"Severus... alright?" the soft whisper came from the bed as Hermione looked at him blearily, where he had frozen, rooted to the spot.

"Fine" He whispered "Go back to sleep"

A murmured ascent was his reply, as she once again laid into the pillows and made a soft noise of contentment, though he couldn't be sure if he wasn't dreaming when a soft voice mumbled "G'night, luv" into the darkness, though he knew at least he wasn't dreaming, when he responded to it in kind.

She was an absolutely terrible liar he found out. After the new year she started acting suitably shady, and he could only arch his eyebrow at her entirely unsubtle fishing questions for gifts and plans over the next weeks which made him internally roll his eyes. He had no idea how she'd discovered his birthday, but he was certain that she had and was now engaged in some sort of nefarious scheme, he was sure of it, and briefly considered possible other things he could engage himself with on the day to leave him unable to attend her scheme.

When he was 'summoned' to the hospital wing on his birthday, he fought a desolate groan, though internally prepared himself for the inevitable. He hated birthdays, and he hated his in particular for various reasons unknown to most. But she didn't know that, and if his assumptions proved true, then she was the first person in two decades to even make the attempt at doing something for him, so he would damn well go through with it...though as much as he cared for her, he'd hex the witch if people jumped out at him yelling 'surprise'.

When he reached her room though, he was placated and somewhat pleased to find simply Hermione, Grey and Coral along with a small pile of gifts, and what looked to be a meal under a stasis charm, and judging by the non-hogwarts cutlery being used with it, it was not from the Hogwarts kitchen either.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday" Grey said with a warm smile, handing him a gift and Hermione laughed as she looked on indulgently at the shy boy's unusual exuberance. Severus decided then and there not to continue with his hexing plans though, for he found his own smile tugging at his lips with fondness at his ward's infectious happiness. Jacob Grey had been so withdrawn and quiet for so long, it was impossible not to be warmed by his happiness.

"We wanted to do something for you, but we knew you wouldn't like something over the top like a surprise party, so myself, Coral and Baby have been planning this for a while, we made dinner and we've got all your duties covered for the night, Baby spoke to the Slytherin prefects and for once they're all going on duty together and staying put in the common room to make sure that nothing gets out of hand, and plus I spoke to Dumbledore when I was discussing my early newt exams and he's got Sinistra covering for you at breakfast tomorrow too so if you want you can actually have both an early night and have a lie-in for once." All this was said with a tired smile and he felt warmth blooming in his chest at their thoughtfulness.

"I am suitably impressed at your thoroughness and appreciative of it, it will make for a pleasant evening indeed, thank you." They both smiled at him and for the first time in two decades he thought he might actually enjoy his birthday.

oOo

As the evening drew on, he felt the warmth almost settle into him like a permanent fixture, the pleasure of the sheer fact they had both gone to so much effort to make his birthday pleasant for him, seeped into his bones and settled under his skin.

The first thing they'd done, as they'd drawn him away from the dinner hall before he could eat, was to settle down to the meal they had prepared for him. "I remembered how much you said you liked Italian food, and neither Coral or Baby has never tried it, so I sent Coral with a note to my Great Aunt's in Tuscany, I told her what my plans were and she sent the recipe for her signature Spaghetti Bolognese, as well as some fresh pasta and homemade Bruschetta. Coral brought me the supplies, and we made it together here with Argus's hot plate. She also insisted on sending the plates too, sorry if they're not quite to your taste but to quote her she said "If you're going to make 'proper' pasta you need proper plates, and not that mass produced English crap".

"She said that?" He chuckled and Hermione smiled, while Baby laughed. "Well yes, but... in Italian" she smiled when Coral spoke. "So that's what she be saying to Coral! I's is wondering whys Missy Hermione was laughing" Hermione laughed again and even Severus chuckled, before a couple of thoughts occurred to him.

"You speak Italian?" Was the first thought that came to his mind when he questioned Coral, to which the elf responded. "No Master Snape sir, but I's be remembering the words and tells them to Missy Hermione I did, she be going red and then laughing but Coral didn't know why"

Hermione chuckled again, "Sorry Coral, I didn't want you to be offended by what Nona said" Coral shook his head, and smiled a toothy smile. "Thank You for trying to spare Coral's feelings, but Coral is not offended. Coral understands taking pride in your work. He understands what this Nona means" Hermione just smiled and patted him fondly on the head, and Coral beamed whilst ringing his hands. After her unfortunate stint with SPEW, Hermione had taken time to really understand the house elves and it had improved her relationships with the Hogwarts elves immensely. Once she had apologised and spoken to the Gryffindor elves, they had taken her to see the head elf. After her emphatic explanation, they had understood her reasoning behind her actions, and they had been flattered and had taken her under their wing in a sense. Especially as she had shown such interest in them and their culture, which it was extremely rare or wont for a witch or wizard to do.

So now she understood how much pride they took in what they do, and the fact that they lived for the praise. Nothing made house elves happier than being told, or shown that you were pleased with them, as attested to by Coral's beaming grin at the simple pat on the head and smile that Hermione had offered him.

oOo

The three of them had a pleasant night, and Hermione and Severus couldn't help but laugh when watching both Baby and Coral attempt to eat the spaghetti they'd made. Coral managed to get the spaghetti caught between his teeth in such a way, that Hermione laughed herself red saying he looked like an illustration in a Roald Dahl book, whereas Baby managed to get more of him on himself than in his mouth, to the point where after the third cleansing charm Severus simply left his wand n his lap, instead of putting it away. The meal was arguably the best thing he'd ever eaten, though whether that was because of his fondness for Italian food, Hermione's Nona's special recipe...or for the fact that it had been especially made for him with care and affection, remained to be seen.

After dinner, they each offered him small gifts, personal enough to his tastes for him to be grateful for their thoughtfulness but not lavish enough for him to be uncomfortable at the expense, and so he was thankful for that aswell. He was not the destitute boy of his youth, in fact he had quite a considerable nest egg now, however it still made him uncomfortable when people spent money on him, and Hermione praise her, had noticed and made sure not to go overboard with their gifts.

When Coral returned to the house elves, and it was just the three of them, they had a pleasant discussion on their 'Book club'. An idea that had been Baby's actually, and they had both agreed. They would all 3 read the same tome and have discussions about it, and this week it was a tome on arithmancy, which is one of the areas where Hermione shone. It was Baby though, that when introduced to arithmancy had made the link between using arithmancy equations to improve experimental potions, by working on the probability of how certain ingredients would interact with each other. It had been a shockingly astute observation from the boy, however was sadly past his experiences. His mind had seen the link, but he lacked both the talent and the interest to put the theory into practice, Hermione however, due in no small part to her eidetic memory, could pull off the most ridiculously long probability chains that made both thier eyes crossed. As it was, after discussing the second year arithmancy book they were reading, which was just about comprehensible to Baby, Just below Severus's level, and leagues below Hermione's, they had agreed on a plan of action. Severus would share a potion he was working on, Hermione would use arithmancy to test certain variables and Severus would test her predictions with the help of Baby... and he found himself truly looking forward to their joint venture.

oOo

When a tired Baby had been taken to bed, it was just Hermione and Severus once more. He settled into his seat with a contented sigh, and she offered him a soft smile before speaking.

"Are you glad that you decided to come in the end then?" She asked and he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Decided? How does one decide to come to a surprise party?" He questioned with that arched eyebrow and she smiled tiredly at him.

"Please. I know full well you knew Severus, I tried to drop subtle hints where I could that I was planning something, I knew you'd pick up on them straightaway, I thought the last thing that you would want would be to walk into a big surprise, as I can't imagine after living so long as a spy that you ever like being off balance or out of the loop like that. The other staff members said you didn't usually celebrate your birthday, and I didn't know if that was because you didn't like it, or just didn't have anyone you'd want to spend it with...so I wanted to give you the option to Slytherin your way out of it and 'make other plans' so that you wouldn't have to come if it made you too uncomfortable. I value this fr-..."

She paused, and he could see her trying to find a word that conveyed her feelings, after coming up with the word friendship and seemingly finding it wanting. To which he found he was inordinately pleased.

"..companionship that we have, and the last thing I wanted to do is ruin it by pushing you too much. I couldn't outright say I was planning something because I didn't want you to feel any social obligations to attend if I told you about it, so I knew if I just dropped a few hints you'd pick up on, you could choose to make yourself unavailable on the day, and avoid the party if you wanted to, whilst not having to worry about hurt feelings or awkward social faux pas because you didn't attend the party. Because as far as anyone else would know, you hadn't "known" about the "surprise" party and therefore couldn't be blamed for missing it, it would just been an unfortunate turn of circumstance, the only reason I'm bringing it up now, is because I need to know whether or not to plan something similar for next year."

He stared at her for a moment, perhaps even a moment too long as she blushed and looked uncomfortable before his brain kicked back into gear and he reached for her hand, actually kissing the back of it, unlike the traditional pure blood way of kissing the air above her hand, as she felt her skin warm from the contact.

"Thank You." The words were deep and resonant, in a rich tone she'd not heard from him before, that heated her blood.

"In the past I have not celebrated my birth, for the longest time it was not a pleasant day but a reminder of a terrible one. My 17th birthday, when I reached my majority in the wizarding world...my mother took her own life" She gasped and covered her mouth with one hand, her other landing on his arm. He rested his hand over hers on his arm giving her a small nod, to let her know it was alright as he continued.

"She had been depressed for a long time, my father was a cruel and vicious man and frequently turned his temper and his fists towards us. She had waited until I reached my majority to do it, so I would not be trapped by any legalities and for that I am thankful to her. There was nothing much to speak of in inheritance, but as in the wizarding world I was now an adult, I wouldn't have to return to the care of Tobias, and as it had been her converted galleons that paid for the house in the first place and she had placed numerous blood wards on it when I was born, it was automatically bequeathed to me. Though it's a muggle house, in a muggle neighbourhood the presence of magical wards, especially blood wards tied to our family line, makes it a "magical" property. And Magical properties cannot be left to muggles as per the statuette of secrecy. So when my mother died, the house was left to me and not to my muggle father. He was not impressed. He even went as far as contesting the will in the muggle courts, but as the house was unplottable and under the fidelius, they all thought he was mad, ranting and raving about magic and a house that didn't exist. The aurors would have got involved, but the muggles thought he was mad so he wasn't a threat to the statuette, Security went to remove him and he got violent. Threw a bad punch and ended up killing a man. He spent the rest of his life in prison, and died a few years later. His liver which I'm surprised wasn't pickled already from the amount of alcohol he imbibed in my childhood, couldn't stand up to the prison hooch it seems and he choked on his own vomit. I can't say that I miss him."

He was quiet for a moment before speaking again in a much softer tone than she had ever heard from him. "She was not the best mother, in fact she was barely a mother at all, but an empty shell of a woman. Merlin knows that Minerva has been more of a mother to me over the years, but she cared for me in her own way and meant me no ill will, as a young child before Hogwarts, she was my only source of...not comfort, but perhaps...peace? Her death was...painful. I had never celebrated it before it and have not associated my birthday with happiness since...until today"

Her eyes were watery when he met her gaze finally, he could practically see the effort it took her to restrain herself into pulling him into a comforting hug and he was thankful for it. Though a part of him wanted to accept the embrace, so emotionally exposed was he right now that he feared he might shatter, so he was glad for her restraint.

He needed distance to compose himself, so standing he surprised her by kissing her cheek, then offered her a formal bow.

"I can honestly say today has been the most pleasant birthday I have had throughout my life, and I would not be opposed should you wish to repeat the scenario in the future." His expression softened somewhat then. "Thank You, Hermione, but please take care of yourself, you look tired and I would not have you exhaust yourself for my expense"

Turning he exited the room, but almost...almost, froze when he heard her softly spoken words behind him. Instead he broke stride just for a moment before carrying on into the night.

"You're worth it."