You Know What They Say about Necessity...

In case you\'re wondering why this chapter is Part One, I\'ll explain: the chapter for Harry\'s birthday is gonna be very very long. So, I decided to split it into three parts. I hope you enjoy this.


Disclaimer: I hope JKR won\'t beat me up for this, because *I* know she owns it, honest!



Chapter Twenty-One: Happy Birthday, Harry Potter: Part One

“Happy birthday, Harry!”

Hermione’s voice bouncing off his ears, Harry groaned and covered his face with his pillow. “Mione, do you have any idea what time it is?” he groaned again.

“Eight o’clock,” she replied with a giggle. “Come on, up and at em’, Harry! I promised to make you breakfast, remember? You said you’ve been missing me, remember? Those two whole days that I spent my time with Professor Snape, you were practically wasting away without me, remember?”

“All right, all right, you’ve made your point loud and clear to me, Mione,” Harry sighed.

She smiled. “And what point is that?”

“That you’re a grown woman and can decide who you spend time with,” Harry replied, putting on his glasses and studying her. “That you aren’t going to stop spending time with me. I know you have some things in common with him. I shouldn’t have made anything out of it. I’m sorry. I was just worried that he was…”

“Was what?”

“Maybe trying to take advantage of you,” Harry said. He held up a hand to forestall her lecture. “Listen, Mione. I know you’re smart. I know you can take care of yourself. But Snape’s a Slytherin. I’m not saying for certain he’s trying to pull anything over on you. But if anybody would know how to manipulate someone, it’s him. He’s a master at hiding his feelings, hiding the truth. It’s how he fooled Voldemort.”

“Harry…” Hermione trailed off. She trusted Severus… didn’t she? Harry’s words echoed in her head. No. Severus wasn’t trying to take advantage of her. He couldn’t just want her for sex. She wasn’t beautiful in the way that made some men want to do that sort of thing. Besides, Severus was smart. He should know that if he was just playing around with her, there would be a long line of wizards and witches who would kill him. Hermione had faith in him. How in the world was she going to convince Harry to do the same when the time came?

“Harry, I know you don’t like him, but please believe me: Professor Snape isn’t doing anything to me. I just like spending time with him. I can talk about potions and alchemy with him, and I’m learning things from him. You can understand that, can’t you?” Hermione asked earnestly.

“I understand,” Harry said, patting her arm. “Goodness knows I don’t want to discuss brewing elixirs and draughts all day!”

Hermione smiled, but it was a nervous smile. She hadn’t told Harry any lies, but she hadn’t told him the whole truth, either. She felt guilty and defiant and happy and miserable. The time to talk with Harry was getting closer. She just needed to exert a bit more effort getting him used to her spending time with Severus and showing him how happy she was, while making sure Harry knew she wasn’t abandoning Harry as her friend. Surely that way he’d accept the... whatever it was, at that point. Yes. Let Harry see that Severus was doing her good, get them on some sort of good speaking terms…, and then tell Harry. It sounded so simple in theory. She could only hope it wouldn’t be too hard to put into practice.

“Anyway,” Harry said, cutting into her thoughts, “I’m really sorry. Am I off your Christmas list now?”

Hermione hugged him. “You’re my best friend, Harry,” she told him. “Nothing has changed that, and nothing will.”

He hugged her back. “Good. And I never said I was wasting away, you know,” he grinned as they let go of each other.

“Poetic license,” Hermione informed him smugly.

“Well, I’m going to exercise my birthday license. Let me sleep for another hour, okay? We’ll start breakfast when everybody gets here,” Harry muttered, flinging himself back down on his bed.

“Okay,” she agreed quickly. “I’m going to go see how Sev—Professor Snape is doing this morning.”

Harry nodded, sleep already overtaking him. His last thought before losing his grip on the world around him was: Wait a minute. Did she just start to call him Severus?

Hermione smoothed his hair back, then left Harry’s room, closed his door…, and saw Severus standing a few feet down the hall, leaning on his walker, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

He inclined his head, and went back into his room, with her following. When she got in and shut the door, he was sitting on his bed, flexing his feet and raising his legs up and down at the knee.

“I find it ironic,” Severus said quietly, “that Potter feared me taking someone away from him.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“It doesn’t matter,” Severus sighed. He rested a hand beside him. “Come here, Hermione.” His tone was neither a request nor a command.

She moved to sit beside him, her words tumbling out of her without pause. “You have to understand, Severus. Harry lost his parents when he was a baby, and then Sirius, and so many people died in the war…”

“I am aware that Mister Potter has had many of those he loved taken from him, Hermione,” Severus said gently.

She studied him. “Then… what is it? What’s bothering you?”

He looked at her levelly. “You have not told him about… us.”

“I don’t think it’s the right time yet, to tell him,” Hermione answered.

“Perhaps not. However… it won’t be long before the time does come. To tell all your friends. I would not like for them to think you have kept this from them.”

“I… I think if he can see how much I enjoy being with you, that you aren’t being awful to me, and that I’m…”

“What?” Severus asked.

“Happy,” she finished, “I think… I hope… he can accept it.”

“Potter has some good qualities,” Severus admitted, smiling slightly as her eyes widened in surprise. “ However, if he cannot eventually overcome his feelings, he is not the person I believe you think he is.”

“And what about you?” Hermione asked.

“What about me?” Severus replied.

“It’s not just a matter of Harry accepting you,” she said softly. “ Though he’s my best friend, and if he can get over being a total prat about you, I don’t intend for that to change. You said you wouldn’t question my friendships, and I believe you. But are you going to be able to be around Harry without being hateful to him? Or my other friends, for that matter? I can’t exactly hex them for treating you badly if you’re going to do the same thing.”

Severus was very tempted to smile. Only the importance of their discussion kept him from it. He searched for a way to explain to her how he felt.

“I cannot make you empty promises, Hermione,” he admitted. “I do not intend to treat them cruelly, but...\"

“But you might?” she asked. “Are you saying you’ve no control over your being hateful?”

“No, you silly girl, that isn’t what I’m saying,” Severus snapped.

“I’m not a silly girl,” Hermione retorted hotly. “And if I’m wrong, then what are you saying?”

He sighed. They were going about this all wrong, he was certain. He didn’t think Hermione had much experience with relationships outside of Ron Weasley, and goodness knows he was no voice of knowledge about affairs of the heart.

“I am saying” he said at length, “that I am a solitary man, Hermione. I am not used to dealing with people except as students or fellow professors. And even then, I have had as little interaction with most of them as possible.”

“I know that,” Hermione said.

“Then you should know that making any kind of change to behaviors I’ve had all my life will take time and effort.”

“Are you willing to make the effort?” she asked, struggling not to show her fear.

“If I wasn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, now would we?” he asked dryly.

“Is that a yes?” Hermione persisted.

Severus groaned. “Yes, Hermione, that is a yes.”

She squealed, causing Severus to ask her in a voice that had no small amount of sarcasm if she was certain that she wasn’t a girl instead of a woman: which in turn prompted Hermione to give him a kiss that left them both breathless and him with no doubts as to how grown up she was.


Their pleasurable interaction came to a halt about half an hour later when they heard Dumbledore calling: “Harry? Severus? Hermione?”

“Damn,” Hermione muttered, sliding off Severus’ lap and adjusting her blouse. “We’ll be right there, Professor,” she called.

Severus smirked as she frantically worked to put her clothes to rights and smooth her hair. “You realize the hair is a lost cause,” he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Ha, ha. Can we go, please? I don’t want everyone barging in here.”

“As you wish, Madam,” he replied, grasping his walker and pulling himself up. Hermione ran her hands over his soft black hair, trying to do damage control where she had tangled her fingers in it. She nodded and they left for the living room, where Dumbledore was sitting on the sofa.

“Ah, there you are, children,” he beamed at them, giving Hermione a hug and shaking Severus’ hand. “I was beginning to wonder if anything was amiss.”

“Harry’s still sleeping,” Hermione said. “Exercising his birthday rights, as he called them.”

“Well. I for one don’t begrudge Harry some sleep,” Dumbledore said. “It will give the three of us a chance to start breakfast. I must say I’m delighted to see the two of you up so early, looking so… tidy.” His eyes were twinkling like mad.

“Err….” Hermione said, at a loss as to how to interpret the comment.

“Come along,” Dumbledore continued serenely, waving them towards the kitchen as he rose and headed that way. “Remus and various members of the Weasley family will be here soon. We’ve a lot of toast and sausages to fix. Incidentally, Severus,” Dumbledore added without stopping: “several buttons on your shirt seem to be unfastened.” And he proceeded into the kitchen without as much as a backward glance.

Hermione nearly swore, turning a deep pink as she glanced down. Yes, there they were: three undone buttons mocking her. Her fingers flew to fasten them while Severus struggled not to laugh.

“He knows, bloody hell, he knows,” she muttered as she did the last one.

Severus chuckled softly. “He’s known before now.”

“What?” she nearly shrieked the question, but caught herself in time. “He’s known? And you didn’t tell me?” she hissed. “Who else knows?”

He sighed, though he looked amused. “I believe Lupin is aware that something is going on.”

Hermione threw up her hands. “Oh, lovely. Two people know. Why don’t we just take out an ad in the Prophet so everyone can find out?”

“It would save you from having to actually tell Potter,” Severus said innocently.

“Hush,” she admonished. “Let’s go. Harry will be awake soon, and Remus, Molly and the twins will be here any minute now, and it’s hard to tell who else.”

“Joy,” Severus said dryly.

It turned out not to be so bad, though. It was the three of them, Dumbledore, Lupin, Molly, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie Weasley. Bill and Charlie wouldn’t be able to make it to the party, so they’d wanted to be sure to come to breakfast. Ginny, Ron and Arthur were working and training, so they couldn’t be there for breakfast but would be at the party.

At some point, it dawned on Severus, however, that the number of people sitting at the magically enhanced table (which was tolerable: there were that many teachers at the teacher’s tables at Hogwarts) was nothing compared to how many people were going to be at the party that evening. Potter had been well liked even before he killed Voldemort, and the more he listened to the guest list the more Severus believed that half the wizarding world was somehow going to be packed into their cottage.

Not only that, he realized: most of them would be Gryffindors. Bloody hell. Of course, seeing as how he’d chosen to get involved with a Gryffindor, he couldn’t say too much on that count. But the sheer number of people… dear gods. He’d have to come out for a while: everyone would expect it, and Hermione would be hurt if he didn’t. Yes, that was it. A “guest appearance,” so to speak. Say hello to those he cared anything about saying hello to, give Potter his gift (and wouldn’t everyone be surprised when they saw that happen), eat something (if there was anything worth eating) and then flee to the sanctuary of the potions lab Albus had created for him and Hermione. Perfect.