Severus knew perfectly well that Nora was not a diffident girl. She was loud, brash, outspoken, and often rather annoying. Inherited from both fathers, naturally. For her to stay silent during a discussion when she knew something about the topic (or even if she didn't) was unheard of. Completely tactless at times. That was mainly inherited from Harry, even if Severus had been somewhat able to teach his little gremlin some manners and tact.
Nora had been known to correct… oh, anyone, if she thought they were wrong. Nora had corrected Harry and Severus before (par for the course), naturally, but she'd also cheerfully corrected the vast majority of the Hogwarts professors by the time she was eight – including one very bemused Headmaster.
So this situation was… odd, to say the least.
Nora was sitting amongst a group of her peers. One of the boys in her year and House was saying something. Severus listened surreptitiously. He knew the students couldn't see him behind the shelves.
The boy was making absolutely no sense. It was the greatest load of claptrap Severus had heard in the past… okay, hour, given that he was teaching idiots all day.
Nora didn't say anything, though. Severus knew that Nora could correct the boy without any difficulty.
So why wasn't she saying anything?
Wait. She was saying something.
She was making sounds of agreement. She was agreeing with the idiot.
He peeked through a gap in the books. The boy was looking puffed up with importance and looking at Nora fondly. He was also rather cute.
Oh.
It was suddenly very clear why Nora was agreeing with such idiocy. The boy wouldn't be so impressed with her if she started pointing out his fallacies.
But why would Nora want to date such an idiot?
"Oh," a voice sighed very close to his ear. It sounded rather disappointed.
Severus turned his head and smiled slightly. His husband was peering over his shoulder at Nora and her friends. "I'll never understand why she likes the idiot."
"I agree," Severus sighed. "The worst is that we can't even…"
"Oh, whether or not we had agreed to stay out of her love life, we still couldn't do anything about it. Teenage girls are notoriously difficult to talk out of things. Either it'll blow over or it won't. And if it doesn't…"
"I won't have that idiot as my son-in-law!" Severus hissed.
Harry laughed silently, shaking against Severus' back. "It's a little early for that, don't you think?"
"Well, perhaps," Severus admitted with a smile. "But, what does this say about the kind of man she'll choose later on?"
"Severus, just because she's interested in a good-looking idiot now doesn't mean that later in life she won't want to date an intelligent guy. And maybe she'll fall in a love with an idiot. I don't think you can choose whom you fall in love with."
Severus sighed heavily, and they returned their attention to spying on their suddenly diffident daughter.
Diffident – adj. 1. Lacking self-confidence; distrustful of one's own powers; timid; bashful. 2. Characterized by modest reserve; unassertive. Word of the Day, March 12, 2008)