"Stop fussing," Severus said to Hermione.

He was somewhat amused at her obvious nervousness. Nervousness and Hermione Granger did not usually go together. She very obviously was not amused. At her nervousness, or the fact he saw it.

"I can't help it," she said.

She had checked her hair at least six times and fussed with her muggle skirt and sweater more than that. She'd changed her shoes at least three times. He breathed a huff of nervousness, wondering if there was something wrong with him that he was not fussing as she was.

Her parents and his mum were joining them at the Prins' for Christmas dinner. His mum had been here before, so that was nothing new. Her parents had not. They had elected, for now, to continue calling Severus' house home. She currently stayed at Hogwarts most of the time outside of work as it was.

When Erik and Marie were to the point of leaving England, then they would take over the house and the responsibilities that went with it. He imagined they'd be spending longer than eight weeks there this coming spring and summer. Well, Hermione would. He couldn't, given his work schedule.

They had, of course, made it home for the last weekend in August before classes. Severus had to admit, eighteen years into it as a professor, it wouldn't be right without the group of them there bringing youth and at the same time tradition and history to Hogwarts in a way that was different yet impressive

And it did seem almost more important for them all to be there on that Saturday before classes started than it did for them to see the younger kids off on the Hogwarts Express for their first time.

Her parents were prompt and, despite it having been a while since they'd used the floo system, were fine, other than a slight misstep exiting the fireplace. They were in the ballroom's receiving room, which Severus had not particularly paid much attention to before now, as it wasn't a room used very often. This was where the public had floo access, though. The Prinses didn't entertain much anymore, but Severus heard rumours of the events they'd had here over the years.

"Happy Christmas, Mum. Dad."

Her parents seemed rather shocked by the ballroom accommodating well over one hundred fifty people, including the Harrisons and any Hogwarts staff members who had nowhere to go and didn't want to eat dinner at the castle.

"Mum, Dad. This is Marie and Erik Prins. Erik was the potions professor at Hogwarts before Severus, and Marie is still the librarian there."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. We have both grown very fond of Hermione from her years as a student and are anxious to see what she will accomplish at the Ministry," Erik said. If he was nervous about in essence meeting his own mother and father in-law, he didn't show it. He'd never had reason to meet them before today. See them, yes, Severus knew he'd checked on them over the years. He'd never met them, though.

"Welcome to our home. I can let Hermione show you around if you'd like a tour. She's familiar with everything from her times caring for it for us the past couple of summers. Or, if not, can we get you anything?" Marie said.

"Thank you for having us," Donald said. "Severus, nice to see you again."

"You as well, Donald," he said.

"I'll save you the introductions, there are just too many of them to remember all of their names, but they're all looking forward to meeting you," Marie offered as she gestured to the section of the ballroom that had been set up for socializing versus eating.

Hermione's mum had to this point said nothing. She was in fact staring at Marie, and if Severus wasn't mistaken, Marie's eldest daughter, Charlotte, and her eldest son, Magnus.

"Mum," Hermione said, sounding cautious. They had discussed at length as to whether inviting her parents today was wise. Erik mentioned Marie was up for seeing her parents again. He thought this type of setting would be easier, and a more natural-seeming reason for her parents to be invited here.

"I'm sorry to appear rude," she said, finally looking at her daughter and Severus. Her eyes darted back to Marie, though. "Thank you for inviting us. This is a perfect room for all of these people."

"Yes," Marie said. "It is. We're fortunate. I'm not sure what we'd do if we didn't have it. Groups in different rooms, I suppose."

"Did you want me to show you around, Mum?"

"Sure, thank you, Dear. How are you, Severus?"

"Doing well, Jean, thank you."

"Dad?" Hermione asked.

"Would love to. This looks like quite the house. You've kept it up. Not just with magic either," he said.

Hermione and Marie both shook their heads and Severus shrugged at Erik as he went with his wife and in-laws. He gathered the comment was something she expected her father to say. When his mother arrived, she'd no doubt be fine talking with all of them without even really wondering where he was or why she was waiting for them.

Her parents were obviously interested and Hermione had a good amount of knowledge, based on being the one who'd spent the most time here with Marie over the years. And, honestly, Severus was just their son in-law. They didn't want to hear him ramble anyway, though Hermione had told him more than once she liked listening to him talk.

A lot.

They'd toyed with that more than once, each time resulting in both of them immensely pleased. She deeply enjoyed having not-so-sweet nothings whispered in her ear. Who knew that could be arousing?

And welcome!

On both their parts.

And he needed to stop thinking about that, or her parents were going to know, and that would not do. He imagined it was one thing to know they were married, and another to think about them being intimate. It was easy to get sidetracked, though, because it was still new to him.

All of it. Intimacy and marriage. He fell asleep with her beside him every night. And would for the rest of their lives. She listened to him talk about what he might like to do with the rest of his life. He still wasn't sure, and Hogwarts was familiar. And safe. And, he liked the library it offered, as did his wife.

Eventually, they made their way back to the ballroom and the family. His mum had arrived and she gave him a hug, which he returned. Things were still somewhat awkward between them, but they were both trying. She by not being too pushy. He by trying to let go of the past.

There were four more children here today than there had been last Christmas (two of Willem's daughters-in-law were due in four months and Thomas' grandson, Larry's wife was due in July). Only one of the new four hadn't been at Hogwarts in August, Severus thought. It was almost impossible to keep track, beyond that they were babies, and one of them looked weeks old, where the other three were obviously not that young.

Hermione's mum kept watching Marie, Charlotte, and Magnus. Severus couldn't figure out if the woman was jealous of the amount of time her daughter clearly spent with Marie, or if something else was on her mind. She asked questions throughout dinner, none seemed … unusual, but she was definitely fishing for something.

Where were you from originally?

How did you two meet?

Do you have any other family in the area besides your immediate descendants?

So, you've been a librarian for the past seventy years?

Severus noted for the first time since he started attending Christmas dinners here, that in keeping with their supposed background, Marie had Scandinavian things throughout the ballroom. Nisser, trolls, a table decoration that had rosemaling on it, tomte figurines, and the red candleholders he'd seen grace Scandinavian tables before.

How had he not noticed all of this before now? They weren't prevalent or overwhelming, but they were there. He wondered if the Grangers were truly Scandinavian somewhere, and Marie had embraced this part of their story as a way to cling to a real piece of her history. No doubt Erik wouldn't have minded because he wouldn't have cared about his history being handed down to their children.

For his mum's part, she seemed to enjoy chatting with Donald about muggle football (something evidently his father still watched, though whether he was sober enough to recall the outcome of any match was up for debate). Thomas and Charlotte joined in, too, recalling his mum from their own time at Hogwarts.

He was surprised when Thomas's only granddaughter, Meredith Daughtery, sat down next to him once dinner was done and people were doing their own thing. He wasn't sure they'd said anything to one another outside of his classroom other than during one or two chance encounters when he was with her grandparents. She'd certainly never sought him out. So surprise was probably not a suitable word for it. Shocked? Astonished? Both would probably be apt.

"Happy Christmas, Miss Daughtery," he said into the uncomfortable silence.

She'd just finished Hogwarts this past June and was apprenticing as a healer he thought he'd heard. That surprised him, as she didn't strike him as the healer type. Charlotte, Marie and Erik's daughter, was a healer. She had the … personality of one he'd expect to be in that line of work. Caring, kind, empathetic. Not that Miss Daughtery was a shrew, but she hadn't always been very pleasant. He certainly wouldn't say she was nurturing. He knew Hermione wasn't overly fond of the witch.

"Happy Christmas, Professor Snape," she said. The expectant look on her face told him that she expected … conversation out of him.

Merlin.

Why?

"Did you have a good day?"

"It was very nice, thank you. You?"

"It was decent," he said. "How are your studies going?"

"Oh, very well," she said, blushing he noticed. "Thank you for asking. I'm at St. Mungo's."

"Right, of course." He didn't know that, but there were few places for her to go if she wished to stay local. Clearly she did, so it rather went without saying that's where she'd do her training.

"I noticed that you supply so many potions to them," she said.

Tedious, and yet he couldn't be rude. She was, when it got down to it, related to him.

"I do. I'm fortunate the headmaster allows me to do so."

"Well, Grandfather says you're the best."

"As he trained and mentored me, he would certainly know."

She leaned in then. "Are you really married to Hermione?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

Why? Why the whisper? Why the question? He was fairly certain everyone knew by now, certainly in this family. It wasn't a secret. Her grandfather had signed off on their marriage license.

"Indeed, in a moment of obvious lack of judgment, she married me."

"Oh, Sir, no," she said, meeting his eyes with her dark green ones. So dark they almost looked brown. "She's lucky."

And that statement made him … uncomfortable. What was her point? He took a deep breath, unsure how to respond. He thought he was the lucky one.

"I will be sure to tell her you said so."

"Oh, don't do that. It's just, she's a bit … serious, don't you think?"

Severus glanced away from her, frantically searching for said wife that was the topic of the current conversation in the crowd. "A suitable wife for a rather serious man like myself, Miss Daughtery," he said cautiously.

"It's just. Does she do anything but read? I saw her with Grandma all of the time."

"She is fond of your grandmother, which is obviously reciprocated by her being included with your family for many years now."

She sighed softly, and Severus recognized the tone. He'd never heard it aimed at him before, though, and it was … odd to say the least.

It was time to leave now.

"Miss Daughtery, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with my mother."

"Oh, of course, Professor," she said. "If you're ever at St. Mungo's…"

"I don't ever get there, I'm afraid."

He made his way into what had been Hermione's bedroom in the past. Had Erik's great granddaughter truly just flirted with him? She was essentially his great granddaughter, wasn't she? Ironically, pretty much everyone had been under the impression she didn't like wizards but witches instead.

Hermione found him about an hour later.

"Mum and Dad are leav… Are you all right?" she asked.

He looked at her and just snorted. He had no idea if what he thought happened had actually occurred. It certainly had never happened to him before, which made him wonder why on earth it would now.

She closed the door then, obviously concerned.

"Severus?"

"I think Meredith Daughtery was just flirting with me."

Silence.

"Did you not hear me?"

"Is that all?"

"Is that all? What kind of question is that?"

"I saw her looking at you with interest all through dinner. She actually has for years now. So I'm not surprised."

"And you are okay with this?"

"Of course I'm not, but it's no different than you seeing Stephen flirting with me. I presume you handled it appropriately. What am I supposed to do? Cause a scene over something I know you wouldn't do anything about?"

"Why do you know that?"

She scowled. "Aside from who she is you mean?"

"Obviously."

"You did not wait thirty-nine years to marry someone to be unfaithful when it happened. Do you want me to be worried? I'm not sure what surprises you about the fact that I trust you."

"So you do not think because of our age difference…"

"That you're going to trade me in for a younger model? No, Severus, I don't, certainly not six months after we married. Besides, no offense to Meredith Daughtery, but she wouldn't last two minutes in an actual conversation with you about the weather let alone anything of substance. And I say that with as much affection for the witch as I can muster, knowing who she is."

He snorted. "So it does bother you?" he asked, knowing her tone was not one of a pleased witch.

"Of course it bothers me that she'd do that at all, but especially at Christmas dinner in front of me. Both of us! That's incredibly rude, but that isn't your fault. I know that you did nothing to encourage her, besides having a young wife."

He tilted his head a bit as he regarded her and stood.

"You mentioned your mum and dad were leaving?"

"Yes," she said. "They wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas one last time."

"All right," he said, leaning down to kiss her. "Then can we go home so that I can demonstrate exactly how you are the only wife I could ever need."

"Yes," she said without hesitation.

"Then let's go say good night."

They said good night to her parents, walking them to the floo they could use off the ballroom. Once they were gone and she'd confirmed they arrived home safely they returned to the rest of the party. She saw a few give them an odd look and she glanced at Severus.

"What did you do?"

"I may have, in good fun, charmed there to be a love bite on your neck."

"You did not! Severus! It's Christmas. They're going to think…"

"Exactly," he said. "I was taking control of the situation, to hopefully alleviate another uncomfortable conversation from occurring again."

"My parents!"

"I waited until they were gone, so they do not think we had a quickie in your bedroom."

"Thank God for some favours."

"That would really bother you?"

"Do you want your mum to think about our sex life, Severus?"

"Well, no," he said after a moment's pause.

"Nor do I. I realize they hope for grandchildren one day, but I'd prefer they not think we were attempting that here and now!"

He chuckled. "Yes, well, she's no longer looking at me, so I'd say I won't need to do it again."

"Well, I'm not mad exactly. Just on Christmas."

"I see. So any other day?"

"Well, within reason. I mean if I had a presentation or a meeting with Thomas that was job related."

"I will bear that in mind. Now, let's say good night so I can see about leaving a real one in its place."

"Maybe a more fun place?"

"I think leaving them on your neck is exceedingly fun, Hermione," he said, brushing her hair away a bit to kiss the spot in question.

"You're so bad," she said, but laughed so she wasn't truly upset.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com