3: The Secret at Spinner's End

"My Lord, the letter you have been awaiting has finally arrived." Marcus, a short, portly man spoke in a deep baritone voice as he entered the study. Severus looked up from the correspondence he had been writing to the Prime Minister and watched as the man stepped forward. On a silver tray lay the folded piece of parchment with the Snape crest.

The butler came to a stop in front of Severus' desk and held the letter out to him. He picked it up and quickly dismissed the servant. It had been much to his surprise to find that his father had been a Lord before he had been disowned by his family for marrying Severus' mother, who was of common blood. But resent circumstances (the fact that he was now a war hero) had caused the members of the Snape bloodline to seek him out and offer him the Lordship that was rightfully his. He had of course accepted it and since had been living the life that he felt he had deserved all along.

He was royalty in a sense and he liked it. He finally was in a position to give orders and boss people around, instead of on the receiving the orders. He had abandoned his job as Potions Master at Hogwarts in favor of running his estate and hadn't looked back. At least not until the family had insisted that he take a wife and start to produce heirs. It had been during that meeting with his Uncle Roman that he had felt as if this entire deal had been a trap set forth by his meddlesome mother, who was now an equal among the Snape family. His Uncle Roman had come prepared for the occasion with a list of names of noble women who were of age and ready to be married off. After reviewing the list Severus had nearly swallowed his own tongue when he'd spotted Miss. Granger's name among them.

He had been shocked into silence for a moment before asking Roman about the name. The older man had smiled and said he should have known that Severus would be drawn to the heir of the Dark Lord. The whole family still thought he had been a spy for the Dark side who was only pretending to spy for Dumbledore. It was all very confusing and he had not taken the time to tell them the truth. It would only serve to make things more complicated. So he had instead listened to the story Roman had told of how Voldemort had impregnated a young royal by the name of Francesca Von Baron, who came from a long line of pure blood witches and wizards. Francesca had done much as Voldemort's own mother had and had the baby in an orphanage. The only difference was that she had not died but instead had went back to her family and pretended as if nothing had happened. It was a very sad story indeed and Severus had felt a small twinge of sympathy for Miss. Granger but nothing more.

Instantly he had made the discussion that he would court and marry Miss. Granger because she had been the most acceptable candidate on the list. At least that was the reasoning he had given his family as well as himself. He would not have been caught dead admitting out loud that he had always harbored a bit of a liking for the young witch, even when he had thought of her as a mudblood pain in the arse and not a possible wife and life long companion.

But she was a very acceptable woman now. A war hero as well, she too had received the prestigious award of Order of Merlin First Class. He would have been lying if he had pretended that those things had nothing to do with his choice. But most importantly Severus had no desire for a trophy wife. Most of his family had married for money and breeding but he had wanted to marry someone who would be his equal and not his subordinate. Miss. Granger would make a fine wife for him and it was up to him to make sure that she saw it.

He broke the seal of the letter and read it quietly too himself. He could not stop the smile that spread across his face. She had gratefully accepted his invitation on the exact date and time he had requested. He lay it down on the large oak desktop and lend back in his chair with the smug smile spreading wider across his face. Should one of his servant walk in they would have ran for the door in fear. No one at Spinner's End had ever seen Severus smile and would have probably assumed that he was plotting something evil. It would have been no less than they expected of him. And in the large scam of things he supposed his plan could be considered a form of evil. But that was water under the bridge.

He only spent a few moments enjoying this small victory before a soft knock at the door had him sitting up straight and the smile melting from his face.

"Enter," he said gruffly and watched as the door cracked open and his mother stuck her head inside. Severus relaxed slightly and motioned for her to come into the room. She closed the door behind her and sat in the more comfortable of the two chairs in front of his desk. Caroline Snape was a short woman, only about five feet in height with long gray hair that had once been coal black. Her eyes were a bright green that were nearly the same color as those of a certain male student he detested. She was wearing dark blue dress that was a couple of inches too long for her and a long black cloak for warmth. She sat with her back straight and her eyes trained on her son. There was a moment of silence in which mother and son observed each other. He noticed that her green eyes were sparkling just a little more today and knew that meant she had heard of the arrival of Miss. Granger's letter. He made a mental note to give the staff of Spinner's End a firm talking too about gossip.

"Am I correct in believing that a certain young lady by the name of Miss. Hermione Granger will be joining us here in a fortnight?" She asked in a voice as sweet as honey. Snape lowered his eyes to the note in front of him. He nodded curtly. "Oh, how wonderful," Caroline said with a clap of her hands, "I just cannot wait to meet this young lady. I do hope that she will agree to become my daughter-in-law. You have spoken so highly of her." This much of her short comment was true. Severus had spoken very highly of Miss. Granger to his family. At times he had felt as if he were trying to sale her to them. But he knew that in order for them to have any sort of peaceful existence with his family they would have to accept her. Of course the fact that she was of noble blood helped him out but the fact that she was also the bastard child of the Dark Lord made it a little more difficult.

"I promise you Mother that Miss. Granger will become your daughter-in-law before the New Year." He had been saying as much since he had picked her from the list. It was part of the bargain he had made with Roman. He would marry before the New Year and Roman would in turn give Severus his half of the estate. Roman of course had inherited his own estate but had been using his half of the Spinner's End estate to control many of the discussions made in the Snape family for generations. Severus felt it was about time that Spinner's End became a whole estate once again and that Roman stopped having any type of control over it. Though he had to deal with Roman for many things he had taken an instant disliking to the man. He reminded him greatly of Severus' own father, someone who had more than proven himself untrustworthy.

"Of course you will darling. And the two of you will live a happy and long life together here at Spinner's End. It is everything I could have ever hoped for you." Tears welled in his mother's eyes and Severus felt a headache coming on. Damn and blast, the woman was going to be the death of him.

"Please Mother don't," he begged as he rose and walked around the large desk. He came to stand in front of her and crouched down to her level. Reaching forward she took his face in her hands and held it.

"I'm so very proud of you," she said softly as she pushed a strained of hair back behind his ear. Though it was a very childish gesture, Severus softened and pulled her close, hugging her tightly. The two of them had never had a great relationship but a man's best friend is his mother and his had been through hell. She had never had someone to simply hold her and tell her things would be okay. She had worked hard and put up with physical and mental abuse from a man who was supposed to love her. Severus was glad that he could finally give her some of the things she deserved.

They stayed this way for a few moments; each absorbing the emotions from the other as well as the comfort and strength. Another knock on the door had Severus standing straight as Marcus entered.

"My Lord, Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt to see you." After a short nod from Severus Marcus disappeared to retrieve the Minister. Caroline mopped her face with a handkerchief that Severus pulled from his pocket and rose to leave.

"I suppose you'll be down for dinner?" She questioned pausing at the door. Severus allowed one side of his mouth to curve and nodded to her. A bright smile that light up her whole face broke out and Caroline nearly bounced out of the room. Gods but he loved the old woman. Kingsley entered the room shortly after and the conversation immediately turned to the business. Severus had been working with the Ministry to uncover the remainder of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, it was something that he had felt was the least he could do.

The whole time the Minister was updating him on the status of their investigation however, his mind was on other things. Namely the young woman who would be coming to Spinner's End very soon. Everything had to be perfect for her arrival. Severus would not stand for anything to go wrong. He was going to marry Miss. Granger. It was that simple.

TBC…