Miss Lovegood had been correct—an article lamenting the school's delayed reopening had seen a massive spike in volunteers each Saturday over the summer holiday. Enough broomsticks for the first-year flying lessons had been donated, some new, some donated directly by the Firebolt manufacturers. The house-elves had been ecstatic to assist in any way necessary. And so, Severus had been wrong—they were, in fact, able to open the school on September first as usual. From his office window, Albus's portrait hanging at his shoulder, he watched the new first-years bob across the lake on the boats Septima and Walter had finished fixing just the day prior. When Hagrid's giant silhouette climbed from the first boat, Severus made his way downstairs.
Hermione stayed in their sitting room. The professors with spouses lived in their own homes, but Hermione didn't mind living in the castle even if she did not get to eat in the Great Hall anymore. The house-elves fed her the same meal as everyone else.
Severus entered the Great Hall, already full of the elder students. Miss Weasley paused her conversation to give Severus a smile. He nodded to her politely. The other seventh-year Gryffindors gawked. Miss Lovegood gave him a tiny wave, her Head Girl badge pinned to her blue vest, bright red radishes hanging from her ears. He nodded to her as well. The Ravenclaws gawked.
The Slytherins looked nervous and were more subdued than usual. All the tables were full, more so than they had been last September first.
Neville Longbottom sat at Pomona's right hand at the head table. Hannah Abbott sat next to Poppy as part of a training program for new Healers. Minerva sat in her usual seat, as did Filius, both on either side of Severus's chair. Aurora waited in the Entrance Hall for her first time escorting the first-years to their Sorting Ceremony. The Sorting Hat sat atop its usual stool, the frayed brim burned black. The new Potions professor, a man from Egypt, sat on the other side of Aurora's empty seat, and a retired Auror next to him as the new Defence Professor. Severus hoped this witch would stay for some time—he did not know how many more people they could find qualified to teach DADA.
Severus stood before his seat. The children quieted, still very much afraid of him. He said nothing.
The doors to the Great Hall opened. Aurora led in a small group of small children. Severus sat down.
.
Severus and Hermione readied for their days early in the morning. She would make him bend down for a quick kiss each morning as she drank her coffee and he left for breakfast in the Great Hall. She would leave for Diagon Alley before he returned to his office. The first few months had Severus trying his hand at 'haggling' like Albus had suggested all those months ago, as the school had been nearly drained of funds, even with the donations. Jigger worked Hermione relentlessly but was a punctual man and she was always released from work promptly at 5 PM and given an hour for lunch, which she spent with George at the Leaky Cauldron. Tired of eating dinner alone before the month ended, she frequently went to Grimmauld Place to eat with Potter and Weasley. On Thursdays, Severus ate dinner with Hermione. Fridays were the days for trouble-makers so he insisted he be present in the Great Hall to head them off before the weekend started. She laughed at him and reminded him that dealing with run-of-the-mill troublemakers was no longer his job.
So as the Hogwarts savings account became more robust, Severus had time to relax as headmaster. As a headmaster the governors actually wanted. Albus liked to watch him with a faint smile but he never gave any advice. None of the portraits did without being asked first. Minerva came to take tea with Severus or with Hermione some nights. Neville visited her weekly but tried to slip past Severus's office without Severus noticing. Hermione even invited Hagrid up and Severus joined them unprompted. Which made Hermione beam. Severus didn't talk much but Hermione and Hagrid needed no help in the conversation department. But all of this happened at Hogwarts, where Severus felt safe and in control.
It gave him time to strengthen his resolve to break his spying habits. Without Potter hanging about, that was an easy resolution to fulfill. The one to be…nice…r…was a bit harder. Of course he was not friendly with his two students, but cordial with Miss Lovegood and Miss Weasley, as no doubt they would tell Hermione about it. And he was cordial with all of his staff, including Mr Longbottom, and his relationships with his staff were returning to normal, even with Walter.
The second week of the term, Severus had called Miss Weasley to his office while Hermione was at work.
The witch seemed nervous. "You needed to see me, headmaster?"
"I am in need of your help," he said. It was a phrase he rarely uttered, to students or anyone otherwise.
She cocked her head, still wary. "With what? Sir."
Severus slid a magazine of ring designs across the desk. Miss Weasley's blue eyes widened comically before she mischievously smiled at him, the grin Cheshire-like on her freckled face.
"Sir, are you buying a ring for Hermione?"
"Is there someone else in need of a ring?" he replied sourly.
She grabbed the magazine with both hands. "Sir. This is—" In her mind, adorable and sweet and other such inanities screamed from each corner. "So romantic," she settled on, flipping through the magazine. "Oh, that is cute."
"I need you to subtly," he emphasized with narrow eyes, "find out which one she would prefer."
"Why don't you just ask her, sir?" she chuckled, still looking at the necklace section.
"I rather thought witches liked surprises."
She looked up at him, rolling the magazine in her hands. The mischievous glint he normally associated with the Weasley twins glimmered in her eyes. "I have an idea."
"We don't have much time to dawdle on this," he warned as she stood up.
"I will do what I can, sir." She saluted with the magazine. "Oh, do you know her ring size?"
"I will find out, you do the rest."
"You got it, sir," she said, chipper, as she all but skipped to the door. She gave him one last giant smile and a wave before slipping through the door.
"I admit, Severus, I am surprised at you placing your trust in Miss Weasley," Albus's portrait said from the wall.
"I am playing the long-game, Albus," Severus said, leaning back in his seat. "I need more of her friends to like me." He really did need her to find out which of those rings Hermione would like, though.
"Very clever, headmaster," Phineas Nigellus said from the opposite wall. "A little late, but clever indeed."
The headmistresses grouped up in a corner portrait to gossip about it. Albus smiled at Severus all day.
.
That night, Hermione tried to teach Ron and Harry how to make curry. Harry, raised just as Muggle-y as Hermione had been, had tried curry but Petunia never made it at home. Ron was intrigued. The two still smelled of hexes from the Auror training day they had once a month.
Kreacher brought in a large envelope for Harry. He ripped it open and then wandered out of the room, leaving Hermione and Ron to prepare everything.
"You did what now?" Ron said on a laugh.
Hermione peeled the potatoes. "Well, the bint came into the Apothecary and was being all-around horrid. So when she left, I told her that Severus had very snoggable lips, since she and Millicent had always wondered about it. You should have seen her face!"
Ron laughed and wiped his hands on a towel.
"And that's why Severus decided to let Luna write the article."
"Well, I'm glad he did," Ron said. "You seem much happier."
After watching Hermione and Severus in the Hospital Wing for those weeks, Ron had certainly warmed up to the idea of Severus sticking around.
"How's Lavender?"
"Doing alright. It's good she has Bill to talk to, we are gonna go visit them this weekend," Ron said. "And thanks for the Wolfsbane. I think it really helped."
"Just doing my job," Hermione said with a smile.
Harry came back into the room with some sort of catalogue in his hand. "Guys, can I talk to you?"
"About what?" Ron asked. He crossed his arms and leaned against the stove.
Hermione tapped her wand against the can of coconut milk. The aluminum top curled up and back with a terrible scrape.
Harry held up a catalogue for Diagon Alley jewelry store. He was a bit pink. "I don't know, I'm—I'm definitely going to propose to Ginny. You know, when we're ready."
Hermione whipped around. Ron's mouth dropped open.
"So I thought I should get a head start on rings. Budget for it." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"You're loaded, remember?" Ron joked.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Harry said. "I mostly want Hermione's help anyway." He held the magazine towards her. "Which ones would she like?"
Ron and Harry took over the rest of the dinner, following the recipe Hermione had brought. She sat at the table and flipped through the catalogue.
"Oh how pretty!" she said.
Harry immediately was at her side. "Which one?" he demanded.
"I don't think Ginny would like it," she laughed, "but I do." She pointed at the one in the top corner before turning the page. "Actually, you might want to confirm she wants a diamond or something else—Muggles usually go for diamonds."
"Is that what you would want?" Harry asked, resting his hip on the table.
"Yes, I think so. Not that I'm going to get one," she laughed again. "Oh, Ginny told me she hates silver. She prefers gold."
"Which is better?" Harry asked.
"Well I think a diamond and silver ring would be lovely, but Ginny seems more like a diamond and gold kind of girl." She held up the catalogue, pointing at a beautiful ring with gold and a series of diamonds and sapphires. "But you have to know her ring size, and what kind of cut she wants, and you should confirm if she wants gold—oh, and if you two are going to have matching rings, of course," Hermione explained. "Maybe I should write all this down."
"Cut, huh?" Harry asked, consternated. Even Ron over at the stove looked dizzy with all the information he'd have to remember for Lavender. "Can you explain that a bit? The shape of it, right?"
"Right. I like these little ones." She pointed to a traditionally shaped diamond. "But bigger ones are more expensive. Oh, and if the diamond is a higher quality."
Harry shuffled his hair. "Ah, okay. I'll do some more digging. Why don't you pick one you like and we'll see what she says about that one and go from there."
Hermione flipped through the pages, happy to help.
.
The next day, Miss Weasley came up to the gargoyle and waited for a painting to alert Severus she was outside.
She came in and walked up to his desk with a scrap of paper in hand.
The witch laid down a square cut from the magazine with a silver and diamond ring featured. "Here you go!"
"That was…fast," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Well, sir, Harry has been going through interrogation training," she said with a massive smile.
"I see," he said quietly.
"It's for your anniversary, isn't it?" she asked, crossing her arms so she didn't do something foolish like hug him or clap giddily.
"Yes," he said, aware his voice was more of a hiss at the end.
"She said she absolutely hates gold and that it must be silver," Ginny began, rattling off info as she counted on her fingers. "She doesn't want a big diamond, but Muggle women wear diamonds so that's what she wants, too. She picked that one out as her favorite."
"Thank you for your diligence. Potter, rather," he said, picking up the photograph Potter had cut out for him.
"Let me know if you need anything else!" she said brightly. It was drastically different from when she had visited the office in their last gloomy term. "I think it's a brilliant idea, sir," she said at the door, a bit more reserved.
A rebuke about not requiring her approval was on his tongue. But he remained calm. Miss Weasley left without further trying his patience.
.
On 21 September, Hermione went to work as usual. But when she returned to Hogwarts in the evening, Severus was waiting for her before starting on dinner, sitting in their sitting room at the coffee table.
"But it's Friday," she reminded him as she hung up her work robes. The day had been rough. Jigger had been in a snit—Hermione wondered if a foul mood was a requirement for a Potions Master or a side-effect—and had made Hermione re-do the same potion four times even though it caused her to stay an hour later than usual. Before that, a demanding witch had come in for a refund on a product the store didn't even carry and as the lowest on the rung, Hermione had to be the one to deal with her. And, of course, a sudden rain had come down when George and Hermione were out for lunch with only Prophets to shield them.
"I have been known to change my mind on things from time to time," he said from the window. He had his arms crossed. She wondered if he had been there waiting and watching for her.
"Did you somehow know I had a bad day at work?" she teased as she walked over to him. He didn't stop her anymore when she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind.
"That is unfortunate," he said, one of his hands resting atop hers.
She liked listening to him talk, and the vibrations rippling from his chest to her cheek pressed to his spine. She was so thankful his voice had returned to normal after he was done healing. Perhaps she imagined it, but he even seemed to talk more after that month of silence. That seemed a fairly natural reaction in her estimation.
"I have something for you," he said to the window.
She cocked her head and leaned to look around his shoulder. He looked down at her desk. There on the corner was a tiny black ring box.
Hermione's throat felt tight. He had remembered that they were married this day a year ago. And…it seemed like he wanted to stay that way.
She hugged him so tight he had to pull her arms away lest he suffocate. She was crying when he turned around and hugged her instead.
He was getting better at hugging, too.