Author's Notes:
This was started because I got Severus/Remus in my head and just couldn't shake it. As usual, I had some characters in mind, set my fingers to the keyboard, and let the muses take over. At this point, I think I know how this story will progress if I continue it, but it would be FREAKISHLY long. Still, if there are enough good reviews and enough people ask to see what happens next, I will continue to work on it as the muses instruct. If you've read any of my other stuff, you'll see that my updates are not regular or often. Nothing ever gets abandoned, though.
As for a plot summary, without giving away the whole enchilada, Severus and Remus are married and have three biological children as well as two wards. The story starts the holiday season before Harry is to start Hogwarts.
This chapter is rated PG just because of some innuendos. I have no idea how high rating will get in the future. It may depend greatly on reader feedback.
So please read and if you really want to read more, review. If I don't get reviews, this will go to the bottom of the priority list behind other things that are begging to be written.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his universe, I only own the OCs.
On with the show:
CHAPTER ONE
"Papa?" came a timid voice from behind the potions master as he watched the cauldron's contents turn a sickly shade of green.
"Cambrya, I'm working," he said firmly. If it had been anyone but his children or husband interrupting him, Severus would have let his voice sound menacing. His youngest, though, was still a little young to fully grasp the importance of focus while making potions, and he just couldn't bring himself to play scary potions professor with her. Still, if he wasn't firm, she might not appreciate how serious he was.
Cambrya didn't respond, but her presence was still keenly felt behind him.
"Sweetheart, I'm almost finished. Why don't you go back upstairs and wait?" Severus suggested patiently. "It won't take me more than a few more minutes."
Obediently, the five-year-old trudged back up the basement steps to the kitchen.
Honestly, Severus had expected her to nap a little longer. It was the only reason he'd gone to the basement in the first place. Usually, he avoided brewing potions while he was the only parent at home. Cambrya's fatigue, though, had seem significant. She'd even volunteered for the nap. Therefore, Severus thought he knew his daughter well enough to expect a solid two hours of sleep from her.
Sure enough, five minutes later the potion was finished. He poured it into some vials, corked them, and put them away in the cabinet. After magically locking it, he magically cleaned up, and then jogged up the stairs to the kitchen.
The Snape home had a very open floorplan, something that had taken Severus quite awhile to get used to. His husband had insisted, though, and argued for such a design's practicality when there were numerous children to keep track of. In the end, Severus had been forced to agree the first time he'd been left in charge of the older four children at meal time which required his presence in the kitchen.
As he turned off the basement light, he expected to hear the television playing from the cozy family room off the kitchen, but it was completely silent in the house. Cambrya was simply sitting at the kitchen table, her little legs dangling off the chair. She was biting her lower lip and twisting her fingers in knots, a very apprehensive expression on her face. Severus offered her a smile. "Now what can I do for you?" he asked, squatting down in front of her.
Cambrya's eyes flicked to the hallway and then back at him. "I didn't mean to," she said quietly.
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Mean to do what, my little water sprite?" He scooped her into his arms and held her close. It only took a few seconds to realize that she was inordinately warm, maybe even feverish.
Her eyes flicked towards the hallway again.
Severus ran through the contents of the hallway, trying to determine if there was anything she could have broken while running through the house. In fact, the hallway was always the cleanest place in the house, besides the kitchen, because neither Severus nor the love of his life could stand tripping over things when moving from one room to the next. Intrigued, Severus went over to the swinging door and pushed it open, only to be met with a pungent, unmistakable odor coming from the downstairs lieu.
Apparently, Cambrya's lunch was no longer in her stomach. Cambrya put her hands over his eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, clearly embarrassed.
"It's alright, sweetheart," he said gently, as he rubbed her back. "Why didn't you tell me you got sick?"
Cambrya frowned. "You were working."
Severus chuckled to himself. "And you're almost too well behaved for your own good sometimes. Do you still feel sick to you stomach?" he asked.
Cambry nodded.
"Maybe rinsing your mouth out will help," he suggested. "Scourgify," he commanded, pointing his wand at the mess in the lavatory. He moved the foot stool out with his foot, gently put her down, and filled a cup of water for her. "Rinse well."
"It makes my throat burn," Cambrya said with watery eyes after she spit.
Severus nodded. "I know, angel. Papa has a potion for that."
"We're back!" there was suddenly a clamour coming from the front door and Severus could hear the unmistakable sound of four sets of feet in the foyer.
Cambrya jumped, startled. Having lived in a boisterous house for five years, she was no stranger to loud entrances, so her discomfort at the sudden rise in household volume was a testament to minor illness.
Severus picked her up and stepped out into the hall. "Boys, keep it down, please. Cambrya's not feeling very well."
"Sorry, Dad," replied the twins in unison. Cole and Cameron we so identical that, like the Weasley twins, they could convincingly switch places. Luckily, at eight years old, they were still young enough to heed Severus' stern warnings about such pranks directed at him.
"Sorry Uncle Sev," Draco said sympathetically. He flashed Cambrya a smile. "Too bad we didn't know you were sick, Cammie. We could have talked Uncle Remus into ice cream or something."
Cambrya made a disgusted face, shook her head, and buried her face against the front of Severus' robes. Again, for a five-year-old to be repulsed by ice cream, she had to sick.
"Speaking of Reme," Severus replied, looking over his godson's head, "Where is he?"
"He says you're not to come out while he's hiding presents in the garage," Harry answered with a grin.
The garage was something that Severus still felt odd about. While Remus was pregnant with Cambrya, he'd gotten it into his head that the children needed more of a balance between magic and muggleness in their lives. So, they'd bought a car and a television as well as a few odd gadgets that Remus found strange enjoyment in when he was in a particularly domestic mood. Severus was fairly certain that a fireplace in the garage was far from commonplace in the muggle world, but Remus had insisted that a garage was where transportation devices were stored. Therefore, the garage was were they kept not only the car, but brooms, and the fireplace which was permanently on the floo network. In the end, Severus had to admit that it was nice knowing they wouldn't be unexpectedly interrupted in the privacy of their own home.
Severus sighed. "He went overboard again, didn't he?"
The ten year olds just grinned and shrugged.
Severus sighed again. His husband's lust for outdoing himself every Christmas was insatiable. "Alright, upstairs with all of you. Put your new clothes in your dressers right away."
The four boys trudged up the stairs, talking animatedly about the latest racing broom, and Severus looked down at his daughter. Her thumb had crept into her mouth. She had never sucked on her thumb as a baby, and even when she was sick, she didn't actually suck, she just rested it there.
"Good evening!" Remus said cheerily as he came in a moment later, his breath still visible as it poured out of his chilled body. "The boys already head upstairs?"
Severus nodded. "What did you buy that took so long to hide?"
Remus laughed as he took off his coat. "It wasn't all for you. I managed to sneak a few gifts for the boys into the parcels as well."
"Oh I see," Severus replied with a smile. Spoiling the children at Christmas was something altogether different.
"There's my girl!" Remus exclaimed quietly once his coat was on it's hook. He reached out to Cambrya and lifted her out of Severus' arms. He paused, a frown on his face. "Am I really that cold or are you a little warm?"
"I suspect she has a mild fever," Severus answered, turning, and heading for the kitchen.
"I didn't mean to!" Cambrya said defensively once more.
Severus looked over his shoulder with a little frown. "Cambrya, we've already talked about that. It's alright. Papa wasn't angry with you."
Remus watched them as he cuddled their daughter closely. "What didn't she mean to do?"
"She threw up," Severus explained patiently. "But she didn't quite make it to the toilet."
"Oh, sweetheart!" Remus exclaimed rocking Cambrya in his arms. "That's what magic cleaning is for!"
Severus nodded. "Precisely."
Remus sat Cambrya on the kitchen counter. "Is it just your tummy?"
Cambrya shook her head and placed a hand up next to her ear.
Remus sighed. "Another ear infection."
Severus frowned. "That's three since August. I am not an expert, but I believe the frequency of ear infections is not usually so high."
"The boys certainly haven't had them this often, and they wear warm caps much less frequently," Remus replied as he opened the magical pantry. The magical pantry was hidden behind their regular one. It contained some of the more common ingredients for household potions, simple healing potions, and magical food items. Thankfully, it was also magically locked, because otherwise the boys would happily gorge themselves on Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavor Beans.
"Hey, Dad? What's for dinner?" Cole suddenly asked from the doorway.
Remus glanced at the refrigerator where a meal plan was hung next to each of the children's most recent accomplishments. "Meat Loaf," he answered as he drew out a dropper full of liquid from one of the potion bottles.
Cole made a face.
"What's for dessert?" tried Cameron.
"Probably nothing," Remus answered.
Severus smirked, knowing full well what was going through his husband's mind.
"What?! Why?" the boys raged.
Cambrya covered her ears and cowered.
Remus took a deep breath, put the potion down, and advanced on the twins. "Number one, dessert is contingent on you finishing dinner. Since you tend not to finish meatloaf, I wouldn't count on a sweet this evening. Two, your sister is not feeling well. I have no doubt that your father already told you that. Therefore, if you can't keep your voices down, I am sure I can come up with something highly constructive for you to do separately."
The boys looked horrified at the ultimate punishment – separation. "Yes, sir," they agreed quietly.
Remus nodded with satisfaction and returned to the little girl on the counter. "However, if you can manage to finish your dinners, I'm fairly certain that there is peppermint ice cream in the freezer."
The boys opened their mouths to cheer, but Severus shot them a warning look. Instead, they made a great show of silently pantomiming their joy at this news which earned them the smallest of smiles from Cambrya.
Remus chuckled. "Alright you two, go find something to stay out of trouble for an hour." With that, he waved his wand around the kitchen before turning his attention back on Cambrya and the medicine dropper. How he could carefully administer her ear drops with all the commotion of the dinner making itself was beyond Severus.
"Nooooooo," Cambrya said quietly, trying to push Remus' hand away.
Remus smiled sympathetically and kissed her forehead. "It'll make it feel better, sweetheart. It's okay." Gently, he guided her head over so that the afflicted ear was up. "Severus? Would you get me a little cotton?"
Severus nodded and held out his hand. "Accio cotton ball."
Remus laughed softly as he let the drops fall into the pink little ear. "You are getting so lazy."
"The children are wizards, Remus. As much as it is possible to live like a muggle, and as much as I agree about exposing them to non-magic life skills, they shouldn't be surprised when magic is used in every day instances. After all, you use magic to cook with."
"Only when I don't have enough hands," Remus countered.
Severus opened his mouth just a little, trying to decide if his next statement was really a good idea or not. "I could handle her drops."
Remus' head snapped up and he glared at Severus. "She's my daughter, Severus."
Severus glared right back. "As well as mine."
"Don' fight. Please?" Cambrya asked meekly.
Remus turned to her, his features softening. "We're not fighting, darling. Papa just doesn't understand how you and me work."
Cambrya looked at Severus skeptically before reaching over to him.
Severus was not entirely surprised as he gently put the small cotton ball in her ear before picking her up and holding her against his chest. He had heard from experts and veteran parents that children, especially girls, tended to choose a favorite parental figure. Cambrya had yet to exhibit such favoritism. In fact, she often went out of her way to express affection at the most unexpected moments and for no apparent reason.
"Draco's therapy resumes next week," Remus reminded Severus as he took a more hands on approach to fixing dinner.
Severus felt Cambrya flinch at the words and he wondered what on Earth could scare the child about Draco's therapy. In fact, Cambrya's general timid behavior was worrying him more and more. With one Slytherin parent and one Gryffindor parent, it was generally assumed that the children would wind up in one of those houses. Of course, given that they were all very bright, Ravenclaw wasn't entirely out of the question. At the rate Cambrya was going, however, they'd be lucky to see any exhibition of her magic at all, and even if she did make it to Hogwarts she was likely to be sitting with Hufflepuff.
"And I've scheduled all the children for check ups at St. Mungo's on Friday afternoon," Remus continued. "It's a little short notice, but it was either that or after the new year."
Severus nodded. One of the things that he had always enjoyed about his husband was that the man was exceedingly logical and organized. In the beginning of their relationship, it had been the subject of common ground when arguments about their old school days arose. Nine years later, they knew better than to bring up the subject of Sirius Black, and Severus had generally forgiven James Potter for being an insufferable teenager. Besides, once Remus pointed out that much of James' behavior was in a vain attempt to impress Lily, Severus couldn't deny that he had also gone to ridiculous lengths to get her attention.
"I get it first!" came Draco's voice as the sound of running feet pounded down the stairs.
"Not likely!" Harry replied.
"What's happening?" Severus heard the twins shout.
Again, Cambrya was trying to make herself one with his chest.
Remus looked back at him. "Shall we kill them all tonight?"
"NOOOOO!: Cambrya squealed, a look of pure terror on her face.
Severus and Remus exchanged confused looks of concern.
"Sweetheart, Daddy was only joking," Remus said softly. In fact, his last word was almost drowned in the commotion that ran through the kitchen and out the back door to the patio.
"All that fuss over an owl," Severus muttered.
Remus was still studying Cambrya carefully, rubbing her back and occasionally running his fingers through her hair. "I believe they had sent away for gifts and want to intercept any deliveries before you or I can see them."
"Ah."
"Cambrya, why don't you go watch cartoons for a little while, hmmm?" Remus suggested as he lifted her out of Severus' arms and set her on the ground. "Papa and I are going to talk about Christmas things for a little while."
Cambrya looked at them both with hesitation. "You'll stay here?" she asked with worry.
"Yes. We will be right here in the kitchen," Severus assured her, knowing full well that they would not be discussing Christmas.
Cambrya nodded and made her way into the family room.
Remus waited for her to switch on the television. "Is our daughter being abused by someone we don't know when we're not around?" he whispered to Severus.
"I find that highly unlikely," Severus replied. "You don't trust anyone to watch her but us. It may be why we haven't had a proper evening out in years."
Remus ignored the subtle complaint. "But she's acting like a child who has experienced great trauma in her life. It doesn't make any sense."
Severus had to agree that their daughter's behavior was certainly odd. In fact, she'd only been punished once in her entire life, and it was a rather mild punishment at that. "I have read that some children are simply more sensitive than others."
Remus nodded. "Yes, but this is far more than sensitive. What about when she goes to school next year?"
"Yes. . . that could become difficult," Severus agreed knowing that in her present condition, Cambrya would never get through a full day at school.
"Maybe we should have Draco's therapist look at her too," Remus suggested.
Severus let out a long breath, not thrilled with the idea, but unable to express a good reason why.
"Or. . ." Remus said slowly, looking sideways at Severus, "You could try Legilmency on her to see what's bothering her."
Severus blinked at his husband slowly a few times, quite surprised. "I thought we agreed that the children would have safe from such measures in order to gain their trust."
Remus ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "I know, I know. I'm just running out of ideas."
Severus wrapped his arms around Remus' waist and squeezed gently. "We'll have her talk to Draco's therapist," he agreed confidently. "I expect there will be little harm to come of it, and perhaps we will be able to understand what makes her so tense."
Remus laid his head on Severus' shoulder and sighed. "Alright. I'll send an owl over there tomorrow."
"There's a letter from the Ministry, Uncle Sev," Harry said as he led the boys back into the house. All of them appeared a bit lumpy under their coats.
Severus held out his hand to take the letter. "Thank you, Harry,"
"Anything else?" Remus asked, stepping out of Severus' embrace.
The boys shook their heads and grinned. "Nope."
Remus laughed. "Alright, go hide it all," he instructed.
Severus opened the letter and began to read. He was not a particularly smiley person, it was true, but reading the letter transformed his features from his usual neutral stoicism to an outright frown of anger and frustration.
"What is it?" Remus asked, concern in his voice.
Severus gave the letter to his husband. "I'll have to ask Albus to vouch for the situation," he said. "Can you manage. . ."
"Of course! Go," Remus agreed with an emphatic nod. "I'll save you a plate."
Severus smiled gratefully. He knew that given the grayness of the post Voldemort world, Remus was a requirement in his life. Otherwise, without him, Severus suspected he would have turned into a grumpy old bat.
He hurried to the fireplace in the master bedroom. It was the only fireplace outside of Hogwarts with access to the school, but as the head of Slytherin house, it was a necessity. It didn't even require floo powder, only an incantation. Muttering the words, the flames turned lavender and through the fireplace, Severus could see the Slytherin's Head of House sitting room. He stepped through, closed the portal between the Snape house and Hogwarts and headed directly for the Headmaster's Office. If anyone could fix the problem, it was Albus Dumbledore.
