My son's ferret died suddenly just a few days before Valentine's day. I was heartbroken for him and for myself because my little 'grandferret' was the sweetest thing. She had been ill, but seemed to be on the rebound which made her death difficult for both of us. This story was the result. It's not beta'd, so please forgive me.

Also, I deal with the rather iffy subject of pets and the afterlife. Please remember that our religious beliefs may not be the same, even within the same belief system, and I ask that you respect that and simply understand that this story arose from my grief.

"DADDY!"

The sudden scream from his eight-year-old daughter caused Severus Snape to drop his teacup and paper and leap from his chair. As he made his way toward the source of the noise, a small body crashed into his and held him tightly. Even though Lauren was much too old to be held, she crawled her way up his body, and he naturally pulled her close, her legs wrapping around his waist, and asked what had happened.

Lauren had her head pressed into his shoulder so all he heard was a muffled, "Monroe…breathing… dead," followed by further unintelligible words and much weeping.

"Pumpkin, what is it?" Severus asked as he pulled her away from his neck. The look on her face crushed him. Something had happened, and it was bad, and all Severus wanted to do was take his daughter away and hide her from the hurt she was experiencing.

"Oh, Da," she sniffed wetly, "I went clean Monroe's cage, and when I opened the door and pulled away her blanket, she was all stiff and shaking. I had no time to call you when she suddenly stopped and wasn't breathing anymore." Lauren ended in a wail, pressing her face back into Severus' shoulder.

"Severus," called a voice just coming into the room; Hermione Snape had just entered the sitting room from the kitchen. "What's all the fuss?" she stopped short when she saw her daughter and husband. "What has happened?" she asked gently.

Severus answered quietly, "Her pet has died."

Hermione gasped. "We were just playing with her yesterday! What happened? Lauren? What happened?"

A fresh round of weeping curtailed any possibility of response from the girl, so Severus answered.

"From what little she said, the ferret had a seizure and died."

Hermione approached the pair and tugged them to sit on the sofa, where she sat beside them, rubbing Lauren's back. "But Monroe seemed to be getting better. She had been putting on some weight again and was scampering about like usual."

Severus shrugged and pulled Lauren away from him, asking, "Do you want to your mum to hold you?" he asked. Lauren shook her head violently and clasped her father closer.

Hermione smiled and gave a final rub to her daughter's back. "It's all right love; Dad will cuddle you all you want. Shall I go and take care of Monroe?" she asked, looking pointedly at Severus.

Severus nodded and sat back a bit more on the sofa to adjust the way he was holding Lauren. Once they were settled, he Accio'd a handkerchief and began to wipe Lauren's face.

"Sit up, pumpkin, so I can help wipe your face. There we go," he said as he gently wiped the tears.

"Daddy, why?"

"I don't know, my little love. Monroe was ill for a while; perhaps she just never got better?"

"But the man at the Magical Menagerie said she was getting better!"

"I know, but sometimes, it's just not possible to predict every little illness. Mum and I couldn't have possibly known that you would get Dragon Pox when you were three. We couldn't have known it meant that you would lose your hearing and need your hearing aids. We simply can't know everything."

Lauren sighed, "I know." She took the cloth from Severus and wiped her eyes and then blew her nose. "Da, will Monroe go to the afterlife?"

Severus cleared his throat. Death was always a touchy subject with children. He had dealt with this since the early days of his tenure as head of house and now has headmaster. It was never easy to explain to a child that a parent or sibling had died and all the subsequent questions that came with it. Pets and death was a muddier topic to discuss given the tenets of many beliefs.

"There are many different thoughts about pets and the afterlife, pumpkin. Some cultures believe that pets go to a place just outside heaven or that culture's ultimate home of reward. Some believe that in order to go to the afterlife you must be able to be capable of thinking; animals are more instinctual and therefore unable to go. Some believe that God, or perhaps a higher being, would not create a pet capable of loyalty and devotion to its owner without allowing it to go to some special reward after its death." He looked at Lauren, who wore a thoughtful expression.

"What do you think, Da?"

Severus groaned internally. He knew he didn't believe animals went to heaven, but at this very moment in time, he could not tell Lauren that. Perhaps when she was older and could look at the entire subject of death with a more adult mind. For right now, he needed to offer his daughter some comfort. "I believe that Monroe will find some reward in the afterlife. Just what sort of reward, I don't know. What do you think?"

Lauren fiddled with the buttons on Severus' coat before answering, tracing her fingers around the pattern of snakes that decorated each one.

"I believe that Monroe will go heaven and be there waiting for me. I think she'd like that."

"Then that's what we'll believe," said Severus as he ran a hand over Lauren's face, softly incanting a cleaning spell to clear her nose and eyes. He then removed her Alice band and combed back the strands of hair that had fallen into her face with his fingers and settled the band back in place. The pair then leant back together and remained silent, each with their own thoughts.

"Severus, Lauren?" Hermione called as she entered the room again. "I've found a box with some soft bedding and laid Monroe and I've laid in it and made her tidy. What would you like to do with her, sweetie?"

Lauren sat up. "Do you think she'd like to lay near Crookshanks, Mummy? For company?"

Hermione smiled. Crookshanks died when Lauren was two years old, but her daughter knew of the brave Kneazle from many stories Hermione had told her at bedtime. "Yes, I think she'd like that. Are you ready to do it now?"

Lauren nodded, but the tears welling up in her eyes belied her courage. She ran to her mother, who caught her in a hug. "Oh, lovey-my-love," Hermione crooned, using her special pet name for her daughter, "it will be all right, I promise. Not right now of course, but eventually."

Severus stood and went to his girls, wrapping his arms around them both. "Come," he said. "Let's take Monroe to her final resting place and then we shall settle in for the night. We'll have a light supper and read a few stories, okay?" He felt his ladies nod in response.

Hermione magically called for the box which held the body of the ferret and the family walked through the kitchen door and down the garden path.