***Chapter Twenty***
July 2000
“Something is wrong, Severus,” Hermione said as soon as they’d arrived in the headmaster’s office.
Officially his office now.
She was right. He felt it, too. He should perhaps be unsettled that she felt it, too. He’d stopped feeling that way though when it came to Hogwarts and his witch.
“Yes,” he said.
He frowned as he regarded the room. Everything was as it should be. Everything was his. No sign of Albus at all.
Well and good he supposed. He should be glad that was the case. He assumed Albus would be collecting this and that for the next twenty years as an excuse to keep his hands in the pie. He expected it as that was just how Albus was. Truthfully, Severus wasn’t entirely sure Albus knew what it meant to retire and not have a school to teach at or as in his later years supervise and administrate.
“Dobby,” he called out.
The elf whose contract he’d bought because of his wife’s fondness for him appeared. He looked warily at Severus who’d been the one to call him and then saw Hermione and the wariness dwindled. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of being here at Hogwarts all of the sudden. He was incredibly loyal to Hermione, though. There wasn’t a day that there weren’t fresh flowers on the table in their quarters where she took her meals.
It went unsaid they were from the elf because Severus wasn’t leaving them for her, and now that the elf had been leaving them for her for over a year. Well, Severus sort of felt as if it wouldn’t seem to be a very original idea to get her some now. He’d have to think about that. He’d like to get her flowers. She deserved them.
“Where is the headmaster?”
Dobby glanced from Hermione back to him, eyes showing his confusion. His ears and forehead twitched as if he thought this might be a trap or a trick question. That his new mistress was in fact not as kind as he thought. That he would be punished for not answering the question correctly.
He gave a soft whimper, clearly compelled to answer Severus’ question despite probably thinking it was a trap.
“Headmaster is right here, Sir,” he said, clearly bordering on deciding if he should punish himself for the insolence of his simplistic answer or stand tall as if he gave exactly the answer he was supposed to. “Mistress?” he asked, glancing at Hermione with pleading eyes.
Severus’ lips twitched. He could not laugh, though it was tempting. The elf had taken his question literally. Appropriately so.
“Of course, you are right. My apologies, Dobby, I should have been more specific. Not me. The former headmaster.”
“Oh. Dobby knows not, Sir. He left after your wedding to my mistress.”
Severus’ lips went from a twitch to a full blown smirk at that.
He knew Hermione really wasn’t all that fond of the idea of having her own elf but he had taken to her so even though Severus purchased him he was his wife’s elf. Severus certainly never got flowers on the table or an extra chocolate chip muffin at breakfast as Hermione did.
“He hasn’t been here for over a week?”
“No, Sir, I has not seen him.”
“Very well, thank you, Dobby.”
“Does Mistress be needing anything?”
“No, Dobby, thank you.”
He left with a pop and Severus met Hermione’s gaze. Everyone was gone except the elves. They’d arranged it such that when he came back it would well and truly be the new school year, his castle.
“You think something’s happened?”
“He wouldn’t just leave, Hermione, after telling me he’d remain while we were gone. I didn’t doubt he wouldn’t be here every second of the day, but to not come at all? That’s not like him.”
“I didn’t think he would.”
Both questioned Albus’ methods as they compared notes on various things they knew over the years (of both timelines). However, neither could argue against Albus Dumbledore loving Hogwarts. He did. He would never leave it unattended when he’d said he would look after it.
He conjured his patronus and sent it off to Harry asking him to bring his map to him in the headmaster’s office as soon as he had the chance. He felt the castle accept him as he went to open the door that would lead to the headmaster’s private areas. Hermione and Harry would be the only other ones allowed entrance. Obviously if they had a child or two one day they’d be included as well.
Weird to think. As far as he knew, there had never been a headmaster’s family. He was sure some had to have been married, not all wizards were old bachelors like Albus. As much as it frightened him, the idea of starting completely over again, he looked forward to bringing something to Hogwarts that hadn’t been done before.
The map probably wouldn’t tell him anything.
He suspected Albus knew about the map and had ways to circumvent it from locating him if he was of the mind. Then again, he was headmaster now, not Albus, so maybe … That was assuming the wizard was still here.
He just knew that he agreed with Hermione, something was wrong. He knew how Hogwarts felt at various times. There was no danger or anything like that, there was just a feeling of offness. It wasn’t a feeling he’d expected when coming home from his honeymoon.
“Severus,” Hermione called from the office.
He returned there after taking a moment to ensure nothing was out of order in his private areas. He admittedly had been looking forward to enjoying those headmaster private areas with his wife. It seemed that would have to wait.
No headmaster hiding where he shouldn’t be and all of their belongings were as they wanted them. It was bigger than his previous quarters despite the accommodation for Harry and his needs being taken into consideration. He looked forward to making it his. Theirs.
“Nothing out of sorts there,” he said.
“You mentioned that he said Headmaster Black was impressed with me.”
The former headmaster standing in his portrait scoffed. His chest puffed out proudly, clearly affronted, and his eyes scanned the other portraits as if expecting someone to say something either for or against Hermione’s statement.
“I never said anything of the sort, young lady!”
“Yes, well, that young lady is Madam Snape now and while that may be it got me thinking,” she said, and presented Severus with an envelope. Severus’ name was written on it in Albus’ more than familiar handwriting.
“Where was this?”
“Behind Headmaster Black’s portrait.”
Severus shook his head. The old man had mentioned Phineas’ portrait as a clue, not as any sort of indication that the former headmaster was familiar with Hermione.
“Damnable old man, always trying to sneak things by everyone.”
He was glad he’d shared his conversation with Hermione, though. He wasn’t sure he would have thought to check Phineas’ portrait. Eventually, perhaps. He wasn’t sure he would have thought of it as a clue.
He went to his desk then and sat in the chair. He took a moment to take in the surrealness of sitting on this side of this desk for the first time officially as headmaster and Albus being the reason behind it. He sighed softly, opening the letter to read.
My Dear Severus:
Or should I say Dear Headmaster Snape?
You are a married man now. Before I move onto the purpose of this letter let me just congratulate you.
I was worried when Hermione Granger did not show up at Hogwarts as she was supposed to for her first year that something had gone wrong. I knew to watch for her, but for whatever reason she took matters into her own hands. Alas, I did not get the pleasure of watching her learn and grow into the formidable witch I know that she is. I knew that she was your witch, Severus, and thought somehow I had done something wrong.
Again.
Unintentionally as it may have been.
That I had done something, somewhere along the line that prevented you from meeting your future.
Me and my meddling.
Severus scoffed, he could almost hear Albus’ voice when reading that phrase.
You will learn as you acclimate to the headmaster’s position that Hogwarts keeps no secrets from a caregiver that it truly loves and believes holds its best interest over all else. I fear toward the end there originally I lost sight of what those interests were and what I was charged as its caregiver to do.
Yes, I was Headmaster but it was a privilege to be in such an esteemed position not a right.
If nothing else I taught you about this position during your years observing me and while training you stays in your mind. I want you to always remember that: it is a privilege, Severus.
I know that asking you to take my life killed a piece of you, the last bit of light. I betrayed you in a way you never expected me to by asking you to do the unforgivable. I like to think that Miss Granger would have fixed that eventually, but evidently Hogwarts took my plea and created a different path.
I can say the path it sent you both on is a far better one. It corrected many of my mistakes. And don’t think that I’m unaware I made them, Severus. I may have been too proud to admit it in life but I am not in death.
The night before Harry and I attempted to get one of the horcruxes, which was the night that you cast the killing curse on me, I was in one of my more whimsical, self-contemplative moods. I did not allow myself to have them very often by that point. I could not afford such moods. I had plans and strategies in place, my eye was on the prize. Unfortunately, somewhere my goal, my true purpose, got lost. I got power hungry. I can admit that, and I can admit feeling ashamed that is the case. I was willing to have you kill me and thought nothing of requesting such a thing of you.
For this I apologize even if you do not remember it happening. I have carried that with me for years.
While walking the castle that night, knowing what was coming I pleaded with the castle to find some way to fix things, to correct my mistakes. I made several, I do not deny.
Allowing my bias for Gryffindors was just one of them. The treatment you were the victim of should not have been allowed. I can admit that now, I did not see it for what it was then.
I had little choice, Severus. James and Sirius, and lesser so Remus and Peter, had influential families. Your parents, even your mother, were not that. I had to make a choice, keep four students happy whose parents contributed to Hogwarts a great deal.
Or you, a poor nobody of a boy from Cokeworth whose parents had little to do with your education. (That is not how I think of you now nor have I for a number of years, but that was my opinion in 1971.)
I made the choice I had to make, not stopping to think about the repercussions on you. There is no one to take responsibility for it but me. I knew by playing favorites that I was driving you to him, but I also knew that I needed that to happen. I had seen hundreds of Slytherins over the years and you were the only one I saw that gave me hope, Severus. That made me believe you would not sell your soul and might in fact work towards his end.
You scared me for a while there, my boy. I thought I’d read you wrong and wondered if I had indeed allowed it to go too far to the point that there was no bringing you back. I believed, though, that you would eventually realize the error of your ways and come to me (as you of course did). I did not know at the time that the Potters would be the catalyst to cause you to do so. I truly didn’t. They put their trust in Peter. I did not make that suggestion. I’m sure Sirius would take the suggestion back to this day if he could.
What I didn’t tell you in that timeline, Severus, was that in addition to my hand and the curse eating away at my body I was terminally ill. While your efforts to change the outcome of the war and our world were successful, some things I have come to realize are not changeable. My illness was one of them.
I don’t know the castle’s secrets or why it allowed me access to the memories of the timeline Madam Snape originally occupied. I wasn’t the one to make the change, she was, so the memories should have been taken from me as they were you and everyone else. I asked, several times. I suppose it was an effort to keep me humble, to stop me from meddling too far this go around.
I have spent the past eighteen years watching you grow into the man I knew I saw in you almost thirty years ago now. Not to sound condescending or entirely cliche, I am very proud of you. You did all of it on your own.
You deserve all the happiness in the world and I know that Madam Snape is the witch who will help create that with you. She sacrificed so much to give all of us the chance to survive. So many lives were saved.
The wizarding world owes her a life debt, which sadly will never be repaid and no one but you, she, and I are aware of that fact. I suppose young Mister Potter is aware as well. I know families like the Longbottoms, Prewetts, Weasleys, and even those like the Goyles and Malfoys would thank her if they knew.
I asked you about Lily the other day because I had to be sure. I could not let you marry that witch if you were still harbouring … unrequited love for another. I did not think you were but we hadn’t discussed Lily for a number of years.
Forgive an old, dying wizard for needing to ease his mind. Hermione Granger deserves better.
I apologize if you mistook my questioning for lack of faith in your relationship, or worse yet you. I truly just needed to know that you were not holding onto ghosts on the eve of wedding a witch of her caliber.
You gave the right answer, of course. The one that I was hoping for.
By the time you read this I will be gone.
It’s beyond time for me to move on. There was nothing you could have done, Severus.
Let me say that again: there was nothing you could have done for me.
Please know that I am leaving this world confident that Hogwarts is not only in capable hands but the best hands to make it even more remarkable. I heard your ideas about the textbooks and about how to get the houses to work together instead of working against one another. Your ideas all have merit. Take them, run with them, make our young wizards and witches stronger, better, and just more. More empathetic, more caring, more understanding, more knowledgeable, more modern. Make the Board of Governors see such a future and make them want it! You and your wife have the minds and the tools to make our world great.
There is another envelope attached to Phineas’ portrait with my will.
As I said, Madam Snape is owed a life debt, something I cannot tell anyone about or explain. So, I am leaving my estate, all of my belongings, to you, Severus Snape.
Donate it, make a museum out of it, burn it down to the ground, but it is the only way that I could think of to pay your wife back for her sacrifice.
And ultimately you for yours for having to wait an additional eighteen years for her even if you don’t recall having to do so the first time.
You should be more than suitably comfortable financially with enough material to read for the rest of your lives and those of your children.
You took on the role of father to someone’s son that I had stood by and allowed to abuse and torment you for years. I put his bloodline and the status of that bloodline ahead of yours yet you still stood your ground as to who should raise him.
I admit I had my suspicions as to your intentions, given your own childhood. I watched closely for any signs of mistreatment or cruelty. I, of course, saw none. It was clear to everyone who observed the two of you over the years that Harry adored you, and he helped to heal pieces of you that I wager not even your bride could fix.
You have every reason to be proud of Harry Potter, for he is as much your son as he was Lily and James’. They created him, you made him the wizard he grew to be. I am only sorry that in order for Harry to have that you had to wait many years for Miss Granger to enter your life. So many years for you to be able to finally live your life.
Be well, Severus, and I imagine I will be seeing you in portrait form sooner rather than later. You may curse me then.
Graciously,
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
He stared at the parchment, shaking his head as he waited for the words to sink in.
“He’s gone,” she said.
“He is,” he said, handing the piece of parchment to her.
“I don’t want to read something…”
“Read it,” he said.
She took it and read it while he stood going to Phineas’ portrait once again to get the other envelope.
“I don’t want…” she said.
“It’s binding,” he said, looking at the will. “As he said, we can donate it, but we’d be rather foolish to do so, don’t you think? And he is right, you are owed so very much, Hermione.”
“I suppose. I didn’t do this for…”
“I know. He knows. I can’t believe he knew the whole time.”
“He probably wasn’t sure either until I showed up the first time with you.”
“That’s been almost two years now,” he said.
“It has. Where would he go, do you think?”
“He had a home. We could look there.”
“He deserves to be found and laid to rest properly.”
“Agreed.”
“I’m glad he saw what he’d done was wrong.”
“I am as well,” he said. “All of it. Let’s change into something more appropriate for the wizarding world and we can go to his home then.”
He took a moment to send another patronus to Harry that they no longer needed his map or presence, that they were both okay and they’d be in touch.
“Okay,” she said. “I wonder why it took the castle a year to do anything.”
They were in their quarters now. Hermione expressed disbelief at how much more opulent they were than his professors’ quarters were.
“I would imagine you had to ask it and before then you weren’t ready, not to mention despite what you say about believing in me whether or not I’d met you that day at the church. I think that needed to happen, you needed to know for certain.”
“You might be right. I also knew exactly what we were losing. I’m not sure how right the castle would have been after that battle. There was so much destruction. Evil got onto the grounds. That had to affect it, wouldn’t you think? I’m sure it could have been fixed, of course. Would it have been the same, though? I don’t know. I wonder how it felt that it was one of its students, one of its most brilliant ones at that, who caused that destruction.”
They found him in his bedroom and ensured he was taken care of respectfully in death as he had earned in life. A few might question that opinion knowing some of the things that he’d done, however, Severus and Hermione believed ultimately he had the best motives even if he’d gone about accomplishing them in a rather bizarre way. Severus appreciated the sentiment of the goodbye letter and believed the wizard wrote the truth, but it was going to take him a bit of time to come to terms with everything when it came to Albus.
His portrait showed up a few days after they’d found his body. Severus wasn’t entirely sure how that worked because he hadn’t requested the portrait, though he knew he had the power to move any of them, including Albus’, where he saw fit. He’d leave it behind his desk, for now.
His funeral was a grand affair, befitting the man who’d held the position for over thirty-five years and defeated both Grindelwald and Voldemort.
It was not the event Severus would have picked to kick off his duties as headmaster and a new husband, but he, Hermione, and Harry not only survived the ordeal but impressed everyone. As far as Severus knew, no one but he and Harry knew of Hermione’s true blood status to this day, which shocked him to no end. He supposed they didn’t ask and she didn’t tell so everyone was oblivious. He only thought of this as he watched people like the Greengrasses, Carrows, Slughorns, and Abbotts fawn over her at the service.
The funeral over and the castle once again empty except for the two of them and the elves until the staff was to return in August, Severus set about ensuring he was caught up on paperwork and tending to a few last minute crises before the new school term.
Hermione and Severus worked on a potions textbook in their spare time.
The elves were getting used to the headmaster having a wife and essentially a grown son. Harry nor Hermione could apparate into the office, but they did have their own entrance that no one else had access to.
Eventually, staff returned, classes for Hermione began again (with the floo from their private sitting room connected to the history department staff’s sitting room at school so that she could come and go without Severus having to worry someone would randomly show up in their sitting room).
Now all Severus had to do was ensure the students had a good year while still managing to start the process of change in the direction he hoped to steer Hogwarts for the future. Hermione’s Muggle Studies textbooks were the first step. It was approved with only one abstaining vote. Severus wasn’t sure what the point of abstaining was, it was clear his wife had researched extensively and put together appropriate books for each age group.
He wasn’t going to make changes overnight in one fell swoop. It would take time, laying the groundwork this year for what he hoped to do.
It would happen. He knew it. That one abstaining vote gave him the desire to see he regretted that vote tenfold. He wasn’t a vindictive man, but he wasn’t going to allow shortsightedness to continue under his time as headmaster.
He couldn’t afford to. He knew how close they’d come.
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