Hermione sat on the sofa, various photo albums open and spread out around her. Some she hadn't looked at in years and had forgotten about as a result. She and her parents had done an exceptional job of tracking Mia's life from the moment she'd arrived in Australia.
She heard movement on the stairs, knew by the sound of the footfalls that it wasn't Harry.
It wasn't Mia either.
How hadn't she noticed that until now? For two days! What kind of mother was she?!
She ensured the fire was okay for a little longer. She'd been letting it go out in preparation of going to bed. She sensed that wouldn't happen immediately now.
"Are you okay, Mom?"
"I am," she said.
She waved her hand and the photo albums closed and moved themselves to the table. Hermione patted the spot on the sofa next to her. Eden. It had to be Eden, didn't it? And not some cruel joke?
Eden moved to the spot, resting her head against Hermione's shoulder. Hermione ran her fingers through her hair as she'd done thousands of times before. She leaned in, kissing the top of her head, knowing she had to do this.
She didn't want to. She wanted to pretend Harry hadn't said anything and get to know this girl better. Even if she was pretending to be her sister, but that wasn't right. She couldn't put it off. Now was the perfect time. She assumed it'd be in the morning, over breakfast, they'd talk.
"How did you and Mia even meet? I presume anyway that she's with your father while you're here? I mean, I know someone who was locked away in a trunk for months, but you're not evil so I presume you didn't do that."
She figured out that much. How they'd met or accomplished this switch. That was where she was getting tripped up.
"Yes, she's with Dad. Are you mad?" Her daughter's voice sounded … maybe not scared, but definitely not certain her mom wasn't mad. She didn't know this daughter at all to say for sure, but that was the sense she got anyway.
"Of course I'm not mad." She kissed the top of her head, resting her cheek against it.
"What did I do?"
"Actually, it wasn't me. It was Harry. He's an auror, as you know, so a little used to being more observant than I am. Cooper's reaction. Your looking at pictures," she said, gesturing to the photo albums that were now on the coffee table.
"We both go to Ilvermorny."
"You and your father live in America?"
"No. Well, I guess technically, that's a lie. We do live in North America, but Canada, since I was nine."
"Oh," she said.
"Dad's been going to various magical cities and helping them get their labs more current and smoother running. We spent nearly fifteen months in Liechtenstein because until Dad, they had to outsource anything to Switzerland, Germany, or Austria. And their things weren't priorities."
"Of course he has," Hermione said. It sounded exactly like something Severus would both excel at, yet hate because he'd be dealing with dunderheads. "How many times does he get home complaining about dunderheads?"
"A lot," Eden said with a soft laugh.
She reached around Eden, hugging her as tight as the way they were sitting allowed.
"I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed of hugging you, Eden."
"Why?"
Hermione knew what Eden was asking. She wasn't asking about why Hermione dreamt of hugging her.
"I think at the time. I assume you two did your research before coming here. Well, can you imagine being forced to have a child? I think your father and I are rather objective people. We don't think with our hearts. So, to enter into the agreement we did," she shrugged. "He agreed to let me raise you. When it was just one of you, I mean. Then there were two of you, and it seemed ideal. Again, logical people. Two babies, two of us."
Eden sat up then, reaching for her necklace.
"Mia says Dad still wears his."
"Does he?" Hermione asked, not knowing how to feel about that. "Well, we did agree to stay married until one of us found someone else we wished to marry."
"But you hide your rings from us?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know about your father, but I didn't want Mia asking me questions. I wasn't going to lie or fill her head with bad things. I am still legally married."
"Do you love him?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in nearly twelve years."
"Did you?"
Of course she had to ask that question. She couldn't blame her. She'd ask the same question if she was in her shoes.
"Yes, very much. I don't know how two people could go through the effort of making you two and not."
"Why did you leave then?"
Maybe she should have waited until the morning. She was still so raw from Harry telling her he thought this girl was not Mia but Eden.
"It's what we agreed to."
"Mia or I didn't do anything wrong?"
"No, sweetie, you didn't. You were born. When you were able to go home, your father took you and I took Mia. I left from Harry's house within a week, once Kingsley Shackelbolt signed our paperwork. I went by Granger. I didn't want to see you. I mean, I did, very much, but I was afraid if I did. If I ran into him with you or whatever that I'd beg him to let me stay. And that wasn't going to work."
"Oh, but, Mom, he still wears his ring."
"Because we are still legally married."
"You don't wear yours on your finger."
"No, I haven't since I left."
"He does, though."
"Eden," she said. It was very interesting that he did still wear his. What did that mean? It didn't really matter, though. He had done nothing to stop her from leaving!
And now the hard part. The part that made her want to cry harder than realizing this was the daughter she hadn't seen since leaving St. Mungos. She hugged her real tight for a second before loosening her hold on her, kissing the top of her head again.
"I have to bring you back to him, you know."
"No! Mom! I just got here."
"I know, but I can't keep you here, knowing. That wouldn't be right."
"Separating us was?"
"Again, logic, Eden. We weren't thinking with our hearts. It made sense."
As much sense as separating twins to make things easier for the parents could make to anyone. It had made sense at the time they'd discussed it when they found out it wasn't just an Eden or a Mia but both an Eden and a Mia. They were thinking of going back to their lives. The decree. They weren't thinking of the girls.
"I'm not ready to go back. I don't want Mia mad at me that her time with Dad got cut short."
"Mm," Hermione said. That was logical, and she was glad to see her daughter care about her sister's feelings on the subject.
"I can't believe you've been less than 800 miles from us for two years."
"Me neither." That was incredibly odd. Especially if Severus had spent the last ten or eleven years traveling extensively.
"For once I'm glad he works with dunderheads," Eden said.
Hermione wished she could sit and talk with and hug her daughter. She couldn't do that, though. It wasn't right. Waiting until the next day would really be pushing it, which was what she would have done if Eden hadn't come downstairs tonight.
"Harry's going to come with us. Okay?"
"We're going now?"
"I have to, Eden. If the situation was reversed. If he knew first, and kept Mia for hours …"
"I get it," she said with a huff. She returned her head against Hermione's shoulder. Hermione couldn't say she was upset at that. "Is Harry my godfather, too?"
Hermione smiled a bit at that. "He is. Our arrangement was that if something happened to one of us, you or Mia would go to the other parent. If something happened to both of us, Harry would take you both in."
"Oh," she said.
Hermione wondered if that made the girl feel better or worse. She couldn't say.
"Why didn't he have to have a baby?"
"Good question, and one I've asked myself more than once over the past thirteen years. The official reason is because he had a horcrux in his body for nearly eighteen years. No one could say for certain that a child would be unharmed."
"And Britain's magical world wanted healthy babies."
"Yes, well," Hermione said, a little sadly.
Her daughter wasn't wrong. Harry being the product of a pureblood and a muggleborn. Well, there was a risk of birth defects and such that if he'd been pureblood wouldn't have been a factor.
Officially.
As she'd thought, more than once over the years, it was to spare him having to choose who to have a child with over the numerous offers he would have received if he'd been eligible for the decree. As far as she knew, he was the only person exempt. Muggleborns, like her, were subject to it.
Silence as both were likely thinking about that. Now, had the decree continued longer than it did, maybe he wouldn't have been exempt after a while. Hermione would never know.
She sat up then, getting up from the sofa. "I'll go pack my things."
"Eden," Hermione said. "This doesn't mean I'll never see you again."
"I hope not," she said, sounding as if she might have thought that was exactly what it meant. Honestly, in twelve years, she never really thought of what she'd do if she saw Eden. The idea of running across her just wasn't real to her. Especially with how Severus felt about America. Why he felt it, she never had figured out.
"I promise you that your father and I will figure something out so that doesn't happen, for you or Mia."
"Thank you," she said.
Hermione stood then, walking to her daughter who was by the stairs now. She hugged her, a real hug. Honestly, she never wanted to let her go. She didn't want to bring her back to Severus, but she had to. If the situation was reversed and he kept Mia, she'd be furious!
"Did you have fun at least?"
"I did," she said and Hermione's heart broke worse than it had the day nearly twelve years ago she'd left this girl with Severus. Not because she thought Severus would mistreat her, no. That never once entered her mind. Contrary to what everyone (except Harry) thought, he had been nothing but kind to her. From the moment she set foot on his doorstep. He could have told her not to come back. There could have been a witch not Hermione Granger he might have contemplated wanting to enter into an arrangement with.
So, no, her father had nothing to do with this … sadness.
This girl was a part of her, down to her dislike of flying as a mode of transportation she'd willingly choose. She really hadn't, until she'd walked away from her, realized it would bother her so deeply. At the time, in St. Mungos, she'd been Eden and her other daughter was Mia. The idea of … missing out on something (for them or for their parents) truly hadn't entered her mind. They weren't their own individual person yet. She hadn't been a mother yet to know, and hers was miles away.
"I'm so glad. I'll get Harry while you pack."
"Thank you for not yelling at me."
"Oh, Eden, sweetie, I'd never yell at you." She drew away a bit, sliding her hands to Eden's cheeks. "I love you. I know you don't believe that, but I never once over the past twelve years believed you were being mistreated or lacking in care and guidance. Or education."
"He's a good father."
"I knew that he would be. The math told me he would."
Eden snorted softly at that.
"Oh, Eden, honey, remind me some other time, when you're older, to show you the options that might have been available to me if I hadn't taken matters into my own hands. And it wasn't about physical attraction, though, that was there with your father."
"Really?" Eden asked.
"Really. I found him attractive in ways I suppose most witches at nineteen wouldn't think of. His mind. His abilities. His strength, and I don't just mean physical strength either. I still have the equations I ran before approaching him packed away in a box. When you're older."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"I won't get to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa."
"You'll see them again soon, Eden, and I will tell them you wanted to. They'll understand, and tell me that I did the right thing, even if they'll wish they could have said goodbye to you properly. They may even send you an owl to tell you themselves."
Would she make her go home tonight if she hadn't come downstairs so Hermione could confirm what Harry suspected? Probably not. She believed Saskatoon was an hour behind them time-wise, so hopefully he wouldn't get too upset at their showing up this late.
Eden went to her - Mia's - room.
There was something she'd have to consider. She had four bedrooms. Harry used one when he was visiting. Mia had hers. Hermione had hers. The fourth bedroom was made up for guests. She didn't get many, but Luna and Neville visited once in a while. She hoped it would be getting used more than once in a while after this weekend. Harry's room could easily become the guest room and the guest room could be Eden's room. Assuming the girls would want to sleep separately when they were together.
Morgana. Both of her daughters under one roof! She never thought she'd even be entertaining the possibility it could happen.
Hermione stood in the doorway, shoulder settled against the doorframe. Eden knew she was there, but was packing. Allowing Hermione to observe her.
"Does your friend Leo know?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," she said.
"Mom is fine, Eden, you're not in trouble. I just wondered."
"Yes. We had to test how well we pulled off being one another on someone."
"Piece of advice, as someone who doesn't make friends easily."
"Yes?"
"Keep him. He didn't give anything away. I only met him for a few minutes on the platform in September, but he seemed no different to me than he had then."
"He helped us research, too. When we realized we were sisters, I mean. I arrived late, so we weren't at the sorting ceremony together. We likely would have realized then. So it took us a couple of months to cross paths."
"How did they?" she asked. Ilvermorny had a good student body, as Hogwarts had. There were students Hermione was sure she never saw from the other houses. So, the fact that it took them a month or two to encounter one another wasn't shocking.
"We got a detention."
"A detention?"
That surprised her. Mia had never gotten a detention in all of her schooling!
"Yes. Mr. Walker, Potions. Mia and I both turned in a near perfect vial of Antidote to Common Poisons. He thought we'd cheated on it together."
"Oh, well, I will…"
"We sorted it out. It's okay. Mia told him you'd taught her potions. I told him who Dad was. He wasn't familiar with him."
"Not familiar with Severus Snape?"
"I told him to research the Wizarding War. He hasn't been able to look me in the eye since."
Hermione chuckled. She imagined not! Good grief. Did the professor live under a rock? She could care less if anyone recognized her name, but their father's. Well. "Good girl."
"What's this about you getting detention?" Harry asked this from behind Hermione. She rested her head against his chest. She took a deep breath at the … familiarity of him.
"She and Mia each turned in near perfect vials of Antidote to Common Poisons. Evidently, their professor didn't know the name Severus Snape."
"Did he know Hermione Granger's name?"
"I don't know," Eden said, biting on her lower lip with a shrug.
"That's not important. I'm not a potions master. He is, and a rather famous one at that. I will be talking to Headmaster McGillan."
Eden paled at that, shaking her head. "Please, Mom, no, it's fine."
"No, but what sort of idiot is he hiring to teach my daughters potions who doesn't even know Severus' name? Or to imply his daughter would have to cheat, at anything, let alone potions!"
"Oh, there's my Hermione." Harry chuckled then, kissing her cheek. "She's mad, Eden. I'll calm her down."
"Thank you. Having the headmaster meet my father late was bad enough."
Harry brushed past Hermione, and into the room.
"So, it's nice to meet you officially, Eden Joan Snape."
"You, too, Harry James Potter." She offered him her hand.
"Oh, come on, you're my goddaughter. I'm your guardian. Not that I think that'll ever be a necessary thing, but that at least calls for a hug, I think."
Hermione turned away then, unable to stop the tears from falling.
Thank you, Harry.
Hermione knew this was something Eden was … concerned about. Well, she suspected thinking he wasn't her godfather, that she didn't have one, led to her question downstairs. That Mia had things like a godfather Eden did not. Honestly, Hermione had no idea what Eden knew about things like that. She'd never thought about those kinds of things when she was their age. Plenty of times she wondered what Eden was doing or where she was. Intricacies, though, like how she felt or what she knew about her mom hadn't really crossed her mind. For her part, Hermione hadn't told Mia much of anything about her father.
She left Eden and Harry to talk to go to her room and collect some things into her leather satchel with an undetectable extension charm on it. She wasn't counting on being gone for more than the night and, even then, only if Severus and Mia weren't at home, but just in case.
What was the weather like in Saskatoon in April anyway?
Merlin. What was she going to do? She was seeing Severus, her husband, for the first time in nearly twelve years. She reached for the clasp that held the chain around her neck.
"Don't," Harry said.
"What?"
"You were going to take it off. You haven't taken it off for thirteen years that I know of, other than to move it from your finger and put it on that chain."
He wasn't wrong. She'd felt naked not wearing it for weeks. It took her months to not seek it out around her ring finger with her thumb when she was studying or nervous.
"I don't want him to think…"
"That you think of yourself as still married? That you love him?"
"Harry."
"Just leave it. Okay. Trust the great auror Harry Potter on this."
She snorted, wiping her eyes and cheeks with the back of her hand.
"Okay. If things go pear shaped, it's your fault then?"
"Sure, I'll take the blame."
She laughed at the ridiculousness of this whole situation. Bringing one of her daughters back to her father to collect her other daughter. Really, what had they been thinking?
She gathered her satchel and noticed Harry already had his bag with him.
"Ready whenever you are."
"Do you know where we're going?" Harry knew why she wanted him to apparate them. She was emotional and anxious. She did not want to risk splinching her daughter or herself. He didn't even hesitate.
"I do. I have an idea. I can get all three of us there. There's a small magical area near Saskatoon. I presume that's why they put him up there. Eden showed me on a map where their house is. We may land in the lake, but she says it should still be solid enough yet."
Hermione smiled slightly at that. Ice fishing and such were things that were foreign to her until moving here. She knew, though, that Harry's apparition skills were better than that.
"Ready then, Kiddo," he said once Eden joined them in Hermione's bedroom.
"I am," she said. She sounded so sad, and Hermione really felt terrible that she was the reason for making that so. She would make it up to her. Somehow.
Morgana, she was not ready for this, and the look on Harry's face told her he knew that, too.
Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com