Disappointing Grandpa

Boom.

"Be careful!" Severus Snape scolded an unfortunate first year student who had managed to make their cauldron explode. "You're going to hurt someone."

"Excuse me, Professor Snape?" Professor Vex, a regular substitute teacher said, opening the potions classroom door slightly. "You're needed in the hospital wing."

"Thank you," Severus said, masking his confusion. Why would he be needed in the hospital wing? Immediately his mind flew to his grandchildren - James, Albus, and Lily. He had earlier realized that they had not been in Potions class that day, but had brushed it off, thinking they had decided to skip class. Now, he noticed that his foster grandchildren, Naomi and Scorpius, had not been in class either, and realized something must have gone been wrong.

Severus hurried to the hospital wing as fast as his legs could carry him which, in his old age, wasn't very fast. When he arrived, he noticed that an extra room had been magically added to the corner of the room. Something told him that was where he needed to be.

Severus looked at the scene on the other side of the door and his heart broke. Lying in the hospital bed was the body of his only granddaughter, thin from the lack of nourishment, unconscious from the sleeping draught.

Maybe if he had to have seen the signs he could have stopped it. Maybe if he knew what his granddaughter was going through she wouldn't be lying in the hospital on five different potions. But there were people who had known and yet here she was.

"How could you let this happen, Lyra?" He yelled at the main nurse in charge. "She's your niece!"

"Dad-"

"No," he said turning to his son, anger blatant on his aged face. "She knew, Harry! She knew how much pain she was in!"

"No one knew, grandpa," His youngest grandson said, making his anger disappear a little bit.

His face softened when he looked at the teenager that reminded him so much of himself. "Albus-"

"Albus is right," the blonde foster child sitting by Lily's head said, Severus looked at him and noticed that tears were freely falling down his face. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

"It isn't your fault, Scorpius," even if it was, Severus couldn't bring himself to blame a fifteen year old.

Who you should be blaming is you, the devil inside of him said. You knew she was skipping class.

"Do we know what happened to her yet?" Severus asked asked, ignoring the negative thoughts inside his head.

"Dehydration," Harry said with a sigh. "She's also underweight and slightly malnourished."

"She hasn't been eating," Severus said, it wasn't a question. He knew as soon as he heard what was wrong.

"She wasn't eating in the great hall," the younger foster child said with a frown. "She would tell us she ate in the kitchens."

"You had no reason not to believe her," Severus said with a frown of his own. "She had fooled all of us."

When she woke up she was surrounded by family that she promptly forced to get out, she didn't want anyone to see her do so weak. Her Aunt Lyra didn't exactly agree with her being alone, so she restricted Lily's visitors to two people at a time. (Even though Lily would have been more than happy to be alone.)

It was three in the afternoon and already they had her parents, both her brothers, Scorpius, Naomi, and her best friend Ember come to talk to her. Every time someone came in the room Lily would turn away from them and she wouldn't speak. Didn't they get the point that she didn't want to talk to anybody? That she didn't want to see anybody?

Lily was lying on her side facing away from the door, but she still heard someone come in. She was awake; and she wondered who was left to bother her, but she refused to look at whoever it was in the room

"'Lily? I know you're awake."

"Grandpa Sev?" Lily asked, afraid to turn over. She didn't want to look at the disappointment in her grandfather's obsidian eyes.

"Hey Princess," he said softly. "Look at me."

Lily reluctantly turned around to face her grandfather but she was surprised at what she saw; instead if the disappointment she expected all she saw was hurt. Lily's stomach dropped as she looked away from him in shame.

"You know your grandmother spent time in the hospital wing for dehydration too." Lily could hear the smile in her grandfather's voice. "She was studying for OWLs and she neglected to do anything but study."

"That's stupid," Lily said with a frown. "Why did she study so much?"

"She was stubborn," Severus said with a laugh. "You're a lot like her."

"I'm sorry," Lily said still not looking up.

"For what?"

"Everything," Lily whispered with a frown. "Not eating, being stubborn, and being a disappointment..."

"Lilian Luna Potter, look at me," Severus said in his don't disobey me voice, causing Lily to look up with tears in her eyes. "You. Are. Not. A. Disappointment." Severus wrapped his arms around her while Lily cried into his chest. Then why do I feel like one? She thought sadly to herself.

Severus stayed with Lily for the rest of the night, holding her, and telling her stories of her grandmother. He wasn't sure if she was listening half the time but at least it was something. Although his granddaughter was pretty messed up, and he felt like he had failed as a grandfather (after all, it was his job to notice if everything wasn't okay with his grandchildren) Severus was sure that Lily was going to make a full recovery.

Written For; The Quidditch League Competition; Captain; family role: grandparent