerous..."

"Of course I do. I just need to speak to Ron in private. You understand."

He understood and handed it to her, but he did not like it. "Don't overuse it," he warned her.

"Yeah, and Harry, could you lend me one of your mum's color photographs, too?"

"Mum's? Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I just need to do some research, that's all."

Harry clearly did not get anything, but it had been a long night for him, too; so he chose to ignore any question that rose in his mind like "What kind of research?" and said, "Sure thing. I'll owl you tomorrow. G'night."

"Yeah. Good night." Hermione closed the door and took out the stone of Death. She needed to have a long chat with her late husband.

~*S*~

So, she likes Longbottom! Well, he would not be a thorn in between them. He had mistreated Longbottom all his life: thought him incompetent, and in return the boy...no, the man... had saved him from certain death, nurtured him for nearly twenty years, committed immoral acts of erasing others' memories for Severus' sake, against his own nature. The least Severus could do was not to steal his girl.

Longbottom probably was too much of a gentleman to say anything about it. And she probably thought him as a fragile patient and played along with him in the fear of him falling back into a coma again.

Yes, that could be it. She said she liked 'him.' They were not only from the same house and same age group, but they were also childhood friends who'd fought a war together. Severus remembered how once Longbottom had used to depend on her, and she had always helped him, ignoring Severus' harsh words. They must be very compatible. Severus would do the honorable thing, for once in his lifetime.

Severus' life-altering decision was brought to an abrupt halt by a familiar, near-nasal voice. "Happy birthday, Uncle Severus."

Draco Malfoy! What is he doing here? At this hour?

"Dad wanted to say hello, but he got busy at the last moment."

"Why are you here, Draco?"

"Well, it is your birthday. Father had a present for you, and I'm delivering." He handed the elf-made wine to Severus.

Severus knew the quality of Malfoy wine; he accepted and thanked both the Malfoys for their generosity. He would check for the poison in it later. He knew Draco had not simply come here to greet him out of the goodness of his heart. Malfoy intentions were never that simple. Every step they took was always premeditated, calculated and beneficial at the end only to them. Something was hidden behind this meeting, too.

Draco was still talking, "You should have let us know, Uncle Sev, about your illness...we could have sent you somewhere."

Yes. The question is where would you have sent me if you only knew! Severus thought.

"Nothing is too good for an old friend, Father always says."

Severus had never heard Lucius say that, and he had known the man even longer than Lucius' own son had.

"You must come to the Mansion. Father would love to catch up."

Severus' mind had not gathered moss just because he had been a Rip Van Winkle for a while. Bloodhounds always knew when the wind smelt of blood, so he assured his godson that he soon would find a time to meet his dear friend whose good company he had missed for nineteen years.

~*hg*~

Hermione could not believe that her daughter would think she and Neville could be more than friends. She had straightened out her daughter's idea about that.

Nevertheless, what was wrong with Severus? It was more than a month since his birthday. He seemed to be always too busy...either with school, or the Order; or was he avoiding her on purpose? And what was with him calling her Healer Weasley every time they had crossed paths?

Maybe when he had seen again whom he truly liked, he was embarrassed about how "plain Jane" Hermione was. She didn't have the sparkling green eyes; she had normal brown eyes. Most of the world's population, including Muggles, have brown eyes; they are hardly interesting! Nothing special about having a face like the one she had. I don't have red silk for hair, I have a bushy brown bird's nest, or was it a bird's brown bushy nest? Or brown bird's bushy nest! Any way she phrased it...she decided that she had horrible, horrible hair!

She had tried to talk to him before and after Order meetings, but he was always with company and had left before her. Somehow, he'd managed to avoid eating meals at the same time in the Great Hall. She had tried to make her eating schedule flexible as much as possible, but he was always a step ahead of her. He ate either before or after her, never with her.

She had gone to his office several times, but the gargoyle had told her every time that the Headmaster had just stepped out. Hermione wondered if the message was prerecorded and charmed to activate in her presence.

Something had happened that night; he'd seemed cold at the end. He even mocked her for being a know-it-all. Something had changed between them, and he didn't want her anymore. He was too gentlemanly to break it off. Maybe he was hoping she would take a hint and go away.

In her mind, Hermione knew what had happened; she'd seen how he had looked at Lily. The way he had looked at her spirit... he didn't just love her, he had worshiped her. As if to him, she was perfection personified. No one had looked at Hermione that way, not even Ron, not even when he was practicing from that Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches book.

She had told him she would never be Lily...maybe that was her mistake. Perhaps he had been slightly interested in her before because he had thought some of their attributes were similar. That night had made it clear that that was not the case. So he had lost his interest in her.

Maybe Hermione should try to be more like her if she wanted his attention. She hated imitating others, but she had a point to make...if Severus did not want her, he should be man enough to say so in her face. She would make him. She had a plan.

She did her homework from the picture Harry had owled her. She deliberately chose not to use magic for her purpose, as she already hated herself for executing the plan, she did not want to hate magic too. She went for a little shopping...Muggle style.

As it was the third Friday of the month, Severus was scheduled to meet her for his check up. He should be in here anytime, Hermione thought before wiping her eyes once again and pulling the shopping bag near her.

~*S*~

It was difficult to work against her schedule all the time. He had to adjust his mealtimes, had to make himself look busy at Order meetings. To make himself constantly unavailable was a full time job in itself... One without any betterment of his financial condition, but equally taxing on his mental status.

He had stayed inside and let the gargoyle lie for him. He had talked nonsense with the Order members he hardly cared to know. He had missed his earlier check-ups deliberately or rescheduled them for a later visit. The current one he could not avoid, though; he'd forgotten to cancel it. Anyway, it had been a while; maybe she had gotten the message and moved on to her real... um, well, whom she'd truly wanted. If not, then he had to clarify that.

He remembered, about six weeks ago, he had met her son along with George Weasley. They were saying their good-byes to the boy's mother. Hugo was animatedly describing to his mother about how his "Cool" Uncle Nev had given him a toad named "Trevor the Fifth," and his mother was all smiles as she eagerly listened to the boy. Severus had found the interaction captivating...his mother had never paid him any mind like that. It was beautiful. She was beautiful to him.

George saw him and greeted him curtly. The boy came forward, hearing his name, and said bluntly, "I don't like you. You took away my uncle's ear and never gave it back."

His uncle had laughed it off, saying, "It's nothing I didn't deserve for all the things we'd pulled off and gotten away with. Don't worry about it, Snape. Fred and I appreciate a sense of humor, even one as dark as yours." Severus uttered his condolences...no, not for the ear... For his brothers.

Hugo's mother's voice hardened as she made the child apologize.

However, that was not the point. The point was that her child had unknowingly chosen the right man over the wrong one.

It was hard for him to avoid her. Part of him didn't want to go along with his own plan. That part wanted to see her, to hold her. That part kept remembering their precious little stolen moments all the time...her smile, the sweetness of her lips. Severus had a suspicion that part of him had made him forget about this appointment so he could see her up close for a while.

He sighed and knocked on her office door.

She had done something with her hair. He didn't sense any glamour, but something had changed the color and the texture of her hair. It had made her look artificial, applied...someone else other than herself. He didn't like it. He ordered himself not to notice. Maybe it was a new fashion or Longbottom liked it that way.

She didn't look up to greet him. Still looking at the file on her desk, she said, "Hello, Headmaster Snape. Should we proceed with the check-up immediately?" Her voice was cold and professional, but there were no happy occasions left in his life to warrant a surprise party at this time.

He'd started hating everything about the meeting already. If she was that eager to rid of him, he wouldn't keep her busy for long.

She pointed her wand at him and silently said few incantations. The wand had a gray glow before the tip of it lit up in blue light, and she said, "A bit of high blood pressure, and other than that, everything is fine. You should minimize your daily salt intake and limit red meat. It will be beneficial to take a little time off to rest once in a while, even if you are a terribly busy person. I might write you the incantation should you require it, to check your blood pressure daily." Now she looked at him with a set of strange green eyes that weren't her own.

Green eyes! Red silky hair! How dare she mock me! Severus whispered, "What kind of sickness is this?"

"High blood pressure is a pretty common disease among Muggles, Muggle-borns and half-bloods, especially ones with a stressful life." She pretended she did not know what he was asking.

"You know very well what I am asking. Don't play your games with me; I am no Longbottom to trifle w...!"

"Why are you involving Neville into this? What's he's got to do with us?" She didn't let him finish.

"Us? There is no 'us'...there will never be any 'us,' ever! You would do well to get it in your head. Neville has everything to do with it. You said yourself that you liked him."

"I still do, as a friend, everyone does."

"That's what you're saying now; you knew very well what I had asked that night." He would not let her off the hook that easily.

"What night? The night you were enchanted by Lily Potter's ghost?" She was not one to back down.

"She. Was. Not. A. Ghost." He chewed on every word.

"Oh, wasn't she? Maybe she's more real than the living? What am I, Severus? Am I even substantial enough to be a ghost?" Her eyes were welling up.

"I haven't had my answer yet." His tone was hard enough to cut glass.

"Can't I just play dress-up to improve my appearance? I seemed to get your attention as a green-eyed redhead. I wonder what would happen if I reverse it, say, red eyes and green hair?" She looked at him expectantly, mimicking thoughtfulness in her ridiculous new eyes.

He had to say it. "That's because you look ridiculous with them on! Take them off."

"Why? These are what you have wanted, aren't they? I saw how you looked at her; you don't just love her...you worship her. Then wh..."

"Why? I will tell you why. Because, this is not you. You think a pair of contact lenses and a wig would make you Lily to me? You think I would want that?" He pointed his index finger at her. "It disgusts me... Clearly, you can see that." His face was etched with revulsion and disgust.

"You wouldn't even stand against Neville for me because I am a widow at thirty-seven with two children...a second-hand..." Her voice was sad with sudden realization.

"Don't even utter the same words that mongrel did!" If his blood pressure had been high before, it was on the fastest broom towards the moon at this point.

"Headmaster, I believe I am in need of an unavoidable and urgent personal leave right now. You must excuse me." Even though her cheeks were flooding, her tone was forcefully cold and controlled.

"You can't just get up and leave. What about the students?" He was practically shouting by that point.

"I must. Everyone else has you, don't they?" She just got up and threw some green powder in the Floo behind her before walking into it.