She apparated to Marie and Erik's home, hoping she was there. If she wasn't, Hermione wasn't sure where she'd go. And then she hoped she wasn't interrupting. What if she was? She didn't think they'd tell her to go away.

That decided, she made her way to the door and knocked. She'd never come here uninvited, and hoped she wasn't overstepping any boundaries. It was summer break, though, so school wasn't in session. So she wasn't breaking any rules. Still, she realized she'd never been told to come by anytime.

Morgana. What if Stephen was here visiting them.

Or worse, Meredith Daughtery. Not that she disliked Meredith. She didn't really know her to like her or not. She got the feeling, though, that Meredith didn't like her. Not unusual. She was used to that feeling from her peer group. (Technically, Meredith was nearly two years younger than Hermione, but only one year behind her at Hogwarts because Hermione was born after September first.)

The grounds were almost picture perfect. She'd be tempted to think there was magic in play, making the grounds seem that way. Somehow, though, she didn't think Marie would do that. She wouldn't want her garden to be magically altered, because to her the purpose of a garden would be the work. Knowing her time and effort made these things grow and thrive. She sensed somehow Marie was similar in thought on things like that.

"Hermione," Marie said when she opened the door. She was clearly surprised, but didn't appear mad. That was a relief.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I need help."

"Of course, Dear. Are you all right?"

"I am fine. I just," she huffed. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I saw a movie with Sev… Professor Snape last month. He told me if there was another one that I wanted to see with him before returning to Hogwarts he was a patronus away."

"Okay." She didn't seem surprised that they'd seen a movie together, but did seem more than a little unsure why Hermione was here. She supposed that made sense. She hadn't explained what brought her here.

"Well, I can't get it to cast. It seems to want to, but it doesn't finish."

"Mm," Marie said. Her lips thinned a bit, clearly thinking over what Hermione had just said. "You do know not everyone can cast a patronus, right?"

Hermione rolled her eyes with a huff. "Of course, but I'm not everyone."

Marie smiled a bit at that, which Hermione was glad about. She didn't mean to sound conceited, but she'd rarely been unable to do something she set her mind to doing. She very seldom needed to ask for help. Her sessions with Severus weren't about him tutoring or teaching her so she didn't count them as asking for help.

"Very aptly put. Well, what are you thinking about when you cast it?"

"Nothing, really. Wanting it to cast."

Marie nodded, as if she'd expected that answer. Maybe she had.

"I'm not a teacher. I can cast one, but I'm not sure I'll explain it very well. Let's go find Erik, shall we?"

"Oh, really, I don't want to bother him. I shouldn't have come here at all."

"Nonsense. He has all day. I'm glad that you came here. If I haven't said so, your welcome here anytime."

"Thank you. I realize I'm intruding and this is your free time…"

"Again, Hermione, nonsense. Let's go find him. I'm sure he'll be able to help you in no time anyway. It sounds like it wants to work, you're just not thinking properly for it to take actual shape."

Marie led her to where Erik's lab was.

"It's really beautiful here," Hermione said as they went. She'd only been here in the winter before. She'd seen evidence of what the grounds might look like when everything was green, flush, and blooming.

"Thank you. I'll be honest. I'm tempted to start tapering off with some of it."

"Why?"

"Oh, I used to have kids and grandkids to help. The great grandchildren do when they're here, but they're busy. Times have changed. Things like spending the entire summer with Great Grandma and Grandpa just don't hold the appeal they did thirty and forty years ago. You know? Life goes on, Hermione, and Erik and I are here. As it should be. We did what we could to be sure they could have the best lives."

"There's so much, though," she said, looking at all of it. She couldn't imagine giving all of this up. It would make her sad after having planned and worked for so long.

"I wouldn't stop altogether. At least not yet. I haven't decided. We'll see what happens next summer. We have a few elves who help with the field work, but I'm not the type to go on a trip for weeks and leave them to work. I think Erik gets frustrated sometimes that I have two months off every summer plus breaks and we're still rather trapped here."

"I can understand that." That made sense. He'd been retired for years. She could imagine he was ready to do things. She would be.

"Not that we don't get a chance to do anything, but he's been retired for over fifteen years now. I haven't been, obviously. I think he is ready to start enjoying that retirement a bit more than just running his apothecary. At first that did appeal to him, greatly. He was his own boss. He could agree to fill or not fill any order. No dunderheads. Again, we'll see. I'll be eighty-eight this year, so I still have time."

"You do." That made sense, too. She could see both sides to it. They, magical people, lived longer. She could understand wanting to work longer than her parents.

"All right, here we are." She knocked before setting her hand on the knob and pushing the door open. "Erik," she called out.

"Back here," he said.

"Hermione came to see me, wanting some help trying to cast a patronus. As I'm not an instructor, but you were one. I thought maybe you could be of assistance in this more than me."

"Oh, sure," he said, standing. "Hello, Hermione."

"Hello, Erik. I'm sorry to interrupt."

"No reason to apologize. I was working on some paperwork," he said, gesturing to the desk he'd just been sitting at. "Truthfully, it's a part of my job I'm not overly fond of. I keep telling Marie I could use a secretary, but she seems to think I'm joking. Until she believes I'm serious, it's up to me to do it if I wish to be paid. Either way, I could use a bit of a break."

"I'll leave you to it then," Marie said. "Did you want to stay for lunch, Hermione?"

"Sure. I mean, as long as it's no trouble to add me."

"Nonsense. I will set the table for three then."

Severus regarded this younger Hermione after his wife left his lab. How long had it taken her to come to them for help? He chuckled softly, knowing just how stubborn the older version of this witch could be. Hermione's frown made him realize he'd actually laughed out loud. He hadn't meant to. Why was she wanting to cast a patronus?

"Why do you want to cast a patronus, Hermione?"

Oh, she didn't like that question.

Rather, she didn't like having to answer the question.

Why? What was she up to?

"Well, Professor Snape and I saw a movie together last month." This was accompanied by a deep blush. My. That was interesting. Not the idea that they'd taken in a movie together. She wouldn't blush about that. He knew Severus wouldn't do anything with the witch while she was still a student. "He said if I found another one I'd like to see with him, I could send him a patronus, knowing of course I haven't done that yet."

"Ah," he said with a chuckle.

He wasn't sure if this was a sneaky thing by his younger self or not. It was definitely something he could see himself doing, putting the impetus on her. If she didn't send a patronus, he'd be left wondering if she just didn't, or couldn't. So, maybe it wasn't a hugely wise thing to do. He wasn't sure his younger self needed additional … self doubt tacked onto what he already had.

"Well, all right. Far be it from me to prevent you from getting Professor Snape out of his house for a few hours, and from you learning something new. So, you know the wand movements?" he asked.

She nodded, and he suspected she'd probably studied the charm diligently before coming here. Had she tried for a month and come here today when nothing else worked? That thought sort of … amused him. He'd never tell his wife that, though. No doubt whether it was all month or not, she likely got frustrated that it hadn't come easily to her. She showed him the circles she made with her wand. They were precise, so it wasn't that holding up the charm.

"Okay. Bear in mind, not everyone can cast a patronus. So, don't take it to heart if you cannot. With that being said, perhaps it's the memory or memories you're choosing. I have a few memories I can draw upon at this juncture in my life, but our first Valentine's Day has always been a particularly good one to call upon. It doesn't have to be an actual memory. It can be the idea of one, something happening that you think would create a good memory. Bear in mind, no one can see what memory you call upon, and you will not be required to disclose it to anyone, so don't be embarrassed."

She nodded then, biting that lower lip that even close to ninety she still did. He chuckled softly at that as she shut her eyes. She took a deep breath, moved her wand appropriately and called out "Expecto Patronum".

And just like that, the very familiar female swan came out of her wand. This was the reason Marie had brought her to him. She could very easily have taught her how to cast a patronus. She was more than capable, but she would not want this Hermione to see their patronuses were the same.

Not yet anyway.

"You can open your eyes now, Hermione," he said.

"Oh," she said after she'd opened them and saw it. She blushed quite furiously, and he wondered what memory or potential memory she'd called up. "She's lovely."

"She is," he said, agreeing completely.

When he'd cast his patronus for the first time after they'd gone back. Well, he'd been rather furious that it was a swan. He'd expected it to have changed from the doe. That part hadn't surprised him.

A swan? Really?

He'd thought it was emasculating, and entirely too feminine.

After some research, though, he'd learned that male and female swans were generally not that different in appearance, usually his size being the distinguishing factor. They tended to mate for life, barring reproduction issues or death. They were also fiercely protective of their nests. These were all qualities that, as much as he hated to admit it, applied to him. He would defend this home, and those they'd created in it, with his life.

"Just instruct it what you want to tell Severus and it will deliver the message. He will then in return, presumably anyway, reply to you with one of his own."

"Does he have a muggle telephone at his home?"

"As far as I know, I guess I haven't paid close enough attention, but I believe so."

"There is another movie I thought you might enjoy called Men In Black . It's about aliens, so a little different than dinosaurs. Let me know what date and time works for you." She then gave it her house phone number if he preferred to call instead of sending her a patronus in return.

"Well, there you go. Now you can add taught yourself the Patronus charm to your list of accomplishments."

"You helped."

He'd forgotten what … teaching this witch was like. When they first went back, they'd worked hard so she could get her NEWT scores. There were a number of things he'd had to work with her on. She embraced every damned thing he threw at her, and frightened him a time or two at how easily she grasped this or that. He was a little envious of his younger self to be able to teach her as he was. A wizard with a better temperament than he'd had.

"I just aided you in finding the happy thoughts that would bring it to life. You had the wand movements and incantation down. What is this Men In Black ?" he asked.

"It looks like it's about aliens. It stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, but I imagine you don't know who they are."

"I'm remotely familiar with the second one at least," he said wryly. "My wife and I saw a movie he was in a few years ago, based on an American muggle television show we enjoyed in the sixties."

" The Fugitive ?"

"Yes," he answered, surprised she was familiar with it. "You saw it?"

"I did. My parents took me for the same reason. They'd watched it in the sixties. That was very good."

Interesting.

His Hermione had seen it originally, too. He had told her he could see it alone or with one of the kids, but she said she'd be fine seeing it again. ‘It's been seventy years, Erik. I think I could watch it again.' He suspected now, with this Hermione saying that to him about her parents having taken her, that she'd wanted to do something at the same time that she'd done it originally with her parents.

And he hadn't had a clue.

Once again.

What a dolt he could be at times.

"It was enjoyable. I believe it was Stephen, one of the grandchildren anyway, who wanted to see it because they realized it had Han Solo in it."

"Oh, Star Wars buffs?"

"A few of them were, yes."

"Does Severus like Star Wars ?"

"I don't know," he said, lips quivering at her use of his given name, but he said nothing. He knew his younger self would not do anything inappropriate with a student. He took it as a good sign, though, that they were on a first name basis.

"Do you think he'd like them?"

He tried to think of a seventeen year old him. It was hard to do, because his years at Hogwarts had been quite different from his younger self. However, if he'd had the opportunity to see Star Wars in 1977, he liked to think he would have enjoyed it.

"I think he would," he said. "Shall we join Marie for lunch then?"

"Oh, sure," she said. "Thank you again, Sir."

She moved in to hug him. She didn't do it often, he could count on one hand how many times she had since the first time after his younger self saw her kissing Viktor Krum. It was no less unsettling this time than the other previous times had been. He felt a little sorry for her. She didn't understand why he and Severus smelled the same as her Amortentia. He knew, and it was very strange to be this close to her and smell … his wife.

He kissed the top of her head instinctively. Seventy years now he'd done it, so it was second nature to him. "You are welcome, Hermione," he murmured. "Now let's go get lunch before she accuses me of putting you to work out here."

"All sorted out?" his wife asked once they found their way into the kitchen. He stopped to show her the front pond, closest to the house, so she could see what they'd stocked it with. She'd been interested, which was pleasing to him. He also showed her the cleaning table that seventy years ago had been brand new, but these days showed it was well used.

"She has cast and sent her first message via patronus."

"Excellent. Apparition and patronuses. You're pretty much all set, aren't you?"

"She called him Severus earlier," he said later that night as they were enjoying a cup of tea in their bedroom's sitting area before bed.

"Did she?"

"Yes. She has also changed her thoughts on going to the Department of Mysteries Severus told me, in part because of her reaction to Amortentia. She finds it unsettling, understandably. I do as well even though I know the why of it. You need to tell her, I think. I've been going back and forth on whether she has the right to know. I think that she does."

"I'd come to the same conclusion, but would like to wait."

"For what?"

"She will turn eighteen in September. It's a lot to take in."

"You'd been taking care of Thomas for months by this point. She can handle it. If you wait, you risk distracting her from her NEWTs. Not to mention when would you tell her? Christmas? That doesn't seem a suitable time. Easter holidays? Again, distraction from NEWTs."

"I'll take it under advisement," she whispered.

He snorted. "Now you sound like me."

"Yes, well, you have that effect on me I guess."

"She … hugged me again."

"She likes you, Erik."

"It's just as unsettling to me now as it was when you did it then."

"Was it?"

"You know it was! I think you did it just to be that."

"No, I did it because you deserved to know that you were wanted. That I considered you approachable. I knew that you weren't comfortable with it, so I tried to be subtle, start small to where you wouldn't flinch or be suspicious at my touch."

"And that Valentine's Day?"

She snorted. "I'd had enough of being subtle."

"I was glad you were."

"Me, too."

He took her hand in his lacing his fingers through hers, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss.

"Begrudgingly," he murmured and she laughed softly.

"Love you, too," she whispered.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com