-Prince Manor, 21 August 1976

When Hermione and Draco finished being sorted, they both returned to the manor.

"Severus, we're back," Hermione said as usual, but this time she was a little nervous.

Severus greeted them calmly as usual but he stared at them for a few moments longer than usual, as if he was waiting for them to say something.

Hermione knew immediately that although Severus never asked them about their private lives, he was now a little intrigued to know which house they had been selected for.

She swallowed at this situation as it was the worst thing that could happen to them, she didn't know how Severus would react.

'I know how much he hates Gryffindors..., this could turn out very badly' thought Hermione.

Yes... She had been selected in Gryffindor.

No..., she hadn't completely forgotten about the situation she was going to have to face when she returned to Severus.

Although she had only thought at the time about how to gain Dumbledore and had forgotten for a moment that her decision to be a Gryffindor could affect the whole relationship they had with Severus.

She already knew that it wouldn't be so bad with Draco going to Slytherin..., but things didn't always work out the way she expected them to.

Hermione looked at Draco and he looked at her.

They both swallowed.

Draco like Hermione hadn't thought about the consequences this might have, he had been thinking about something else during the sorting, though he would never say or admit what.

"I see..." said Severus suddenly making them both look at him.

"Huh?... What is it?" they both asked automatically and a little nervously.

Severus smiled slightly amused at their behaviour.

"I just wanted to know how you two had been getting on with Dumbledore..., but it seems you both misunderstood what I wanted to know..."

"Looking at your expressions it is probable that one of you has been selected in Gryffindor or maybe both of you...," he added with a glare at both of them.

Making Draco and Hermione even more nervous.

'How did I not think he would want to know that ahead of our houses' Hermione complained thinking about what an idiot she was for not guessing that first.

"Well..." started Hermione wanting to explain.

"I don't care, Hermione, as I told you before, as long as you don't involve me in your plans you are free to do what you want, I thought I had made that clear," said Severus before Hermione could explain.

"But I see that if you care about something so simple you didn't quite understand me..., well never mind, just remember that," he added.

Draco nodded quickly and Hermione was still conflicted, for some reason, she still wanted to explain herself.

"So, did Dumbledore suspect something? or did you just decide to tell him the truth?" asked Severus intrigued, he wanted to know what the old man knew, Dumbledore was unpredictable and troubled.

"We didn't tell him anything, at first he seemed cautious and intrigued, but he didn't seem to have suspected anything about us, at the end of the selection process I even think he end up accepting us, excited and happy," answered Draco.

Severus looked at Hermione to confirm that what he said was true and she nodded.

Now, Severus frowned, the two of them being selected to Gryffindor wasn't enough for the old man to stop being cautious or suspicious, there had to be something more...

Especially if they didn't tell him anything relevant.

"Well, looks like that's one problem less than," Severus said and then turned away to go back to his duties, but he wasn't convinced that Dumbledore really trusted them.

When Severus left, Draco and Hermione let out the breath they were unconsciously holding.

They both thought he was going to react very badly to finding out that they were Gryffindors.

There was even the possibility that he would cut off all connection with them, though Hermione doubted he would do this as Severus still had a lot of things he wanted to learn about different types of magic from the future.

She couldn't be sure what he would do in a moment of anger, but she was surprised that he didn't care at all about that.

It was as if in his eyes something so insignificant wasn't worth caring about.

Now both she and Draco could be sure that Severus changed quite a lot.

Although for them it wasn't so bad since he was now one less worry.

Hermione hadn't thought about it at first as she had planned to go to Gryffindor and figured that with Draco going to Slytherin things wouldn't get much worse with Severus.

But it came as a surprise to her that Draco was selected for Gryffindor.

She asked him repeatedly how that happened, but he refused to tell her, no matter how much she insisted, he refused.

Although she was happy that they didn't have to be separated when they arrived at Severus's that happiness had evaporated as she remembered why she hadn't worried before being selected for Gryffindor.

Draco had changed everything she had thought and planned.

It was just her luck that Severus wasn't pissed off or even interested in them going to the house he hated the most.

~~~~~~~

-Diagon Alley, 25 August 1976

Lily was excited and happy to hear that her two new friends had been Sorted into Gryffindor.

And to make things better they were going to the same year as her.

She was delighted with this news, she really needed some fresh air, her friends used to hang out with their boyfriends and Lily had to spend most of her time with Remus as he was the only one of her closest friends who weren't in a relationship.

But the problem with Remus was that there were always the Marauders.

She wasn't going to deny that they were fun and used to get a lot of smiles and laughs out of her, but they could also be complete idiots.

Remus was the exception though and so she tolerated them, gradually she was getting used to them and getting closer to James and his group.

Especially now that they were all initiates of the Order of the Phoenix.

These two months spent together training and practising magic for a common cause had bonded them all together.

But Lily still couldn't get the recent events with Severus out of her head, it was a constant headache and the marauders only caused her more headaches by badmouthing him.

Luckily Remus managed to make them stop talking about Severus in front of her, otherwise, she wouldn't have put up with it.

For Lily meeting Draco and Hermione was a relief, being with them made her forget about all her problems for a while.

"Well Lily, thanks for the nice invitation but we should be getting back," Hermione said with a smile.

Today Lily had invited them both over to celebrate that they had joined Gryffindor and that the three of them were now housemates.

"Yeah, I should get back too, my mum must be complaining by now that I didn't come back" nodded Lily.

"So... I'll see you on the train?" she asked, hoping to share a wagon with them and introduce them to her friends.

"Sure, it's not like we have any other plans," laughed Draco.

'And I doubt Severus would want our company on the train, especially now that we're Gryffindors' he thought.

"Sounds good to me, then we'll meet you there Lily" Hermione also agreed, she also knew Severus wasn't going to be interested in going with them on the train.

"Perfect, I'll see you then!" Lily greeted as she left.

Once she was gone, Draco and Hermione sighed a little tiredly.

"You know she's going to get a big surprise at Hogwarts when she finds out about Severus as Severus Prince, our cousin, right?" commented Draco.

"I know, I'd rather have told her before we went to Hogwarts, but she didn't ask about him again and we couldn't just bring it up out of nowhere," replied Hermione.

"So...what do you think will happen?" asked Draco a little nervous as to how she and the other Gryffindors might react to the news that they were his cousins.

"I don't think anything will happen Draco, she won't walk away just because we're her cousins."

"And the others in Gryffindor?"

"Well..., it might be awkward for a while, but with Lily, it won't be too bad."

"And Potter's father along with Black, Lupin, and that rat?" asked Draco again who couldn't stop worrying.

"We just have to wait and see what happens Draco..., but stop thinking of our house as Slytherin, Gryffindor isn't like that snake hole," Hermione clarified.

Draco just snorted and went back to the manor.

~~~~~~~

-Prince Manor, 31 August 1976

Today Severus was organising everything so that the Prince Family business and the Skywalker Industry would run perfectly smoothly during his stay at Hogwarts.

Tomorrow he would start his Hogwarts schooling again, but he could not neglect the business he had been doing during this time.

He had managed to create several Droids that would take care of the projects he had pending.

They would also keep him informed at all times about what was happening in the Muggle world.

Severus wasn't going to deny that he wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of going to Hogwarts, he knew about the forbidden area and he was looking forward to discovering all sorts of spells and wizardry there.

He hoped he could find something interesting.

It wouldn't be easy as Dumbledore would have an eye on any Slytherin who tried to go near the forbidden area, but he would come up with something.

Finishing organizing the last of his remaining matters, Severus stood up and put his new uniform together with all the things he would need for Hogwarts in a magical Trunk.

No doubt this year was going to be very interesting...