The First Summer and Summer Series

Severus apparated to the Granger’s home. It looked different in summer. Still tidy and manicured. He looked at the green lawns. Hermione had played on these lawns. He walked up the pathway in broad daylight, oblivious to the surprised stares from the neighbors who were observing his sudden appearance and strange clothing.

With a little hesitation, he knocked at the door. A moment later Mrs. Granger opened it.

“Severus! Whae yoe you doing here? Is Hermione with you?”

“May I come in?” he asked.

“Of course, yes, please come in!”

She brought him into the sitting room, noting that his face was like a mask, showing no emotion.

“Is your husband at home?” he asked.

A look of apprehension crossed Mrs. Granger’s face. “No, he’s next door visiting with a neighbor.”

“Perhaps you could fetch him,” he suggested.

“Is it something to do with Hermione? Is she all right?” Mrs. Granger asked in a strangled voice.

His countenance turned grim and he found he was unable to answer her or to meet her eyes.

“I’ll get my husband.”

He sat with his head in his hands, awaiting their return. Crookshanks rubbed on his legs but he was unable to reach out his hand and respond to the beast like he normally would. In a few moments the Grangers were back. Severus looked up reluctantly. Mr. Granger saw his grief stricken face and felt a sudden stab of pain. It was clear what he had come to tell them.

“How?” Mr. Granger asked shakily.

“We don‘t know,” came the hoarse reply. In a quiet voice he related all that had happened.

“Is there no hope?” her father asked.

“I have little. I wish that I did.”

Mrs. Granger had been dabbing at her eyes and was doing a heroic job of maintaining her composure. “You must be exhausted. I’ll go make you a cup of tea.”

“No, thank you. I’m going straight back.” Severus said, “I’m not leaving until I find out what happened. I just thought I should be the one to tell you she‘s missing and presumed... presumed ...” he swallowed hard, unable to finish the phrase.

“It’s appreciated,” Mr. Granger acknowledged in a choked voice. “Stay in touch.”

Severus stood. He looked down at Crookshanks who was still rubbing on his legs, trying to elicit a response.

“I’ll come back and take Crookshanks to live with me in the fall if you don‘t object.”

“Of course, if you want to.”

Severus nodded. Mrs. Granger reached up to embrace him. She was so small, so delicate, just like Hermione. He almost lost his composure. He shook hands with Mr. Granger and returned to Karnipolia.

Harry looked up to see Snape coming down the ladder into the pit.

“Anything new?” Severus asked grimly.

Harry shook his head, “Not really. How did the Grangers take it?”

“Better than I would have thought. And how are you taking i

Harry was slightly surprised. Not only had Snape never shown an ounce of compassion to him before, he also had never previously shown an interest in his personal life.

“Alright I guess,” Harry answered cautiously. “Why the sudden interest?”

Severus looked at Harry with contempt, “I’m not wholly unfeeling, Potter. I lost a lover but you lost your lover and your friend. I barely knew Miss Weasley I’m sorry to say.”

“That’s your own fault!” Harry snapped. “You had plenty of opportunities.”

“And you and your little Gryffindor friends have had plenty of opportunities to befriend me!” Severus snarled back, “But you never tried. Not even after Voldemort’s fall and we’d all been fighting on the same side. Not even after Hermione accepted me and took me for a lover. Don’t congratulate yourself on being so perfect Potter!”

Harry was silent. He had to acknowledge to himself that there was an element of truth in what Snape was saying.

“Has Ron contacted his family?” Severus asked.

Harry shook his head. “Not until we get more information. After all, it’s not certain about Ginny...”

“No, it’s not,” Severus agreed. “Let’s keep working.”


Ron joined them after a while. His face was pale making his freckles stand out noticeably. “What are you doing?”

“Making a record of every symbol here,” Severus replied. “The translator spells don’t work so we may need to start experimenting with them one by one and take our chances. We’ll want to record the results.”

“Oh yeah, great! Just start experimenting and end up like Hermione and Ginny!” Ron sneered.

“Have you a better idea?” Severus snarled. “And I wasn’t going to ask you to do the experimenting, Weasley! I have the least to lose and the most experience to protect myself.”

“What’s your idea?” Harry asked. “How do you think they disappeared?”

“They must have touched them in a certain sequence,” Severus replied.

“Or maybe these little holes have something to do with it,” Ron suggested. He prodded his index finger into a slot. Nothing happened.

“Would you mind not touching anything unless I ask you to?” Severus growled.

Ron snapped, “Who died and made you the boss?” Suddenly, he turned pale and slapped his hand over his own mouth. “Oh god, I’m sorry. dn’tdn’t mean...”

“I know,” Severus sighed.

Harry stepped in. “Look Ron, Severus is right. We need to be careful and keep track of everything we try.”

Severus glanced at Harry. It was the first time he had ever heard him use his first name. “Thank you, Harry, I appreciate your support. Ron, you may be correct about the indentations. I’ll start by manipulating two at a time and see what happens. Please take notes.”


Ginny and Hermione were exhausted. They had been to at least five different places and none of them seemed familiar or seemed to be anywhere near a settlement so they could get word to Karnipolia. Each place had been thoroughly explored for options and discarded. Then they selected a new travel symbol and started over. Hermione sighed deeply.

“This is frustrating,” she admitted. “I hope Severus is all right.” Her communi-charm stayed glowing softly but persistently against her robes. It wasn’t as scalding hot as it had been the night before. She hoped tmeanmeant that he was managing.

She and Ginny chose another symbol. They were whisked through to yet another ruin on another small island.

“Damn!” Hermione hissed. “We have to choose the right one soon!”

“Hermione!” Ginny whimpered. “There aren’t any symbols left on this wall!”

Hermione turned to look. Ginny was right. All of the symbols had eroded. Their travels were at an end.

“Now what do we do?” Ginny cried.

“I don’t know,” Hermione admitted as she sank to her knees. She unconsciously clutched her communi-charm. “Oh gods I wish Severus was here!”


After spending most of the day fiddling with symbols and useless incantations, Severus finally conceded he needed a rest. The sun only shone directly into the space where they were working at noon but the depth of the pit prevented any and all breezes from entering it. The heat had been stifling and the smell of their sweaty bodies was overwhelming. He went up to the room, which was cool and silent, and collapsed onto the bed. He felt fevered and realized that he might be suffering from heat stroke. He summoned a glass of water but dropped and broke it.

With a sigh, he rose from the bed and went into the bathroom, running a cool tub of water in which to soak. While the tub filled he surveyed himself in the mirror. Under the dust and grime he had a sun burn which he knew from experience was going to peel. He never tanned. His cr whi white chest made a horrible contrast to the lurid shrimp pink of his neck and face. The communi-charm hung around his neck against a series of untreated burns and scars from its original heat. He hadn’t bothered to try and heal them. He felt the pain and scars were deserved.

A sudden flash caught his eye. The communi-charm! It began to glow once again. A pale delicate glow that barely registered, but it was there. Severus grasped it unbelievingly. She was still alive! He fell to his knees and started laughing in relief, although some of the laughs sounded suspiciously like sobs. There was still hope.



“Well?” Ginny asked.

“Don’t look at me,” Hermione warned. “I’m the one who got us into it this deep. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Well,” Ginny hesitated.

Hermione looked at her, “What?”

“I know you don’t like the idea, but why don’t we just try apparating?”

“Ginny! We don’t know where we’re apparating from. That could cause some problems in regards to where we’re apparating to! We don‘t even know how far it is! And if we‘re not in the same time period...”

“Have you any better ideas?” Ginny snapped.

“No,” Hermione admitted humbly.

“Maybe you want to stay here forever but I want to get back to Harry. Let‘s do it.”

Hermione nodded.

As soon as he had bathed, Severus ran down to the lobby in search of the boys. Harry and Ron had never seen him so animated.

“She‘s alive! Look!” He pulled the communi-charm out from his robes. Unfortunately, it had gone dark again.

Ron and Harry gave each other a look.

“It was glowing not ten minutes ago,” Severus insisted.

Ron commented, “I think you were out in the sun too long today, Snape.”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “I know what I saw Weasley!”

“Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?” Harry asked. “It has been a long day and, uh, you are kind of sun burned. May be the heat...”

“I am not delusional! This was glowing ten minutes ago!” He looked from Harry to Ron then back. “Fine! Don’t believe me. I’m going back to try some more symbols.”

“But we’ve tried them all!” Ron moaned.


But the boys didn’t want to let Severus go back on his own. Harry truly believed the man had been in the sun too long but he had gained a new enthusiasm that was intoxicating.

“It has to be something to do with these indentations,” Severus muttered.

“But we’ve stuck our finger in every damn hole and nothing happened,” Ron complained.

“Maybe it’s not fingers, maybe it’s wands,” Harry suggested. “There certainly were plenty of wands dug from this site last year.”

“Worth a try,” Severus shrugged pulling out his wand. “Let’s try this one first.”

He extended his wand forward to connect with a slot when a familiar voice behind him shouted, “Stop!”


Hermione and Ginny had concentrated hard on Karnipolia. They knew that they would have only one shot to try such a distant apparation point and they had to be accurate. Splinching was not pretty.

“Are you ready?” Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded. “Right back to where we were yesterday morning.”

Hermione counted, “One, two, three!”

There was a sickening pull and a swirl. The apparation was the longest and most difficult that Hermione had ever experienced. But when the world stopped spinning she opened her eyes to find herself back in the deep pit at Karnipolia. Directly in front of her was Severus, about to contact his wand with the same symbol that she herself had touched two days before.

“Stop!” she shrieked.

Severus dropped his wand and turned. He stood in disbelief for a moment then caught her up in his arms.


Explanations and exclamations followed. Harry refused to let go of Ginny and Ron looked away, pretending he didn’t care. There were celebratiot tht the hotel that night, but Hermione and Severus did not join in. They stayed in their suite, celebrating quietly with a bottle of champagne. The communi-charms had been shed.

“I think I’d prefer not to use them any more if you don’t mind,” he commented. “I only wish I had thought of the possibility of you being alive and not needing me. Somehow I always assume you do.”

“I do!” Hermione emphasized. “Even when I thought I didn’t I really did. But your charm was glowing for me too, you know. Did you need me?”

“I always need you, even if I don’t admit it.”

Hermione spent time healing his burns, both on his chest from the communi-charm and his sun burn. “Haven’t you ever heard of sunscreen?” she joked. “You told me that last year!”

“I suggest we try the best sunscreen of all,” Severus commented. “Let’s just stay indoors for a few days, preferably in bed.”

“That sounds lovely!” She bent forward to kiss him.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Damn!” Severus groaned.

Hermione opened the door to Ron Weasley.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he smirked, “I just wanted to let you know we’re leaving in the morning.”

“Leaving?” Hermione asked.

“I’m going back to London and Harry and Ginny are going to Paris. You two can finally be alone.” He smiled at Severus. “Thanks Professor!”

“See you back in London,” Severus nodded.

As the door closed Hermione turned to him. “Well? What do you think of that?”

He laughed a slightly evil laugh and pulled her back onto the bed. “Alone at last! I don‘t believe it!”

He wrapped his arms around her, trapping her head in the crook of his arm and forcing his lips down onto hers. He felt her melt under his touch. He insinuated his tongue between her lips and began gently grinding his hardening crotch against her.

Suddenly, he pulled back, “Oh Merlin!”

“What?” Hermione asked. She clutched his bottom seductively.

“Your parents! I forgot to owl your parents you’re alive. They think you‘re probably dead.”

“You told my parents I was dead?!?” Hermione panicked. “Severus! How could you?”

“Because I thought you were! Come on! Get dressed!”


The Grangers were surprised and overjoyed to see Hermione alive and well. They listened to her adventure with awe.

“Next time, young lady, you pay attention to what Severus tells you!” her father admonished. “This anthropology business is not a game.”

“I will,” she agreed.

“And now the two of you need some sleep,” Mrs. Granger suggested. “I’ll go put sheets on the guest room bed.”

“No!” they exclaimed together. Their eyes met. They did not want to be separated.

“We’d rather go back to our own place,” Severus explained. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Hermione’s parents looked at one another. “You can stay with him in the guest room Hermione,” Mr. Granger conceded. He blushed slightly and looked away.

“Thank you, Daddy!” She leaned over and gave her father a kiss. She smiled at Severus and he nodded slightly. They both knew that it wouldn’t be any night of passion but it was a major concession on Mr. Granger’s part that they couldn’t turn down.

In bed that night, Severus snuggled into Hermione and kissed her ear. “Your father is nice. I wish there was some polite way to tell him that he doesn’t have to worry about me taking his daughter under his own roof.”

“Still think you’re impotent in my parent’s house?” she sighed.

“I’m happy to be impotent in your father’s house. But what about stopping by your place in London tomorrow and getting the Karma Sutra to take back to Karnipolia with us?”

Hermione just smiled.


The summer went far too fast for Hermione’s liking and she dreaded the approaching fall. Although she loved being at the university, the enforced separation from Severus was harsh. Her one consolation was that when this year was done she could join him and they never had to be separated again. She supposed she would be living at Hogwarts. Perhaps she could even get Dumbledore to let her teach a few classes.

The other thing which bothered her was that almost the entire summer had gone by and Severus still hadn’t proposed. She longed to discuss wedding arrangements but it seemed premature if they weren‘t even engaged yet. She had a horrible feeling he might wait until she was done with school. It was the sort of thing he would do. He was so damned irritating at times!

She sighed and looked around her. Karnipolia was like a second home. She wouldn’t be coming here to stay for extended periods again. Her research was at an end. She gathered up her field notes for the last time. She had enough practical work done for her degree. All that remained were the grueling last papers, thesis and orals. She had no doubt of the outcome.

Hermione brushed the dust from her eyes and walked back to the hotel in the hot afternoon sun. She found Severus sitting in the cool of the room, reading. He looked up from his book when the door opened.

“Finished?” he asked.

She nodded mutely.

He came over to where she stood, and, ignoring the dust, wrapped his arms around her.

“Let’s celebrate,” he suggested. “Have a shower and dress up. Put on your burgundy robes and gold jewelry then we’ll take a walk before dinner. We‘ll have champagne tonight.”

“Can’t we have it in the room?” Hermione asked. “I’m tired.”

“Not tonight. We’re celebrating.” he insisted. “Shower. Now.”

He lightly twisted her arm behind her and pretended to march her into the shower. He was in an incredibly buoyant mood. She hadn’t realized quite how much completing her research meant to him. He stripped her of her clothes then peeled off his own to join her.

After getting Hermione thoroughly soapy, splashed and giggling, he pressed her up against the tiled wall and made love to her. He held her impaled, crushed between his body and the wall, her legs wrapped around his thighs, feet not able to touch the floor. He kissed her with a passion usually reserved for their first meeting after being apart for several months. She pulled her head away and looked at him, his hair was straggling wet, black eyes flashing, lips darting forward for another kiss. She loved him more than her heart could hold.

“Of course the best part about making love in the shower,” Severus commented as he thrust, “is that we won’t have to worry about washing afterwards.”

He began grinding into her until Hermione felt the imprint of the tiles must be on her back. It was wonderful, but the slight discontent left by her earlier thoughts had distracted her. Finally, knees trembling from the exertion and excitement, he tensed and climaxed hard.

“Is anything the matter, Hermione?” he asked afterwards. “I don’t think you’re quite yourself.”

“I’m not. I’m just a little sad. I hate the thought that we‘re going back to London tomorrow. I only get to keep you for one more week then you‘re at Hogwarts and I‘m in London. And I can‘t believe I‘ve finished my practical work. I hate it when things end.”

“The end of one thing means starting another.” Severus advised philosophically. “Besides, you still have a year of university left to put that practical work into academic application. You‘ll love that. And I told you, we’re celebrating tonight. A quick walk then dinner.”


Their hair was still damp as they left hotel to walk across the ruins in the sunset. She wore the same robes he had bought her two summers before although they were showing a bit of wear. The jewelry too. He had insisted.

“You look beautiful in that colour, my goddess,” he commented. He led her up to the top of the high mound at the excavation. It had a nice view. Then he turned to look at her. Her hair was drying rapidly in the heat. Small tendrils were frizzing up around her face in a way that he knew she would hate but he found alluring.

“Do you remember this spot? The first year?” he asked.

Hermione smiled, “It’s where you first told me you loved me.” Then the significance hit her. How could she have been so blind this afternoon? “Oh my god! You’re finally going to propose to me aren’t you?”

He chuckled and took her hand. “I don’t have much of a life to offer you Hermione. I think you deserve more and better. But I love you. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

“Severus,” she whispered, then launched herself into his arms. “Yes!”

Their lips met in a passionate lock. Both of them were completely happy and fulfilled. He pulled back.

“I hope you like this,” he remarked as he slid a ring on her finger. It wasn’t a new ring. It was old and rich and had very fine goldwork with a moonstone core.

“It’s beautiful!”

He hesitated, “I wasn’t sure whether to give it to you or not. It’s...a family ring, been handed down to me. But you’re going to be my family now. So I thought I’d offer it. I’ll buy you something else, something new if you prefer.”

“This is the ring I prefer!” Hermione assured him, kissing him lovingly. “But it still seems such a long time until I can be Mrs. Snape.”

“It’s not long enough,” Severus replied in mock doom. “I have to learn to play golf for my future father in law.”

Hermione laughed.

They sat side by side, watching the sun go down in complete happiness, neither speaking. Hermione kept her ring hand on Severus’s knee, where they both could look at it. They wandered back to the hotel and ordered the promised champagne. Neville and his uncle joined them briefly, to toast the newly espoused couple. Then they returned to their room, and stayed awake all night, planning their future together.


(Summer Wedding to begin posting tomorrow!)