"A girl, yes," Severus Snape said sitting down on the chair in the hospital wing. His mind raced as he tried to wrap his head around having a daughter and that daughter being Hermione Granger of all people.

"Hermione, how are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked the girl, wondering how she was taking the news.

"I don't know how I'm feeling, Sir. At first I thought this was some kind of practical joke because Professor Snape and myself look nothing alike and then when I saw his reaction to it, I knew it wasn't; I don't know what to feel," Hermione said, her brain processing a million emotions at once which she couldn't make sense of.

"Well, you have your father's eyes," Dumbledore noted, pulling a small box out of his robe's pocket. "Lemon drop?" he offered.

All three declined as Hermione studied Snape. 'Professor Dumbledore is right, I do have his eyes, I've never noticed before. I can clearly see it now with the adequate lighting in here unlike in the dungeons. I know the spell said he was my father but I just can't think as to why I never made the connection before. Maybe it was because I was spending so much of my time studying and then the rest of it being either annoyed or insulted by Harry and Ron. I'm still shocked, Professor Snape, my dad! I don't know whether I should laugh, cry or be happy. This is all too new.'

"Miss. Granger, did you hear me?" Snape said to her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry Professor, I was kind of lost in my own thoughts," Hermione replied, looking into his eyes and then to the floor.

"I said that I am to accompany you back to your house so you can collect your trunk and belongings for school," Snape told her; slowly getting over the shock of finding out that he has a daughter.

"Okay," Hermione replied, hoping that Mr. Granger wasn't there. "How are we going to get back?"

"We'll walk to Hogsmeade and from there I'll apparate us to your house so you can get your belongings," Snape answered. "Come," he added after a few seconds in which he had a silent conversation with Dumbledore.

Walking side by side, Hermione had a thousand questions running through her mind but she was too scared to ask them. 'I want to know so much but I don't think he will answer me. The way he treated me last year makes me think he hates me. Well, hate is such a strong word; he probably dislikes me at best.'

"Miss. Granger, I can assure you that I'm just as shocked as you are about this whole situation," Snape told her as he watched the girl walk with him.

"I know, Professor. I still don't really know what to do or how to react but I will figure something out eventually. I really don't like not knowing this... anything," Hermione replied, moving her hands as she said the last sentence.

"I always knew you were a little know-it-all," Snape smirked, knowing he didn't like not knowing anything either.

Hermione stopped walking and looked up at her teacher/father, looking shocked before she spoke, "Did you just joke?" she asked, surprise hitting her for the third time that day.

"I may have," he replied.

Entering Hogsmeade, they stopped at a secluded spot away from the other people who were there.

"Miss. Granger, take hold of my hand and I will now apparate us. I will warn you though, the first time apparating is not very pleasant, one usually ends up throwing up," he explained, holding out his hand for the young witch to take.


Hermione almost fell to the ground, being caught by Snape at the last moment as she willed herself not to be sick.

"Are you okay, Miss. Granger?" he asked, worry slightly evident in his voice.

"I'm fine," she replied, standing up straight.

"Would you like to lead the way to your house then?" Snape asked, holding his arm out in front of him, giving her the clue to start walking.

"Of course," Hermione said, walking out of the alleyway and up the street to her residence.

Her house came into view and Hermione noticed her father's car parked in the driveway and the front door slightly open.

"Is the door usually open like that?" Snape queried, noticing too.

"No. My dad was dropping off boxes to my grandmother's house, maybe he forgot one," she said, thinking of the reasons of why it was open.

Entering the house, Hermione saw her father place another box on the table. Snape followed her in and pushed the door closed.

"And where exactly were you, and who is he?" Mr. Granger asked, sneering as her noticed the tall wizard.

"I was at school and this is Professor Snape," Hermione coolly replied.

"You left the house without asking?" Mr. Granger asked, not caring who saw him raise his voice.

"If I clearly remember, you said you weren't going to be here anyway," Hermione stated, standing up to the man.

"Shut your mouth you stupid child, I expect dinner to be cooked in one hour, get moving," he yelled at her.

Snape watched Mr. Granger and wanted nothing more than to hex him. Hearing the man call Hermione a stupid child was the last straw for him.

"I would watch who you call stupid," he said, his voice low as he glared at the man.

"I'm her father, I can call her whatever I want and do whatever I want to her," Mr. Granger yelled, his facing turning red as he grabbed Hermione and tried to drag her into the kitchen.

"You will get your hands off of her right this instant before I removed them for you," Snape slowly said, intimidating the man and he moved Hermione behind him.

"I'm calling the police, who do you think you are telling me what to do in my own house?" Mr. Granger yelled.

"I'm positive that the law enforcement will deem you unfit as a parent and if I'm not mistaken, you actually have no legal status as Miss. Granger's guardian as you're not her biological father whereas I am," Snape smirked, watching the other man.

"You're a piece of work, Hermione, especially for bringing him here," Mr. Granger seethed, grabbing the box and leaving.

Turning around, Snape faced Hermione and saw the unshed tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm fine," she replied, taking comfort in the small gesture. "I'm going to go pack my trunk now," she added walking to her room.

Snape watched her close the door behind her as he started to pace around the room. 'That man does not deserve to be anyone's father. If only I hexed him when I had the chance to; would have put him in his place. Why am I feeling so protective of the little Gryffindor know-it-all? These other feelings are unknown to me as well; I'll see Poppy when we get back, maybe I'm coming down with something. I really can't believe she's my daughter. She's the only student to ever match my marks at Hogwarts; she has to get it from someone, obviously not her mother.

I don't know the first thing about being a parent, I would rather raise her myself than allow her to come back to live with that sorry excuse for a man. When we get back, I'll have a talk with her and see what she wants to do,' Snape thought as he finally sat down and waited.


Walking up to Dumbledore's office, Severus Snape was glad that school was still on break. He knocked on the door twice and entered.

"Severus, what do I owe this pleasure to?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at the younger man who seemed a bit dishevelled.

"When I went with Miss. Granger to collect her belongings the man who she thought was her father was there and not only did he verbally abuse her, he grabbed her and if I wasn't there he may have done more. I don't like the man and Miss. Granger seemed scared of him," Snape said before taking a seat.

"I always thought her parent's treated her well. Maybe it changed after her mother passed away. Someone will have to talk to her about that. How are you enjoying parenthood, Severus?"

"I have had nothing to enjoy of it as yet. I will say though, I'm now feeling more protective of Miss. Granger and it feels odd," he admitted, needing to talk with someone.

"Severus, she's your daughter, I know it's a lot to take in but how about calling her by her name, Hermione," Albus smiled.

"Hermione," Snape repeated, getting a feel for speaking the name.

"With her situation at the present moment, what would you like to do?" Albus asked, getting down to business.

"I would like to care for her. I don't want her near that man. She can stay with me tonight and I'll have a talk with her soon and see what she wants."

"That's a very good idea. She can stay with you tonight and I can see that you're warming up to being a father already. You never would have cared what any student or child wanted before and now here you are willing to talk about it with one. I think you'll make a great father, Daddy," Albus smiled, his eyes gleaming as he watched Snape shift in his seat.

"Very funny old man," he retorted, getting up and leaving the office.


Snape walked into the hospital wing where Hermione was. He watched as she talked to Madam Pomfrey about the uses of certain potions.

"Hello Severus," Madam Pomfrey greeted him.

"Poppy," he said, nodding his head.

"What did Professor Dumbledore say when you saw him?" Hermione asked, turning around to look at her father.

"He said that you have to stay with me tonight and tomorrow we'll all talk about it. Come with me, we better get going," Snape said, walking out of the hospital wing, Hermione following him.

Walking down to the dungeons, more questions formed in Hermione's mind and she wanted to ask them but would wait until they got to his chambers. Entering through his office, Snape pulled out his wand and lowered the wards. A door appeared and they entered.

"These are my chambers where you will be staying tonight. This is the living room; over there is the kitchen, the hallway up the back leads to the bedrooms and bathroom. Your bedroom is on the left-hand side, mine is on the right. The door at the very end of the hallway is the bathroom. That one door directly to your left-hand side leads to my personal potions lab, you are not to go in there unless strictly told too. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir," Hermione replied.

Looking around the room, Hermione was thrilled to see the tightly packed bookshelves lining the walls; she couldn't wait to be able to read them. She watched as her dark-haired father made his way over to the couch and sat down. She walked over to it and sat down at the other end.

"Professor, would it be alright to ask you something?" Hermione asked, biting her lower lip.

"Of course it is."

"Would I please be able to read the books on the bookshelf?"

Snape slightly chuckled, startling the child before he spoke. "Of course you can, just don't read the ones on the top shelf; they aren't to even be touched."

"Okay."

"Have you got any more questions, Hermione?" he asked, using her name.

"Did you just call me Hermione?" she asked in return, not believing that he had used her name.

"Well, it is your name, isn't it?"

Hermione nodded her head before thinking of her next question. "Did you ever want children?"

"To be honest, children were something I never saw myself having. It would have been too dangerous for me and I find it difficult dealing with teenagers, I don't know how I would have handled a toddler. But now that I know I have been given the chance to be a father, I would like to explore it if that's alright with you," he honestly replied.

"I would really like that too," Hermione smiled. "I don't look anything like you, I didn't exactly look like my mum either..." she added a few minutes later, trailing off and leaving her sentence not finished.

"You could have a concealment charm placed on you but I doubt a muggle could pull one off. I can check to see if there is one on you if you would like?"

"I would just like to know," Hermione said as Snape pulled out his wand and moved it in front of her, mumbling something under his breath.

After a few minutes, Snape spoke, "I can say that with one hundred percent certainty, that there is no charm placed on you."

"That's a relief," Hermione said, releasing the breath she didn't realise she was holding. "Am I going to have to change my name?" she asked as another question popped into her head.

"Not if you don't want to, the choice is yours, I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to," he replied.

"Okay, um, I think I'm out of questions for now, my brain hurts from processing all of this," Hermione said, rubbing her head.

"Would you like a potion to make it stop hurting?" Snape asked, slightly worried.

"It's okay, it'll disappear soon, I may just go lay down for a bit," Hermione said, getting up off the lounge and making her way to her bedroom.

Opening the door, she looked around the room in awe. The walls were a light green with a white ceiling, the floorboards had been polished and a fluffy white rug sat in the middle of the room. The bed was in the corner of the room with a green, pink and white frangipani designed quilt. Along the rest of the walls sat a desk and two bookshelves. Her trunk sat at the foot of her bed.

Making her way over to the bed, she pulled the covers down and slid under them, pulling them up as she got comfortable. Within ten minutes the brunette was fast asleep.

'The door softly opened as Hermione ran into her living room, there were a group of men, all wearing skull masks. They had they wands drawn, pointing to something which was in between them. She could see the different colours coming from the tips of their wands, hitting something, no, someone as the person screamed in pain.

Hermione tried to push past the men; they wouldn't budge, not even noticing her as she tried to shove them aside. "Let me through," she yelled, panic evident in her voice only having the men laugh in return and set off another round of spells.

She tried to squeeze past the two smaller men; she was almost at the person screaming...'

Hermione bolted upright in bed, wiping the layer of sweat off her forehead as her eyes met those of Snape's.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, worry on his face. "You were talking in your sleep."

Hermione sat there and took a few calming breaths before drawing her knee's up and responding. "I had a nightmare, it felt so real," she said, taking a few more breaths.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Snape asked, watching the girl as she tried to compose herself. He felt worried, his inner self was conflicted. One part of him wanted to pull out his intimidating teacher act, another part wanted to logically explain everything and the last part, the softest of them all, wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay and chase her fears away. 'Where the hell did that come from?' he thought, waiting for a response from Hermione.

"I ran into my house and a bunch of men where there wearing masks. They were casting spells at someone and evilly laughing. The person was screaming and I tried to get past them and when I was almost there, I woke up," she explained.

"It was only a nightmare, Hermione, if you want, I can brew some dreamless sleep potion later," he said, not knowing how to comfort a twelve-year-old.

"Can I help?" she asked, looking up at him, pouting slightly.

'It hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet and she's already got me wanting to say yes, what is happening to me? I'm not going soft, am I?' he thought before answering. "You may, this once," he finally said.

Hermione got up out of the bed and walked into the living room, she sat down on the couch and was handed a glass of water from Snape. She looked up at him and smiled as she accepted it.

"Do you know how to brew this potion?" he asked, curious to know if she could.

"I don't know if I can, Sir. I've quickly read about it but I would like to read it again beforehand."

"There is a book on the third shelf of the first bookcase, it's the first book and it has the most detailed explanation of the potion you will find. It's getting late so I suggest that we make it soon," Snape said, picking up the book from the table which he was reading earlier.

Hermione got up and pulled the potions book from the shelf. She spent a good forty minutes reading it and asking questions about some of the ingredients and how they reacted together. She wanted to know the potion before brewing it so she didn't have to keep referring back to the book.

When she finally felt she ready to be able to brew the potion without any mistakes she put the book back on the shelf and looked at Snape expectantly.

"Are you now prepared to help me make the potion?" he asked, impressed with how much study she had just done.

"I am. I now feel confident enough with knowing the directions to assist with its making," Hermione said.

Snape placed his bookmark in his book, placing it on the table before he got up and headed to his private lab, Hermione following him.

To be continued... please review.


Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it's greatly appreciated. I will most likely be updating the story once a week and if you would like to see anything in it, please say so and I will try my best to include it :)