Severus had just returned to his office after a particularly grueling day. After Potter had left Hogwarts, an even more terrible batch of children had come along. He was beginning to think that they were getting worse each year. All he wanted to do was relax by the fire with his new Potions book, but, alas, it was not to be.
His wife was bent over a cauldron on his desk that was spewing an almost noxious fume, working at gently coaxing the flames beneath it to life.
His nose crinkled slightly at the smell. "What are you doing?"
Luna turned at the sound of his voice and shot him a gleaming smile. Leaning against the doorjamb, Severus studied her and the mess of ingredients strewn across the desk.
"I'm trying to create a potion that will keep the Nargles away," she explained, then bent over the heavy cauldron bubbling before her.
Snape snorted quietly but did not otherwise react. The many years since Hogwarts had done nothing to lessen her beliefs in these imaginary creatures. But he knew she could never be convinced otherwise.
After all, he'd told her several times that those creatures didn't exist. She would just give him that vague smile and say the wrackspurts floating about his head were inhibiting his ability to think clearly. In fact, they now had a cactus in their bedroom that was supposed to keep these invisible pests at bay.
Soon, Snape's curiosity won out, and he straightened from his position and moved towards her to examine the ingredients she had laid out. A single brow rose at her choices. Goosegrass, peacock feathers, ashwinder eggs, cottongrass pods, daisy roots.
"You can't seriously be planning on mixing these together."
She met his eyes again, her lower lip jutting out and a crease forming between her brows as a look of confusion overtook her. "Why not?"
Severus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. As he spoke, his voice took on the same tone he used when lecturing a class of children that, he knew, would not remember what he'd said after the class was over.
"Ashwinder eggs and daisy roots, when mixed together, will cause the potion to be extremely volatile. You would know that if you'd paid an ounce of attention in my class."
Her brow smoothed as she smiled again. Reaching into her pocket, Luna pulled out a single chunk of moonstone.
"That's why I'm going to add this. It should stabilize the potion." Then, as more of an afterthought, she added, "I always paid attention in your class."
Snape scoffed and began to drum his fingers on the wooden table. "I still think this was a wasted effort."
The blonde girl turned back to the cauldron and began a series of precise counter-clockwise stirs. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see."
He couldn't help but admire her as she worked. Severus had always thought she was beautiful, but there was just something about seeing her like this, silver eyes narrowed in concentration and blonde hair tied into a knot at the back of her head with several strands straggling down to curtain her face – that had his heart beating just a little bit faster.
He watched her lips move as she counted the motions silently to herself – twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three. When she had stirred the mixture fifty times, she breathed a sigh and turned to face him again.
"What's all this for anyway?" he questioned. "I thought you said the Nargles didn't bother you anymore."
"Hmm? Oh, it's not for me."
Severus frowned slightly. "Who's it for then?"
A small smile settled across her lips, and her eyes took on a slightly dreamier quality. "The baby."
His frowned deepened as he tried to work through what she had said. "What baby?"
She grabbed his hand then and placed it on her stomach, fingers splayed. Meeting his eyes again, she whispered, "Our baby."
Luna wanted to laugh at the multitude of expressions – shock, disbelief, joy – that flitted across his face. So she did, and, after a moment, it looked like he almost wanted to laugh with her.