A/N: The rating is going up to M because of lemons and more adult themes. The funeral and wake are going to be the next chapter and then after that we are going to Diagon Alley in Chapter 9 and then it's back to Hogwarts from Chapter 10 and onward. Please leave a review and let me know how I am doing! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH)

Chapter 7

His beloved Badger exited the train wearing worn jeans, a butter yellow t-shirt with a badger on it and a black zip-up hoodie. The sneakers she wore were scuffed and the Hufflepuff simply carried her messenger bag which had the sleeve of a black dress poking out, she must have packed in a rush.

"Severus!" her tired face split into a grin and she ran toward him, hugging him and burying her face into his chest. His grey and slightly fading t-shirt smelled clean, but the scent of Potion ingredients still clung to him. "I missed you so much…"

He pressed a kiss to her penny colored locks and held her to him. "I missed you too."

Her words were muffled against the fabric of his clothing, but he could also feel the vibration of her words. "I love you, I-I brought pictures to show you."

Severus smiled ever so slightly, "I love you too." he released his embrace as he intertwined his hand with her own and took her single piece of luggage off of her shoulder and carried it for her. When they reached the bench where his mother was sitting with Aunt Calanthia, Eileen Snape hugged Annette and thanked her for coming, his badger, of course was caring as always and said that she would be more than happy to help in any way that she could.

The Hufflepuff plopped herself down on the Slytherin's bed that had been enlarged to a queen-size and his room made wide enough to accommodate all of his personal items, thanks to his mother's magic. He dug through his records, while Annette unpacked what little belongings she had brought with her and put them in an empty drawer of his dresser. She hung the dress she was going to wear for the funeral in the closet; next to the black suit, white dress shirt, and black tie that Severus would be wearing, they were hand-me-downs from his Muggle grandfather.

Fleetwood Mac's song, Dream floated from the record player as Severus sat cross-legged on his bed deep in thought.

"I'm supposed to give a eulogy after the wake tomorrow." His hands clenched into fists in anger. "How am I supposed to praise a man, who beat his wife and was completely pissed most of the time?"

Annette sat down beside him and placed her wand beside where Severus kept his on the nightstand. "You could say he was a hardworking man, who provided for his family…I guess…" she sighed, if there was one thing Annette did not face yet it was a funeral for any of her own relatives. "I'm not going to be much help. But I won't leave your side, I promise." She kissed him on the mouth and suddenly that kiss was supposed to gently comfort him turned into heat.

Before the Badger could stop herself, she took off Severus' t-shirt after he peeled hers off. He unclasped her bra and then held her breasts in his own hands, he leaned forward and kissed her with plenty of tongue and passion, while his girlfriend worked on the zipper of jeans. Once they were both completely undressed, Annette clambered over Severus slightly longitudinally and found a box of condoms in the drawer of his nightstand.

"You keep yourself well prepared for anything, don't you?"

The mischievous smirk and that fact that both of his hands were gently cupping her breasts and playfully fondling them was all the answer that she needed. She was now straddling him, her knees resting against his hips as she opened up the box and carefully tore one of the condoms away from the string of its fellows.

Annette had the single foil wrapper in her hand ready to tear it open and roll it gently on Severus' stiff manhood, but first she leaned down and kissed him with a little bit of tongue as she could only join him in moaning in anticipation and pleasure.

The Badger could not wait any longer and neither could the ecstatic Slytherin as she tore open the condom foil and rolled it on where it needed to go. She then positioned herself as comfortably and as safely as she could on top of him. She rode him until both of their needs were met and they were exhausted and slightly sweaty. Annette leaned against his Severus, her shaking hands now gripping the fabric of the pillow case as they both tried to stop panting and gasping like animals. His face was very much being pressed into the Badger's breasts, but he did not mind, truth be told he was little disappointed when she climbed off of him and then laid beside him intertwining her fingers with his.

"That wasn't absolutely horrid for you was it?" Annette asked, her olive eyes were not locked on to his face and black eyes but instead on to his now sedated manhood as it rested within the now full condom.

"No, I enjoy having sex with you, Annette. If I didn't, I never would have taken you in the first place." Severus said and kissed her lovingly before grabbing a box of tissues off the nightstand cleaning himself up properly. "Stop fretting so much…why are you worried? Have you done this with someone else and they were disappointed?"

"No." the Hufflepuff replied. "I have never had sex with anybody but you. Have you…?" she could not believe they had been dating since the end of their Ordinary Wizarding Level exams and had not bothered discussing this before.

Severus shook his head. "Just you, only you, Annette." He kissed her again before he stood and re-dressed himself.

Annette put her clothes back on before she made her way to Severus' bedroom door and unlocked it before she could make her way to the bathroom down the hallway to clean up with more privacy. When she came back Severus was reading a Muggle novel titled, Ringworld.

The Badger switched out her t-shirt for a glaucous colored tunic and less holey pair of jeans. She cuddled up with Severus, while she hummed along with Go Your Own Way. The young Witch and Wizard only a year away from being able to use their magic without adult supervision, stayed that way all cuddled up and enjoying each other's company until Margaret interrupted them with a knock at the door and the announcement that dinner was ready.

The meal consisted of pineapple chicken on a bed of white rice with stuffed artichokes. The dinner was rather quiet and it broke Severus' heart each time his mother had to hide her tears behind her napkin and her trying to compress her sobs of despair.

Dinner was uncomfortably quiet. Annette helped the two older Witches to clear the table and clean the dishes. It was when she was drying the rice serving bowl out that Eileen Snape suddenly hugged her to her, causing the serving bowl to drop out of her hands and on to the floor, thankfully unbroken.

"Thank you, Annette, for being here for Severus." Eileen said when she finally released her son's girlfriend from her embrace.

"I love him. It isn't a problem." The Hufflepuff replied softly, picking up the dish and putting it in its rightful spot in the cabinet.

Later that night after watching Severus beat Leopold in eight games of Wizard Chess, Annette lay awake in bed beside the Slytherin. Neither of them was sleeping, they were both lying there, cuddled under the covers, the alarm clock showed four in the morning. Annette sighed out of aggravation more than anything and rolled over so she was face-to-face with the Half-Blood.

There were tears shining in his dark orbs, Annette laid a hand on his cheek as the single drop of salt water trickled down and landed on her fingers. "You're allowed to be sad. You can cry. He was your father, Severus."

"I still despise him for what he did…to us…to Mum." They both spoke in hushed whispers, hoping that the box fan in the window would drown out their words to anyone else but them.

"He must have loved you…" Annette said, but Severus' eyes had turned cold, even though the tears had not stopped flowing.

"Once, I think he did. Before he found out that I was magical…if I was a Muggle like he was, maybe he would not have been so harsh to Mum…or to me…"

"If you weren't who you are, then I would never have met you." She wiped away the tears that were slipping down his cheeks and kissed him. "Why are you crying if you hate him so much?"

"No matter how much I loathe him. I think a part of me will always miss him, the part of him that used to care about me." Severus replied, the truth that he spoke stung him and made him feel ashamed for missing a Muggle man that had caused the Half-Blood nothing but anguish for most of his life.

Severus and Annette did not mean to sleep until nearly noon, but it happened nonetheless. The Hufflepuff awoke first, groggy and sluggish she opened her olive eyes against the summer sun and tried to bury her head into the crook of her boyfriend's neck to hide from the oncoming light that broke through the grey barrier of clouds overhead.

"I think we have to get up now." She announced, her lips forming the words and tickling the Slytherin.

Severus only groaned in response but rolled over and raked his lanky ink black hair away from his eyes so he could the clock better. The numbers twelve and double zeros glared at him as if it was scolding him for staying up so late. He sat up reluctantly but did not turn the fan off that whirled above their heads, he simply preened his long fingers lazily through his Badger's copper hair.

The rest of house was eerily quiet, but Severus knew now that since his father's death, his mother took as much sleep as her body would give her. It was now officially Saturday, the day they would be laying Tobias Snape's body to rest in the earth and he had to present his lie of a eulogy in front of people who actually respected and loved the Muggle man.

Three o'clock came at a snail's pace, now freshly showered Severus stood in front of the mirror in the hall closet struggling to tie his tie properly, if only he could just use his wand, which he had stashed in a simple pocket his mother had made on the inside of the coat, he would not feel so foolish. His mother approached him, her long black hair braided back away from her tired and tearfully thin face. She wore a long black dress with shoes that looked as if she had to squish her very swollen feet inside of them. The dark fabric did nothing to hide the fact that the middle-aged Witch was indeed pregnant, not that she would want to anyways.

Eileen Snape gently turned to her son to face her so she could do his tie up properly for him into a Windsor knot. She smiled at him and lightly and swiftly tucked a lock of her son's hair behind his ear. "You look very handsome." She said and they both turned to see Annette, who was crouched down helping Margaret buckle her shoes.

The Hufflepuff's dress was a light fabric that went down past her knees and had grey slate carnations decorating it, she even had a couple of the blossoms twisted into her copper-colored locks, they were intertwined into the slate grey ribbon that held together the corset braid her hair was twisted into, simple flat black shoes finished off her ensemble.

Severus had already taken the Draught of Peace and Calming Draught. He was not anxious, he was not shaking and a copy of the speech he was to give was in the breast pocket of his suit. He could lie, he could make his mother happy, he could make Tobias Snape seem like a good man with words, it was going to be easy, wasn't it?

He took Annette's hand in his own and did not release it until they made their way inside the small church where the wake would be held.