A Suitable Arrangement

Two: Return To Hogwarts

Hermione

When was the last time I had seen the castle of Hogwarts? Five years ago, and I had been much different. I had rejected Ron Weasley's offer to be my husband because the grief of losing Severus Snape was too much to bear. Seeing the wizard I had always loved ever since I was sixteen, brought low by an insane despot and his pet anaconda snake, made me unreceptive to any offer of love for a very long time.

I poured myself into my studies at Luteins Potions and Apothecary Academy full force, and a year ago became a licensed Potions Mistress in my own right. In school, Transfiguration and Charms were my best classes, but after Severus died, I took it upon myself to continue his legacy of teaching Potions at Hogwarts.

I decided to emulate his way of dressing as well by copying the era of his frock coat by wearing black witch gowns where I wore no bras but corsets that were tailored to only fit me. My hair I wore as updos or severe buns when I worked, but the ends of the sleeves of my gowns covered half of my hands as his did, a small detail I have always loved on his clothing. His long, almost spidery fingers would poke out of them, and I always pictured him caressing me with those hands. But no, he died in the boathouse during the Battle of Hogwarts, and that was all there was to it.

💍----

The steam from the Hogwarts Express blew my skirts and slight bustle every which way around my legs as it pulled up. I sipped my frozen frappuchino and noticed Ginny and Blaise Zambini kissing.

She recognized me first, and ran to me. "Hermione?! Girl, is that you??" She exclaimed. "Oh my goodness! You look very...um, dark and--"

"Snape--like," Blaise teased lightly, kissing the top of Ginny's head. "I heard you were taking over for him this year. You don't think it's weird to have to sleep in his lair, though? I was a Slytherin and that's kinda weird to me, girl."

I smiled slightly. I have never truly laughed since before the war, but more and more I have learned to shield my emotions in my mind. "Is it strange? I do not believe so, Blaise. I am merely going to be teaching Potions. Besides, it is only a room, after all."

Blaise swallowed hard past his Adam's apple as we stared each other down. He looked away first. "Yeah, um, cool, I guess. Gin, you think we have time for a coffee first? I'm really ready to get this show on the road."

Ginny checked her watch. "No, we don't have time, babe. But you go on ahead."

Blaise left and Ginny linked her arm through mine. "So, I heard that we're going to have to do that marriage law draft. How do you feel about that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly do not care. I suppose that I will have to give up my virginity at some point in time, it might as well be now."

We boarded the train and her eyes went wide with shock. "You mean...never?? Like, even with another witch?"

"No, never. My parents taught me to abstain until marriage," I said truthfully.

"Wow. Do you have a preference?" She asked curiously.

"No, not really. I have to go sit with the other teachers," I replied, fighting back the urge to blush and become flustered. "I'll see you later, I suppose."

Ginny hugged me, and I hugged her back, but it felt odd, and I wanted to cringe from the tactile contact. I went to the teacher's compartment, and I found a space alone. The landscape as the train went through, was sparse and barren. The imagery that came to my mind was how London looked after the Blitz: A barren wasteland. I knew that it would eventually recover, but in the mean time, the landscape, and even the wizarding world itself was just so depressing to look at these days.

I saw Minerva McGonagall in her gray and black animagus cat form come in, and jump up on the seat beside me. I gave her a few soothing pats on the head, and took comfort from her feline presence. I realized then that I missed Crookshanks. As ugly as he was, he was an awesome friend, and cat. But he died of old age, and I had his ashes in my flat on my mantle with his picture in a gold frame beside it.

She then transformed, and that was when I broke down into tears. "Oh, Miss. Granger whatever is the matter?" She asked, hugging me like a child that had just skinned their knee playing outside.

"It's going to be so hard going back after the battle," I said half-truthfully. "Harry Potter and so many others are dead. I thought five years would be enough time, but--"

"It can never be enough," Minerva finished for me. "Yes, I know. I felt the same when I lost Albus. I...I loved him, you know," Her voice cracked slightly on the word 'loved.'

"Oh, Profess...Minerva, I'm so sorry," I said softly. "I know what that's like to love someone and never having them love you in return. Did you two...you know, ever um..?"

McGonagall laughed, wiping at her eyes with her handkerchief. "Once, when we were both very drunk. But we were both young, and I confessed once that I loved him, but he um...what do they call poofs in your slang, Hermione?"

"Gay?" I supplied.

"Yes, well, it simply meant 'happy,' in my day," McGonagall huffed lightly. "Anyways, he felt guilty about that one night, and said that he had been thinking about his boyhood friend at the time. He said that he genuinely admired and respected me, but he felt bad about not being able to return my love, because he preferred wizards."

"Grindlewald was handsome, I could see the appeal," I shrugged. "Even with the mismatched eyes. Girls in my day call that 'a waste.'"

"And who was your wizard?"

"He..." I blushed and wiped at my tears delicately with my own handkerchief. "It doesn't matter now, he's dead. He died during the Battle of Hogwarts at Voldemort's hands. I have loved him for years, but it was unrequited."

The older witch patted my gloved hand. "I'm so sorry to hear that, dear. Whoever he was, he must have been very brave to stand against Voldemort like he did."

I shrugged. "Yes, he was. But enough about my non existant love life. I'm going to be getting a new husband any way, so who cares if I lost my heart to a wizard that's no longer alive."

McGonagall sighed sadly. "Disgraceful law, forcing witches to marry wizards they don't even know, it's barbaric. Thank Merlin, I'm ineligible because of my age. I pray you get paired with a wizard that will bring you happiness, if anyone is deserving of love, it's you, Hermione. Well, I have to go make my rounds. Cheer up, dear, you will be returning home soon, after all."

She left me with that thought, and I started to work on my lesson plans to occupy my mind from sheer boredom. When the Hogwarts Express finally stopped in Hogsmeade Station, I decided to ride in one of the thestral drawn carriages alone. I sat at the long teacher's table at the far left end, and as I saw the other teachers begin to sit down, in walked a veritable dark ghost, for it was none other than Severus Snape...