This is my first venture into the fan fiction world but I have been working on this for quite some time. Eventually, this will be published as a lot bigger story (I already have several chapters finished, but I want to complete it before I start publishing). I wanted to post a little tidbit to see how you all take to it-the characters, the dialogue, etc. Please feel free to read and review; I would love the feedback. I hope you enjoy this.
A FATHER'S RIGHT
With each passing day of the few weeks leading up to the end of the year exams, Severus had become more and more cross. His classes seemed to consist of students who didn't take a damned thing seriously. Despite having younger students to teach, it felt as if he was endlessly trying to prepare the fifth years for their O.W.L. exams and he'd finally come to the conclusion that, with the exception of a few select students—namely Zoe and, loath as he was to admit to it, that overachieving, smarty-pants-of-a-fourth-year that was Albus Potter (the gall of taking your O.W.L.s a year ahead of your classmates), he doubted very many of them would make it to his N.E.W.T.-level class. They were all hopelessly inept and complacent when it came to Defense—a dangerous combination in any situation. Even Zoe had allowed her normally exceptional marks to slip as of late and her stubborn refusal to clue her father in to what was going on was aggravating Severus to no end. As for his seventh years, he would have assumed the brightest witches and wizards in the school could find time to buckle down to their studies but it seemed every last one of them was more fussed with romance than their futures in society. And to top it all off, Severus was on curfew duty for the next week.
As he trudged through the school, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to that day in his quarters with Zoe. It had seemed like she was close to telling him something important, yet at the last minute, she'd changed the subject. Severus knew he wasn't the type of father who necessarily welcomed a deluge of every last detail into his daughter's life—he most certainly wasn't Lupin—yet, he thought his daughter trusted him enough to tell him about the important matters in her life. Apparently not.
Turning to make his way along the third floor corridor, he started to look into classrooms and peek around statues for wayward students. No matter how much the curfew rules were enforced, there were always students with the nerve to completely disregard them and Severus felt that assigning a few detentions tonight may just be the thing to brighten his foul mood.
Having cleared the third floor, Severus trudged up the stairs to the fourth and was delighted to catch a small group of Ravenclaw first years trying to sneak around a corner. He swooped down on them as menacingly as he could, causing the children to cower slightly and their eyes to widen in alarm.
"It is past curfew," he informed them. "Now what would four supposedly intelligent first years be doing skulking about the castle after hours?"
"Please, Professor Snape," he heard a girl from the back pipe up. "We were studying in the library and lost track of time. We're just going back to Ravenclaw Tower, now."
Severus watched as a familiar girl with light brown hair moved past her friends to the front of the group. She looked up at him with her heart-shaped face and Severus was surprised at how confident she seemed for someone so young—or how very pompous.
"Ah, little Grace Lupin. I do believe your father is going to be quite displeased when you show up in his classroom for detention on Friday. It is, after all, his turn to supervise this week."
At these words, Grace frowned and bore her eyes into his face so fiercely Severus couldn't help but be impressed by her bravado. He sneered nonetheless.
"Careful, girl, your face may freeze that way and then where would you be?"
The first year looked shocked and averted her eyes to the floor.
"That goes for all of you. Detention on Friday and, let's see, ten points from Ravenclaw apiece. Perhaps next time you have a study session, you'll set an alarm."
He started to turn away then realized none of the students had moved to continue to their dormitory.
"Do I have to give you an invitation to return to your common room? Move!" he shouted.
The children jumped and immediately began sprinting down the corridor. Severus smirked. That had made him feel slightly better and catching the daughter of that self-righteous werewolf in non-compliance of a standard rule had only aided in raising his spirits that much further.
Over twenty minutes later, Severus had finished his rounds of the main floors of the castle and began the long descent to the dungeons—the labyrinthine corridors always took the longest to inspect so he tended to save them until the end—before heading back upstairs to his quarters near the Defense classroom. He took the normal flights to the Entrance Hall but then, instead of taking the main stairwell leading down to the dungeons, Severus crossed to the opposite side of the hall in order to slip past the tapestry that would lead him to the secret passage down to the deepest levels of the castle. From there he could work his way back up.
Just as he was about to pull back the ancient tapestry, Severus heard giggling just on the other side. That was strange. He could have sworn he was the only one who ever used this passage. He'd certainly never seen anyone else in it before in all his years working here; for that matter, he hadn't seen anyone in it since he first discovered it in his fourth year as a student. Regardless, the hushed, joyous laughter emanating from within indicated there were students out-of-bounds and the high from his last discovery had already started to wear off. Lighting the end of his wand and taking on the most intimidating pose he could, Severus slipped his hand beneath the drapery and quickly pulled it aside.
Though it was dark on the stairs below him, Severus could make out two students huddled in a rather compromising position, fully-clothed, but definitely well on their way to crossing a line. Severus couldn't see the identity of the girl, but a quick glance of messy, black hair and Severus felt as if Christmas had come early. A Lupin and a Potter in the same night. How very lucky, he thought.
"Mr. Potter, I am sure you imagined this passage to be a wildly romantic locale for seducing a young lady, but—"
The two adolescents, suddenly realizing they were no longer alone, jumped and as James Potter turned to face the professor, Severus got his first good look at the girl behind him and stared, dazed and dumbstruck.
Zoe looked back up at her father, her cheeks brilliantly flushed and a sheepish expression playing across her features.
"Hi, Papa," she greeted him awkwardly.
Severus could sense his features darkening and a boiling rage igniting within him. Employing no amount of self-restraint, he reached down and grabbed a hold of the collar of Potter's school robes, pulling him to his feet and thrusting him out into the Entrance Hall in one quick motion.
"Get your bloody hands off my daughter!" Severus roared.
"Professor! We were just kissing! I swear!" Potter beseeched.
He fell to the floor and started to crab back across the granite, his eyes wide in fear, as Severus stood over him, his wand pointed directly at the boy's chest. Severus had never felt so much rage and he desperately wanted to hex this ridiculous adolescent for even thinking he had any right to touch his daughter.
"P-Please! Professor Snape! Just…just think about what you're doing!" Potter pleaded with him, raising his hands up as if they would shield him from any spell that would issue from the older man's wand.
"You, boy, have crossed one line too many…"
"Papa! Stop! Stop it!"
At that moment, Zoe had regained her feet and ran up behind Severus. She wrapped her hands around his wand arm and was attempting to make him lower it as Severus continued to approach James, but to no avail. Severus continued his advance hardly aware of his daughter's presence as the boy scrambled across the floor as if his life depended on it. Not as stupid as I thought, apparently, Severus thought as he raised his wand into the air. He could vaguely hear Zoe screaming at him from behind, but none of that registered. The son of Harry Potter would know in a few short seconds that he was seriously mistaken if he thought Zoe Snape was an appropriate conquest to satisfy his adolescent, hormone-driven whims.
"Stop it, please!" Zoe shrieked, yanking on the arm of her father's robes. When that didn't work, she ran around in front of him, holding her hands up to shield Potter from Severus's view.
Severus, irritated by her involvement, pushed her away and she stumbled but remained on her feet, a look of shock on her face. He turned once again to advance upon the boy on the floor and, just as he had finally settled for the perfect hex to use on the presumptuous young man, everything went black.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Sweet Merlin, Zoe. You've got a lot more nerve than I have. I'd have never had the gumption to Stun a professor," James said amazedly, looking first at the black-clad Defense professor lying on the floor where he'd fallen right in front of him, then up to his girlfriend who was stowing her wand back inside her robes. "Especially not that particular professor."
Zoe pushed a strand of her dark brown hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear before walking forward and crouching down next to her father.
"That was not a professor you just saw," she stated plainly, checking her father's pulse. Satisfied that he was still alive, she sighed and sat down on the floor, shaking slightly. "That was my enraged father who was so incensed to see you snogging me, all sense of restraint and common sense flew completely out the window. And he lectures me on controlling my temper…" She looked over at James. "You're welcome by the way; I just saved your life—or at least your manhood."
"What hex do you think he was planning to use?" James asked, alarmed.
Zoe eyed him seriously. "You don't want to know."
James's eyes went wide momentarily before he narrowed them and scoffed, proud.
"I would have been fine on my own. You didn't need to intervene."
"Oh, yeah, because scooting across the floor and pleading with him was obviously doing a lot of bloody good," Zoe snapped at him. At the surprised look on James's face, she put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, Jamie. That was an awful thing to say."
"It's alright," said James, crawling over to sit next to her and placing a consoling hand on her shoulder.
The two sat completely still like that for several minutes, their eyes fixed on the Stunned professor and their heads reeling with worry. Finally, James broke the silence.
"You know, you could have cast a Cushioning Charm to break his fall," he observed.
"I could have," Zoe chuckled darkly, "but then he wouldn't learn anything from his behavior at all, would he? I think a headache will be just the thing to knock some sense into him."
James smiled slightly and inclined his head, silently making a note to himself to always steer clear of arguments between Zoe and her father from now on.
"You're scary. You know that, right?" He looked around the large, empty Entrance Hall. "What are we going to do now? Should we just…leave him here? Let him wake up on his own?"
Zoe looked over at James then raised her eyes to the ceiling as if contemplating her next move.
"He would certainly deserve it if we did…but, no. I should go tell Minerva."
James's eyes widened. "The Headmistress?"
Zoe nodded and once more leaned over to check her father's pulse.
"Whoa, whoa, wait. Can we think this through a little bit, please, because that plan," James twirled his finger in a circle at Zoe as if trying to scoop up the notion in a rope, "sounds like a one-way ticket to expulsion."
Zoe narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend.
"Stop freaking out, we won't get expelled."
"Ha! I think jinxing a professor is sufficient grounds. I'm no prefect so I haven't exactly memorized the student handbook or anything, but I'm almost certain that's written down somewhere."
Zoe sighed, exasperated. "Perhaps you've forgotten, but Minerva happens to be my godmother and she has a fair amount of insight into the inner workings of my father's brain. She'll understand if we just…explain it all to her. I imagine we'll be punished for being out after hours, but it's a slap on the wrist at most…"
James let out a sardonic bark as Zoe's voice trailed off.
"We?"
"Yes, Jamie. We. You and me. It won't look right if I tell her alone. She'll just think my dad and I got into a row and then I'll be in a lot of trouble."
"Yeah, because we aren't in a whole heap of dung as it is."
Zoe pursed her lips and stared at James.
"Are you going to help me or not?" she asked, exasperated, as she rose to her feet. "And please, decide quickly. Who knows when Filch might decide to start his own rounds?"
James ran a hand through his messy brown hair then also rose to his feet and pulled his wand from his robes.
"Mobilicorpus," he muttered, pointing his wand at the unconscious professor who rose several inches off the ground and hovered there. James then turned to face Zoe. "Of course I'm going to help you, Zo. I suppose we're in this together."
A small smile played across Zoe's face and she reached out and entwined her fingers with his and gave him a peck on the cheek and together they started their trek through the castle with Professor Snape floating silently, leading their path.
Fifteen minutes later, Zoe and James stood outside the door to the Headmistress's office. They had maneuvered themselves so that they were now standing side-by-side with Zoe's father lying motionless on the floor behind them.
"Are you ready?" James asked, critically eyeing Zoe who was staring straight at the door in front of them, her expression mostly passive but with the slightest trace of anxiety. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and nodded.
James took her right hand in his left and squeezed encouragingly then he raised his right fist and resolutely knocked on the thick door. They didn't stand there long before it was flung open.
Upon first seeing them, Professor McGonagall opened her mouth as if to reprimand their late visit to her office, then the whole of the situation seemed to dawn on her. She looked first at the two students standing before her, then down at their entwined hands then back to the fierce professor on the floor and comprehension spread across her face almost immediately. She turned to Zoe.
"I'm assuming you only stunned him?"
As Zoe nodded, James looked confused.
"What makes you think I didn't stun him?" he asked abashedly.
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows skeptically at James.
"I'm sure your father has taught you to defend yourself well, Mr. Potter, but I can assure that there is no way you could have knocked Professor Snape out if his attention was trained on you…which I'm assuming it was if he caught the two of you on one of your nightly rendezvous. He is an excellent duelist."
She then looked from James (whose mouth had fallen open with the knowledge that the headmistress was aware of his and Zoe's nightly snogging sessions) to Zoe once more. "I'm guessing he was going to hex Mr. Potter and you hit him from behind?"
Again, Zoe nodded and with that, Professor McGonagall sighed heavily.
"Very well. Let's get him inside. He's going to be absolutely intolerable when he comes to, I'm afraid."
And with that, the Headmistress levitated Professor Snape's insentient form into her office with Zoe and James entering behind her and closing the door.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
When Severus awoke, he was surprised to discover himself in the familiar, round antechamber off the back of the Headmistress's office. How the bloody hell did I get here, he wondered, sitting up on the small divan in which he had been lying. Instantly, his head began to pound and every muscle in his body ached as his memory started to kick in: Potter sitting defenseless on the floor of the Entrance Hall pleading with him, Severus's wand trained on him; Potter huddled in a secret passageway with… Yes, he'd allowed his temper to get the best of him and in doing so he'd become single-minded thus completely underestimating the nerve of his own child.
"Zoe Stunned me from behind?" he asked aloud, slightly shocked and highly annoyed.
"That she did. A very powerful stun as well. You've been unconscious for over an hour."
Severus looked up at the sound of the voice. Minerva sat staring at him from the chair opposite the divan. Her tone had been smug and amused yet the expression she wore was far from either, it was stern and disappointed.
"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that James Potter suffered no injuries from your attack on him in the Entrance Hall," she told him and Severus felt momentarily like he had been transported back forty-five years to a boyhood duel with a different person with the same name and Minerva was scolding him, the anticipation of a loss of House points looming in the air.
"Are you going to put me in detention, Headmistress?" he drawled sardonically back.
"I doubt it would do you any good. I'd say your headache will be good enough of a reminder for the time being that perhaps it's better to think your actions through rather than just diving in with your wand waving. Honestly, Severus, I have never known you to be one to wear your heart so boldly upon your sleeve."
Severus scowled, but that quickly turned into a grimace as he rose painfully to his feet and headed for the exit. As he rose, so did Minerva, rushing to head him off.
"Severus, sit down."
"Minerva, I am not a child, I do not need to be lectured in morals and decorum."
"Really? You could have fooled me."
When Severus merely shot her a nasty look and went to move past her, Minerva pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. He froze and stared at his colleague.
"Severus Snape you have attacked a student of this school without cause tonight. If you wish to remain employed, you will not walk through that door until I have released you. Now, sit down."
Severus was completely flabbergasted; he hadn't seen Minerva so incensed and threatening since the war. Slowly, keeping his eyes on the wand directed at him, he lowered back down onto the divan. Minerva crossed back to her chair and sat down, but she didn't lower her wand.
"Are you going to hold me captive?" he asked.
"That depends on you, I suppose."
Severus sighed.
"I won't go anywhere," he said. "You have my word."
Minerva eyed him critically for several moments then, in the blink of an eye, she stowed her wand up her sleeve and out of sight.
"I'm sure you have questions, Severus. Please, feel free to ask whatever you like."
Severus scowled. I suppose treating me like a petulant child is going to be the theme tonight.
"Where is my daughter?"
"She is sitting just through the door, in my office." When Severus looked quickly in that direction, Minerva added, "Your word, Severus?"
"I won't move, but I am wondering whether she is listening to this conversation."
Minerva smiled darkly. "I have cast the usual privacy wards."
"And Potter?"
"He's in there, too."
This time Severus went to stand, but was pushed down again by a nonverbal holding spell—the same one he often employed when he wanted to keep Zoe in place. He looked over at Minerva who had raised her eyebrows at him. Severus immediately stopped struggling against the force and he felt the magic dissolve away around him and Minerva began again.
"Severus, would you care to explain to me why you felt it necessary to attack a sixteen-year-old student during the execution of your rounds tonight?" she asked coldly.
"That student happened to have his hands all over my daughter, Minerva. I was merely exercising my fatherly duty."
Minerva rolled her eyes.
"They were kissing. I hardly think that constitutes a reason to hex the lad into oblivion."
"Yes, well, kissing leads to other things and you very well know it," he retorted defensively.
Minerva narrowed her eyes at him.
"Do you mean sex?"
"For Merlin's sake, Minerva, yes. You have taught at this school for decades. You know as well as I do what teenage boys are thinking about."
"Severus, Zoe is fifteen—" Minerva said.
"Do you honestly believe that age has stopped anyone before?"
"Excuse me, let me rephrase. Zoe is a very astute fifteen-year-old."
Severus gave her an annoyed glare.
"Have you talked to Zoe about sex at all?" she finally asked.
Minerva's eyes bored into him and Severus couldn't help but lower his gaze to his knees. Of course he hadn't talked to his daughter about sex. Explaining the intricacies of conception and birthing of a child had been difficult enough. And she had been six years old then. Besides, the two of them would just be embarrassed and uncomfortable throughout the entire ordeal.
"I thought as much," she stated. "Well, I have taken the liberty and I think you can rest easy for a little while."
When Severus didn't respond, she continued.
"Severus, you have managed to raise a beautiful, charming, intelligent daughter with a very bright future ahead of her. You have done it by yourself and for that you should be commended. You may loathe admitting it, but she's smarter than you and—judging by what I've seen tonight—she has much more common sense. Zoe has set very clear goals for herself and she is more than aware of what is expected of her. Do you honestly believe that a young lady with a head on her shoulders like that is going to enter into a relationship with just any boy who happens to fancy her?"
Severus raised his eyes to the Headmistress.
"Not just any boy," he spat. "James bloody Potter."
This time it was Minerva's turn to scowl.
"So you're saying you only have a problem with this because you still harbor childish hostilities against that boy's father and grandfather?
"Like grandfather, like father, like son," he spat grouchily, crossing his arms over his chest.
Minerva stared at him and closed her eyes as if willing patience.
"That is a ridiculous excuse and I dare say you know it."
Severus shrugged. "I don't have to explain my reasons to you. Zoe is my daughter and I have every right to decide who she can and cannot see."
Minerva slowly shook her head. "You don't know your daughter very well if you believe for a second that she is going to see it that way."
"I know her well enough to know that her and Potter are not a good idea. The boy is reckless, self-absorbed, unfocused and crass; that is hardly the type of person Zoe should be allowing to distract her."
"I admit he may not have the academic prowess of his younger brother, but James is nevertheless at the top of his class, Severus. I'd hardly call that unfocused." Minerva sighed. "Look, your assessment may be true to a degree—no teenage boy is perfect—but Zoe will only resent you if you do not allow her to discover such things on her own. Besides, from what I can see, James truly seems to care for and respect her."
Severus frowned and looked away from Minerva. Several long minutes passed before the Headmistress suddenly stood and made her way to the door of the antechamber. Placing her hand on the handle, she turned back to look at him.
"I'm going to allow you to talk to Zoe now."
"You are going to allow me to speak with my own child? Oh, how very kind of you," he growled.
Minerva smiled darkly. "You may use my office. Think about what I have said and, for once, try to listen to what she has to say. And Severus, I will be most displeased if I come back to any unconscious bodies upon my rug." And with that, the Headmistress vacated the antechamber and swept across her office and out the door.
"Perhaps that's a speech you should give to your goddaughter," Severus mumbled under his breath as he stood, rubbing his aching head, and strode through the door into the main office.
Zoe was sitting in one of the two high-backed chairs opposite the grand desk. Her legs were cross-folded in front of her and she appeared to be staring off into space. The Potter boy sat in the other chair. He was leaning forward and held one of Zoe's hands between his. It looked as if he had been talking quietly to her when the Headmistress had exited the office. He turned his head and when he saw Severus walking toward him, he bolted to his feet, a look of fearful defiance on his face.
"Professor, I—" he began, but one sour glare from Severus and he instantly quieted.
"You may go back to your dormitory now, Mr. Potter," Severus said.
Potter opened his mouth to respond but stopped when Zoe reached up and grabbed his hand. He looked down at her, bewildered.
"It's alright, Jamie," she reassured him, "I'll be fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Potter seemed to hesitate momentarily, his eyes steeled on Severus. Foolish boy, just like your father.
"Do you intend to duel with me, Potter?" Severus mocked.
The boy looked as if he wanted to reach for his wand, but another tug on his hand from Zoe and his features calmed.
"Please, James, just go. It's okay." She looked toward her father and raised a single eyebrow at him. "I'm sure the last encounter my father had with my Stunner is still fresh in his mind."
Severus returned the characteristic expression to his daughter, frowning. Potter, however, smiled wickedly and as he walked to the door and exited, Severus fixed his retreating head with a murderous glare.
Once the boy had closed the door, Severus turned back to look at his daughter who still seemed to be absorbed in her own thoughts.
"Just so you know: there's no point assigning us detention. Minerva's already seen to that," she said offhandedly. She glanced up at Severus's face and no doubt read his expression of annoyance.
"Separate detentions. I'll be tutoring in Potions for the next two weeks and James will spend that time teaching flying lessons to the first years. We'll be miles from each other so you can rest easy," she stated cheekily before turning her eyes away from him again.
"It doesn't seem like much of a punishment for him—more like something he's going to rather enjoy," Severus said.
"What makes you think I won't enjoy my detention? Minerva had to do something to keep up the appearance that she doesn't show favoritism."
Severus walked slowly to the end of the desk and looked toward the door where Minerva and Potter had just exited.
"How very touching that the boy feels the need to protect you from your own father," Severus stated disdainfully, changing the subject. "Although, in the end, you protected him, didn't you? What a brave little Gryffindor he is..."
Zoe narrowed her eyes at him. "I'd say your display tonight has given him a reason to worry."
"I wouldn't hurt you."
"You wouldn't hex me. That's entirely different."
"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
Zoe shook her head, defeated, and turned away from him. "Forget it," she said softly.
Severus glared at his daughter; for the moment they were in a stalemate. Several minutes passed by with Severus watching his daughter, trying to size up what she was thinking and feeling and with her staring out the window, ignoring his eyes on her.
"The extent of your punishment seems a bit lax for the offense," he began again, in an effort to get them talking.
"Two weeks of detention for being out after hours? Seems a bit harsh to me," said Zoe.
"That was not what I was referring to," Severus said, giving his daughter a stern glare.
Zoe raised her eyebrows mock-innocently. "Whatever are you talking about?"
"Don't get cute," Severus said, pointing a finger at his daughter, "and I'm referring to you turning your wand on a professor."
"If you're looking for an apology, you can forget it. I was not the one in the wrong here. You're the one who tried to hex James unprovoked, Professor," Zoe stated coldly.
Severus walked around the Headmistress's desk and placed his hands on the back of the ornate chair, schooling his temper.
"I do not believe it was unprovoked," he stated plainly.
"Are you kidding me?" his daughter shrieked, frustrated. "We were snogging! You were going to hex James for snogging me! That doesn't seem like a bit of an overreaction on your part?"
Severus held up his hand to silence Zoe. "I didn't like the idea of that boy initiating romantic advances on you. I may have gotten a little…caught up in my anger—"
"A little," Zoe huffed irritably.
"—but I don't feel that I was in the wrong for trying to protect my fifteen-year-old daughter from the wiles of a teenage boy, most especially that boy," Severus grumbled.
"And what would you say if I said that I was the one that initiated the 'romantic advances'?" Zoe asked, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes at Severus. He couldn't help that his jaw to dropped at her bold statement.
"You had bloody well better not—"
The triumphant smirk that graced his daughter's features then cut his ire off immediately. He had risen to her taunt brilliantly. Severus frowned at Zoe, inwardly cursing her Slytherin Sorting.
"Nonsense," he said and turned away, roving his eyes over the portraits of Hogwarts Headmasters past, settling on the portrait of Albus Dumbledore who would have looked like he was dozing peacefully, if not for the amused grin playing across his lips—no doubt the old man was listening to every word they were saying, reveling in Severus's parenting difficulties. "In any case," he continued, "I don't ever recall telling you that you were allowed to date." He turned back to face his daughter.
Zoe narrowed her brilliantly, sky blue eyes at Severus and cocked her head to the side. "That makes total sense then, because I don't ever recall asking for your permission."
Severus scowled. "You impertinent little…" He strode lividly over to his daughter and pulled her to her feet, tightly clutching her arms and looking her straight in the eye. "Now you listen to me. I don't care that you think you're old enough to make decisions on your own—"
"Let go!" Zoe cried, struggling in Severus's grasp, but he merely ignored her and held on tighter, talking over her protests.
"You are a fifteen-year-old child and you will do as you're told! You will break off this little liaison you have with Potter and you will not see him outside of class."
"Severus…" he heard Dumbledore's portrait call sternly from behind him and, suddenly aware that he may be hurting her, Severus let go of Zoe and let her fall back into her seat. She looked to the floor, but judging by the way the items on the Headmistress's desk were rattling, Severus knew he had enraged her very much by his words. He figured he should probably do something to calm her before her emotions started to shatter glass, but he was still very angry himself and he intended to make it very plain to her that he was not going to allow her relationship with that boy to continue.
"Have I made myself clear?" he jabbed.
Zoe's head whipped up to him and her eyes might as well have been crimson the way they blazed, brimming with unshed tears. "Perfectly clear, sir. But unfortunately for you, clarity of instruction doesn't always illicit compliance: you can't stop me from seeing Jamie."
"I disagree. If I have to lock you in my own quarters every second you are not in class, I will. But I assure you, you will not be seeing that boy…romantically anymore."
"Do you want to bet?" she said defiantly.
Severus raised his eyebrows at her brazen threat. "You couldn't be skating on thinner ice, young lady. I suggest you keep a civil tongue in your head or you may find your two weeks of supposedly harsh detention doubled into something truly unpleasant."
"Fine! Do whatever you want! I don't care! But you aren't going to keep me from seeing my boyfriend! James cares about me! He's totally decent to me! Don't you even care about that?"
Severus shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't care if he worshipped the ground you walk on."
His daughter looked up at him at that moment with a look of pure loathing and Severus knew that she wasn't going to back down. It was time for a different tactic.
The two of them stared solidly at each other for several minutes before Severus finally broke the silence with a heavy sigh. Very well, you aren't going to like my methods, he thought.
"Alright Zoe, if there is, as you say, absolutely nothing I can do to keep you from seeing Potter, then obviously any effort I make would be futile," he said in his most defeated tone of voice.
Zoe looked perplexed. "Really?" she asked skeptically.
"Really."
He was thoroughly pleased when a look of hopeful triumph passed across Zoe's face. Oh, she was not going to like this at all.
"You're not going to try to stop me?"
Severus shrugged. "You've made it quite clear that there is nothing for me to do."
Zoe watched her father carefully, but Severus merely feigned as much defeat into his expression as he could.
"Thanks, Papa."
He nodded slightly.
"I think I'm going to go to bed now," she stated as she made her way toward the door to the Headmistress's office.
Severus watched her as she crossed the room and opened the door, waiting until just before she had completely exited before speaking once more.
"Of course, I don't know how he's ever going to find the time to keep up a relationship with you," he said dismissively, but allowing the words to linger in the air. His daughter paused where she stood in the doorway and, slowly, she turned back to look at him, a vindictive gleam in her eye. "After all, he's going to be quite busy with his detentions with me every day…immediately after classes until curfew…through the end of the school year..."
Zoe was absolutely fuming, Severus could feel it radiating toward him from across the room as she clenched her fists in rage. He raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to defy him. She raised her chin rebelliously and set him with her most defensive glare.
"There's always Hogsmeade weekends."
Severus's eyes alit with comprehension. "Ah! You're right! Well, he's been suspended from those as well. Poor Mr. Potter, months of detention and no Hogsmeade holidays to offset all the work, pity… Are there any other privileges you would like me to take from the boy to ensure your compliance on this issue? Weekend detentions? Or perhaps his precious position on the Quidditch team?"
Severus could see the ire rising in his daughter. No doubt she very much wanted to hex him again, but she wouldn't dare do it twice. Minerva would be unlikely to believe the story so innocent the second time around.
"You can't do this!" she fumed.
"I think you'll be surprised to find that I can," he retorted right back. "Now, I believe it is well past curfew. Go back to your dormitory and go to bed, now."
Zoe seethed at him apparently unable to think of anything to say. She quickly spun on her heel, her robes and hair flying around her, and exited the office, slamming the door forcefully behind her. Severus smirked. He had most certainly won this one. Potter would be so busy taking his detentions—detentions of which Severus intended to make very unpleasant for the boy—he wouldn't have time to even think about kissing or otherwise defiling Zoe. Severus was very much pleased by his highly effective manipulation of the circumstances.
He had just started toward the door himself, when a familiar voice spoke behind him.
"I do believe you have only made the situation worse, my boy," said Albus Dumbledore.
Severus turned, a frown gracing his features once more.
"I care little for your belief, Dumbledore. Zoe will learn that when it comes to any form of…courting, I am the sole authority with which she will or will not proceed with a boy."
"How very old-fashioned and tyrannical of you."
Severus narrowed his eyes at the portrait. "I will say to you what I said to Minerva: she is my daughter and I have every right to dictate her movements. I don't have to explain myself to you, the Headmistress, or my insolent fifteen-year-old. The decision is mine to make and I have damned well made it. So, good evening, Headmaster. I must now go and make sure my daughter has made it back to her dormitory in one piece. After all, I have nothing but the best of intentions for her."
The portrait Headmaster shook his head. "If you insist on learning this the hard way, then so be it, Severus. But just know that Minerva and I tried to warn you."
Severus scoffed and swept from the room; the old man was no longer worth his time.