The Great Hall was decorated festively. A dozen Christmas trees were situated along each side of the hall. Instead of the four house tables and the high table, there was just one round table placed in the middle of the otherwise rather empty room. The people who stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas break were all seated around it, leaving only two chairs vacant.

"Severus, Hermione. It's good to see you two walking around again. Merry Christmas. Come, we've saved you seats."

Minerva McGonagall greeted them warmly, just as though the both of them weren't believed to be dead.

Everyone else except Harry, Ginny and the mediwitch seemed to be frozen in their seats in whatever they were doing.

"Good morning and Merry Christmas to you as well," said Hermione, taking the seat on Minerva's left.

Now it was Severus who spoke up: "Merry Christmas everyone."

He really had to try hard to hide the smirk that was threatening to form on his face as he saw the looks the others were throwing them. Then he smiled warmly at Hermione, helping her sit before taking a seat himself. "Thank you, Sev," she smiled widely up at him.

Poppy, who was seated to Severus' left, instantly asked him: "Are you taking your medicine regularly?"

He was about to chew a bite of his toast, so he just nodded his head yes. Not really believing in what he said, she was making eye contact with Hermione.

"Nothing to worry about there, Poppy. I'm taking care of that," she told the older witch who was leaning forward to look around Severus.

"Those glasses really suit you, Severus," winked the old headmistress to snap him out of his thoughts.

Seeing that gesture, he nearly choked on his sip of coffee.

In the meantime, the professors seemed to have come to terms with him being alive, as they just continued eating their breakfasts.

The three remaining students however were still quite puzzled - the two students looking like they were siblings were throwing each other frightened glances, while the other boy was merely looking sceptically at Severus.

They have to be fourth years at least. Judging by the looks on their faces they seem to remember Severus acting as headmaster, mused Hermione while sipping on her cup of steaming hot tea. However, something seems a bit off with that boy there. He sits there with them, he does not interact with his housemates or anyone at all - just sits there nibbling on his toast while fidgeting with his sleeve.

The young Ravenclaw's behaviour sparked her interest. Quietly she turned to Minerva: "Minerva, what about those three kids. Were their parents not at home or why are they the only ones staying here?"

"Now, the two sitting on the right are twins, Josh and Jane Mallard. They are both Ravenclaws, they both play Quidditch for their team, and they are both at the top of their class - there's only one student better than them. They had to stay here because their parents left for America on short notice to sort out a family problem, or so I was told." The older witch took a sip of her own tea.

"And the other boy, what about him?"

"That, my dear, is Blake Destler. He is highly intelligent. He deliberately makes just enough mistakes to still get the highest grades, but without getting full credits. He often gets into trouble during lessons, so he often pays a visit to my office. Always alone, that boy - I have never seen him talk to another person outside of classes, at least not willingly." Understanding what the headmistress was telling her, Hermione nodded and was spacing out, deep in thought.

"Hermione, are you coming?" asked a deep voice right next to her ear startling her.

She quickly turned her head and looked into Severus' black orbs. "Of course," and together they left for the dungeons again.

It was only now that Hermione saw that it wasn't only her present for him that lay under the tree. There was another one lying next to it but at first, she simply ignored it and instead picked up the package for him.

She gave it to him, saying; "Merry Christmas, Sev," kissing him on his cheek.

At that, he granted her a small smile, his cheeks flushed just a tiny bit - it was barely noticeable, but she saw it.

He cautiously unwrapped the package and found a small, wooden box in there. Slowly, he lifted the lid of the box and saw a nice silver watch inside.

He took it out of the box with nimble fingers softly touching the cool metal. The watch face was black with several small and silver engravings. He saw a book, a fox and a cauldron. Happy, but inquiringly, he looked at Hermione - he didn't even have to ask.

She knew what he wanted to know. "I saw that you liked to wear your wristwatch whenever we went somewhere - and muggle watches don't work here at Hogwarts."

He now smiled widely at her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Thank you, Hermione."

He kissed her on her forehead.

"Before you ask. The book stands for your love for books, reading and your vast knowledge; the cauldron for your ability and affinity to brew and invent potions and the fox stands for your loyalty towards Lily, Dumbledore and everyone else for whom you were and still are a true and loyal friend - but I also see it as a thing to remind you of your mum. When you told me that she was the one who read "The Little Prince" to you the first time, you had that small smile on your lips. I know that you truly loved her. I thought that maybe that is an unconventional, but also a good way to remember her," she explained, as he hugged her tighter to his chest.

"Thank you so much, Hermione. You don't know how much that means to me," he whispered into her brown hair.

Without him taking notice, a single tear had made its way down his cheek, but it was not a tear of utter sadness. It showed how much that present meant to him, especially those engraved things. On the other hand, it also was shed out of grief, as he remembered his mother.

Slowly, he pulled away from the young woman. As he was about to put the watch back into the box, he saw a photograph and to his surprise, it didn't move. Unbelieving he looked at it blinking twice, even three times.

In that photo, the two of them were in her flat, both fast asleep on the couch.

"Where did you get that one from?" he asked her.

"Harry gave it to me. He thought that you might like that one." she smiled softly at him.

"It seems he's right, at least concerning my opinion. I have to say that I quite like it," and with that, he went to fetch his present for her from under the tree.

"Merry Christmas to you, Hermione. May you enjoy yours as much as I already enjoy mine," he smiled at her and handed her a heavy, rectangular package.

As she unwrapped it, she found a big, old, leather-bound book about different charms and incantations with a page already marked and a flat black box.

Slowly, she opened the lid. Inside was a pretty silver medallion which had a lioness' head engraved and Hermione didn't even need to ask why a lioness as she already knew.

She looked at Severus with a thankful look on her face, but before she could voice her thanks he interrupted her.

"Open it."

So she did, she opened the two wings attached to the middle part.

On the left, there was a moving picture of her, Harry and Ron from their first year at Hogwarts and on the right side, there was an unmoving muggle picture of her parents and herself. The third space in the middle, however, was empty

"I didn't know who else was as dear to you as the others, so I left that decision for you to make," he said softly.

She thanked him with tears shining in her eyes. "Thank you so much, Sev."

She drew him in for a hug, which not even Molly Weasley would have been able to compete with.

"May I see the picture I gave you again, just for a second?" she asked, to which he gave it to her. Quickly, she drew her wand and duplicated the photo and shrunk it so she could easily fit it into the empty space in the middle.

"Can you help me put it on, Sev?" she asked, turning her back on him. He nodded and fastened the silver chain around her neck, his fingers moving swiftly and softly.

Next, they settled down on his couch in front of the fireplace, each with their book in hand. Severus read yet another one on potions, while Hermione wanted to read the book she was gifted by Severus. Curious about what he might have marked for her, she immediately opened it on that page.

Memory charms was the heading of the marked article. Her interest was instantly sparked and so she began reading. The last paragraph at the end of the chapter about different memory charms caught her eye:

Contrary to popular belief, there is a method to revoke the effects of the strongest out of all the memory charms in existence, the Obliviate. To return the memories of people who fell victims to this charm, you have to use it again. However, it is prudent that you have most, if not all the original memories, which were previously removed. Otherwise, there is a chance that severe problems concerning the mental health of a victim can occur due to memory gaps. On a side note, the author recommends removing all of the false memories to forego the possibility of confusion between the two different lives with those different memories.

"Severus, where did you find this?" Hermione asked him.

"Last night I went back to Spinner's End when you were asleep. I remembered having seen my mother reading this particular book over and over again. And then I remembered what you told me about you erasing your parents' memories to save them."

One of the brightest smiles he ever saw graced her face and she hugged him to her, with tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you," she managed to say.

"If you want we can travel to Australia and try to give them their memories back."

Severus patted her on the head with one hand while rubbing her back in soothing circles.

"Later, Sev. For now, let's just enjoy the holiday - and either way, we have an arrangement with the Malfoys today. They were originally coming over for tea to help you get your memories back, but as you already have them, it will be just a round of tea with a bit of nice conversation," was her answer to his proposal, before they settled down again.

He sat there, reading his book with her nestled against his side while she indulged in the rest of her book.