Darkness Within

Severus threw back his bedclothes and swung his legs to the floor. He could hear Hermione signing in her bedroom next door and he smiled softly to himself. She was a little tone deaf and every now and then she would hit a bum note. But Severus still found it endearing.



In the two months since she had all but moved into his house, they had struck up a routine of sorts and Hermione was now assisting him in his own lab, preparing his potions for private sale, and sorting out his paperwork. Their relationship was easy going and friendly. He was starting to appreciate her company more and more, and the thought of spending the day with her today put a spring in his step.



After a quick shower, Severus threw on his clothes and left his room, at the same time as Hermione left hers. Neither of them was looking where they were going, and he walked straight into her and knocked her onto the floor.



‘Fuck,’ Hermione muttered under her breath, rubbing her shoulder gently.



‘Oh gods, Hermione,’ Severus knelt beside her and wrapped his arm under her shoulders and helped her to her feet, ‘I am so sorry. Are you alright?’



Hermione looked at him under her fringe of curls. ‘My arm is a little sore, but apart from that I’m fine,’ she said, with a twinkle in her eye.



Severus caught her gaze and the twitch of her lips and smiled at her sheepishly.



‘My mind was on other things. Forgive me,’ he smiled at her and Hermione rewarded him with a loud but feminine giggle that made her wince and rub her shoulder gingerly.



‘I need a pain potion, I think,’ she said.



‘Of course. Come,’ Severus went ahead of her, and Hermione followed him as he walked down the stairs, into what would have been the dining room of the house but had been converted, many years ago, into a small but well-planned potions lab.



Severus lifted the small phial from the shelf and handed it to Hermione, who swallowed the contents and relaxed as it took immediate effect.



‘Much better,’ she smiled, ‘now, tea I think. Want some?’



‘I’ll get it. It can be my penance for not watching where I was going,’ Severus smiled at her and went towards the kitchen.



‘What distracted you, Severus?’ Hermione asked him, as an afterthought.



‘Nothing significant,’ he murmured as he walked into the kitchen, ‘only you, your beautiful eyes and the way your mouth lifts at the corners when you laugh,’ he whispered when he was out of earshot. He rubbed his hand across his eyes and shook his head firmly. This was not a good time to be thinking of Hermione in that way. In fact, there would never be a good time and he needed to get her out of his head.



Severus made tea and toast and called Hermione through to the kitchen, just as his Daily Prophet arrived by screech owl. They sat at the table and had their breakfast quietly; the only sound was Severus, turning over the pages of his newspaper. An article caught his attention and he cough a little, peered over the top of the pages at Hermione and paused slightly before speaking.



‘Hermione,’ he said softly ‘there is news in here that may interest you,’



‘Me? I doubt it very much,’ she snorted and took a sip of her tea, ‘ you make excellent tea, Severus. I should let you bump into me more often.’ Hermione grinned at Severus and he raised his eyebrows at her.



‘I really think you will want to read this,’ he looked at her seriously and passed the Prophet over to her, pointing to the relevant article with a slim index finger.



Hermione started to read the article with interest, then took a small intake of breath. Her eyes welled with tears and she brushed them away with her hand and laughed a little.



‘That’s wonderful news. Did you see what they called him? Albus Severus,’ she smiled warmly at him.



Secretly, Severus was flattered, but he was too concerned with Hermione to revel in the honour.



‘You didn’t know they were having another child?’ It was really a statement and not a question.



‘We lost touch. I didn’t tell anyone I was back, you see,’ Hermione bit her lip and started to curl her hair around her thumb absent-mindedly.



‘When did you get back? I know you stayed in the Muggle hospital in Australia for a while. We didn’t get any further than that, did we?’ Severus probed gently.



After it had been agreed that Hermione would stay with him, Severus had decided wouldn’t push her to open up about what had happened, but would let it come out naturally. There were gaps in the story that intrigued him, however, and this was one of them. Her social isolation concerned Severus greatly. She used to be so close to her friends but now, it seemed as if they had never existed.



‘I wrote to Ginny from Australia while I was in the hospital and told her I was going to stay there with my family. She thinks I’m still there, actually, ‘ Hermione gave an embarrassed laugh, ‘I couldn’t face telling her the truth. I came back four years ago and well, you know what happened then. I just couldn’t contact anyone.’



Severus nodded his understanding. ‘And now? They must miss you. I’m sure you miss them,’ he murmured.



‘I do miss them. I didn’t go to their wedding and now they have two children that I haven’t met. But it would be so hard, walking back into their lives. They’ve moved on so much.’ Hermione’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke.



‘You should tell them what happened, Hermione. You need your friends. You can’t stay holed up in this dingy house with me for the rest of your life,’ Severus stood and made more tea, unaware of Hermione’s eyes on the back of his head as she contemplated his words.



‘Do you want me to leave, Severus?’ she asked him quietly.



Severus spun on his heel and faced her abruptly. ‘If I want you to leave at any time, Hermione, I will tell you. I was not trying to infer anything.’ His voice was almost angry and he sat down opposite her and pulled his chair into the table with a scrape.



‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Hermione smiled at him softly, her eyes a little glazed over.



‘So, will you contact the Potters?’ Severus asked her, avoiding her gaze on him, but feeling the weight of it all the same.



‘I might. Would you come with me, Severus? I don’t think I could face telling them on my own,’ she whispered, her eyes never leaving his face.



Severus’s face fell as he stared at her. He wanted to refuse. He had managed to shove his memories of the war to one side quite well. Looking into Harry’s eyes, however, might just bring them all crashing back. The last thing he wanted to do was to call on Mr and Mrs now-very-happy- thank-you Potter, but as he stared at Hermione and saw her trusting face looking back, he knew he couldn’t refuse her anything any more. He sighed deeply.



‘If it will help, I will do it. But only once, Hermione. I do not intend on becoming fast friends with the Potters. And under no circumstances will I be babysitting.’



He stood from the table and walked quickly out of the room before he changed his mind, leaving Hermione re-reading the Prophet and smiling to herself.





*******



Two weeks later, Hermione was walking slowly through the beautiful village of Godric’s Hollow, with a reluctant Severus trailing a little behind her. This time it was her turn to be supportive, and she waited for him to catch her up and looked at his face in concern.



‘I hadn’t thought about how difficult this would be for you, Severus,’ she whispered softly, ‘I can do this alone if you want, if it’s easier for you?’



Severus took a breath, and shook his head firmly. ‘No. I made you a promise. We both have some difficult memories to put to rest. This one just happens to be mine,’ he murmured softly and smiled sadly at her.



They had never openly discussed Lily Potter. It was just understood that Hermione knew Severus’s history. Hermione knew he preferred it that way.



Hermione linked her arm in his and squeezed him tightly. ‘Come on. Let’s get this over with, shall we?’



Severus glanced down at her arm though his and smirked, ‘this will give them something to think about, in any case.’



Hermione laughed and her eyes danced, ‘Won’t it just?’



They arrived at the small cottage and Hermione sighed softly as she pushed open the little gate and they walked up to the cheery yellow painted door. She noticed that Severus wasn’t looking at the cottage and was keeping his eyes averted to his feet, his arm stiff and his demeanour dour.



‘Stiff upper lip, Severus, my boy,’ she whispered to him, mimicking Dumbledore to a T and making him laugh just a little, as she raised her hand to knock firmly on the door.



The door opened almost immediately and revealed Harry Potter on the other side, his face split into a wide smile as he held his arms open wide to his friend.



‘Hermione!’ he cried.



Hermione let go of Severus’s arm carefully and stepped tentatively towards him, letting him wrap his arms around her tightly and hug her half to death. By the time he had let go, Hermione was laughed loudly and tears were running down her cheeks.



‘You’ve missed me, then?’ she asked him, still laughing.



‘What do you think?’ Harry grinned at her.



Hermione beamed at him and was pleased to note he hadn’t changed one bit, from the glasses to the unruly hair.



Harry’s gaze drifted over to Severus and he smiled softly at him, holding out his hand.



‘Severus, it’s good to see you after all this time,’ he said.



‘Mr Potter,’ Severus shook his hand and nodded slightly, ‘please excuse my intrusion. Your friend can be very persuasive, as I am sure you will remember.’



‘It’s fine, Severus. Hermione told us you were coming; you’re more than welcome. And you can meet your namesake,’ he grinned a little and blushed.



‘Wonderful,’ Severus drawled smoothly, ‘I’m sure you can guess how much I love babies.’



‘Severus, don’t be mean, ‘ Hermione giggled softly and put her hand through his arm again, pulling him after her into the small house.



They followed Harry into a small but light sitting room. A small child of approximately three years old was sitting in front of the fireplace, making little wooden blocks stack on top of each other with a wave of his hand. Once the blocks were precariously balanced, he flicked his fingers forwards and made them crash to the floor, letting out a giggle.



‘Wandless magic already?’ Severus murmured, as he eyed the child suspiciously.



Harry grinned down at his son ruefully. ‘Unfortunately, yes. Try explaining to a three year old how to control it. It’s a nightmare, I have to have eyes in the back of my head at times,’ he turned and grinned at Hermione, ‘this is James, by the way.’



Severus snorted quietly and walked over to a window that looked over the back garden of the house.



Hermione crouched down and looked at the small boy with a smile on her face. ‘Hello James,’ she said softly, ‘I’m Hermione,’



James Potter looked up at Hermione with wide, slightly grey eyes, his dark sandy hair falling over his forehead, his mouth tipped up in a small smile.



‘’Mione,’ he said, and then giggled as she poked at his chubby belly with her finger.



Hermione stood and looked at Harry, ‘ He’s cute,’ she laughed.



‘Hermione!’



She heard Ginny’s voice from the doorway and turned to face her, a huge smile on her face.



‘Ginny!’ She grinned, and then she gasped as her eyes fell on the small bundle she was holding.



Albus Severus Potter had a shock of dark hair like his father’s that was already sticking up slightly. His soft, round face was smooth and pink and his eyes were screwed up as if he was about to cry.



‘He’s beautiful, Ginny,’ Hermione breathed softly, pulling down the edge of his white blanket to lift the tiny fingers of one hand.



‘Yes he is, isn’t he?’ Ginny smiled softly at her son, ‘here, hold him a moment while I make tea.’



Ginny placed baby Albus carefully into Hermione’s waiting arms and caught sight of Severus, watching the tender scene from the window. She smiled at him and waked over to where he was standing, holding her hand out to him.



‘Professor,’ she said softly, her eyes shining with obvious awe, ‘it’s so good to see you,’



Severus took her hand lightly and stared at her in surprise as she covered it with her other hand and held it there for a long moment, squeezing softly. Ginny looked as if there was something she wanted to say, but she shook her head, obviously deciding against it. She let go of his hand and smiled at him.



‘You should go and see your namesake,’ she murmured, and nodded to where Hermione was cradling the now sleeping baby. Severus smiled softly at her and nodded.



Ginny left the room and Harry followed her quickly, leaving Hermione and Severus alone with the children.



‘Look at him, Severus, isn’t he lovely?’ Hermione gazed down at the child and smiled softly.



Severus stepped up to her and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder as he peered down at Albus.



‘He looks like his father, poor child,’ he muttered, and then smirked at the glare Hermione shot at him. ‘I don’t do babies, Hermione. In fact, I don’t think I have ever been this close to one,’ he frowned as he realised that he had spoken the truth.



At that moment, Ginny and Harry returned with a tray piled high with tea things, cakes and small sandwiches. Once the baby had been put into his small Moses basket and Harry had poured tea for everyone, Ginny looked at Hermione with a determined look on her face.



‘Right. Now you can explain where the hell you’ve been, Hermione Granger.’





***************





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