FIC: M is for Muggle-born [2/4]
M is for Muggle-born
Chapter 2
Severus had just entered the Leaky Cauldron through the back passage to Diagon Alley when something plowed straight into his left leg. He looked down his nose and raised an eyebrow at his assailant.
"Rose," Hermione fixed the seven-year-old with a look known to bring fully qualified Aurors to heel, "what were you told about running indoors?"
"There will be no running inside," the curly haired child replied automatically. Severus suppressed a snort of amusement at the obviously memorized, and probably often repeated, phrase.
"Apologize to Headmaster Snape."
Hearing his name, Severus' head snapped up. Well, well, if it wasn't the Granger girl. Taking in her appearance without being obvious about it, he amended that to Granger woman. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been on the cusp of womanhood. She'd had all the promise but lacked the poise brought by experience. Now, he was delighted to see, Hermione Granger was fully adult.
"Gosh! Wow!" The child practically bounced on her heels.
"Primrose Parkinson," Hermione drawled, prompting the little girl with a significant look toward Snape. Hermione cleared her throat when she failed to respond.
The girl blushed. "I'm sorry, sir." She looked up at him again. "Gosh, are you really Headmaster Snape?"
"Indeed."
"Oh, wow! You're one of the heroes. Do you want to have lunch with us? I mean will you please, please, please have lunch with us?" Rose looked back and forth between Hermione and Snape so many times as she spoke that Hermione wondered if her head might fly off. "He can have lunch with us, can't he? Please?"
"May he," Hermione corrected automatically. "Rose, Headmaster Snape-"
"-Would be delighted, Miss … Parkinson, was it?" Severus had always possessed a rather rabid sense of curiosity. He liked knowing things, be they about magic, things, or people. He was certainly curious about Hermione Granger and had been for more years than was probably wise to count. The witch having charge of a Parkinson, a family that continued to hold nothing but contempt for anyone not of pure blood, was simply another thing to be curious about.
"I am Primrose Parkinson, but my friends call me Rose. How do you do, sir?" Rose held out her hand formally, obviously well coached in introducing herself. Severus noted the pleased look Granger gave the girl and Rose's happy response to having done well. It was disturbingly parental. He found he didn't much like the idea that Hermione Granger might now be involved with one of those bigoted, idiot Parkinsons. No, it was more likely she was a governess than a stepmother. At least he knew the girl wasn't Granger's own despite the unruly hair.
Accepting the child's hand, he shook it and graced her with a small bow. "Severus Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I do very well, thank you." Encouraging manners was important, even if a handshake and bold self-introduction were manners more of a Muggle variety than those typically taught magical children. After years of teaching uncouth youth, Severus gladly accepted whatever manners adults were able to drill into children's heads.
"I had planned to dine alone, however, I would consider it a great honor if you ladies would consent to keep me company," Severus spoke to the little girl before raising his eyes to meet Miss Granger's. He hadn't expected to find such an openly curious and pleasantly surprised look on her face. It delighted him nonetheless.
"Oh, please! Please can-May we?"
Snape raised an eyebrow at Hermione in challenge, but it was his kindness to Rose along with the small smile that graced his lips and the tiniest hint of a dimple along the right edge of his narrow goatee that sold her. Who knew Severus Snape had a proto-dimple?
"We would be delighted," Hermione said, giving him a small smile of her own.
Lunch had been a thoroughly entertaining affair even if it had left Severus completely confused and more curious than ever. The moment Rose was granted permission to skip off to the bar to order pudding, he took advantage of having Miss Granger alone to ask after her charge. "Tell me, Miss Granger, how is it you are minding a Parkinson?"
Hermione's smile froze. She'd been having quite a lovely time. Why had he been so polite answering Rose's scores of questions about Hogwarts only to turn suddenly sour the moment Rose left the table?
Severus noted the sudden tension in her frame and cursed his stilted social skills. He was improving over time, especially with the amount of practice he was forced into as headmaster, but smooth interaction with others was never likely to be his strong suit. "My apologies. That did not come out the way I intended. I was curious as to your connection to the family, not attempting to disparage it."
"Oh," Hermione felt her smile ease back into the friendly expression she'd been wearing for the better part of an hour. "Rose is … Well, she is a Parkinson, but she … isn't." She looked at the little girl talking to Hannah at the bar about dessert and sighed. "Prodgus Parkinson is her father. From what I've pieced together, Parkinson practically dragged Rose's mother in front of the Muggle-born Registration Commission the moment the Ministry repealed the Marriage and Family Decree. His next step was to abandon his half-blood daughter at the Ministry orphanage." Hermione took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice level.
"Parkinson disowned Rose. He even petitioned the Ministry to remove his name from her birth record. He probably would have succeeded if it hadn't been for the fertility magic the Ministry used on the couples joined by the decree. It negates all attempts at a magical separation." It had been fortunate the man had abandoned Rose before attempting the name change. Hermione was convinced that had he failed to separate Rose from the Parkinson name first, he would most likely have killed her instead of tossing her away. She suspected it had happened to a few of the other children once Parkinson spread the word among his set. One day, she'd find the evidence, and then, not even Merlin himself would be able to help them.
Of all the scenarios Severus had considered, the possibility of Miss Parkinson being a decree orphan had never crossed his mind. "You work for the orphanage then?"
"Me? Work for the Ministry? Not even if they begged." Which they had, or rather Kingsley had. It was convenient having friends there - as Aurors, Harry and Ron were especially useful - but she'd seen too much corruption, despite Minister Shacklebolt's efforts, to ever work there herself. She was far more effective where she was now. "I'm with Gringotts."
"Gringotts?" Severus was too far removed from the war to bother always hiding his surprise. Wasn't Granger some sort of professional do-gooder? He could have sworn Minerva had always gone on about her cub's desire to champion lost causes.
"I received an Outstanding N.E.W.T. in Arthimancy," she replied automatically. It was what she always told people when they expressed surprise at her employer. Not that she had had much choice in the matter at the time.
"You earned Outstanding N.E.W.T.s in all your subjects, Miss Granger." He did not know that for a fact, however he would wager she had done well.
"No. I only received an Exceeds Expectations in Herbology." And it still rankled. She knew perfectly well what to do and how to do it. It wasn't her fault if the blasted plants refused to cooperate. "I really don't have a green thumb."
The return of Rose with an enormous slice of chocolate cake stopped him from inquiring further into Miss Granger's choice of employment. He would find a way to worm that story out of his deputy at supper. Minerva McGonagall was always willing to chat about the accomplishments of her former students. For now, he returned his attention to the little girl.
"Miss Parkinson, I am curious how you became friends with Miss Granger." During lunch, he'd learnt that the girl loved to chatter about all of the war heroes she had met, courtesy of Miss Granger, Severus supposed.
"Miss Hermione is my wish! I wished for her and now she's my greatest friend," Rose beamed a smile of chocolaty teeth and gaps at Hermione.
"The Children's Wish Foundation matched us. Rose's teacher had read to them about the war from one of the children's books on the subject. When the foundation decided to grant each of the children at the orphanage a wish, Rose asked to meet me." That had been two years before. Hermione had taken it upon herself to befriend the little girl following their first meeting.
"I'm going to be just like Miss Hermione when I grow up."
"There are far worse role models. I applaud your choice, Miss Parkinson," Severus said with a small bow of his head. He noted how the small blush of color his words put high on Miss Granger's cheeks became her.
"It was positively scandalous the way the goblins took advantage of the poor girl," Minerva bristled. "Potter had offered to pay her share of damages as he did for Ronald Weasley, of course, only Hermione wasn't having it. The girl always did insist on taking responsibility for her self. She brokered an agreement with the goblins. Gringotts allowed her to return to us to complete her education and sit her N.E.W.T.s as long as she agreed to work there after earning her qualifications."
Minerva paused to take another bite of cottage pie. "Hermione wouldn't even take the bursary we offered. She used the reward that came with her Order of Merlin to pay most of her fees for the year and insisted on working to cover the remainder."
"I did not think she had been a bursary student." He remembered her in well-fitted, tidy robes, carrying a sturdy leather satchel, writing with quality quills. None of that fit with the typical bursary student. He should know. He had been one with his second-hand robes, old school books, and shabby supplies.
"She hadn't been before that year. Hermione's parents left the country the summer following her sixth year. The poor dear learnt she'd lost them after the war."
"They were found?" He had known the Grangers had disappeared. He had not known they were killed.
"Oh, dear me, no. I don't believe so, that is. It was one of those Muggle smash-ups with their automobile," Minerva told him. "You were still at St. Mungo's recovering and probably aren't aware, Severus, that without Hermione we'd never have managed to convince so many of our Muggle-borns' parents to allow their children to return to Hogwarts."
Severus was surprised. Minerva McGonagall had a talent for convincing parents to send Hogwarts their children. It had never occurred to him that she might have faced difficulties that first year after the war. Things had been fairly well settled when he'd been released from hospital fourteen months after the Battle of Hogwarts.
"You hired a student as Muggle Liaison?" It was a position that was occasionally filled from the outside when none of the professors on staff were up to date on dealing with Muggles alone. As far as Severus knew, no one had been hired for the role since Albus Dumbledore took a summer off from Hogwarts to root out Grindelwald in 1945.
Minerva shot him a quelling look over the top of her spectacles. "I hired the constant companion of Voldemort's vanquisher, the boy who lived twice. I hired a war heroine who was awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, for her role in ending the war. I hired a Muggle-born who values education. It was merely coincidental that it was her desire to return to school and have a way to finish paying for it that gave me the idea. Or rather it was Hermione herself that gave me the idea. She'd read about Muggle Liaisons in Hogwarts: A History, and proposed herself for the job to pay the balance of her fees."
Severus snorted. He was amused by the idea of Granger applying for a position she read about in a book, not disparaging Minerva's choice to employ the witch. Of course, Minerva misunderstood and launched into him.
"Believe me, Severus, Hermione Granger earned every Knut we paid her," the Transfiguration professor jumped to defend her choice in employing her cub. "There were hardly any Muggle parents willing to send their children back to Hogwarts. Not after the lot of them had been shipped off to Azkaban without a word to their families. Nothing less than knowing Harry Potter's Muggle-born best friend was returning to us as well would have done it. I'm not sure I could have done it myself, even if I'd had the time with the reconstruction."
That nearly every Muggle-born student still in the country came back to Hogwarts after the war had been something Severus had known. What he hadn't bothered finding out before now was how it had been managed. He felt a rather odd pulse of pride in Hermione Granger. She might have decided the Ministry of Magic wasn't worth her time but she'd been willing to help Hogwarts.
"You were telling me about the goblins, madam." Severus prompted Minerva back on track. He wondered about the deal Miss Granger worked out to pay her share of damages to Gringotts.
"No one knows! All Hermione would say was that she quite fancied banking. She politely, but firmly, declined Filius and Septima's offers to provide references for apprenticeships in either Charms or Arthimancy," Minerva huffed. "It's a shame. The girl easily has the talent to be a master in either field. In Transfiguration as well, although she never really showed that level of interest in the subject." Severus resisted the urge to snigger at how put out Minerva sounded over that. "Merlin knows what she worked out with the goblins, or how long she'll be contracted to Gringotts to pay off her debt."
"Granger," Gonut grunted, "Headmaster Snape is waiting to see you."
"Thank you. I'll come out," Hermione replied. She never saw anyone from outside Gringotts in her office. There was far too much sensitive information tacked to her walls and spread about her workspace. Not even fellow employees from outside her department like Bill Weasley were allowed in, although Bill and Fleur were among the few non-goblins who knew what Hermione really did for Gringotts.
Hermione smoothed her skirt and pocketed her wand. She hadn't seen Severus Snape for years. Now, in the space of only three weeks, she was meeting him for a second time. She found herself rather pleased.
"Headmaster," Hermione greeted him. He'd had his back to her as she approached but she'd know that trim form and black hair anywhere, even if he did wear it slightly longer and pulled back these days instead of hanging lankly in his face as he'd done when she'd been a student.
"Ah, Miss Granger. I realize this is short notice, but I find myself once again without a lunch companion. I wondered if you might be free to join me?"
Hermione was surprised by his application but readily agreed. "I would be delighted, sir."
"Are you available now, or shall I return for you later?" If the goblins had a tight hold on her as Minerva suggested, Granger might not be free at a moment's notice. He did not wish to embarrass her if she had to scurry about for permission first.
"Now, would be fine." It was a little earlier than usual for her but that was only because she often spent the afternoons out of building tracking things down and ate on the go. "I'll just fetch my cloak. I won't be a moment."
"I cannot tell you how long it has been since I last ate curry." Severus closed his eyes as he chewed. He had no idea a curry shop had opened in Diagon Alley.
"The food is good here. A cousin of the Patil twins opened it after the war," Hermione informed him as she focused on her lamb to avoid staring at Snape and his obvious delight with his meal. Who knew the man was capable of relishing chicken tikka masala? Severus Snape was full of surprises. "Perhaps you could convince Hogwarts' house-elves to broaden the meal selections? They managed pelmeni and bouillabaisse for Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. A curry or two should be a doodle."
"Ah, but that was only because Durmstrang and Beauxbatons brought house-elves along with them. Hogwarts house-elves are extremely resistant to change. It wasn't until Phineas Nigellus Black threatened the lot of them with clothes that they abandoned the traditional Scottish dishes for more English fare."
"What?" Hermione exclaimed with mock surprise. "You mean Headmaster Black wasn't a fan of rumbledethumps?"
"No, amazingly enough. Nor was he a fan of haggis with neeps and tatties. Unfortunately for Minerva McGonagall, the man was so successful at frightening the house-elves out of boiling one up that she has to get her fix at the Three Broomsticks." Severus raised a finger and shook it. "A word of caution. If you are ever in a position to prevent Minerva McGonagall from enjoying Madam Rosmerta's first Sunday of the month dinner special, just … don't. The results are not pretty. I assure you." A crankier witch was rarely seen.
Hermione chuckled. From the pained look on the man's face, he much regretted the outcome. "I'll keep that in mind." She thought for a moment about what he said of the house-elves. "You know, you might redeem yourself with Professor McGonagall by nicely asking the house-elves to make one up occasionally as a special treat for her." The house-elves obviously had no issue with the turnips and potatoes. Those had been fairly staple dishes during her time at Hogwarts. If it was only a matter of the haggis, she thought it might be possible if the elves were approached the right way. "Adding haggis now and then for someone who enjoys it, especially a long time resident of the castle like Professor McGonagall, would probably make them happy. A third Sunday of the month Hogwarts dinner special, perhaps?"
"You do realize that she sits beside me at table?" He made a face as if disgusted by the idea, although he was actually considering it. Minerva had earned such consideration. It would cost him nothing to try.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little sheep's pluck, Headmaster?" she teased.
"Dining with a bit of pluck beside me is obviously not an issue ... Hermione."
If anyone had told her a month ago she'd soon have a jolly time sitting in a curry shop teasing and being teased as she ate lunch with Severus Snape, she'd have sent them round to St. Mungo's for a Confundus check. Surprisingly, lunching with Snape felt as natural as lunching with Harry.
"Please, you are here at my invitation," Severus insisted on paying for her meal.
"If that's the case, I owe for the lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. Rose invited you, remember?"
"Ah, but a child cannot be held financially responsible. I accepted her plea for my presence before you had the opportunity to turn me away."
"I wasn't going to-" Hermione caught that hint of dimple on his cheek as his lips twitched. "Oh, you're teasing me again. I was surprised you agreed to Rose's invitation. That doesn't mean you weren't welcome, Severus." If he was going to take the mickey and use her first name, she was going to do the same.
"I will see you back to Gringotts before I head to the Ministry." Severus had enjoyed his food and the company to such an extent that he'd failed to ask even one of the many questions he had in mind when he'd issued his invitation to lunch.
"That won't be necessary. I have some business away this afternoon myself." He didn't need to go out of his way for her. "Thank you for lunch, Severus."
"You are most welcome, Hermione." He gave her a small bow. "Please convey my regards to Miss Parkinson the next time you see her."
"Tomorrow then. I've taken leave of my senses and offered to take Rose and her dorm mates to the London Zoo." Honestly, what had she been thinking? Even using the Knight Bus instead of walking the four girls through Muggle London to the Tube station, it was going to be a long day. She hadn't had the heart not to extend the invitation to the others when Rose told her none of them had ever been to the zoo before. Hermione planned to speak to Fleur Weasley who ran the Children's Wish Foundation about arranging a trip for the entire orphanage, but in the meantime she'd see to it that at least four little girls had the opportunity to flit about and gape at the animals.
"Haven't lost your taste for suicide missions, I see," Severus said with a smirk. "Shall I be required to mount a rescue?"
Hermione laughed. "Not if you'd care to save me from the start."
"Hmm. Skive off supervising a herd of hormonal teenagers as they run amok about Hogsmeade for the joy of supervising a small pack of jabbering girls as they run amok in London…" He stroked his goatee and pretended to consider. "The zoo is fenced in, is it not? There is little chance of escape?"
"Yes, the animals are all contained," she laughed. "What do you think? Muggles let the animals run wild amongst the guests?"
"I wasn't worried about the animals, Hermione. I was thinking of escaping children," he replied quirking up his lips.
Hermione laughed. "No chance of the girls escaping either as long as they're being minded." She wondered if he was really considering joining her. "I was only teasing about needing rescue." He stilled slightly and she hastened to add, "But you're more than welcome to join us. I enjoy talking to you." She blushed slightly as soon as she said it. "I'm sure I'll manage if you don't want to come, or if you have to see to Hogsmeade, or even if-" She was cut off by Severus' finger against her lips.
Severus removed his finger before he did the ridiculous and stroked her lips. "You were babbling. My presence is not actually required in Hogsmeade. What time tomorrow?"
"Half ten. At the entrance." Her lips tingled. "Muggle attire," she reminded him.
"Until tomorrow then." Severus Disapparated leaving behind a curiously tingling Hermione.
"Miss Burke, Miss Rackharrow, move back and allow Miss Worple and Miss Parkinson an opportunity to view the creature up front." Severus told the girls before turning his attention back to his conversation with Hermione. "I visited the zoo at Belle Vue once in Gorton with my mam while my dad was having a buzz at the speedway."
"Your Manc is showing, Severus," Hermione chuckled. Heavens, he was fun. She wasn't sure why he'd taken such an interest in her company lately, but she was enjoying his conversation and attention. It was a far cry from the usual sort of wizard who was only interested her as a war heroine or Harry Potter's friend. "I heard that Belle Vue was quite grand in its day."
"It was indeed. It was a grand outing for us." The girls finished their gaping and moved on to the next exhibit. Severus and Hermione followed along. He stuffed his hand into the pocket of his trousers when he felt the urge to place it on the small of her back. While he was fairly certain she enjoyed their more adult acquaintance, Severus wasn't sure she'd welcome more.
"I was raised near here. Trips to the zoo and the museums were common before I started Hogwarts." Hermione didn't come from money, but having two professional, working parents with their own thriving dental practice, there had always been enough for a weekend's entertainment plus Christmas and summer holidays when she'd been young.
"Yes, I can see you at their age," he inclined his head toward the girls who were cooing over another fine specimen of fauna, "tramping through the Victoria and Albert with your nose in the guidebook, spewing out facts, which your parents no doubt encouraged."
"The V&A was founded in 1852. Its one hundred and forty-five galleries span five thousand years of art," she lectured in her most pedantic tones for his amusement.
"Your swot is showing, Hermione," Severus teased. "I doubt you just made that up. Do you still memorize everything?"
"My mother always insisted that the best way to solidify a fact in your head was to read it and then recite it aloud," she explained.
"As I suspected. It was the parents to blame," he chuckled. "I quite despaired of ever getting a non-textbook answer out of you, you know."
"No more than I despaired of ever receiving your approval. Was I so much of a horror to teach?" Hermione had thought she was long past the point where it mattered. Unfortunately, the tightness in her chest told her otherwise.
"Yes and no," he told her truthfully. "Had anyone asked me back then, it would have been an unequivocal yes, although not for the reasons you probably think. I say no now, because I have come to realize you likely have an eidetic memory. I don't think you consciously meant to parrot the textbooks. I also consider myself partly responsible for shutting down your more creative side where my classes were concerned." Severus sighed. "I … apologize for that." Her early essays had been full of questions and he had harshly discouraged her from asking more. "I was not the most encouraging of instructors."
"Oh. Well." Hermione swallowed thickly as they followed the girls on to the next exhibit. "I accept your apology but it wasn't really necessary. I learned a lot from you. I learned even more from having to find things out on my own." Having to research the answers to her potions questions, so as not to bother her professor, had turned Hermione's love of reading and learning into a love of research. That love had only ever helped her, and it had especially helped Harry.
"There is something I would very much like to know, if you would be willing to tell me," Severus asked once the girls were occupied watching the meerkats. "Was my … discouragement the reason you chose not to pursue an apprenticeship after leaving Hogwarts?"
"What? No. Absolutely not," she hastened to assure him.
"I understand both Professors Vector and Flitwick had encouraged you to take one up." Despite her quick assurance, he hated to think that he was the reason she'd settled for working at Gringotts when she could be on her way to a mastery and advancing magic.
"Severus, I'm doing exactly what I've always wanted to do."
"Yes, because you've always fancied banking," he scoffed. He wasn't so much of a fool to believe that.
"No, silly." She reached for his hand and dragged him along behind the girls who were talking a mile a minute as they moved excitedly on to the Rainforest Outlook. "Look, I don't broadcast what I do because if word got round it would make my job harder, but I'm not contractually obligated to keep my work for the goblins secret. If you promise not to spread it about Hogwarts - you know how much some of the staff loves to gossip - I'll tell you."
"If you require a wand oath-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Severus. Your word is enough for me." The man didn't need more oaths or vows forced upon him. "I only want it kept quiet."
He looked at her for a long moment. There were very few people in his life who had trusted him without demanding something more binding than his word to back it up. It pleased him to find Hermione Granger was one. As she had yet to relinquish her hold on him, Severus took the opportunity to squeeze her hand "Very well, you have my word that your desire shall hence forth be my own, Hermione."
Explanations had to wait while they took in the outlook. There were far too many Muggles about to speak of anything to do with magic and the girls were clamoring to be told about the tamarins and other creatures in any case. Hermione encouraged them to read for themselves.
"What's this word, Miss Hermione?"
"Try sounding it out," Hermione suggested.
Rose looked confused. "How do I do that?"
Severus and Hermione exchanged a look of their own before the two of them began taking it in turns to help the girls read the signs.
"I know this one! It's 'claws'! That's right, isn't it?" Louisa looked at them for approval.
"It is, indeed." Severus gave Rose's friend a nod.
He was showing a great deal of patience, which Hermione appreciated as much as the girls. His manner was helping her remain calm for the girls' sake despite the sick feeling growing in her stomach as the children struggled over all but the simplest words.
"That was well done," Hermione added. "In fact, you're all doing very well trying to sound the words out now. Madam Hollycomb will be very proud of you all."
"Will you tell her?" "Can -May I go to visit with you?" "Do you know if she likes our letters?" "Tell her we miss her."
The girls all spoke over each other in a jumble that Hermione struggled to sort out. "Slow down, please, and only one at a time. Are you saying Madam Hollycomb is no longer with you?" Four head bobbed up and down in unison. Well that explained one thing. The two times they had met, Hermione had been impressed with Harriet Hollycomb. She couldn't imagine her failing to teach all her students to read. "Who is your new teacher then?" Hermione planned to have a word come Monday with both the teacher and orphanage director.
"We don't got no-" Rose quickly whispered a correction to her friend who nodded and started again. "We don't have a new teacher."
"Why on earth not?" Hermione demanded harshly. "I'm sorry, girls. It's not your fault," she hastened to assure them, softening her voice. "I'm wondering why Madam Emiliani hasn't hired a new teacher for you yet." Even a temporary one would better than none at all. "I'm sure Madam Hollycomb had a good reason for leaving."
"Madam didn't want to leave us!" "She loved us. She said!" "Madam didn't want bucket guts." "She wished hard to stay!"
Hermione looked at Rose. "Bucket guts?"
The girls all nodded. "Madam had to leave because of bucket guts." Rose looked up at Hermione with hopeful eyes. "Do you think she'll come back when she's well?"
"Bucket guts?" Mrs. Westerly questioned. "What on earth-Oh! The poor lambs misunderstood." The housekeeper opened a door off the entry. "We'll use the director's office. I don't reckon she'd mind if I explained. There isn't anything stopping me from speaking out, not that there's anyone to listen to an old woman's complaints. Poor Madam Emiliani is stuck between a dragon and a manticore, the dear."
The housekeeper led them over to a small sitting area that Severus thought was likely designed for meeting with couples who had come to inquire about adoption. Severus guided Hermione to the settee and took a place beside her, leaving Mrs. Westerly the chair.
"It might do a bit of good if a pair of war heroes were to speak for the lambs. Merlin knows the Ministry doesn't listen to the director."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Westerly. I'm a little confused."
"Let's see if I can explain. Thing are in such a state, dear, such a state. A year or so ago, the Ministry slashed our budget to the bone. Budget cuts, you see. Not 'bucket guts', although that would explain why the lambs keep asking if I know whether or not Madam Hollycomb is well. Poor dears. Imagine spending the last year thinking their teacher was ill." Mrs. Westerly shook her had sadly. "The director didn't want to let her go. She considered Harriet Hollycomb a prize and I quite agree. The children all loved her, even the most unruly ones, and she adored them all equally. Would have known her for a Hufflepuff even if Harriet had never said a word about her own schooling."
"You are saying that the Ministry cut the funds for a teacher?" Severus asked, trying to get the chatty witch back on track or they'd be here until dinner.
The witch nodded. "Madam Emiliani couldn't afford to keep on a teacher, a maintenance man, and a housekeeper. The staff sat down and agreed that, if we had to, we could make do well enough with a director, nurse and housekeeper. It weren't much of a choice, not really. Couldn't very well stop feeding and clothing the children, could we? I'm an able witch what knows how to use her wand to stretch what food we have, but Merlin himself couldn't conjure it out of thin air. Thomas and Harriet wanted to stay on but they both had families that needed them to keep roofs over their heads and put food on their own tables. They needed to find work that could pay. Greta, their nurse, is a dear with seeing that the children are well looked after and healthy, but she isn't all that at teaching. Between us, we decided she needed to be kept on because she lives in and the lambs need someone here all the time."
"They may be fed and sheltered but they're functionally illiterate!" Hermione railed the moment the door of the orphanage closed behind them.
"They are seven, Hermione. You should expect them to be capable of reading Cicely Mary Barker, not Shakespeare or Dickens."
"Flower Fairies, Severus?"
"Hermione, I am only saying that most seven-year-olds are incapable of reading The V&A Guidebook. They are not illiterate for their age. They might become so if their situation does not improve, but do not make it worse than it is. Those girls certainly did not read well, however, all is not lost."
"How could I have not noticed Rose could barely read? What sort of mentor does that make me?" Hermione started berating herself. The housekeeper, Mrs. Westerly, had been more than willing to rail against the budget cuts that forced such hard choices between food and schooling, but the woman hadn't had much information on why last year the funds had been suddenly cut.
"Rose is a bright girl. Clever enough that it isn't obvious there is anything wrong. Do not blame yourself for failing to note a detail like that in someone you do not see constantly." She shot him a look and opened her mouth to retort but he managed to cut her off before she launched into more self-recrimination. "You will do the children far more good if you focus on what you can do to help instead." Severus offered his arm. "If you will join me for dinner, we can discuss what we will need to cover during our appointment with the orphanage director."
"We? You're planning on coming as well?" Hermione had been grateful that he'd helped her get the girls back to the orphanage and stayed while she talked to Mrs. Westerly, but she hadn't expected more.
Severus scowled at her. "Why are you surprised? All of the children housed here will be bound for Hogwarts at some point in the future. I would prefer not to have to introduce remedial reading, writing, and basic maths to the first year curriculum in order to catch them all up to their peers." Did she think he did not care about the children? He may never have wanted children of his own but he had spent most of his life caring for the children of others.
"I'm sorry, Severus." Hermione turned to face him, immediately contrite. "I wasn't thinking beyond the personal connection I have with Rose. When you put it that way, this is far more your business than it is mine. Not that I have any intention of letting this go until I have some answers and the children have a teacher again."
"I would be astonished if you did do. As I have yet to witness anyone capable of preventing you from a headlong charge into battle once you have a cause to champion," Severus twitched his lips - something he'd noted often got him a bright smile from her in return - and teased, "I shall bow to the inevitable color-coded battle plans."
"Careful, you, or I'll have you living out of a tent and foraging mushrooms for our supper until we see this through."
Continue to Chapter Three