Chapter Text
“So, how has life been treating you these past few months? I know it’s been tough since you decided to split with Ron last year, and I haven’t seen much of you with my caseload at work,” Harry enquired, handing Hermione a cup of coffee, and sitting down in the armchair opposite Her on the sofa.
Hermione thanked Harry, taking a sip before putting the drink down on the end table.
“It has been tough, but I’m trying to make things as easy as possible for us both. I know it was my decision to end things between us, but I can’t help feeling really sad about it all.” She sat back with a sigh, pushing her hair behind her ear. “We were together for ten years, and we’re still living together, although he has moved into the spare bedroom. I wish things were better between us though. We can’t talk without arguing so I just try to avoid him as much as possible at the moment.”
Harry grimaced, “How have you been managing that? It’s not like you live in a big house. What happened anyway? What did he do? I can’t get anything out of Ron, and I thought you were both really happy together.”
Hermione sighed, “He didn’t do anything, but that’s part of the problem.” She leaned forward, gesturing with her hands “Look, I love Ron and I always will love him, but I was starting to feel trapped. Like we weren’t really going anywhere or doing anything with our lives. We go to work, we come home, and we do the same thing every single night. Every time I try to suggest going somewhere or doing something, he just shrugs, and we never actually do anything that I would like to do. Unless it involves the pub, Quidditch, or sex, he’s not interested.”
Harry looked uncomfortable at the mention of sex and pointed out that Hermione’s not exactly the partying type or one for an adventure.
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, “I know I like to stay home and read by the fire most of the time, but I also want to travel and see the world a bit more. We’re still young, and I want to enjoy our lives, but we’ve been pushed for years by Molly to get married and have kids. Neither of us wanted that after the war. Ron thought he did but we quickly just fell into a rut. We weren’t even really having sex that often, and even when we did have sex, it was over quickly without much in it for me.” She looked down and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying it before looking up at Harry. “Honestly, I thought I wasn’t really into having sex.” She blushed and looked away again, “It all seemed a bit boring, and I couldn’t understand what the fuss was about. Don’t get me wrong, Ron is lovely, and I enjoyed it occasionally, but I felt like I was going through the motions, you know?”
Harry nodded, looking a little green around the gills at the thought of his best friends having sex. “I suppose I can understand that. Have you been out much since you split up?”
“Actually, I have. I tried that anonymous Wizarding dating thing, Phoenix. I met a few guys on there... and maybe a few girls too.” She tentatively smiled, hoping that Harry wouldn’t freak out at the thought.
Harry smiled widely, “That’s great, Hermione! I’m really happy for you. You deserve to be out there having fun. Even though I do feel a little weird discussing this, you’re like my sister.” He laughed lightly.” “Has anyone in particular caught your eye or are you just playing the field? Have you seen anyone we know out there?”
Hermione grinned and crossed her left leg over her right, leaning her head to the right slightly and playing with the hem of her shirt, “Well, I may have had a bit of a thing with Padma Patil briefly.” She smirked, “That was a lot of fun, and I loved exploring that side of myself. That wasn’t long after Ron and I broke up though, and whilst I’ve seen a few guys, I’ve not really seen anyone in a few months. I’ve been a bit mopey, to be honest. Especially with Ron barely talking to me.”
Harry leaned forward and patted her on the knee in sympathy, but she laughingly swatted him away. “Oh, stop that! I’m not some hopeless dramatic heroine pining over their lost love... well not completely, anyway.”
He grinned and put his hands up, backing off. “Alright, alright. Well, you know I just want you to be happy, and I’m glad that even though things have slowed for you, you’re finally starting to let loose a bit. You’ve always been a bit uptight.” He laughed and dodged the pillow thrown at his head. “You know what I mean. You were always way more focused on studying and books than guys, Hermione. Did you ever even do anything when we were in school?”
“I resent that thought, Harry. Of course, I did, just because you never saw me with anyone, doesn’t mean I didn’t have a bit of fun during school. I was with Viktor for almost the entire summer after the Ministry debacle, and I even dated Ernie briefly in 6th year. You know, whilst Ron was with Lavender.”
“Oh Lav-Lav”. Harry pulled a face. “That was not a fun time for us. I thought you were just pining over Ron. I had no idea you were with Ernie! How did you keep that a secret from us?”
“You never asked! Plus, you had bigger things on your mind at the time to be worrying about me. You had the lessons with Professor Dumbledore about the horcruxes, and you were pining over Ginny-”
Harry spluttered and cut her off. “Hey, I wasn’t pining!”
“You were totally pining. I don’t know why you’re denying it, you ended up marrying her anyway.” Hermione giggled.
Harry grumbled, looking away from her; “I still wasn’t pining.”
Hermione rolled her eyes, grinning at him. “How is Gin, anyway? She’s due soon, isn’t she?”
Harry ruffled his hair and grinned, “Yeah, she’s only got a few weeks left. James has been running us ragged, but we’re all excited for the little one to arrive. Have I told you what we’ve decided to name him yet?”
“No, what did you decide on in the end?” Hermione leant forward and took a sip of her forgotten coffee. “Please tell me you’re not going to foist the child with some unfortunate name, I hope Ginny gets a say in it.”
“She’s had her say, she’s vetoed several of my suggestions. It’s not an unfortunate name. I think it’s quite stately!”
“Oh Merlin, that doesn’t fill me with hope that you’ve picked a good name Harry. Just tell me what you’ve chosen before I hit you with another pillow. Stop leaving me in suspense.”
“Well...” Harry started and paused for a few breaths. He ducked as Hermione threw another pillow at him. “We finally decided on Albus Severus Potter. Two of the bravest men I’ve ever known.”
Hermione stared at him, mouth agape.
“What?” Harry said perplexed, as he ruffled his perpetually unruly hair. “I like it!”
Hermione snapped her mouth shut and took a deep breath, “Harry, have you even spoken to Severus about this?”
“No, I was going to tell him when I asked him about being his godfather.”
“Can I please be there when you do?” Hermione brightened up, excited at the prospect of seeing Harry torn to strips by Severus Snape.
“Uhhh, sure.” Harry said bemusedly. “I don’t think he’ll mind though. Actually, I do need to go see Severus, he’s got some potions for Gin that I said I’d go pick up this afternoon. Do you want to come with me now whilst I remember? She’ll have my hide if I don’t pick them up in time.”
“Of course, I always love dropping in on Severus. I’m glad the business is doing so well after he recovered from the war.”
“Me too, especially since we’ve become really close. I know I’m asking him to be godfather to Albus, but really, he’s like a grandfather already to James and I know he’s going to be the same for Albus. He’s never going to be the cuddliest of people, but James absolutely adores him.” Harry stood up and stretched, looking around for his wand and placing it in his arm holster.
“I still don’t think he’s going to be happy that you’re naming your child after him” Hermione frowned as she stood up and slipped on her jacket and shoes.
“It’ll be fine.” Harry replied, although his face briefly showed his worry that Hermione might be right, like always. “Shall we go find out? Floo or apparate?”
“Floo. I fancy a stroll through the village, and we can say hello to Hannah as we pass through.”
“Sure, lead the way.”
Hermione threw the powder in the grate and called out her destination, spinning out into the busy pub. She stepped aside and dusted herself off, waiting for Harry to come tumbling through the floo. He’d never managed to get the hang of it, and much preferred to travel via apparition or broom.
They waved to Hannah and briefly enquired after herself and Neville, before stepping out into surprisingly nice weather for the Scottish Highlands in April. Although, they knew it wouldn’t last so they quickly made their way over to Severus’ potions shop.
The doorbell tinkled as the two made their way into the potions shop. Ingredients of all kinds were displayed in their jars along the shelves. The shop looked like an extension of Severus Snape’s meticulously organised Hogwarts potions stores whilst he was a teacher. A sight that both Harry and Hermione were intimately familiar with, to Severus’ chagrin.
As they made their way further into the shop, a door opened at the back, briefly giving them a glimpse into the busy workshop beyond filled with multiple cauldrons of bubbling potions.
A tall man with dark hair walked out of the doorway, looking down at a ream of parchment filled with his cramped spiky scrawl and sporting his signature sneer.
“Yes, how can I help you?” He drawled, looking irritated at being interrupted whilst brewing but not looking up from his parchment.
“Hey Sev, I’m just here to pick up the potions for Ginny. You owled me to say they were ready. I’ve brought Hermione along for company.”
Severus looked up sharply, his mouth forming a hint of a smile at the corners. “Oh, it’s you Potter. Yes, I’ve got them here for you.”
“Severus, how many times do I need to tell you to call me Harry?” He grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Severus smirked, drawing his robe about himself as he folded his arms, “About the same number of times I needed to tell you to pay attention in class.”
Hermione laughed, “He’s got you there, Harry. You never paid attention. Honestly, you’d never have passed if it wasn’t for Severus’ book and Slughorn’s hero worship.” Harry huffed and ran his fingers through his hair, looking disgruntled.
“Not to mention, that you wrote all of his and Mr Weasley’s assignments for them, Hermione. Don’t think we didn’t notice. There was a marked difference whenever you weren’t speaking to them.”
Hermione still marveled at the fact that her ‘stuffy’ old professor actually used her name, rather than defaulting to Miss Granger. It took a while to come about, but it was a testament to how much fun Harry’s parties had been over the years, and how much closer they had all become.
“Alright, alright, enough ribbing. I don’t need you both ganging up on me! Plus, Hermione didn’t do all of my assignments, just the ones I struggled with. I didn’t need her help with DADA until you were the teacher.” Harry retorted, still as easily riled as he was in school.
‘No matter how many years are between them, he still get incredibly defensive whenever Severus teases him,’ thought Hermione, shaking her head and laughing at them both. ‘At least it is just teasing now, and not antagonising him to get an angry reaction so he can exert his power over his students, Harry in particular.’
“Of course, forgive me for thinking you were a complete dunderhead. I only formed that opinion over the countless hours I had to mark your work. At least you were marginally more coherent than Mr Weasley.” Severus’ smirk turned into a full smile before he chuckled at Harry’s expression.
Harry spluttered but quickly joined in the laughter. He rubbed a hand across his face and took his glasses off to wipe them on his shirt. Hermione quickly apprehended him and took them, whispering a charm to clean them before placing them back in his still outstretched hand. “Honestly, are you a wizard or not?”
“Thanks Hermione!” Harry grinned sheepishly, tucking the glasses back onto his face and pushing his unruly hair back. He took a deep breath, fortifying himself before looking up at Severus. “It’s not only Ginny’s potions that I’m here for. I have an important question for you, and I wanted to ask you now.”
“What is it, Harry? I do have several orders I need to be getting back to, not all of us can skip work on a Thursday afternoon.”
“It will be quick, I promise. Ginny and I have had a discussion and I wanted to ask if you would be the godfather for our baby this time. It would mean the world to us if you said yes”.
Severus looked taken aback, “Is there no-one else that would be more suitable for the role? Mr Longbottom perhaps, or George Weasley?”
“No, we really want you to be the godfather of Al…” He cut himself off quickly, and cleared his throat, not wanting to reveal the next part of why he was there.
Severus narrowed his eyes; he could tell that Harry was hiding something and he was going to find out what it was. He gathered that it was something about the poor child’s name, but he couldn’t fathom what would make Harry so reticent to announce it. “Go on, Mr Potter. I didn’t quite catch that last bit. What ghastly name have you saddled upon the poor boy?”
Harry looked down and scratched his nose. “Well, I… Uh…”
“Yes, get on with it! Surely it can’t be that bad or Ginevra would not have agreed to such a name. Just spit it out.”
Hermione elbowed Harry in the back, breaking his staring contest with the floor as he glared at her. She nodded her head at him in a ‘Go on’ gesture. “Just tell him, Harry.”
“We’re naming him Albus Severus Potter.”
Severus looked aghast, “Why on earth would you saddle the boy with that moniker? That is a horrible name for anyone, let alone a child. What on earth possessed you both to come to that conclusion?”
Harry flushed. “Well, I wanted to name him after two of the bravest men I ever knew. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me, Severus. Not only during the war, but how close we’ve become since and you know I see you like a father figure, James even sees you as his second grandad. I wanted to honour that and honour you.”
Severus cleared his throat, taking a moment to compose himself. “I understand your reasoning, although I do think it is a mistake to name him after me, and not Ronald or even Hagrid, but thank you. I too, appreciate the difficulties we have overcome in our past to be where we are today. Especially as it has also brought me closer to the lovely Miss Granger.”
Hermione blushed and hid her smile behind her hair. “It’s great to see you outside of the school. You’ve changed a lot. You’re still tall, dark, and snarky but I don’t think we’d have it any other way.”
His lips lifted at that, and he raised an appreciative eyebrow. “Tall, dark, and snarky, eh? Well, I’m pleased to hear that I’m no longer the greasy dungeon bat.”
“I never actually called you that. In fact, I stopped Harry and Ron from insulting you on multiple occasions, thank you very much. I’ve always appreciated your height and your flair for the dramatics,” Hermione folded her arms and glanced up at him with a sly smile. “You do have quite a commanding presence, even outside of the classroom. Even now, your glower can still send the most highly decorated officials screaming out of the shop, claiming to never want to step foot in here again.”
Harry remained quiet watching the two lightly flirting, neither of them even realising what they were doing. A thought struck his head, and he inwardly smiled, hoping he could push the two of them into something that would be good for the both of them. Hermione desperately needed to get out of the rut she’d got in since her split with Ron. She may have slept with some others, but it was obvious that she still wasn’t happy. She’d be much more suited with someone like Severus. Someone that could give her intellectual stimulation as well as bring a bit of fun in their lives. Severus on the other hand might be tougher to convince, although judging by this conversation, it seems like it may have already crossed his mind at once stage. He’d have to nudge him to make a move soon before either of them could overthink it.
Hermione glanced down at her watch, noticing the time, and realised that she had an appointment she needed to get to. Making her apologies, she quickly said her goodbyes and left the shop not noticing that a pair of dark eyes followed her all the way out with a wistful expression on his face. Harry noticed though and cleared his throat to get the older wizard’s attention. Severus’ expression quickly snapped back into his usual annoyed glare, but Harry grinned at him. “What is with that stupid smile on your face, Potter?”
“Nothing, I’m just wondering how long you’ve had a thing for Hermione?” Harry asked unrepentantly.
“What are you talking about? I don’t have a thing for Granger!”
“Oh, Granger now, is it? You know you revert to surnames when you get stressed and defensive?” Harry teased, nimbly avoiding Severus’ swat at his head.
“I do not, Potter. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I do not fancy Hermione Granger!”
“Well… I just so happen to know that she’s interested in you too.”
Harry watched Severus fidget with the piece of parchment on the counter, tearing a bit of the corner, “She... she told you that?”
“Not in so many words, but I know her, Severus. I see the way she looks at you whenever you’re around. It’s not only since she split with Ron either. I think that’s part of the reason she did. She’s not happy with him, Severus, but I know she would be with you.” Harry calmly tried to convince the stubborn wizard. “You two would be good together, you’re both intelligent, have fiery personalities, even though it comes out in different ways, and you both need to let loose and have someone around that you can enjoy spending time with. I know she could be that for you, Severus, and I know you could be that for her.”
“Do you really think so?” Severus looked uncomfortable but contemplative at Harry’s words.
“I know so. Why don’t you owl her and ask her out to dinner? I bet she’ll say yes.”
“I’m not sure that would be wise.”
“Why not? What’s holding you back, Sev.” Harry tried to reason with him. “You’re both single, you’re both in need of a good time, you already know and like each other. It’s just dinner. Owl her and see what she says. The worst she can say is no.”
Severus glowered. “Fine, although I know for a fact that there are much harsher things that she could say than no. You out of anyone should know that.”
Harry winced, “Okay, fair point. She can’t say anything if you don’t ask her though. Want me to write it?” He cheekily suggested.
“No! I don’t trust you to write your own name, let alone something like this. I’ll write her and ask her for dinner this evening. Now be gone with you, impertinent demon.”
Harry backed away quickly, almost reaching the shop door before he was called back by Severus. “Are you not forgetting something, Mr Potter?” Harry searched his pockets, face screwed up in puzzlement until Severus held up a pouch of bottles and his eyes widened.
“Thanks, Sev. I’d lose my head if it wasn’t screwed on.”
“Indeed. Have a good evening, Harry, and give Ginevra my regards. Tell her that her husband is a meddling incompetent fool.”
“She already knows that! I’ll send you a suggestion on where to go, Hermione will love it” Harry laughed and with a grin, said his goodbyes and strolled out of the shop, happy in the knowledge that he’d pushed his father-figure and best friend together. He’ll have to tell Minerva all about it when he next saw her, she’d get a kick out of Severus’ reticence. Whistling, he strode down the street to the Three Broomsticks.