𝙻𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 II SS/HG ✔️

Drs Granger

Hermione's fist hesitated, just under the peephole.

Crookshanks purred in her other arm.

She took a deep breath. And knocked.

Severus kept his hands clasped behind his back. Footsteps approached.

A woman with short brown hair answered the door. Severus saw now where all the curls came from—who they came from, rather.

The white of this woman's teeth blinded him when she said, "Yes?"

"H-Hello," Hermione said. "This cat was meowing at your door and I didn't see a collar—is he yours?"

Crookshanks purred louder.

"No, he belongs to my—" The woman, who must be Dr Jean Granger, clutched her head and closed her eyes. "Sorry, what was I saying?"

Severus pointed his wand at her forehead. Based on what Hermione had described, he only had to lift the barrier the false memories created. He envisioned the process much like Legilimency. So that is where they agreed to start. "Legilimens."

Dr Granger's brown eyes widened. Severus navigated past any recent memory of Australia to her last memory in London. When he stood in their house, he looked around to find anything that might break Hermione's illusion. The Wilkins' stood up to pack—and waltzed straight past what seemed to be Hermione's bedroom.

Severus saw a lot of blue in that room through the cracked door, so Severus steered Dr Granger's mind towards anything in a blue room.

He found a tiny Hermione sitting on her bed, hands clasped, already wearing her Hogwarts uniform sans robe. 'Monica' walked in and was not surprised that the girl was up at the crack of dawn, rife with nervous energy.

Severus yanked himself out of her mind to hear Hermione chastising him.

"Severus!"

"We aren't going to get any further with your method," he muttered.

Dr Granger stumbled into the door, knocking it into the wall.

"Mum!" Crookshanks leapt from her arms as Hermione hurried to right her mother.

"What's going on?" someone demanded from the interior of the house.

Crookshanks bounded towards the man's voice.

"Crooksh—ah, sorry, who are you?" he asked the cat.

Dr Andrew Granger rounded the corner, trying to shoo the beast back towards the front door.

Severus used the spell again but did not say it aloud and was pleased to find his wordless magic worked.

Andrew's mind worked in a different pattern than Jean's. Snippets and passages from books and plays stuck out in between faces and smells. Letters. Envelopes. No doubt Hermione's name would have been printed on dozens of letters from Minerva—letters and owls. He followed that path until he got all the way to Andrew opening the door to talk to Minerva and Charity, both dressed as Muggles.

Then Andrew led them to the sitting room where a young Hermione sat reading a book probably half her weight.

Severus rubbed his bandaged neck, his heart pounding at the thrill of being able to see into their minds as easily as watching a film.

"I—I know you," Jean said, squinting at Hermione.

Hermione hefted Jean's arm over her shoulder to lead her towards a couch.

Severus shut the door with his heel before he followed.

"Wha—who're you?" Andrew asked, teeth grit with pain as the rest of his memories tried to break past Hermione's spell.