CHAPTER 9

The next morning began as another in a long line of similar mornings, until her routine was broken by a sudden flash of dizziness that caused her stomach to turn and forced her to sit down on the ground in her living room before she might fall and hurt herself in the progress. Black dots danced before her eyes and her ears were tortured by a shrill screeching sound she was sure she imagined. She fought to remain conscious bur realized she had lost that fight when she regained her senses a few minutes later. Luckily her head had managed to fall on the soft carpet in front of her couch instead on the sharp edge of the coffee table.

Hermione closed her eyes in annoyance and remained lying there for a few moments. No need to rush things and faint again. Oh, how she hated how weak she had become! At least it was Saturday and therefore no timetable to follow. No one would notice or be curious as to why she attended breakfast later than normal. Even the hardworking Arithmantic teacher deserved a goodnights sleep once in a while. Maybe she should just skip breakfast altogether and just ask some of the houseelves to bring her something to her rooms. Or she could finally visit the elves in the kitchen. Yes, that was a good idea, she would do that. But only after recovering some more.

When she was positive that she wouldn't faint again in the near future she got up slowly and went into her bathroom to drink some water. She avoided looking into the mirror above the sink. No need to make her morning even more miserable. When she felt she had hydrate herself enough to prevent any accidents on that front she left her bathroom, put her wand in the invisible holster on her left arm – a left-over habit from the war – and went through her portrait-hole. Tilius tried to engage her in a conversation like always, but she managed to politely excuse herself and finally started her trek towards the kitchen.

While she strode through the corridors past the first students who showed different states of awakeness, past portraits, statues and the countless windows with the carved windowsills she had always loved she thought about her previous trips to the kitchen and her history with the houseelves. She really came a long way since fourth year. Though she couldn't shake the sad memories of the discussions with Fred and George about that exact matter. Even her knowledge of the whereabouts of the kitchen that allowed her to visit them today were partly due to their credit. She really missed Fred. The last time she had been at the rebuilt burrow, before her final conversation with Ron, or fight or whatever you may call it, she had stumbled across George who sat in the garden at their tiny pond and had stared with empty eyes into nothingness. She had joined him for a few minutes, not saying a word, just pressing his hand for a moment before she got up and walked towards the end of her relationship with Ron. Even though so much else was going on at that time, she remembered feeling incredibly sad about the obvious blank spot Fred left in the entity that has always been 'Fred and George'. To see one twin alone had always been an extremely rare occasion. Her heart had ached for George and how he struggled to find his purpose in life on his own, how he physically just couldn't go back to their shop, their dream that became reality even when no one thought that possible – beside Harry, because it just hurt too damn much to face the reality that he alone would be responsible from now on. That there would be just him, not them.

Hermione tried to get rid of the melancholy and concentrated on where she was heading. For now she hadn't met anyone from her colleagues who would have tried to convince her to join them for breakfast in the Great Hall, so she was thankful for that. She was nearly at her destiny anyway. Her silent musings had taken her longer than she thought. In no time she stood in front of the painting that showed the fruit bowl. She tickled the pear like she had to and the secret entrance opened for her.

As soon as she entered, she was surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic elves who interrupted everything they were doing and focused solely on her, their ears shaking in excitement, asking how they could be of aid. All at the same time of course.

"It's been so long since the Miss visited-", "Has Dupy not cleaned the room of the Miss to her liking?", "Could Polly interest the Professor in some good and healthy breakfast?"

Hermione had to laugh at the chaos erupting around her and couldn't help but shake her head mentally at her younger self, that had been too invested in her campaign for the rights of houseelves to see which rights were actually of interest to them and therefore in their interest. They had also forgiven her for all the knitted clothes she had left in her old common room for them to find. She had apologized for that as soon as she had the chance to after starting to work at Hogwarts, which had actually ended in some really interesting conversations with the elves about their likes and dislikes, their views on the elf-wizard relationship and their magical abilities. She had become a monthly guest since then.

"I thank you all for your kindness. I just came down here for a quiet breakfast, so I would like to take you up on your offer, Polly." She had also tried to learn as many of their names as possible. It helped, that they included them regularly in their sentences, more often than not. The elf in question nodded happily and jumped back to the stove where she had previously worked on some delicious scrambled eggs, before Hermione had disturbed their routine. Hermione herself was now led towards a small table near one of the walls which had a comfortable bench instead of chairs on both sides. As soon as she sat down another elf came and put a cup of hot tea in front of her. The delicious smell of bergamot reached her nose and she sighed contently. All houseelfs had returned to their former tasks so she could watch without haste as they fell back into their routine which would grant all castle inhabitants an amazing breakfast.

While she sat there and waited for her own breakfast she noticed one elf who stood a bit separated and seemed to work on a single breakfast, much like Polly did for her right now. It made her curious. It could only mean, that another teacher had chosen to eat on his own this morning. So when Polly brought her a tray filled to the brim with everything one could wish for in a classical English breakfast she couldn't help but ask who the other single breakfast was for.

"It's for Master Snape of course. Tipsy is his personal elf after all, Miss.", "His personal elf? I thought you all were contracted to the school, not individuals?" Polly nodded frantically. "That is correct, Miss, but Tipsy has been Master Snapes elf before Tipsy came to Hogwarts. He belongs to the Prince family, but choose to follow his master here to the school. And because it's weekend Tipsy is making him breakfast to eat at his quarters just like he prefers to.", "Oh… thank you Polly. For that information and for the food of course. It looks delicious!" Polly gave her a dazingly smile. "Glad to be of help, Miss. If there is anything else, Polly can do, Miss just has to call. Now Polly has to help the others." With that the bouncy elf took of, leaving Hermione lost in thoughts.

So Severus liked to seclude himself during mealtimes on weekends. Not that it surprised her, really. If she thought about it, she hadn't seen him that often on Saturday or Sunday mornings at the breakfast table. She had just assumed he liked to sleep in every once in a while.

Before she could delve any deeper into these thoughts the smell of the food in front of her became to alluring to resist and she started to eat with an appetite she hadn't realized she had, the busy noises of the elves creating a comforting atmosphere. Her day had certainly become much better after its abysmal start.

Hey :)

Like promised, this chapter didn't take months for me to upload. It is kind of a fill-in chapter, though, sry for that. The next one will be important as a built-up for Severus and Hermione finally being forced to interact. Stay tuned^^

Lots of love, EvannaLy