A/N: Hey guys, so here we are, this is the first chapter of the sequel of I'm in. If you read this story and haven't read, I'm in. I strongly advise you to read it first. Anyway, hope you like it.

J1974

Also: HAPPY 2019! May your year be filled with joy and friendship!

Chapter 1

Hermione climbed the stairs and went towards the nursery. As she made her way up, she began to hear his deep, rich and silk-like voice more and more clearly. Her husband's voice was so different when he spoke to his daughter. Any sign of coldness or hate went away, replaced with heat and love. She made the rest of the way towards the nursery and opened the door quietly.

Severus was sitting in one of the two rocking chairs next to his daughter's crib. Noxia was safely and sound asleep in the crook of his arms. He was rocking slowly back and forth whispering in his deep silk-like voice a lullaby to the sleeping infant. The sight she had before her eyes made her heart fill with love; so much, she thought it could burst at any given moment.

"Severus, darling, I just received a letter from the ministry. I think it's my N.E.W.T's results." Hermione whispered.

"She's finally asleep, I'll just put her down and we'll go downstairs and open that letter." Severus encouraged her, before standing from the rocking chair, his daughter still sleeping tightly in the crook of his arms.

"I don't know. I'm scared. What if I failed. What if I didn't get O in Charms. I will never become a Charms teacher." Hermione whispered, a tiny bit louder, her voice showing how panicked she was.

"Hey my love, hush now. You know perfectly well you did just fine with your N.E.W.T's. This is just routine for you. With the amount of time you spend studying. I would be extremely surprised if you got anything less than an O in every single one of your classes." Severus said, getting up from the rocking chair before putting his daughter down inside her crib.

They both exited the bedroom, placing a watching charm over their daughter's bedroom door, in order to know if their daughter woke up; before going down the stairs and into the living room.

"Alright, here we go." Hermione said, sitting onto the sofa and ripping the purple wax seal off and sat onto the couch.

Dear Mrs. Hermione Jean Snape,

Please find enclosed a copy of your Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests final grades.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your efforts throughout the first half of your academic year and in completing your N.E.W. T's with clearance from Anti-Cheating Quills and Anti-Cheating Spells. We hope you have received the grades you require for your chosen wizarding profession.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you good luck with your future wizarding career.

Griselda Marchbanks

Governor

Wizarding Examination Authority

Education Division

Ministry of Magic

Hermione pulled a second piece of paper out of the envelope and opened it.

Candidate: Hermione Jean Snape

Year of Exam: 1998

Examination Centre: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Charms: O

History of Magic: O

Arithmancy: O

Transfiguration: O

Muggle studies: O

Spell theory: O

Herbology: O

"So?" Severus asked impatiently, waiting for his wife to tell him the results she got.

"I think I did it Severus, I've got O's everywhere. Even in Herbology. I never thought I would have an O in Herbology after I confounded Mundane and Ordinary Tree Grassings."

"Herms, my love, I am so proud of you" Severus said as he took his wife into his arms and hugged her. He began to kiss her and the kiss quickly grew heated. He wanted to reward her thoroughly for everything. It had been more than three months since they last made love. The two last months of her pregnancy, Hermione was either too tired, or studying for her N.E.W.T's.

After a few seconds, she climbed onto his lap and took hold of his hair at the back of his head, trying to flush his skin closer to her own. He nestled his finger inside her messy auburn mane and massaged lightly her skull in time with his snogging, refusing to let go and intending to go through with what was about to come.

Unfortunately, she pulled back after ten good minutes of kissing. He let out a slight groan and she smiled before pecking his lips.

"We can't do this love, she's sleeping upstairs. She'll also need to be fed in thirty…" Hermione was cut short by Severus who began to suckle on her week spot on her neck.

"Please Severus, not today, we're both too tired." Hermione pleaded.

"All right, all right. Come here my perfect wife. Don't worry, nothing more than cuddling." He soothed her before taking her into his arms.

She settled into his embrace and he began to stroke her hairs tenderly. They stayed like that for a moment, and when he was about to let go of her, he saw that she was deeply asleep. It didn't surprise him, she hadn't had much sleep in the last few weeks, between her studies and the time it took her to breastfeed her daughter every two or three hours, she had only had a one or two hours of sleep straight. He took her more firmly in his arms and lifted her from the sofa. She nestled instinctively into him and put her arms around his neck and letting herself getting carried to the bedroom. When he reached their bedroom, he placed her onto the bed and pulled the covers above her body.

"Sleep well my wonderful witch." He told her placing a light kiss on her forehead. He made sure she was warm before climbing in bed with her and falling asleep himself.

Some time later, Severus was awoken by Hermione. It took a few seconds for him to reconnect to the reality and understand what she was saying.

"Someone took her. Severus. Someone took her" Hermione fear filled voice said.

Immediately, he understood that something was wrong. Something was wrong. He awoke fully and ran to his daughter's bedroom. The crib where he had placed his daughter was now empty. The small green and silver blanket she was wrapped in two hours ago was still in the bed, but Noxia wasn't. He searched through the room for his daughter, but he didn't find her. She was gone. He immediately rushed back into the bedroom and towards Hermione who was a complete mess.

"We're going to find her my love. I promise you we're going to find her." He said, kneeling next to her and hugging her as tight as possible.

"She's hungry. I can feel it. I have to feed her. She needs me. I need my baby." Hermione cried hugging Severus tighter. "Who could have done that, who could have done that to us?" Hermione asked herself between sobs.

"I don't know my love, I don't know. But I can promise you that I will kill them if they touched only one of her hair." Severus said defensively.

"What do we have to do now? I know that the sooner they can find her, the more chance we have to find her. Past seventy-two hours, there's practically no hope of finding her… alive and well. I can't lose her Severus. It'll kill me." Hermione said, crying harder as she thought about her daughter and what she must go through right now.

"We'll go to the Ministry right away. I'll Apparate us at the Ministry." Severus said, while taking his wand out from the pocket of his slacks.

"I can't go out in public like that, I'm not even dressed properly." Hermione said, her rational side taking a little over.

Severus quickly transfigured her clothes to something a little more appropriate and put her hair up in a messy bun. He then transfigured his own clothes to match his normal black teaching clothes only removing the matching billowing cloak. After helping Hermione up and placing a full set of wards onto the house, he Apparated the both of them at the ministry.

They rushed to a small reception desk inside the atrium. There, a mid-aged, red-haired woman stood with a stuck-on smile.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, how may I… Mr. and Mrs. Snape, it's an honor to have you here. Please, how may I help you?" The witch asked first in a bored fashion, then as she had recognized them, she had bowing her head at the both of them and immediately spoke with more respect.

"Hello, our daughter Noxia, Allana-Rose Snape was kidnapped. Less than 3 hours ago." Severus said to the witch, his voice usually so stern, now showing all his distress.

"Oh, um yeah, wait for a second." She said before scurrying off and passing through a service door.

The minutes passed and the both of them stayed there, rooted to the spot, not exactly knowing what to do. Hermione breasts now hurt so much she thought glass shards were piercing them. Finally, the witch came back accompanied to a grave looking man in bright purple clothing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Snape, if you will follow me. I'll set you up in a private salon. I am sure you don't want to be dealing with unwanted publicity right now. Nowadays they are practically everywhere…" He said. When he didn't get any reply from any of them, apart from Severus who rolled his eyes slightly, bothered at the man. He pointed his wand towards a door and opened it.

He made sign for them to enter the room and closed the door behind himself before once more addressing to the couple.

"I am very sorry to hear about what happened, the minister should be here shortly. Can I get anything for you? Coffee, tea, something a little stronger…?" The man asked in an unconcerned tone that angered Severus immediately.

"No thank you. If you could please leave us now" Severus said as he took Hermione in his arms and hugged her tightly before bringing her to a couch in the corner of the room

The man left and Hermione sobbed loudly in her husband's arms.

"It hurts Severus, it hurts so much" She said bringing her hands to her breast as she felt once again as though glass shards were shot at them.

"What hurts love?" he began before seeing her "Herms, love… I don't know what I can do. I think it's best if we call Poppy. I'll Patronus her." He said before seeing her nod and conjuring a Patronus. He explained the situation briefly, not knowing exactly what to say, and a tiny bit embarrassed he had to tell things like this to Poppy.

A few minutes later, they saw Poppy at the reception desk through the window of the office. Poppy came in and immediately pulled the curtains and warded the room.

"Hermione, Severus. I am so sorry about what happened. Tell me what can I do?" Poppy asked, her voice betraying her sadness.

"I don't know, but my breasts are hurting so much. Normally, it's only a light discomfort, but now, it's burning. I feel like I have cacti getting thrown at them." Hermione explained to Poppy.

"Oh, Hermione. I'm sorry, it's a characteristic symptom that your baby is hungry. You see, your body is in sync with hers, so if she's hungry, your breasts are going to produce milk and they tend to hurt as they fill up more and more. I'm afraid that the only way to stop the pain is to pump the milk." Poppy explained.

Hermione curled furthermore into Severus' chest. She felt as though she had completely failed to protect her child and do her role as a mother. She was so angry at herself that she cried. The pain in her breasts enhancing her emotional pain.

"Love, I think we should do what Poppy is proposing us" Severus told her, as he saw the pain she was in.

Slowly, she nodded and saw Poppy pointing her wand at her breasts. The Mediwitch whispered inanis in between her lips, and Hermione immediately felt the difference. Her tears doubled as she felt her breast emptied, knowing she had had to do it magically because she had failed to protect her own child.

He too felt bad. On his wedding day, he had promised Hermione not to let anything bad happen to her or to their children and today, Noxia had been kidnapped. He felt so bad about it. He felt as though he had failed his role as a husband and as a father and it was consuming him.

Finally, Tiberius Ogden, 36th Ministry for Magic, came in. He was wearing a purple bowler hat and his outdoor cloak showed he had rushed to the ministry without previous warning.

"Mr. and Mrs. Snape, I am terribly sorry for your daughter's disappearance. I have put every available Auror on her trail and I can promise you, they are doing what is in their power to have you reunite with her sooner rather than later." The man said, bowing his head to the both of them.

"Do you have any news? Anything at all." Pleaded Hermione.

"No, unfortunately, we don't have anything right now. I was hoping you could give us more information about how the afternoon went. It might help us to understand what happened exactly and find your daughter quicker." Tiberius said, sitting in a large chair opposite them.

"Well, I received my N.E.W.T's results after lunch, it was about 10 a.m.. I went upstairs, in our daughter's room to find my husband. He had just managed to put her asleep, Merlin knows how rare those moments are, so he placed her in her crib and placed the warning charm on the door. Then, we went downstairs, I read my results and fell asleep in his arms. He brought me to our bedrooms and we slept. We're so tired as of lately, we needed to rest. When we woke up, she was… she was…" She explained before breaking into tears.

"She was gone…" Severus finished for her before taking her in his arms further and comforting her.

"It's my fault, everything is my fault." Hermione sobbed. "I should have known my baby was in danger."

"It's not your fault Mrs. Snape" Mr. Ogden told her. "You did what every parent would have done. You are allowed to rest from time to time. You're only human after all, don't put the blame on yourself. The only person that should be blamed is the one who has kidnapped her." Mr. Ogden said.

"Herms, do you want me to inform your friends about the situation?" Severus said after a few moments.

"Yes, please. I don't have the strength to do it. I just feel so drained." Hermione said pulling slightly away from him.

Right at that moment, a small black dressed man entered the room.

"Minister, we found her, we found Miss Snape." He said before seeing that Severus and Hermione were there.

"Where is she? Tell me where my daughter is." Severus said immediately alert.

"She is in the hospital wing…" The man responded. But before he had the time to finish, Severus, Hermione, followed shortly after by Mr. Ogden, were already running towards the hospital wing of the Ministry.

They entered the room where there was a small bed surrounded by at least a dozen person. Hermione sobbed at the sight and it took Severus all his will power not to do the same. Seeing this tiny bed where his daughter was surrounded by so many people wasn't a good sign at all.

When the doctor responsible of their daughter saw them, he went towards them to fill them in on the situation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Snape, my name is Healer Montgomery. I am in charge of your daughter's case. She is not seriously injured, just a few cuts and bruises and we're currently assessing further along her condition, but I don't think she will have any scar. We'll be finished in a few minutes. She has an I.V. because she is a little dehydrated, but we should take it from her in a few hours. Oh, seems like the tests are done, you can go and see her." He told them before Hermione sprinted towards the bed.

"Hey Noxia, my love, momma's here, dada's here. Everything is going to be alright." Hermione said placing a small curl of her daughter's hair behind her ear.

"Who found her? Where?" Severus asked to the healer as low as possible so Hermione wouldn't know w.

"Lucius Malfoy. Everyone was alerted of your daughter's kidnapping and he was about to leave his Manor when he saw his son. He is the one who kidnapped your daughter. He battled to get her back from his son, that's how she got the cuts and bruises. As soon as he had her, he came here to have her healed." The healer explained to Severus.

"Thank you, Healer Montgomery, I'll rejoin my wife and child." Severus said before going to his daughter's bed.

"Hey, my little angel, you gave us quite a scare, your momma and I. We're glad you're alright. I promise you we'll always be there for you my love. Always" Severus said, his daughter who was budging slightly before was now completely still as her father talked to her. Hermione and Severus stayed for a few hours with their daughter before Healer Montgomery came in the room

"Mr. and Mrs. Snape, we're going to take your daughter's I.V. out. Then you'll be able to hold her." He informed the couple.

Hermione stood up from the small chair that was installed next to her daughter's bed and waited for the doctor to finish taking the I.V. out of her arm before transfiguring the chair to a comfortable armchair in which she would be able to feed her child.

"I have bad news unfortunately." Healer Montgomery told the two parents "Your child has a serious lack of magic. Her magic should shield her from small intrusive charms, and unfortunately it doesn't. I think it is due to an overdose of stress induced hormones during the pregnancy. There are many ways with which I could heal her, could you tell me how the whole pregnancy went?" The Healer said conjuring another armchair for Severus and a small chair and desk for him.

"Well, we think I became pregnant around March or April, but I only realized it on the first of May. The day of Hogwarts Battle. During the time I didn't know I was pregnant, I used Polyjuice Potion and fled Gringotts Bank. I gave birth on the 21st November at our holiday home. Nothing went wrong." Hermione explained looking the whole time at her daughter, who was sleeping inside the small medical cot.

"So, she turned one month old two days ago." The healer said as he looked at his watch to know what date it was.

"Yes, we were supposed to go celebrate Christmas Eve tomorrow with some friends, but I don't think we'll be able; seeing her current condition." Severus then informed the Healer.

"No, don't worry, she can travel, but only by Floo and/or the Knight Bus. No Apparition as her powers are far too low. But if you can do everything by Floo. I see no problem in you going to your friends" Healer Montgomery said.

"Alright, Floo it is then. I just have a tiny question. Can she come back home with us tonight?" Hermione asked, a bit panicked as she didn't like hospitals and had always thought the farthest away, she was from one, the best it was.

"I'll just have to run a full diagnosis, and if everything is alright, I see no reasons why little Noxia couldn't go back home. However, I don't want to give you false hopes. You will both have to be with her as long as possible, so she can build up her magical resources. You will be tired, so I am going to give the both of you some vitamins and will make an appointment for next week, to see if she builds those reserves back up." The Healer told them.

"Alright" Hermione half-said. She was still holding her sleeping daughter, stroking the few black curls on the top of her head, but Severus felt her distress. He knew how much she despised hospitals and he clearly felt as though she thought she was responsible for the situation.

"Excuse me Healer, but would it be possible for you to come over and do the check up at our home? My wife isn't particularly keen on hospitals and I think Noxia would be more relaxed if she was in a familiar setting." Severus asked the healer.

"I don't see why not. Let's say January third? Is it alright for you?" The Healer asked waving his wand and making a large agenda appear in front of him.

"It will be at Hogwarts, you see my husband returns to his teaching position." Hermione informed him, hoping that her daughter will be discharged as early as possible.

"No problem, let's check on that little angel, shall we. Your daughter did face serious injuries, that we healed, but as her magic levels are very low, she might take a longer time to heal…" The Healer explained to the parents as he took his stethoscope out of his pocket.

Hermione held onto her daughter's hand a tiny bit tighter than previously. She let nevertheless the Healer examine her daughter and was reassured when she heard the Healer telling her that her daughter was completely fine and that her magic supplies were already building back up.

"She's free to go Mr. and Mrs. Snape. I just need you to sign these forms. Maybe you would want to call someone to bring you some clothes and a baby carrier for your daughter?" Montgomery told them.

"Thank you so much Healer Montgomery. See you in January then" Hermione said nodding her head in acknowledgement to the doctor.

"Thank you, Healer." Severus said shaking his hand before he exited the room.

"I'm so sorry my loves. I'm so sorry you both had to go through all that. I promise you it will never happen ever again loves." Severus said on the brink of tears.

Malfoy had once again hurt his wife. Sure, the first time she wasn't his, but he still had hurt her and the pain she had had to endure had touched him. At the time, he had promised himself that he would not let anything happen to her ever again. At the time, he couldn't do anything because of the Unbreakable Vow. Now that Narcissa was dead, he could do whatever he wanted to avenge himself. The little bastard was going to pay and he would not understand what had hit him. Severus would make sure he would be broken and miserable when all that was finished.

Hermione knew her husband better than anyone and she could tell by the look of fury he harbored that he wasn't happy, in fact he was fulminating.

"Hey love, what is it. Tell me." Hermione said stroking Severus' arm lightly to appease his furor.

"It's nothing love…" He began to say before looking at his wife and seeing that there was absolutely no point for him to lie. "I know who kidnapped Noxia. I know who tried to harm our family."

"Why don't you tell me?" Hermione asked puzzled.

"I don't want you to be mad love, you won't like it. At all." Severus began pleading with his wife.

"I am going to be mad if you hide things from me Sev, and either way I won't like the person who tried to harm my child. Tell me now Severus" Hermione said, her voice showing the built up anger she had in herself.

"It's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. I swear to Merlin that he will pay. I don't want any of you to go through what you did once more. I want to know you're safe. I should have done this the first time he hurt you." Severus said tearing up.

"Sev, it's not your fault. You did absolutely nothing wrong. I know your hands were tied but now that Narcissa is dead, you're released of your vow, we will make him confront his actions. We'll stop us from harming our family furthermore. He'll pay for what he did to me and our daughter. I promise you. Furthermore, if you had acted before Narcissa's death, you would have died. You would have died and I would have been alone with Noxia. I wouldn't have been able to manage anything without you." Hermione said to Severus before hugging him tightly, feeling him relax as the smell of her hair filled his nose.

"Do you mind if I call Harry to bring us the necessary for Noxia, or you'd rather call someone else?" Hermione asked, knowing Severus didn't particularly like Harry.

Harry had met Noxia when she had come to Hogwarts for her examination, and had immediately clicked on with her. Severus had agreed for Harry and Ginny to be godparents and it had filled Hermione's heart with joy.

"No, go ahead love." Severus said.

Hermione took her wand out of her pocket and quickly conjured up her small otter.

"Harry, it's Hermione. I'm sorry to bother you at such ungodly hours of the night, but could you go to our home and take a travel cot and some warm clothes for Noxia to wear then come to the Ministry. I'll explain you later, but if you could hurry, I would be so grateful." Hermione said to the Patronus before sending it away.

Thirty minutes later, Harry was there. He had the cot and a full bag with baby stuff. Severus who had been caressing his daughter's tiny hand in his own immediately straightened up and took the same expression he took in front of his students.

"Professor, Hermione. Is everything all right?" Harry asked concerned.

"Everything is all right now Harry. Noxia was kidnapped, by Draco Malfoy. She is fine and all clear to go, but we didn't have anything to cover her with, neither to transport her in, so we called you." Hermione said reassuringly to Harry.

"I swear to god he will pay. Wait until I see him again." Harry said, gritting his teeth in anger.

"You will do no such thing Harry. I don't want to have to bring Noxia to Azkaban to visit you. You'll let justice go its way." Hermione said, her voice leaving no doubt to Harry at how serious she was.

"Alright Hermione, alright. If he doesn't come and hurt any of you I wont do anything, but if he comes close to Noxia ever again, I can swear to Merlin he'll pay." Harry said, seeing red at the thought of Malfoy wanting to hurt Noxia.

He handed the bag and the cot to Severus who thanked him before heading back towards the bed and began preparing Noxia to leave. Hermione looked at him the whole time, relieved to see that her daughter was fine and uninjured.

"Harry, I don't know if we'll be able to come tomorrow for Christmas Eve. Noxia needs to rest and travelling might not be the best option at the moment…" Hermione explained to Harry, sounding apologetically.

She knew how impatient Molly and Arthur were of seeing Noxia. When she had to wipe her parents' memories, they immediately took her under their wing and helped her for the first few months. For her, they were like her parents now. She felt bad about the fact of having to call them and cancel their coming.

"Maybe we could spend Christmas at your place? If it's alright with the three of you, of course. Everyone could bring food and you would be able to focus on Noxia and not be worried of travelling while she's recovering." Harry proposed to the both of them.

"We wouldn't want to disturb, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have already done so much for us …" Hermione said a little embarrassed that they had to move their schedules around for them.

"Nonsense 'Mione. You know Mrs. Weasley will be beyond happy to see Noxia, and we'll finally see your place. Plus, if Noxia is tired she'll be able to sleep in a familiar place and be less disturbed than being in an unfamiliar setting."

"Love. What do you think about it?" Hermione asked, turning to Severus who was dressing Noxia up to leave.

"I think it would be better, as Harry pointed out, Noxia will be in a familiar setting and less stressed than usual.

"I'll ask the Weasley if they are alright with it. I don't know who they had planned to invite too, but I would be happy to have everyone home. There's a tiny bit of decorating to do however." Hermione said happily to Harry.

"Don't worry Hermione, we'll come and help you with that if you want. You just have to let us know when we could come and we'll help you set everything up." Harry proposed once more to Hermione.

"Love, Noxia's ready to go, I just have to get her in the cot and we can leave and go back home." Severus said when they had finished their conversation.

"Perfect, Harry, I am so sorry to ask you for that, but could you ask the Weasley's if they're alright in coming to the Clearing?" Hermione asked to Harry as he was heading for the exit.

"The Clearing?" Harry asked to Hermione.

"Yeah, it's the name we have chosen for our holyday house in the clearing. It is connected via the Floo network." Hermione informed Harry.

"Ok I'll ask. I'll send you Dobby with the answer." Harry said.

"Dobby, who's Dobby?" Hermione asked.

"My owl. I named him after Dobby. He saved our lives back in Malfoy Manor. So I wanted for him to live on through my owl." Harry said, his voice suddenly full of sadness as he remembered the house elf who had saved his life nearly a year ago.

Harry bid farewell to Hermione and Severus and kissed his goddaughter on the forehead tenderly before exiting the small hospital room.

Hermione went back towards Severus who was holding the cot were Noxia was deeply asleep. She kissed him tenderly and flicked her wand so that all the furniture was transfigured back to their original state.

Severus placed a glamour on his wife and himself before conjuring a blanket to cover Noxia's cot with so that she would not be seen. They headed out to the first Floo connected chimney and finally came back home with a sound asleep Noxia.

They didn't notice the pair of grey and sliver eyes which had been watching them the entire time they had spent at the Ministry.

AN: So this chapter is a bit longer than what I am used to write. Tell me if you liked it. See you next week.

J1974