Birthday Party

This is a story by the great Marisol, a German FF writer whose stories can be found at http://www.harrypotter-xperts.de/fanfiction?author=17037

Translated from German into English by Muggline

Disclaimer: Neither Marisol nor Muggline are making any money out of this. Everything you recognise belongs to J.K.Rowling.

A/N: Loads of Kinder chocolate go to ladyinthecloak, who returned this at superhuman speed! (And maybe some good coffee to go with it?)

Chapter 11

"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Emilia with a concerned frown. She gave Hermione a searching look, worried because her colleague stared at the parchment in her hands as if she had been petrified.

"I beg your pardon? Oh – yes, thank you, " Hermione answered. Then she hurriedly folded the parchment and put it in her bag. She took several deep breaths and smiled at Emilia. According to her deep frown, Hermione's colleague was not convinced of her well-being at all.

Of course he is familiar with Muggle literature, Hermione thought in despair. She remembered the moment she had decided to write the reader's letter, knowing very well that it would most probably cause a commotion if she used her real name. As a good friend of Harry Potter, she belonged to a circle of people to whom the media paid constant attention – even now, eight years after Voldemort's downfall. Therefore, she had instinctively opted for a pseudonym. She had doubted that anyone among her circle of friends or acquaintances would guess the real person behind Leontes Pearson. No matter how famous Shakespeare's work might be in the Muggle world, witches and wizards did not normally read Muggle books. At least the people Hermione usually dealt with did not.

When making up the pseudonym, she had chosen a character from one of Shakespeare's works in which her own name was quite prominent. 'Queen Hermione' – her father had lovingly called her when she was a little girl. It had always made her feel very special. In Shakespeare's 'Winter's Tale', King Leontes, Hermione’s husband, had accused his pregnant wife of being unfaithful and imprisoned her. He was a man dominated by raging jealousy who saw only those things he wanted to see. Any resemblance to actual living persons are pure coincidence, thought Hermione with an ironic smile while she took another deep breath.

Snape's lines, a quotation of Leontes' text, were certain proof that he did not only know the 'Winter's Tale' but had also made the right conclusions about the person behind the reader's letter. Her face flushed in deep red while she imagined Snape reading the newspaper, realising that she had defended him, although not under her real name. She wondered what he might have thought about it. Interestingly enough, she did not know herself why she had been itching to defend him against Rita Skeeter's slander. She tried to make herself believe that she had acted upon her rightful anger about the reporter. Yet, she knew that it had not been her only motivation.

Snape was a nasty man. He was tactless, impolite and unfair, and there was nothing to cover that up. She had a hard time relaxing in his presence, especially since the day he had invaded her mind and read her thoughts like a book. Basically, there was no logical reason why she had felt almost obliged to write this letter to the publishing house. But then she thought of the lost expression on his face and of how his eyes had roamed the whole room to avoid her when he had spoken those words that had numbed her soul: "I am nothing and I am nowhere."

Hermione just could not allow him to lose his work – the only thing that represented at least an impression of normality in his life. She tried to imagine his daily routine without the task of brewing potions for apothecaries and hospitals. Maybe, with an exception of those days when he visited the Potters, he would sit on his threadbare sofa day in day out. The empty shell that he was would breathe, sleep and eat, maybe even read a book. But it would not live.

She was strangely concerned at that thought, and she shook her head as if trying to get rid of it that way. Suddenly, her pity reminded her of the times when she had founded S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. Was this the same? Was it her natural urge to meddle without being asked? To take an interest in Snape's life because she could not bear it when he was in danger of being suffocated by the shadows of his past, not even trying to step out in the light?

She nodded, as if she were answering a question. However, in some hidden recess of her soul, she knew that this situation felt completely different from S.P.E.W.

oOoOoOoOo

Albus Severus' first birthday came way too fast, and Hermione saw herself confronted with the usual gift problem. He was less lively and had less of an urge to be active than his elder brother James, whom she had given a magical humming top for his first birthday. She turned the question over in her mind, asked her elder colleagues who had children of their own for advice and finally decided to buy him a cookware set for children that consisted of an apron, a cook's hat and several small pots and pans. Ginny had told her that he loved to watch while she prepared the meals in the kitchen. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, she purchased the hat and apron in the Gryffindor colors red and gold, and she grinned at the thought of his appearance in these items.

Harry had told her that only Ginny's parents, George and of course Snape would be in attendance for dinner. Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Ron had already been there in the early afternoon. Hermione was quite happy about the others' presence because it helped her to avoid talking to Snape without making a bad impression. She would simply involve Molly or George in a lengthy conversation until she could go home with a clear conscience. She sincerely doubted that she would know what to say to him. On the other hand, she did not think that he would mention the incident – if he had had the desire to talk about it, he would have had plenty of opportunities already. But why had he let her know that he had caught her out? Sighing, she forced herself to think of other things and hoped that the evening would not bring any embarrassing surprises.

oOoOoOoOo

When Hermione got there at six p.m., George was already there and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. They had not seen each other for at least six months, and in spite of all the years that had passed, it still felt odd to see George without his twin brother. He was slimmer than Hermione remembered, and although he laughed very often, there was a certain seriousness in his eyes that did not match his former lighthearted personality.

"Listen, guys, I have to tell you something before Mum and Dad show up," he said after Hermione had spun Albus Severus around and given him his parcel. With James' help, Albus immediately started unpacking it, shrieking excitedly.

George looked into the expectant faces and then proclaimed with studied indifference, "I got married last week in Mt. Blistery."

"You did WHAT?" Ginny squealed after one very long second of silence.

Harry and Hermione, too, stared at him as if he had told them that he had donated a kidney to a stranger. Hermione knew that Mt. Blistery was some kind of a magical equivalent to Las Vegas.

"Yep," George answered, grinning. "Lorna and I spontaneously decided to fly to Mt. Blistery and lose a few Galleons. At one casino, I had some kind of a lunatic fit and placed all the gold I had on the 14 – you know, the first of April, our birthday."

Hermione noticed that he talked about "their birthday" – his and Fred's – and she swallowed hard when she realised that there would always be a gap for George; something lost that had once been a part of him.

"So I told Lorna that I would marry her on the spot if the number really won. Well, now we are very rich – and very married." He looked in all those shocked faces and laughed when nobody said a word.

Harry was the first to come to his senses. "Erm, okay, ah – congratulations, mate! Lorna is quite the catch!" He started grinning, too, patted George's shoulder and turned to get a bottle of Firewhiskey so they could toast the newlyweds.

"Oh, yes, she is – albeit not quite as good as I!"

Ginny threw herself into her brother's arms, then she punched his shoulder and snorted reproachfully: "You could have said something, you bastard!"

"Yeah, sorry. Next time I decide to be spontaneous, you will be the first to know!" He tousled Ginny's hair and lovingly poked at her waist.

Hermione also got up and hugged George, laughing. "Obviously, you of all people had to do something so exquisitely stupid! I am happy for you and Lorna."

"Thanks, Hermione," he replied, beaming as if she had paid him the greatest compliment in the world.

Harry put four glasses and the Firewhiskey on the table and poured some for everyone. George cleared his throat, raised his glass and said in a low voice: "To Fred, who cannot be here with us to stand by my side as best man and say that Lorna is making a big mistake because he actually looks much better than I." A shadow seemed to cross his features when he had spoken.

"To Fred," said Hermione, Harry and Ginny simultaneously. Then they clinked their glasses and took in the silence that enveloped the sitting room like a thick blanket.

"Pooh," panted George after throwing down the bronze coloured liquid in one gulp. "I definitely needed a bracer. Mom will go ballistic when she learns how I got married. You will back me up, won't you?"

"You can count on us," Ginny answered and laughed.

oOoOoOoOo

Molly and Arthur arrived almost at the same time as Snape, who greeted everyone with a polite handshake but did not give away with one single gesture whether he liked the company or not. His black eyes rested on Hermione for a moment without any expression, and everyone who did not know him might have thought that they did not know each other at all.

Albus Severus giggled happily when his godfather lifted him up and talked to him in a low voice so nobody else could understand it.

"Oh, Severus, just put him down for a moment. Yes, just put him down and you will see," Ginny said with a mysterious smile.

Snape frowned, but he followed Ginny's request. He held the boy's hands in both of his.

"Let him go," Ginny instructed. Snape gave her a doubtful look, but when she nodded, he hesitatingly let Albus' hands go.

The little boy stood on his chubby, wobbly legs, but then he took two, three clumsy steps. When it seemed as if he would fall, Snape caught him just in time and then looked up with a surprised expression.

"Yesterday," Harry answered his unspoken question. "He held on to the table and then suddenly, he took a few steps. Of course, he fell down immediately, but hey – your godson is about to start walking!" He and Ginny were positively beaming, and Molly was the first to give her grandson a big hug and a loud smack on the cheek.

"Maybe we should have bought him those bladerollers, Molly," Arthur said cheerfully.

"Rollerblades," Harry corrected him automatically, then gave his father-in-law a good-natured pat on the shoulder. "But you'd better wait until he is twenty-seven years old or so. I prefer my child's bones in one piece, you know. And the same applies to my house."

Arthur roared with laughter and Harry joined in.

"I don't know whether this is a reason for laughter," Ginny said, raising her eyebrows. "We have our hands full, running after James and keeping him from mischief. With two small indefatigable boys this is going to be anything but fun." But her eyes sparkled while she lovingly glared at her two sons, who were busy inspecting Albus' gifts.

"Didn't you say you wanted to lose some weight?" George asked while he winked and ducked quickly, avoiding the shoe his sister was throwing in his direction.

Hermione smiled while she observed the Weasleys. Then her eyes darted to Snape, whose face still looked surprised – but it also held an expression that looked a lot like undisguised pride. As if he had felt her gaze, he turned his head in her direction, and she quickly looked away as if she had been caught doing something forbidden.

oOoOoOoOo

Then they had tea, accompanied by some lively discussions. George amused everyone with stories he had experienced at his joke shop. Snape only joined in the conversation when he was asked a direct question, but he did not seem to feel uncomfortable at all. Hermione asked herself what he might have given his godson, but she thought that he would probably wait and give it to him when everybody else had left.

"... and then he made a big mistake by mixing up the puking pastilles and the pretty precocious pills. It was an awful mess. Oh, Professor Snape, while we're at it – I finally have to admit that Fred and I were responsible for all those pupils who were hit with sudden bouts of nausea so they had to leave your classes to be treated at the hospital wing." He sported the mischievous grin that reminded them of the old George – the boy he had been before he had lost his twin and best friend.

"George!" exclaimed Molly, as if her son were still a teenager getting cheeky with his teacher.

"Oh, my, what a surprise," Snape answered ironically. "I was so convinced that those pupils had the misfortune to get the benefit of Hagrid's cooking and then gave, well, the best that they had got in class." His lips quirked when George started laughing.

"But since you started this, I also have to admit something: in your Potions OWL I deducted one point that would have made you actually pass. I deducted it because of unreadable handwriting. I had asked which was the ailment which was best cured by the greentwiddle draught.”

"Whooping cough," Hermione exclaimed and blushed when Snape gave her a derisive look.

"Thank you, Miss Granger. Unfortunately, Mr. Weasley's handwriting was unreadable, and I was convinced that he had written 'whipping cloth’ instead." He put on an act of shrugging regretfully, but George started laughing.

"No offence taken," he said when he had calmed down. "I could have never forgiven myself if I had gotten more OWLs than Fred. What is more – I have become quite the respectable businessman in spite of it, haven't I?"

Molly visibly fought the urge to reprimand her adult son, but before she could say anything, George added hastily, "It seems that the moment has come to make confessions of some kind. Therefore, I would like to tell you something else." He turned around to face his parents.

They looked at him, resigned to their fate, and he told them what Harry, Ginny and Hermione already knew. The words came gushing out of him in such a hurry that they could almost not follow, but Molly had obviously gotten the gist of it.

"Married? In Mont Blistery?" She turned to her husband as if she wanted to ask him what had gone wrong in their upbringing. But Arthur seemed to have overcome his first shock rather quickly. It took quite a while, and Harry and Ginny had to work quite hard on her until Molly finally accepted that her son had gotten married in a completely silly, unplanned move and without any member of the family.

"I would never have wed with all the big fuss that Bill and Fleur had, you know," George said gently. "Neither Fred nor I. I bet he'd be proud of me."

Suddenly tears were streaming down Molly's round cheeks; she tore George to her chest and hugged him. Hermione thought that her thoughts certainly were with her dead son, who had not been able to attend such an important event in the life of his twin brother.

Hermione felt strangely out of place when she felt the Weasleys move closer together. This was too personal and private, and she could not stand sitting next to them any more. Discreetly, she got up from her chair, went over to the children who were playing in a corner and squatted down in front of Albus Severus. "Why don't we try your cook's hat and apron?" she asked in a low voice. She pointed at her gift, and when Albus started to giggle, she put the hat on his head. He squeaked happily and grabbed the strange new headgear with his hands.

From the corner of her eye, she saw that Snape got up slowly and disappeared towards the bathroom. She had no doubt that he felt very uncomfortable in this intimate atmosphere of mourning and loving remembrance.

"Come, Al," she said, lifted him up and took him to the kitchen. James preferred to stay put with the other gifts.

Hermione summoned the small pots and pans with a murmured "Accio," and Albus Severus obviously had much fun stirring them with a wooden spoon.

"You seem to be very sure, Miss Granger," she heard Snape's voice behind her and spun around. He pointed at the hat in the typical Gryffindor colours with a mocking smile.

"Well, all signs seem to show it," she replied. "His parents were both in Gryffindor."

"You know nothing about children." Snape glared at her with an unreadable expression while she asked herself what might have made him follow her to the kitchen.

"You are just the right person to say that, Professor," she snapped.

He approached several steps, unimpressed. "I would bet one hundred Galleons that he will be in Slytherin."

"Oh, I go along and wager one hundred and fifty that he will be a Gryffindor through and through." She raised her chin in a belligerent manner.

Snape observed her and his mouth twitched. "You have used this expression so often, Miss Granger, you ought to get the copyright for it."

She inhaled and prepared for a cutting remark, but then she was quite surprised to hear herself say, "The boy means very much to you, doesn't he?"

Again, his face held the enraptured expression that made her doubt whether he had heard her or whether he was going to answer at all. But then his head turned to face the playing child. She knew that he was not talking to her when he said, "He makes me feel... alive." He spoke the last word in a whisper, as if he were unsure whether it felt all right.

Hermione swallowed and sheepishly looked at her feet. She wanted to say something, but did not know what to say and how. It almost felt like when they had entered Sirius' house and realised that Moody had cast a spell that made their tongues stick to their faces. Only, the barrier now came from inside of her, not from a spell.

"It would be impossible to feel alive unless what has been lost would reappear," she finally said when she found her voice again, suddenly remembering Shakespeare's 'Winter's Tale'. In it, Leontes had realised, full of remorse, what horrible damage he had done by having his pregnant wife incarcerated. He had then said that he would remain without an heir if what had been lost would not reappear. In Snape's case, it was not the heir, but the spark that he had lost in order to have a will to live. It seemed as if he had found it again.

Snape turned towards her, and his gaze held some kind of silent understanding that made any words unnecessary. They both knew that they saw the weak but nonetheless existent similarities to the Winter's Tale, and they also knew that it would be better if they remained silent.

While she watched Snape retreat from the kitchen, Hermione suddenly realised what he had wanted to tell her by writing this quotation of Leontes' part:

"Go on, go on, thou canst not speak too much; I have deserv'd all tongues to talk their bitt'rest."

It was his way of acknowledging her reader's letter and at the same time apologising for everything that had transpired when he had invaded her mind in his house.