Late July in London was always thick with a humid heat; even the slugs Severus kept in storage had a sticky, cloying scent to them.
Harley Snape lay sprawled across the oak table in the kitchen, doodling crooked cauldrons on parchment with a quill.
Because of the heat, she had cut her hair short into a mullet. Paired with her red hair, it gave her a bit of a rock-and-roll vibe, earning endless praise from James and Sirius, who kept calling her a "Cool Girl."
Late July was usually when the Owl Post delivered Hogwarts acceptance letters, and Harley had been looking forward to the owl's arrival since July 20th.
Although Severus had once snuck into Professor McGonagall's office to check this year's admission list and confirmed that Harley Snape was on it, Harley couldn't rest easy until she actually received the letter.
(Don't ask why the admission list was with the Deputy Principal instead of the Principal; Dumbledore had once again snuck off with Grindelwald to slack off.)
On the floor next to Harley lay a slimy slug—a few days ago, a jar of slugs in Severus's Potion storeroom had somehow exploded, and the slugs had crawled everywhere. There were still a few stragglers even today.
"Dad, next to the table... please take care of it."
As Harley spoke, she looked out the window and unexpectedly locked eyes with Hermione, who was leaning on the windowsill.
"Hermione? Why didn't you come inside? What are you doing leaning on the window?"
Harley stood up, walked to the window, and opened it, asking curiously.
Hermione awkwardly fumbled through a hundred nervous gestures in three seconds before finally pulling an acceptance letter out of her pocket to show Harley.
"I... I got accepted into St. Paul's Girls' School..."
Harley raised an eyebrow and said, "St. Pauls has always been your dream, hasn't it? Congratulations!"
Well, though you won't end up going there anyway.
Hermione didn't respond but instead asked urgently, "I asked the admissions teams at both Notting Hill and St. Pauls. Even though they both sent you interview invitations, you didn't go to either... Harley, which school did you actually decide on?"
Harley sighed. Since Hermione was asking this, she clearly hadn't received her Hogwarts letter yet either.
According to the rules, she couldn't reveal anything related to the world of magic to Muggles, so she had to keep dodging the question.
"...I have a curse where I'll die if I tell you which school I'm going to in July. You'd better ask me again in August."
"Bullshit!"
Hermione roared back in rebuttal.
Since last September, she had been dropping hints to find out if Harley planned to continue to Notting Hill's secondary school or test into another school, but Harley either changed the subject or remained tight-lipped.
Two months ago, having been pestered enough, Harley finally said she planned to apply to St. Paul's Girls' School, adding that because it was the best girls' school in all of Britain and the competition was too fierce, she hadn't dared tell anyone for fear of being ridiculed if she failed.
Hermione had been happy for a few days back then because St. Pauls was also her ideal goal. To that end, she had studied with grueling intensity and finally succeeded in getting her acceptance letter.
After getting the news, Hermione had been cautious and specifically asked a teacher at the admissions office, only to learn that there was no one named Harley Snape among this year's admitted students.
She hadn't even gone to the exam!
Hermione's face darkened, and she grit her teeth. "Harley Snape, tell me the truth—do you find me too annoying? Are you planning to ditch me, so you're deliberately not telling me where you're going, right?"
Harley looked bewildered, unable to fathom what kind of logic had led Hermione to such a conclusion.
Hermione didn't give Harley a chance to argue; she reached through the window, grabbed Harley's collar, and yanked her forward.
"You listen to me... you're never getting rid of me in this lifetime, do you understand!"
Hermione roared through gritted teeth, causing even Severus, who was cleaning up slugs, to stop his work and look over with a frown.
Thinking of Dumbledore's instructions, Severus hesitated for a moment but chose not to intervene.
Hermione was already losing control of her emotions, her eyes reddening as she continued to Harley:
"You won't be able to hide it from me once school starts in September—remember, I'm a top student at St. Pauls, and my parents are elite dentists. Even if it's a bit of a hassle, I'm confident I can transfer to whatever school you go to, you understand?"
"Uh, Hermione, calm down—"
"If you want me to calm down, then tell me—Ah! What is this!"
A majestic Eagle Owl had intended to land on the Snape Family's windowsill, but because Hermione and Harley were tangled together right there, the owl was unfortunately caught in the fray, its flapping wings knocking Hermione off balance.
Hermione was still clutching Harley's collar, so her stumble nearly pulled Harley right out of the house.
But Harley couldn't care about anything else right now—her acceptance letter had arrived!
Removing the letter from the Eagle Owl's leg and seeing the unique Hogwarts crest and her own name on it, Harley shouted happily:
"Yes! Good! I'm in!"
Hermione, still not quite realizing what was happening, cried out:
"You jerk, you're in what?!"
She had one hand on Harley's collar and the other clutching the owl's wing, looking positively frantic; meanwhile, Harley had one hand on the owl's leg and the other tightly gripping her Hogwarts acceptance letter. She wanted to go inside to share the joy with her parents but was stuck because of Hermione's grip.
The scene at the window was a chaotic mess, a literal picture from hell, leaving Professor McGonagall—who had just Apparated there to deliver Hermione's acceptance letter—completely bewildered.
It was Harley who spotted Professor McGonagall standing at The Granger Family's door, looking toward them with a dazed expression. Realizing that Hermione's acceptance letter had also arrived, she hurriedly said to Hermione:
"Your letter is here too, right over there—we're still going to be at the same school for the next seven years!"
Hermione froze for a moment upon hearing this, her instinct to retort that Harley was lying again.
Harley didn't waste any more words and simply showed the front of the Hogwarts acceptance letter to Hermione.
"See this? Hogwarts—"
"I'm going to Hogwarts. If you're willing to give up St. Pauls, you'll be coming here too. Now turn around and look at your front door. That's Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts; she must be here to give you your acceptance letter."
Hermione turned around and saw a very elegant woman indeed standing at her front door.
She was a bit confused by the situation and said blankly to Harley, "Hogwarts? I've never heard of it, nor did I ever attend an interview. Why would they send me an acceptance letter?"
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