2,048Author's Notes:
Here's Chapter 162 for you!
For those of you who follow my Instagram, you might recall that I visited Tiverton a month ago (the hometown of Hyperion and my paternal family). Why, you might ask? Well, two days after my last chapter (in which I killed off Sarah Malfoy), my grandma (who I loosely based Sarah on) died (not by falling down the stairs, thankfully) but it did feel a little too coincidental and freaked me out. My trip to Tiverton for the funeral allowed me to reconnect with my paternal family and reacquaint myself with the town.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Love, DW
P.S. Enjoy x
Despite Hyperion assuring his family that he was fine and didn't need to be babysat around the clock, they took turns to stay with him at the house he had called home for the past three decades. Draco and Hermione took the first shift, staying in a spare bedroom while Hyperion pottered around the house, trying to find something to do to keep his mind busy.
Over that weekend, Sarah's sons visited their mother at the funeral home, where they said their goodbyes to the woman who had done her very best to raise them alone and then promptly returned to their own little corner of Britain. However, that was not before reminding Hyperion that he was to move his entire family out of their house after the funeral.
Draco returned to Hogwarts that Monday, not wanting his OWLs and NEWTs students to fall too far behind due to his absences. It was difficult settling back into his routine when he would've preferred to be in Tiverton, comforting his uncle. Thankfully, his students seemed to be aware that he was grieving the loss of a family member and didn't bring it up. Instead, he felt they were purposefully asking him academic questions to keep his mind off his grief, which was much appreciated.
On Friday morning, a week after Sarah's passing, Minerva requested all her professors to join her in the staff room after seventh period for an impromptu staff meeting. They all knew only one thing could cause Minerva to call a staff meeting on a Friday, and that would be their observation results.
At half past five, every professor finds their usual seats in the staff room while waiting for Minerva to arrive.
Professor Flitwick sips his tea and sighs, "Retirement seems all the more enticing."
"You wish you could afford retirement, Filius," Pansy jokes.
"Hush you, child." Filius winks at her.
Draco, sitting at the table behind all the armchairs, dips a biscuit into his cup of tea as Hermione enters the room.
"Are you ready for this?" She asks him.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he mutters. "But I am firm in the belief that some things are more important than impressing a man I have no respect for."
Hermione kisses the top of his head before making her own drink. While she's stirring in a spoonful of sugar, Minerva enters, drawing all their attention to her.
"I won't keep you too long. This morning, I received our overall grade and your observation grades from the Minister of Magic. I have taken the day to read through them and make my own notes on common themes. Before I hand them out, remember that I don't agree with the Minister's take on education, and from what I've read, I am pleased with the work you are all doing," Minerva pauses to glance around the room. "Once you've received your results, you may take them away. I do not expect you to open them here in front of everyone. If you wish to speak to me about your result, I'll gladly welcome you to my office any time on Monday."
Then, with a flick of her wand, parchment flies across the room to each professor.
"Before you all leave, I'd like to remind those of you who do not reside within the walls of Hogwarts that tomorrow we will begin our Christmas celebrations, and it would be lovely to have you all involved if you're able to attend," Minerva reminds them quickly as a few professors are already on their feet, ready to escape the staff room to read their results in peace.
Deciding to read their results at home, out of the watchful eyes of their colleagues, Hermione and Draco pack their belongings and floo to The Leaky Cauldron, where they're able to apparate to Hermione's parents' house to pick up Scorpius.
"How are you doing, Draco, dear?" Sarah asks, immediately pulling him into a hug as soon as he steps foot inside their kitchen.
"I'm good, thank you," he replies, hugging his mother-in-law tightly back.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. We're here for you," she offers, returning to where she's starting dinner for her family. "Do you want to stay for dinner? I can throw a few more chicken breasts in the pan. We're having stir fry."
"It's okay, Mum. We've actually got plans tonight," Hermione declines the offer. "We've just got our results back from our observations last week."
"And?" Chris asks, entering the room with Evelyn and Vivian giggling in each arm.
"We haven't opened them yet," Hermione admits. "I'm too nervous. We're waiting until we get home."
"Whatever he's written in there doesn't reflect back on you as a person or even a teacher. The observation was one lesson out of the hundreds you've taught, and he has his own personal agenda against you both. Don't forget that," her Dad reminds them as he places each twin in their highchair.
"You're expecting it to be bad?" Hermione asks.
"I'm expecting it to be an inaccurate depiction of you both."
"That's true," Draco mutters. "Our students appreciate us, and we put our heart and soul into our jobs. I don't care what the Minister has to say about us."
"Exactly, good on you, son." Chris pats him on the shoulder on his way over to the wok, where Sarah is frying up some vegetables for the stir fry and steals a piece of carrot.
"Oi, you'll burn yourself," Sarah warns lightly.
"Dada? Mama?" Scorpius calls upon entering the kitchen.
"Hi, baby." Hermione grins, crouching down to greet her son in a hug.
"Me go up?" Scorpius holds his arms up to be held.
"Mummy can't carry you right now, Scorpius," Hermione reminds him.
Scorpius huffs, staring at his mother's baby bump and mutters, "Baby."
"Mummy might hurt her back."
"O'tay." Scorpius turns in defeat to his father and holds his arms up.
"Come here, Scorpius." Draco lifts Scorpius into the air, catching him on his way back down, causing the toddler to giggle and bury his head against his father's shoulder. "Are you going to say goodbye to Nana and Grandpa?"
Scorpius immediately turns back around in his father's arms to wave at his grandparents. "Bye-bye."
"Bye, darling." Sarah kisses his cheek.
Chris ruffles his curls. "See you later, Scorpy."
"Dad!" Hermione sternly warns him.
"Sorry," her Dad apologises, but there's a slight upturn in his mouth as he attempts to hide his laughter.
"We better get going," Draco announces before Hermione gives her father the same lecture about Scorpius' name.
Back at home, Mitty is already preparing dinner for them, so Hermione and Draco settle in the living room with Scorpius, who's playing with his train set, to open their results.
"Do you want to do it one at a time or together?" Hermione asks, staring at the envelope in her lap.
"Together," Draco answers. "I'm sure you don't want me watching you as you read it through."
"Definitely not," Hermione mutters, turning the envelope over to find the Minister's seal. "Let's get it over with."
Draco opens his envelope with a sigh, pretending not to care about the grade or the summary. While he doesn't respect the Minister of Magic, he thoroughly loves being a professor. He doesn't think he can handle having that taken away from him right now. Sliding out the parchment, Draco's eyes immediately fall upon his grade and widen.
Professor: Mr Draco Malfoy
Date: 19/11/2001
Grade: Acceptable
Observer: Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt
Class: Seventh year, fourth period
Mr Malfoy was well-prepared for his class, having resources and the learning objectives for students to observe as they entered the classroom. Mr Malfoy has built a good relationship with his seventh-year potions students as they conversed with their professors in great detail about up-to-date literature. Mr Malfoy encouraged his students to form their own opinions on the necessity of this recent research without discussing his own opinions. However, Mr Malfoy did come across as rather braggadocious as he mentioned his superior equipment.
Mr Malfoy quickly gained his students' attention to begin his lesson, a new topic on Golpalott's Third Law. After giving a brief lecture on the law, Mr Malfoy allowed his students to conduct their research using Ministry-approved textbooks issued at the start of the academic year. Throughout the research, Mr Malfoy offered students the opportunity to share their findings. He fairly awarded house points to those who did. To ensure that teaching time was not wasted, Mr Malfoy required students to identify poisons and suggest relevant antidotes for the remainder of the lesson.
As Mr Malfoy began to end his lesson, he was interrupted by a student who wished to partake in idle gossip, which was allowed. Mr Malfoy joked with his students as he confirmed rumours about his time as a student. While he did turn it around in the end, the observer deemed this distraction inappropriate.
Upon reviewing Mr Malfoy's previous observation results, this observer can see that Mr Malfoy has taken many steps to improve his organisation and teaching methods. Mr Malfoy has shied away from drawing attention to students' mistakes, highlighting their achievements instead, which raises the students' morale and leads to a productive lesson.
In order to improve further, Mr Malfoy needs to develop his classroom management and ensure that his relationship with his students is clearly professional by not condoning idle gossip.
"I can't believe it," Draco mutters, a grin on his face.
"That bad?" Hermione asks, still staring at her own results.
"No, it's good. I passed," Draco explains in disbelief.
"What!" Hermione reaches out for the parchment in his hand and scans for his grade. "Acceptable!"
"Well, there's no need to sound so surprised." Draco frowns, trying to take his results back.
"I'm not," Hermione assures him. "I'm proud of you. I just- I did worse than last time. Apparently, I'm a dreadful professor." Hermione smiles, her lip wobbling as she attempts to hold her tears back.
"No! That's not true in the slightest," Draco embraces her. "Your students respect and love you."
"Do they? Or am I just too famous for them to doubt me?"
"Don't question yourself like that. We can ask to speak to Minerva tomorrow after the decoration event she's planning. She'll put your mind at ease. Remember what she said in the staff room? She isn't worried about any of us, including you."
"I'm worried about me, though," Hermione admits.
"Let me read it." Draco holds his hand out, allowing Hermione to decide whether or not she wants him to read her results.
Reluctantly, Hermione hands her parchment over, then promptly buries her head in his chest.
Professor: Ms Hermione Granger
Date: 19/11/2001
Grade: Dreadful
Observer: Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt
Class: Fifth year, seventh period
Ms Granger was well-prepared for her class, having set out her starter activities and written the learning objectives for her students to observe as they entered the classroom. Ms Granger greeted her students at the door, informing them of my presence. The observer can only assume Ms Granger has coerced or bribed her students to behave, which brings into question Ms Granger's behaviour management skills.
Ms Granger's starter activity aimed to pick up on common misunderstandings, which she took responsibility for, although in an overly sarcastic manner, ridiculing her students. Ms Granger then wasted additional teaching time by handing out their marked essays for her students to review instead of requesting they review their errors in their own time.
The main aim of Ms Granger's lesson was to teach The Vanishing Spell, a topic Ms Granger admitted to bringing forward in the curriculum due to its complexity and placing doubt upon Headmistress McGonagall's previous teaching methods. While explaining the theory behind The Vanishing Spell, Ms Granger referenced muggle knowledge and beliefs, which are not approved in the curriculum provided by the Ministry.
Once again, Ms Granger's teaching required a substantial amount of call and answer, which most students respected by raising their hands. However, students often disrupted the lesson by shouting out, including ridiculing another student, which Ms Granger did not discourage.
In the last quarter of the lesson, Ms Granger's students finally had the opportunity to practise the hand movements for The Vanishing Spell while Ms Granger checked their accuracy.
Upon reviewing Ms Granger's previous observation results, this observer cannot see where Ms Granger has attempted to take any steps to improve her teaching methods. While remaining organised for her students, Ms Granger wastes teaching time with pointless tasks that could be set as homework. Additionally, Ms Granger has moved away from encouraging students to privately research non-curriculum topics and instead has begun teaching these topics herself.
In order to improve, it is recommended that Ms Granger work closely with Headmistress McGonagall to ensure her future lesson plans are relevant and curriculum-based. As a result of this observation, Ms Granger's next observation will again be conducted by Minister Shacklebolt.
Softly crying against her husband's chest, Hermione begins to question her position as a professor at Hogwarts. It had been her dream for years to stay in the place she had called home and foster a love of learning in the students who came after her, but had she been naive in her thinking? In the back of her mind, she had been questioning her relationship with her students.
Back when she began her teaching apprenticeship, Hermione had worked hard to build a separate relationship with her students, many of whom she had walked the corridors with as a student herself. However, in doing so, she created a version of herself that was unrecognisable to the student and saviour, as written about in The Daily Prophet.
The fact that the seventh-year students had gone to Draco for help instead of her hurt. Still, Hermione realised now that while her students might be respectful and show an interest in her lessons, they saw her as a closed book, just a professor, not someone who could protect them. Despite remembering Draco's seventh year at Hogwarts, when he ruled the corridors under the orders of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, they saw Draco as an open book that they could trust with their worries.
"I'm sorry," she mutters.
"What are you sorry for?" He questions. "You have nothing to apologise for."
"Maybe my love of education and transfiguration isn't enough to make me a good professor," she thinks aloud. "I know how much the students enjoy your lessons. You're a breath of fresh air compared to Severus Snape. I can't help but feel jealous of the relationships you have built with them."
Draco swallows, his eyes flickering to his own parchment. "The Minister made reference to that in my results before also calling me braggadocious," he half-laughs, trying to lighten the mood.
"Nothing he wrote about me is a lie, but he's twisted the truth into something negative. I stand by my decision to teach students about muggle science. It assisted their understanding of a complex topic. I just didn't think the Minister would disprove it so much. Shacklebolt was all for integrating muggle knowledge into Hogwarts, but apparently, he wants to keep muggle education to Muggle Studies," Hermione sighs.
"Don't take his words to heart, Hermione. The Minister and his whole Department of Educational Standards will be removed soon enough. Then we can go back to doing what we love, teaching our students, our own way," Draco reminds her, wrapping his arms around her.
Hermione rests her head against his chest, trying not to let her doubts cloud her mind. She does love teaching, doesn't she?
On Saturday morning, Draco wakes up early to make breakfast for Hermione. He knows his wife struggles with not taking criticism too personally. In this case, it's easy to take the Minister's words as that since they're not exactly on the best terms. Hopefully, a morning of being around their colleagues and students will remind Hermione of why she wanted to be a professor in the first place and cheer her up.
While he intended to provide his wife with breakfast in bed, Hermione had awoken and come to find him in his absence. As he's scrambling eggs in a pan, he feels her arms wrap around his middle, hugging him tightly as she sighs deeply and rests her face between his shoulder blades.
"That smells amazing!" She comments.
"I found some smoked salmon in the fridge," he explains. "I hope Mitty wasn't planning on using it for anything special."
"We can get her more salmon if need be," Hermione chuckles. "What's the occasion?"
"I just fancied salmon and scrambled eggs." Draco shrugs.
"So you're not trying to cheer me up after my pitiful results yesterday?" She asks, trying to make light out of the situation.
"Are you feeling cheered up?"
"Hmm, not yet."
"Go sit down, and I'll plate up."
Hermione takes her seat at their kitchen table, giddily awaiting her breakfast. It's always been the small things Draco has done that make her fall for him a little more. In eighth year, even though she had defended him on the Hogwarts Express to her friends, she had no feelings of anything towards him. She had chosen not to hate anyone anymore, but she certainly didn't like him either. Despite being drunk, she does remember the moment she started liking him in a purely platonic way since she never would've thought this was where they'd end up. When Draco stood up for her at Ron's birthday party, simply because it was the right thing to do, the scales began tipping in Draco's favour. Even then, she never would have even considered Draco her friend, not even during their NEWTs potions exam, when she had misplaced her knife and he lent her his, risking his own grade selflessly. Hermione blushes as she remembers their first hug after the exam when she thanked him for his help.
"What's that face for?" Draco asks, placing their plates down.
"I was just remembering all the nice things you've ever done for me," she admits.
Draco laughs, "I hope they outweigh the bad things."
"Of course, massively," she assures him, squeezing his hand. "In particular, I was thinking about our NEWT's potions exam and how embarrassed I was after I hugged you."
"Yes, Blaise did tease me about that for a while," Draco admits, chuckling. "I wasn't much of a hugger back then."
"Please, I've seen you hug Blaise hundreds of times just in our eighth-years," she points out.
"When you're around Blaise, everyone is getting hugged, whether you like it or not," he jokes.
After breakfast, Draco washes up the dishes while Hermione wakes Scorpius up and dresses him for the full day ahead. As they walk downstairs, hand in hand, Hermione informs her son of their plans to go to Hogwarts to help decorate the castle.
"So'hie?" Scorpius asks, wondering if he'll get to see his cousin.
"Yes, we'll try to spend time with Sophie, but she might want to hang out with her friends too," Hermione says, preparing him for disappointment if it doesn't work out.
While Hermione understands Sophie's decision to keep their familial connection a secret, it's a difficult concept for a toddler, who might wonder why he's being ignored by someone he loves.
Once ready, Draco picks up his sleepy son, who is ready to floo to their room in the staff quarters. Almost immediately, they hear knocking at their door. Glancing at each other with suspicion, Hermione walks over and slowly opens the door.
"Finally, I've been knocking for fifteen minutes," Sophie admits as she bursts in.
"Why? Are you okay?" Hermione asks, accepting the hug from her cousin.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to see you properly before we go up to breakfast," she explains. "But mostly, I wanted to see Scorpius. I see you two all the time."
Scorpius wiggles out of Draco's arms, then runs over to Sophie.
"So'hie!" He cheers, giggling as Sophie bends to hug him and attempts to pick him up.
"Wow, he's a big boy," she comments.
"Me big boy," Scorpius agrees.
"He's moved into the toddler room at nursery with Evelyn and Vivian."
"Is that because you're too clever for the baby room?" Sophie asks Scorpius, kneeling before him.
"Yea, me clever," he agrees.
"I got you a present," Sophie admits, reaching into her jacket pocket.
"P'esent?"
"Yeah, I asked Alannis to pick me this up from Hogsmeade," Sophie explains to Hermione and Draco. "Now, close your eyes and hold your hands out."
Scorpius does as he is told, and Sophie places a small chocolate frog in his cupped hands.
"You can open your eyes."
Scorpius opens his eyes and immediately squeals, "F'oggie."
Sophie giggles, pleased with herself.
Scorpius looks back at his parents, questioning whether he can eat it now.
"Go ahead, son. You can have it now," Draco says.
Sophie helps Scorpius to remove the foil. Instantaneously, Scorpius shoves the whole frog into his mouth, giggling as it jumps around until he chewed it into a chocolatey mess.
Sophie laughs, looking over at Hermione and Draco. "You might want to clean his face."
Scorpius turns around with milk chocolate spread around his lips and in his teeth as he grins widely.
"Let's get you cleaned up," Draco chuckles, carefully taking his son's equally chocolatey hands and guiding him to the bathroom.
As soon as they're gone, Sophie stands up and faces Hermione. "Did you get your results yesterday?"
Hermione feels her face immediately fall.
"Oh, was it not good?"
"No, it was quite awful."
"What did you get?" Sophie asks, her eyes wide with worry.
"Dreadful," Hermione admits, avoiding her young cousin's eyes.
"What? That's crazy. You are one of the best professors here. We even said that in our interview with the Minister. We said how much we love you and Draco and Pansy. Even Mary said as much," Sophie tries to assure her.
"Thank you, Sophie." Hermione hugs her cousin. "It's hard. Everything the Minster wrote was true, but I don't know how much is wholly accurate and how much is stretched because of our history with the Minister."
"What did Draco get?" Sophie asks.
"He got acceptable, which makes me think the Minister put his hatred of us aside for the observations, and I truly am a dreadful professor," Hermione admits, then realises she's putting many of her problems on an eleven-year-old. "But it's okay. I'll be fine. The only way is up now," she half-laughs, breaking their hug.
As Draco returns with a clean Scorpius, Sophie checks her watch.
"I should probably head up to the Great Hall. Breakfast is due to start soon, and I've been gone half an hour by now," she admits.
"We'll see you up there. Bring your friends over if you want," Hermione suggests.
"I'll bring Elizabeth over," Sophie compromises, since she's the only friend who knows Draco and Hermione are her cousins.
After Sophie has sneaked out of their room, they wait a minute before making their own way up to the Great Hall, respecting Sophie's boundaries.
In the Great Hall, most professors sit drinking cups of tea or coffee as they mentally prepare themselves for working on a Saturday. Despite Minerva assuring them that it was an optional event, most agreed to attend for the students, who would miss their family at home around this time of year. The only professor who had declined to participate was Darius Cain, who quite bluntly explained he'd had enough of Hogwarts this week and needed to get away from the castle for the weekend, which was understandable given the week they'd had.
Draco and Hermione sit beside Neville, with Scorpius on Draco's lap. Since they hadn't the time to feed Scorpius after he had awoken, Hermione butters a slice of toast, then spoons some scrambled eggs on top for her son to eat, which he immediately digs into, with the help of Draco, who did not want soggy eggs or toast dropping onto his lap.
"So-" Neville leans forward so he can see Hermione. "How were your results?"
Hermione breathes in deeply. "Not great," she admits lightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Hermione," Neville says, leaning back in his chair, wishing he hadn't asked as it seems to be a sore subject.
"How about you, Neville?" Draco asks, hoping to take the attention off his wife.
"I did alright," Neville shrugs. "I got a passing grade, but nothing to tell Grandmother about."
"Are you pleased with your results?" Hermione asks her friend.
"Yes, I was pleased. I didn't do any worse than last time, nor did I do any better, but I'm happy with it," he explains.
"Then it doesn't matter what your grandmother thinks."
"I know," he sighs. "But I told her the observations were coming up, and now she will ask about my results."
"Why did you tell her in the first place?" Draco asks, amused.
"I don't know." Neville's eyes fall down to his half-drunk coffee. "I guess I'm still looking for her approval. She's not a fan of the whole professor thing."
"Neither was my mother, so I stopped telling her about it. I've mostly stopped telling her about most things. It's her own fault for not showing an interest in my life. Give it ago, she'll soon come begging for any information," Draco suggests, and from the look on Neville's face, he's seriously considering the suggestion.
From behind, a pair of arms wrap around Hermione, and a wet kiss is pressed to her cheek. Draco glances over and begins laughing. Hermione turns to find Pansy standing, laughing along with her friend.
"What was that for?" Hermione asks, wiping her cheek.
"Not only did I tell Ron that this was a mandatory event, but I also told him it would take us the whole day to decorate Hogwarts," she admits, sitting beside Hermione. "I haven't had a weekend to myself in years. Do you want to grab lunch after this?" She asks with a wide smile.
Hermione and Draco exchange a silent glance. While they didn't have anything planned for the rest of the day, Hermione had been hoping to spend some time moping about at home, feeling sorry for herself a bit longer. However, from the look in her husband's eyes, she knows he wants to keep her out of the house to stop her from moping, so reluctantly, she nods.
"We have nothing planned, so lunch sounds good," Draco agrees.
"Great." Pansy pours herself a cup of tea. "Should we invite Blaise and his fiance?" She raises a pointed eyebrow.
"What?" Neville leans over curiously. "Who's Blaise engaged to?"
"No one, Neville." Pansy rolls her eyes as he frowns at her. "It's just a joke. He has this roommate he's lived with for years, and they act like a married couple."
"Oh, Benjamin." Neville nods in understanding.
Before Pansy can question what he knows about Blaise and Benjamin, The Great Hall's door opens with the arrival of Headmistress McGonagall.
Minerva had spent Friday reading through all her professors' observation results and making notes on areas of improvement. While pleased with most of them, she had a few worries. Despite trusting her professors' capabilities, they needed the Minister on their side, or he would continue to be involved in the running of Hogwarts. It had been a long week, so Minerva wanted to give her professors the weekend to review and come to terms with their results and the opportunity to clear their minds and relax.
Decorating Hogwarts for Christmas seemed like the perfect end to a stressful week. Her professors could let their hair down and have a little fun with their students, instead of being viewed as just their educator at the front of their classroom.
Therefore, when Minerva enters the Great Hall and walks down the centre aisle, she is thoroughly pleased with the turnout. Glancing across the Professors' tables, she notices Hermione, Draco and Pansy laughing together, which leaves Minerva hopeful that they haven't let their results get to them, especially Hermione. However, as the younger woman catches her eye, Hermione's face falls, and she breaks eye contact, clearly embarrassed by something. Minerva mentally notes to find Hermione today to reassure her of her place at Hogwarts.
Taking to the podium, Minerva waits for the attention of her students and professors, which only takes a few seconds.
"Good morning, all," she begins. "I'm so pleased to have you all here today for our first of many Christmas celebrations. I'm sure the students would like to join me in thanking their professors for coming in on their day off to help, especially after the week we've all had." Minerva leads the students in a round of applause. "These observation weeks are stressful for not only our professors but also our students. I want to reassure you that the Ministry is not here to judge you as students. They are here to ensure that your professors and I provide a world-class education. I have complete faith in your professors' ability to do that."
Minerva turns to face her professors, nodding to ensure they know she is serious.
"Now, onto the fun of today. As breakfast has ended," as she begins, all the food and dishes on the tables disappear. "I will be splitting you up to decorate our home away from home. Then, at eleven o'clock, we will all come to decorate the Great Hall together. Now, please listen carefully to where you are being assigned, and once I have announced your area, please vacate quietly. Seventh-year students, not including the Prefects and Head boy and girl, you will be decorating the grounds with Professors Hagrid and Longbottom."
As soon as they've left the Hall, Minerva continues.
"Fifth year, you have the Towers and the seventh floor with Professors Vector and Sinistra. Fourth-year, your areas are the sixth and fifth floors with Professor Babbling and Madam Pince. Third year, please follow Professors Flitwick and Granger to the fourth and third floors. Second years, you will be decorating the second and first floors with Professors Parkinson and Atkins."
"Yes, let's go, Johnny," Professor Parkinson cheers, holding her hand up for Professor Atkins to high-five. The remaining students giggle at their professors' antics.
"Professor Parkinson, please vacate the Great Hall quietly."
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall," Pansy winces as she leads her students out of the Hall, stifling their laughter.
"First year, you will decorate the ground floor and dungeon with Professor Malfoy and the Head boy and girl. Second year, and the Prefects, you will be joining me in decorating the moving staircases," Minerva finishes.
The second-year students and the prefects gather before their Headmistress to await further instruction, and the first-year students follow Professor Malfoy and the head boy and girl out into the Hogwarts foyer.
"To utilise our time, I suggest we start on the seventh floor and work our way down to the ground floor, hopefully in time to meet with the rest of the school to decorate the Great Hall," Minerva suggests to her young students, who nod in agreement.
"Where are our decorations, Professor?"
By eleven o'clock, the students and professors of Hogwarts reconvene in the Great Hall, feeling tired but accomplished at having achieved something so beautiful in just a few hours. As Hermione guided her students down the moving staircases, they saw a glimpse of the Christmas decor on each floor, and their excitement for the holiday grew.
Each floor offered a new style of decoration. From natural garlands with hidden bells, charmed to bloom and ring out a festive tune whenever anyone passes by, to tinsel that shimmered and slithered between the hundreds of paintings and changed colours according to the mood of the person walking past. From thousands of colourful twinkling fairy lights dangling from the ceiling, charmed to flash in time, to the faint hum of Christmas songs in the air, to the Polar Express that laid its own track as it travelled around the corridors of the first floor and occasionally dropped sweets. Outside, the hundreds of trees lining the Forbidden Forest had been lit up with soft golden lights so as not to distract the creatures of the forest. Then, on either side of the Grand Doors was a twelve-foot fir tree decorated with colourful fairy lights, baubles, and tinsel with a twinkling golden star at the top of each.
In the Great Hall, students gathered into their friendship groups, excitedly chatting and catching up on what they had contributed to decorating the castle. The professors leave them to it for a few minutes, needing a break from decorating, so they gather by the staff table for a cosy hot beverage.
Hermione sits with a tired Scorpius on her lap. Draco had taken their son to decorate the dungeons and the ground floor, allowing Scorpius to play with Sophie without drawing too much attention. In doing so, Scorpius had worn himself out playing with all of Sophie's friends, who thought it was so funny that their professor's son had become so attached to their group.
As Minerva listens to Filius tell her about how one of his students had used a particular spell successfully for the first time, her eyes are drawn over to Hermione, sitting with her son, who's staring absentmindedly across the room, looking thoroughly upset and disappointed.
"One moment, Filius. I need to speak with Hermione," Minerva interrupts her friend.
Filius glances behind at their colleague in question and sighs, "She's not handling her results well, I take it."
"I've worried about her since I read through her observation results. She takes poor grades personally, and I believe this might be the lowest grade she's received in her life," Minerva mutters.
"She's a clever girl. Her lowest grade could be an acceptable for all I know," he half-jokes. "Go sort her out, Minerva."
Minerva sits opposite Hermione, placing a comforting hand on hers to draw her attention.
"Hermione?"
"Hmm, oh, Minerva. Are we starting the Great Hall?" Hermione asks, glancing around the Hall.
"Not yet. I want to talk with you," Minerva mentions, beckoning Hermione to follow her.
Eyes widening, Hermione passes Scorpius to Draco before following her Headmistress in a panic. As they walk down the passage that leads from the staff entrance to the foyer, Hermione's mind races with all the possible outcomes of this 'talk' Minerva wanted with her.
"Minerva," Hermione calls out, unable to wait any longer. "I know what this is about, and I'm so sorry for disappointing you. I know I've let you down. I've let everyone down." She stares down at her feet, trying to hide her tears from the woman she has admired for a decade. "I tried so hard. I'm sorry."
"Hermione, you have nothing to apologise for," Minerva interrupts, stooping down to find her eyes. "I'm worried about you. I've known you for a long time. I will always remember that twelve-year-old girl braying on my office door, questioning why I graded your homework as Acceptable."
"This is a little different, Minerva," Hermione sighs in frustration, arms thrown in the air.
"Is it!" The Headmistress asks. "You've been given a grade you don't think you deserve, and you tend to take criticism personally. You're upset and angry because you know you're better than a Dreadful. I'm just glad you aren't knocking on the Minister's office door questioning him."
"It wouldn't change anything," Hermione shrugs, leaning against the passage wall, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Everything he wrote was true, maybe a little stretched, but the truth nonetheless. I thought the Minister would appreciate me incorporating muggle science into my lesson since he's the one who pushed to have Muggle Studies a mandatory subject at Hogwarts." Hermione finally finds Minerva's eyes. "I'm upset and angry because I'm worried I can't do any better than a failing grade."
Minerva's worries deepen. "Hermione Granger does not give up in the face of a poor grade."
"Hermione Granger is tired of beating a dead horse," she mutters, crossing her arms.
"What's going on, Hermione?"
"I've been teaching here the same length of time as Draco; we both took a year of parental leave when we had Scorpius. I see how comfortable Draco is in his job. He is satisfied, but I feel stuck. I thought becoming a professor at Hogwarts would be everything I wanted. This castle was my only home and safe place in the Wizarding World for a long time. After graduation, with The Marriage Decree impending, I needed something to remain constant."
Minerva nods, beginning to understand where this conversation is heading. "Now that your life has settled, and you no longer need the safety of Hogwarts, you're second-guessing your decision to become a professor."
"After reading my results and Draco's, I've been questioning everything. The novelty of having Hermione Granger as a professor has worn off. I tried to step away from the person I was during the war and created a new version of myself that focused on my students and education. However, they respect Draco so much more because he's so open about who he was during the war. I realise now that he didn't create a new version of himself when he became a professor but allowed his students to see the updated version he has become. He's a real person; he's not putting on an act."
"And you are?" Minerva questions carefully.
Hermione shrugs. "I don't know who I am supposed to be."
"You're supposed to be you."
"I don't know who I am."
Minerva stares down at her colleague, who was her student not long ago, and sees a person in need of help.
"I'm Hermione Granger. Wife, mother, daughter, professor, former saviour of the wizarding world. Every title I hold comes from my relationship with other people. I don't know who I am on my own," Hermione clarifies.
"You need to take a break, Hermione before you break yourself," Minerva says, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"A break?"
"From everyone who depends on you. Take some time to discover who you are when you're on your own."
Hermione's eyes are narrow as her brow furrows. "You want me to leave my husband and son behind to discover myself?" She laughs harshly, shrugging the Headmistress' hand off. "In case you forgot, I'm pregnant. I can't exactly go far, can I?" She
"Hermione, no," Minerva sighs softly, shaking her head. "That's not what I mean. I think you should take your parental leave early, at Christmas."
"But- that's eight weeks early!"
"Yes, Draco will still be working, and I assume Scorpius attends nursery every day. That'll leave you with the whole day to spend alone, doing whatever you want, discovering who you are and learning who you want to be," she suggests.
Hermione stares anxiously at Minerva. "What if who I am, or who I want to be, isn't a professor?" Her eyes immediately shift away.
Minerva's expression softens. "Then I will wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours, not that you'll need it, because even if you don't believe it, I know you'll be great at whatever you put your mind to."
Bursting into tears, Hermione throws her arms around Minerva. "Thank you, Minerva, so much. I didn't realise how much I needed to speak to someone or how much I was feeling."
"You just have to make it through the next three weeks," Minerva reminds her, breaking their hug. "It seems I have some letters to write to Ilvermorny on Monday morning. I've managed to acquire one of their professors for your paternal leave."
Hermione frowns, "I'd like to meet them beforehand."
"I assure you, he's more than qualified." Minerva smiles, amused. "Let's get back to the Great Hall. We've been missing for a while now, I'm sure the students are feeling antsy."
Hermione follows behind Minerva, feeling as though a weight has been lifted from her shoulders, and the tightness in her chest loosens.
Returning to the Great Hall, Hermione scans the room with a new sense of freedom. She looks not as a professor or former student but as a woman with the decision of a lifetime to make. While she might not know where to begin in discovering her true self, Hermione vows at this moment to make the next three weeks memorable, in case these are her last three weeks at Hogwarts.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you so much for reading.
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