A Tale of Two Grangers

Hermione's head was full of fog when she noticed that Severus had suddenly stopped. She pulled her tingling mouth away to look down at him, and she was surprised to see that his expression was a mixture of regret and concentration. She felt offended immediately, as well as intensely embarrassed. Had she misinterpreted his eagerness? She thought he'd welcomed her brash action, but now that her mind felt so unclear, she second-guessed herself. She nearly tumbled in her haste to leap from his lap to the sofa, furthering her mortification, and she buried her face in her hands when she finally landed.

"My— my apologies, Hermione," he mumbled, and she was shocked to see when she looked up that he appeared as embarrassed as she felt.

"No, I, I'm sorry, I don't know—"

"Let's acknowledge a lapse in judgment on both our parts and leave it at that." She was amazed to see him regaining his composure already, whereas she was still bright red and drowning in a sea of horror at her actions. "I think," he said after a pause, "that the most judicious course of action would be to forget that this evening's events occurred. It will be difficult enough to fool certain colleagues about your background without forming a, ah, complicating personal association."

She stared dumbly at him for a moment. His reasonable (if uncomfortably worded) suggestion was undeniably wise, and she didn't quite know how to respond. Her emotions had gone from tearful passion to baffled, intense shame in a few mere moments. He seemed to have recovered himself for the most part though. He also seemed to have decided that careful detachment was the best course of action, leaving her no choice but to comply or embarrass herself further.

She immediately chose the path of least mortification. "You're right, Severus. I don't know what got into me. I'm so sorry."

He nodded. "No need to apologize, Hermione. It was as much my fault as yours."

"Glad we've got that all sorted. Would you like a spot of tea?" "Oh yes, sir, cheerio and all that rot!" she thought to herself bitterly. The sudden awkwardness of their conversation irked her, but she found herself unable to resist it. One advantage was that he was much nicer to her though, perhaps in an effort to cement a pleasant atmosphere of friendship far removed from whatever had been developing until that night. He transfigured the sofa for her that night, creating a comfortable daybed in place of the lumpy cushions. He also conjured actual sheets and bedding, albeit with much rougher fabric than any normal person would ever choose.

Severus even helped her with her disguise the next morning, although she wouldn't necessarily use the term "help." She'd decided to match the Septima Vector she knew as much in appearance as possible, despite the fact that Septima Vector may very well have been her own invention to begin with. Rather than worry about this, she asked Severus if he knew of any potions that might help her with a more permanent solution. She could cast disguising charms on herself, but remembering how easily they could wear off from her break-in at Gringott's with Ron and Harry, she thought that they might not be reliable enough.

Severus listened to her request quietly, then set aside his newspaper and retrieved a few small bottles. He handed them to her without explanation and, looking back, she knew shouldn't have trusted him. When she finished drinking the potions and looked in her mirror, she saw that despite her requests for subtle changes, he'd made her look completely different. Her brown, bushy hair was as black as his and completely straight. Her amber eyes, the one part of her appearance she'd always secretly loved, were now a foreign, bottle-glass green. Her skin was several shades paler, and her nose was even different—the formerly pert nub was now quite Roman.

Hermione was horrified at the extreme makeover Severus had given her, but he was immune to her tears. "You said you didn't want anyone to recognize you," he said with a shrug, raising the newspaper again. She finally coaxed him into telling her how to change it back, although she would have to keep the new appearance throughout her stay in this time. She carefully stored every hair from her brush, never more grateful to have had such a great mound of unmanageable hair.

The next few days passed with more of the awkward niceties, although the witch and wizard did start to settle into a more comfortable routine after a few days. They spent much of their time apart, with Hermione in the house studying arthimancy and Severus out. She still wondered where he went, but thought it better to mind her own business if it meant keeping the peace. They ate breakfast and dinner together, mostly in silence. She realized quickly that the newspaper would be a regular feature of meals with Severus, and as annoying as it was, she was grateful for the diversion it provided him. She wasn't much interested in conversation while it was still a lot of pleases and thank yous.

As the date of their return to Hogwarts approached, they made a few trips to Diagon Alley for shopping. Severus was particularly cross on these occasions. Hogwarts received its students' potions supplies by delivery, but he needed to purchase his personal supplies on his own. Hermione had never seen someone dicker so fiercely over a few knuts, nor had she heard someone complain about how expensive things were getting to be with such self-righteous anger. Just wait a few years; you've got no idea, she thought. His methods seemed to work, however. He saved a small fortune while leaving more than a few shopkeepers fuming in his wake. Willing to sacrifice a few sickles for her pride, she made him wait outside while she paid for her own items.

They made one last stop at Diagon Alley on August 1, they day of their return to the school. Hermione wanted to make one last check of her list, much to Severus's annoyance. She had indeed forgotten something she wanted to check on, but Severus couldn't go with her. She didn't know how he would feel about what she wanted to do, but judging by his past behavior, she guessed his reaction would be less than joyful. To her amazement, he simply made an arrangement to meet for lunch and walked away. She thought she saw him go into the Magical Menagerie, but she knew her eyes must be playing tricks. Severus made it clear early on that he didn't enjoy the company of animals when she made an offhand remark about Crookshanks.

"Cats are dirty, vile creatures. Anything that licks its own ass should never live inside a house," he'd grumbled. "And stop telling me about the thrice-damned future, Hermione."

The conversation that night didn't last very long.

She waited for a few moments to see whether he would come back before walking a few storefronts down. The bell over the door tinkled as she entered Ollivander's wand shop. No one seemed to be inside at first, but she knew better than to think that Mr. Ollivander was out. Sure enough, she stood in the entrance for no more than a minute before he came out from behind what seemed like an endless row of shelves packed with wand boxes.

He was quite a bit younger than when she'd last seen him, of course, and his hair was still peppered with a great amount of dark silver. He was also the picture of health compared to the last time she'd seen him. Mr. Ollivander never recovered fully from his time as Voldemort's prisoner, and the man she knew in the future had finally hired an apprentice as he couldn't manage the store full-time anymore.

"Can I help you, dear? Wand care kit, perhaps?"

She smiled at the familiar face, glad for his former, happier manner. "Actually, sir, I'm here for some information. I was hoping you could identify this wand for me."

His eyes lit up then, obviously excited at the opportunity for more than the usual sale. "Ah, of course. Well, let's see it then."

She took her vine-wood wand out of her robe pocket and laid it on his counter. He lifted it gently, turning it around many times, a puzzled expression on his face. He tapped it on the counter, producing a shower of golden-green sparks, then tapped it with his own wand. After several minutes of inspection, he returned the wand to the counter and walked to the back of his shop. Hermione heard him sorting through boxes for a time before he came back with one in his hand. She recognized the box immediately, but kept silent.

He opened the box and stared at the two wands for a few moments before speaking. "Where did you get this wand, my dear?" He seemed almost suspicious, but she knew he would trust that she didn't steal it.

"I can't really say, Mr. Ollivander. I can tell you that no one has been stealing your trade secrets, though." She smiled to reassure him as she started to think that perhaps this wasn't the brightest idea she'd ever had.

He seemed to think this over for a moment, gazing at her with a mixture of deep thought and confusion on his face. "I remember every wand that I've ever sold. This one, however, has never been sold. At least, not yet."

She looked down at the wands, undeniably twins. "Do you think that this wand would choose me?" She left the rest unsaid—they both knew that the wands were the same, although she thought he must still be wondering how the same wand could be produced by two different makers.

"Well, there's no harm in trying, is there?" His voice was merry again, although she detected a remaining smidgen of suspicion. He handed her the boxed wand, watching intently.

She took it in her wand hand, unsure of what to expect. She gave it a shake, just as she had so many years ago, or now, so many years in the future.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, this time casting a nonverbal Lumos. Nothing. She said the spell out loud, but again, nothing.

Mr. Ollivander watched curiously until she finally gave up and handed the wand to him. "It seems that this wand is meant for another after all." He smiled at her as he placed it back in its box and took it back to its shelf.

Hermione had no idea what to think. Her own wand still worked perfectly when she tried the Lumos spell. She bought a small wand care kit and left the shop with Mr. Ollivander watching her go, a strange expression left on his face. She wondered whether this had happened in her lifetime, and whether he'd remembered when she came into his shop as a child and purchased the "twin" wand. He never mentioned it, of course, but he struck her as the kind of man who would have kept such information to himself.

She met Severus at The Leaky Cauldron for lunch. He seemed to be in an even worse mood now that his robes were spotted here and there with bits of fur and feathers. She didn't ask what in the world he'd been doing in the hopes that he wouldn't inquire about her little trip. She imagined that the curious information she'd gleaned wouldn't interest him as much as the fact that she risked exposure to the wand maker.

When they finished, he again took her arm and Side-Along Apparated her to Hogwarts. She felt a little flattered that he continued such gentlemanly treatment, although she would never let him know. He was in such and odd mood anyway that day, she thought, that he'd only become surly if she mentioned it. As he opened the gates of Hogwarts and escorted her to the castle, she felt excited and nervous, just as she felt at the beginning of any of the many adventures she'd been on in her relatively short life.

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Whoo! Sorry for any mistakes; I've been trying to bang out this chapter all day and I keep getting interrupted. It's also very hard to keep everything straight since I've taken such a long break. If you catch one, a note in the reviews would be greatly appreciated. :) (Note: I just reread this and, dang, I use a lot of words/phrases twice in a row. No time to edit though, it's bedtime. Sorry!)

So, I hope I've set up some interesting questions. What does Hermione's wand situation mean? What will Ollivander think? What the heck was Sev doing in a pet shop? (Admittedly, that one may be a bit obvious, who knows.) And my personal question that is kind of weird, how can a lemon/love story develop if the witch looks completely different for who knows how long? Also, when the heck is this story going to pick up and get to the meat of things? And why did the author use almost no dialogue in this chapter? Ahhh, mysteries for the universe. :)

I'm loving Ms_Figg's "A Turn for the Better" right now, so go check it out! Another awesome Time Turner story, although of course she gets to the good stuff much faster than I do. ;)