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Hermione Granger stretched in her bed on the morning of the 19th of September and winced as her back popped in three places. She could tell it was three places because she counted the individual pops. She also felt her shoulder and wrist clicked and groaned to herself.
“It comes with age Hermione…” Severus stood at the end of the bed, smirking down at her. In his hands he held a tray which appeared to hold breakfast for her. She was glad it was a Saturday and she could relax in bed a little, although his comment still stung. She shifted gently and sat up against the headboard. He put the tray in front of her and kissed her forehead.
“Happy Birthday little lioness.” He smiled at her and then looked sheepish. “I have some things to do in the lab this morning. An urgent order. I’ll see you in a few hours, ok? I will definitely be back before dinner with the masses.” Hermione watched in shock as he backed out of the bedroom and she heard a crack of Apparition as he went to his laboratory, not in the basement, but instead in the back room at his Apothecary.
“Thirty years old and he says it’s my age…it’s the War you jackass!” Hermione groused to herself and then looked at the breakfast tray he had prepared. A stack of letters in one corner caught her eye and she smiled. At least someone had remembered to send her something. She reached for the letters first, her stomach suddenly turning over at the idea of eating right now.
She opened the first letter, frowning slightly, as she realised it was a bill. She shook her head in disbelief and flicked through the other letters. Bill, bill, circular, junk mail, bank statement, credit card statement…not a single card or letter containing well wishes among them. All of them with her name next to his. Mr S Snape and Miss H Granger. He was quite capable of opening them himself. She paused for a moment, wondering if she had ever noticed the bills before, wondering when exactly he had added her name to them. She frowned and pursed her lips.
Where were the cards? Did none of her friends care? She looked down at the breakfast tray again and realised that he had made her the breakfast she had joked she would never eat until she had a mid-life crisis: Oatmeal, orange juice and a banana. With a snarl she heaved the tray against the wall and let the bowl smash, watching with a frown as the oatmeal stuck to the wall, made too thick and unappetising.
As she slid out of bed to take a shower she sighed as her knees popped as she stood up. She was definitely feeling every one of her thirty years today. And as she had lived more life in thirty years than most Muggles lived in fifty, she supposed she felt older still.
The hot shower soothed her back, loosening the muscles she didn’t realise were tight as she groaned in pleasure as the pains eased. A single tear fell as she realised that she would be spending the bulk of her birthday alone. Again. It was like every birthday before Hogwarts. Before she had friends. Friends who didn’t remember her birthday it seemed.
Dressed in jeans and a blouse she decided to treat herself to a decent, decadent birthday breakfast as she cleaned the mess of her breakfast from Severus with a quick flick of her wand. She grabbed a lightweight jacket from the hook by the door and stepped outside. It was slightly cooler than the rest of the week had been but it was still unseasonably warm. She locked the door the Muggle way and then set the wards as she had been doing since she had moved in almost five years ago.
The café she would usually go to was closed due to staff shortages and she groaned in frustration. The day was off to a wonderful start. She huffed out a laugh and headed to another café that she enjoyed on occasion. At least Bean There Café was open. She could only hope that they would have the almond and chocolate Danish that she enjoyed so much.
Of course, because today was going so very well, they only had Pain au Raisin. The Umbridge of all pastries. She grabbed a bacon roll instead and figured that would have to do for the worst birthday ever. She ordered a hot chocolate with all the trimmings: whipped cream, marshmallows, even a chocolate flake. She carried her drink over to a table and pulled the chair out, cringing away as she noticed the rather obvious brown stain on the seat. Thank Merlin she hadn’t sat on that. She moved to another table and checked the chairs again, sitting down with a smile that quickly turned to a look of disgust as she realised that the seat was wet. Dripping wet. Soaking through her jeans to her underwear wet. Today was a new level of hell. She shook her head and sent a drying charm wordlessly to her butt and the seat and smiled slightly as she took her first sip of her hot chocolate. Or should that be ‘tepid’ chocolate? Though it never tasted as good when heated by a warming charm, she could not drink the drink when it was not even as warm as the water she had showered in earlier. She cast another warming charm and was gratified to see the curls of heat rising from her drink again.
The barista brought her bacon sandwich over and placed it in front of her with a small smile. He turned away and she bit into the sandwich with marked relief. At least this was decent. The bacon was not quite crispy but at least the fat was cooked. She smiled, the first genuine smile of the day, and then cursed as she heard a crack of thunder from outside as the heavens opened. She swore under her breath. This was the problem with Muggle neighbourhoods. She couldn’t use an Impervius Charm without drawing a lot of attention from said Muggles, and potentially, the Aurors and she had forgotten her umbrella. All she had with her was her purse and her jacket. And she couldn’t exactly transfigure something into an umbrella when she had nothing else to use. She finished her hot chocolate and stared out at the rain. Maybe if she waited five minutes it would slow down and she could make a dash for it?
Two hours, three tepid hot chocolates and a very unsatisfying slice of dry chocolate cake later and the rain had only got harder. She was beyond frustrated and ready to leave. Damn the rain, damn the weather and damn her bloody birthday! Feeling close to tears, Hermione threw her jacket over her head and left the café, slipping and sliding on the wet pavement. She skidded as she turned a corner and felt, more than saw, the something brown that was now on her shoes. She swore and carried on running home, too annoyed to even bother checking. She made it home without any other incident and stood on the doorstep, unlocking the door, and removing her shoes, thankful for the small amount of shelter that the porch allowed her. She tucked her shoes out of the way, planning to clean them later, and closed the door. A piece of card caught under her foot and she bent down to pick it up. It was a delivery card and she smiled to herself. Whatever it was, it had been put inside the back gate and so she went to look through the back door into their garden.
A bundle of paper that was quickly getting soggy was on the floor behind the back gate that was unfortunately locked. She swore as she noticed that her delivery had been dropped over the back gate and what looked like a glass vase of Asters and White Gerberas had smashed, scattering the beaten flowers over a large area that had only been made larger by the winds blowing them everywhere.
Hermione had had enough. She slid down the door and wrapped her arms around her legs. She dropped her forehead to her knees and began to cry. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed out her frustrations with the day. Everything that could go wrong today, had. She had spent the day alone when all she wanted was to spend it with the man she loved. The man she…oh.
Oh.
Fuck.
They had never said the words. They had moved in together after she had been stalked by one too many crazy fans after the war. They had been friends then. It had been a drunken one night stand that had changed the dynamic but they had never said anything more than that they enjoyed each other’s company. Severus still had his own bedroom. They only shared a bed when she needed company, or when he fell asleep in her bed after he fucked her into the mattress, or when the nightmares crept in.
Hermione sobbed harder as the waves of desolation swept over her. She loved him and he…well, he tolerated her at the very least. But love? No, his Patronus was still a doe, his life was still ruled by his love for Lily. She tugged at her hair and groaned. Why the hell did she have to realise today that she loved him? She stood to her feet shakily and made her way to the bathroom. Maybe a hot soak in the bath would help her relax. She ran the bath as hot as she dared and lay back to soak and relax. She didn’t know how long she stayed there and may well have fallen asleep if not for the fact that she heard Severus come home and yell upstairs for her. She didn’t want to answer him but, when he called her again, she supposed she should stop him worrying.
“In here!” Her voice echoed in the tiled bathroom and she hoped he would stand outside the door and talk to her through it but, her birthday was already going to hell. He pushed the door open and sat on top of the toilet seat.
“How’s the birthday girl? I found the flowers outside. I’ve repaired the vase and brought them inside. They’re on your bedside table. And I brought the letters in too. They’re a bit wet so I put them on the radiator to dry out.” Severus smiled at her and she felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes. She nodded shakily and knew she needed to use words as well when he looked at her.
“I was so cold that I had to have a bath. I hope you don’t mind?” She had the room with an on suite shower. His room had the bath attached and she usually asked his permission before she snuck in.
“Of course not. It’s your birthday. You can do whatever you want today. Although, do you mind if I use your shower. We need to be leaving here soon to get to your birthday dinner.” She shook her head and he nodded, grabbing his own towel from the radiator rack where it sat. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead before he turned to leave her.
“Severus? Who’s going to be there tonight?” Severus had arranged the party and she had let him take all the responsibility for the first time.
“All your friends. I think I got them all. Pot-Harry and his current girlfriend…what was her name? Jobeth? Jolene? Joelle? Something American… Ronald and Lavender Weasley. Luna and Ginny. Neville and Hannah Longbottom. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind…I invited Minerva as well. It’s a Wizarding restaurant so we should all be able to blend in.” Severus smiled at her as she nodded and he left the room to use her shower. She heard his deep baritone as he began singing a song she only vaguely recognised and she sighed. Oh, she definitely loved him.
She dressed as quickly as she could, a simple pair of forest green and gold robes over soft gold linen trousers, slicking on the bare minimum of makeup and pinning her hair back from her face. She had learned as an adult that the easiest way to guarantee her hair would dry less fluffy was to let it dry naturally, especially on humid days or days when it was pouring with rain. She looked out the window and smiled sadly.
“Ready to go love?” He had somehow managed to sneak up on her and she laughed as she jumped, her traitorous heart lifting at the softly spoken endearment. If only he meant it the way she wanted him to. She nodded and took his arm before he apparated them to the restaurant he had chosen. She walked in and plastered a slightly fake smile on her face, not really in the mood to celebrate her birthday. Her friends cheered and began to sing to her and she smiled properly as they came towards her and embraced her, singing tunelessly and off-key in her ear. The song broke off suddenly as all her friends jaws dropped and she frowned. What now? What else was going to go wrong today? She turned to look at Severus to find out what was going on. Her jaw dropped as she saw exactly why her friends had stopped singing. Severus Snape was down on one knee, holding a ring box open with the most beautiful sapphire and diamond band held inside.
“Hermione, I know we haven’t talked about our future and growing old together but I know that I could never imagine growing old with anyone but you. I love you, Hermione, will you marry me?” Severus looked worried, nervous, but he was smiling as she nodded gently, crying for the third time that day.
Best. Birthday. Ever.