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Severus Snape immediately resumed the seat he'd just abandoned, feeling suddenly like there wasn't enough air in the room. The entire time, he couldn't look away from the wide toffee eyes captivating his.
He was vaguely aware of Hermione bidding the girl a chore but didn't regain any semblance of reality until the little one returned, producing a glass full of water in front of him.
"Here you've come to drag me back to a world I've been running from, and you're the one who's gone deaf and dumb," Hermione said, attempting and failing at humor.
The little one—Violet, Snape thought he'd heard—crawled onto Hermione's lap and then behind her, peering out at him from behind her mother's shoulder. If she'd heard Hermione's pronouncement, she wasn't surprised by it.
He rubbed his hands across his face, suddenly overwhelmed. "How—how do you know she's…"
Hermione cocked an eyebrow when he trailed off. "How do I know she's yours?" Before answering, she turned to the girl. "Why don't you go practice your song, Vi—you have a lesson later."
The girl nodded, still not speaking a word, and scurried to the far side of the room where she plopped down at a piano Snape hadn't noticed before.
Hermione spoke more softly now. "The last thing I did with a wand," she muttered, "was to collect and identify each of the DNA samples and store them away should I ever return." She shrugged. "Obviously that never happened, but when I found out I was pregnant, a doctor was able to determine paternity using them."
Snape clamped down on the churning in his stomach. A daughter. He had a daughter. A daughter by the student he'd forced himself on, and he'd never known.
"Are you all right?" she said at last. "You look positively green."
He shook his head and eyed the girl hesitantly. "I—I wish you'd told me."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I didn't think fatherhood was something you were interested in."
Snape shut his eyes tightly. She had every right to insult him, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. "No child should be forced to suffer my incessant presence," he said finally, "but I could have offered you some support. Financially, at the very least. I know these four years could not have been easy."
Hermione shrugged, but her face darkened. "We get by."
Snape scowled. "I could have made you comfortable. I owe you at least that."
Hermione raked a hand through her hair and listened to Violet thumping away at Mary Had a Little Lamb for several long moments. "I've had a lot of time to mull all of this over," she said sullenly. "And I came to the decision long ago that you were every bit a victim that night as I was. Let me finish," she added when he opened his mouth to protest.
She studied him carefully long enough that he squirmed under her gaze, and Severus Snape didn't squirm. "You think I don't know how disgusted you were—how hard you tried to fight the Imperio. I knew. I could tell, but in my panic I ignored it. I spoke harshly, and I've since regretted it because I know it wasn't your fault, even if you don't."
She shrugged and returned her gaze to Violet. "It's not like it was all for naught," she said. "Vi is my life. I wake up so thankful for her every day because if it hadn't been for her, all of this," she motioned between them, "was sure to kill me."
Her pointed statement caused him to pause and follow her gaze to the beautiful little girl. When she finally got the notes correctly, she spun round and beamed at her mother with a smile that could rival the sun.
"Wonderful, darling! You're really getting it," Hermione exclaimed.
Snape furrowed her brow. "She doesn't speak much."
Hermione sighed sadly, and her face darkened further. "She doesn't speak at all."
He glanced at her in surprise. "What?"
Hermione nodded and collected her long hair into a ponytail. "She showed such intelligence at such a young age. She could have full conversations with me at two years old." She smiled with at the memory. "But with that intelligence came a very early penchant for magic, one she couldn't control. She was just three when the children at daycare began bullying her for it."
Snape felt an anger bubbling deeply within his chest.
"It went on for several months before I finally noticed a pattern of physical abuse. Without proof, I was left with no option but to pull her from daycare entirely. Her magic is so strong that she hasn't managed to restrain it—she's like her Mum with that—but that frustration has manifested itself in the need for control. It began with a poor appetite, which still isn't up to par. But she's since taken to silence, and has been so for over a year now."
Snape's face drained of all color. It actually surprised him how much rage coursed through his veins. "How dare they," he growled. "Where were the adults?"
Hermione shook her head. "It's a question I constantly ask myself."
Snape hung his head heavily. "It was wrong of me to come," he said at long last. "How foolish we've been to think you've just been twiddling your thumbs here in America, waiting for us to come and collect you." He sighed heavily, and stood. "I am tremendously sorry to have disturbed your solitude, Miss Granger."
He turned towards her door, but her soft voice stopped him. "Wait." He stopped but did not turn.
"The Wizarding World has been looming over my head for the past four years," she said sadly. "I ran from my problems, and that never felt right. While I almost wish I could forget you ever came, I—I can't abandon Harry. Not again." She closed her eyes, almost not believing the words leaving her mouth. "And I've run out of safe places for Vi. Everywhere I send her turns out catastrophically, and it's not like I can afford to stay home with her indefinitely."
Snape turned and studied her carefully. "Please do not do this because you feel indebted," he said at last. "I daresay this war has taken enough from you."
Hermione shrugged and stood as well. "It's taken from us all. I'm a mum now and it's time I faced the music."
Snape bowed deeply. "Then it would be my pleasure to escort you back, Miss Granger."
Hermione smiled. "But first, we've got to pack, and I daresay a wand will quicken the process."
Snape nodded and withdrew his.
"And one last thing."
Snape furrowed his brow but faced her.
She cocked her head to the side. "Since I'm no longer your student, is it completely out of the question to request that you call me Hermione?"
Snape dropped his wand arm, feeling for once entirely out of his element as her daughter—his daughter—ran over and wormed herself up to Hermione's hip. "Of course not—Hermione."
