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Two years into their marriage, Severus finally agreed to move out of Spinner’s End.
Hermione understood the nostalgia that stalled his decision—the happy childhood memories with his mother and the adventures in the countryside shared with Lily. However, it was also filled with the trauma of his drunk, abusive father and the loneliness of his early adulthood. They tried to make the tiny, depressing house their own, filling it with new memories and renovating it with bright, comforting colors. However, the decaying structure finally gave in, and so did Severus’ reluctant acceptance to let go of the last piece of his rewarding, but still torturous life before the fall of Voldemort.
To which Hermione happily welcomed the decision. Not that she hated the perpetual grey, foggy sky here, but she knew Severus deserved better. It took them two weeks to settle on a cottage around the Hogwarts Valley, which rested near the foot of the mountain with a nice flowing stream nearby. It was provided with perfect land to grow potion ingredients and a beautiful view to build a patio for reading under the sun.
They had finished furnishing the cottage a few days ago, and all that was left to do was to pack up everything for their new home, which was a feat for two academics who both shared compulsive habits of keeping every book they found useful and writing meticulous notes from their research.
Thank Merlin for magic, so they finished it swiftly. However, seeing that most of her new lab was already taken up by the old notes, Hermione was determined to keep the other belongings they brought to the cottage to a minimum. Moving into a new home that was already filled up did not look like a fresh start to her, but none of the books and research records were disposable. Therefore, she directed the effort to their kitchen and wardrobe.
They divided to conquer—Severus taking care of the kitchen, which was more of his reign anyway, while Hermione was tackling the wardrobe. When she first moved in, the wardrobe was quite empty, as Severus kept only a basic collection of shirts, pants, vests, and frock coats. Hermione was by no means a fashionista, but the number of dresses and robes she kept growing as her career developed, becoming an academic who frequented the Ministry to lobby for new legislation. Therefore, she slimmed the wardrobe down with her gold and true methods—drawing matrices of necessity and style, ranking all the pieces, and getting rid of half of her wardrobe.
Severus’ wardrobe needed no reduction, so she sent it off into the charmed extendable trunk as she hummed a little tune, satisfied with her effort. When the sun went down tonight, they would be sharing their first meal by the fireplace together at their new cozy cottage.
After the last few heavier robes flew into the trunk, a carton box was revealed sitting at the bottom of the closet.
When they first started dating, Hermione always treaded carefully around Severus’ belongings as she respected his privacy and memories he wished not to revisit. However, after years of dating and marriage, she was certain they had already talked about everything there was to know about each other. Hence, Hermione did not think twice and opened the box.
A smug smirk crept onto her face.
~~~
Severus always heard the footsteps Hermione took to come down the stairs to the kitchen. It was always the same pacing between each step and the light thud on the hollow wood. Without turning his head, he continued levitating the last dishes into the carton box and said, “These are the last to pack, and we’ll be ready to go anytime.”
When he finished laying down the last one and looked up to Hermione’s face, there was the familiar mischievous smirk that was never up to anything good.
He could not resist the urge to narrow his eyes out of annoyance and asked, “Say it and get it over. What did you find in the closet?”
“What shall I find?” Hermione’s smirk deepened as she asked.
Severus let out an annoyed humph and answered, “I had not cleared out that closet for over a decade. I bet there are old clothes there, but I can hardly remember any of them. How hideous are they that warrant your tease?”
“Oh,” Hermione’s high-pitched voice rang like bells whenever she tried to feign sweet, “Nothing hideous, just … unexpected.”
She was clearly hiding something behind her back as her eyes danced with amusement. Severus sensed the warming flush climbing up from his neck out of embarrassment, so he made his last attempt to end this quickly, “Pink Floyd t-shirt?”
Her eyes widened in shock, and her smirk faltered as she said, “Did not expect you to be so artsy.”
He shrugged as he answered, “Teenage hormones.”
“Unfortunately, incorrect answer,” Hermione’s mischief returned as she said.
Severus got tired of the teasing and walked up to her. He extended his hand around her back, and she cooperatively released her grasp and let him take the item to his inspection.
Oh God.
“A leather jacket with a giant zip down the middle? Don’t tell me you rode a motorbike around Spinner’s End when you were a teenager,” Hermione asked smugly.
Severus’ nose wrinkled in distaste as he smoothed the jacket in his hands. It had been decades since he last saw it, and he wondered what caught him to the decision of keeping it.
“Not when I was a teen,” Severus revealed with a sigh, “I bought it after I received my first wage at Hogwarts.”
Hermione cocked an eyebrow as she questioned, “A zip jacket for the head of the house that detested anything Muggle?”
Severus swallowed his embarrassment and replied, “Not the head of house at the time… and everyone has a foolish dream…” He could not bring the sentence to an end.
“Of……?” Both of Hermione’s brows raised in anticipation.
Severus’ hands lowered to the side defeatedly, still holding to the jacket as he explained, “It was the 80s… and everyone in the Muggle world was wearing it…”
The familiar, sweet, and comforting smile finally bloomed on Hermione’s face as she raised her hands to hold his arms. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have poked fun at you like this…”
He could never be mad at this woman. Severus chuckled and replied, “Don’t worry. I find myself funny for trying to be fashionable…”
“No!” Hermione’s “voice of justice” came in, eyes determined to end his self-depracation, and said, “Everyone longs to belong, and trying to fit into a fashion trend is nothing…”
He did the only thing that could silence her from the unnecessary protest—giving her an assertive, comforting kiss to let her know he felt alright.
“Still,” he said with a bitter smile, “not an excuse for a halfblood trying to fool others into believing him a blood purist.”
“Well, if you only wore it before the muggles…” Hermione shrugged and said, but his apparent guilty gulp stopped her mid-track.
Her mouth opened to a perfect O and whispered, “Don’t tell me you wore it in magic England.”
Severus darted his eyes to the side and said, “Not exactly England…”
She nearly shrieked, “You wore it at Hogwarts?”
His silence was the answer.
A defeated smile appeared on Hermione’s face while she goaded, “Did they mistake you for guest lecturing on Muggle Studies?”
“That was my planned excuse if anyone asked,” Severus raised an eyebrow and smiled smugly.
“Please welcome Professor Snape, who is introducing zips to us today!” Hermione’s amusement soared through the roof as she mocked.
The pair of them laughed together before they took a step toward the staircase to the closet.
“Let’s not keep it,” Severus said casually. He knew Hermione wanted more space to be left for filling up later at the cottage, and the jacket was not needed. Leather never really suited him anyway.
“I think it’s only fair that I shall see you wearing it, walking around the halls at Hogwarts,” she answered playfully.
“Impertinent witch,” Severus replied with a smile.
And that stupid jacket followed them to their new home.