Author note: I would like to thank you for you support and the reviews for: anon, wintersong1954, astro17vc, Luna de Papel, LoveInTheBattleField.

I hope, you guys pay attention to the past, 'cause it will answer lots of questions sooner or later.

Dear Readers, I can't help but thinking that you might be not happy with the ways of Severus. While I promise you, he is not a bad guy here, I also make the ending of this story up to you. I originally intended this for a Hermione/Severus story, but perhaps you would like it better, if she ended up with someone else, and he'd die for good this time. So, happy end or sad end? It is up for voting.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy the chapter! :-)

Chapter 7

I'd give everything

30 June 2002

John and Jane Granger were sat on the sofa in their living room eyeing their daughter bewildered. For that matter, it occurred to Jane that grief made her daughter to lose sanity at last.

"Khm..." the middle aged man cleared his throat, still puzzled. "Do you claim that Severus Snape, the father of your child, is alive?"

"Precisely" Hermione wearily rubbed the bridge of her nose. The big announcement didn't go very well. Her parents were seriously considering her mental state. "It's true that nowadays he goes by the name, Anthony Weston. He was one of the most important donators of the fundraising." She spent at least one hour browsing the internet after she put her son to bed. She had all the information on the President of the Weston Remedy that could be found.

"Are you certain?" Jane Granger tried to word her thoughts carefully, but her face mirrored them. "After all, you saw him in his casket, and you were there when they put him into his grave."

"Still" she answered

"Perhaps, it's just..."

"Mom, I know what I'm talking about!" she napped impatiently. The shock was too great; she didn't have the strength to fight the doubts of her parents. "He came to me after the ball, but I was unable to talk to him."

"That man..." her father was staring at her with mouth agape.

"Exactly" she nodded, "Severus Snape, or he used to be."

"What are you going to do now?" her mother asked worriedly. "Does he want Toby?" she showed signs of panic.

"I don't know. I don't know a thing" she shook her head despairingly.

4 July 2002

Searing, the sun conjured tiny beads of sweat onto her forehead, and strands of her hair that escaped from under the huge straw hat stuck to her face unpleasantly. She had been working in the garden for hours. She weeded all the flowerbeds, busied around with the rosebushes; she tried to distract her thoughts. But since gardening didn't require much brain activity she managed to do quite the opposite. Questions were wildly racing along in her mind with no answers. The days were passing by, and she still couldn't take in that he was alive. Wasn't it ironic that in the past four years she couldn't believe he was dead? She grew more and more anxious since there was no word from Severus.

She felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice, waiting to be pushed forward. She was certain that he was not going to leave it at that, but at the same time she couldn't presume what his next movement was going to be, moreover when he was going to make it. She thought to herself several times that it would be best for her to seek him out to prevent his incidental appearance at their home, but she couldn't even predict her own behaviour. Although, that night she didn't let Severus touch her, she couldn't help but think about the very thing that she mourned and desired in the seemingly unending past years could be attainable, if she had wished it so. It damned hurt that he betrayed her in such a nefarious way, but naturally, she didn't know his real motives. There was, on the other hand, a not unimportant thing, which like a thorn stuck in her heart. She found quite a few photos of her former lover that was taken at social events, and he had the same woman on his arm all the time. Cassandra Reynolds was everything that Hermione wasn't. She was tall with a body of a goddess and with blindingly blonde hair. The thought that Severus decided as he did, because he didn't want her anymore, spread in her slowly like a virulent disease, infecting her mind. Her sensible self was aware that that was highly implausible, but this side of her was supressed by ire and resentment. There were moments when she seriously contemplated to send the killing curse on him by herself, seeing to it that he would stay dead for good this time, then she was immediately horrified of how her thought didn't mirror the personality she owned.

She was just harvesting herbs into a small basket when Toby flounced in through the back gate of the garden, his grandmother following the over-excited, little scallywag falling a few steps behind.

"Mom, watch this, watch this!" All in a flurry, he shoved his tiny hand towards his mother who stared stunned at the beautiful red shell, rimmed with long, curvy spikes.

"Isn't it fantastic?" Mrs Granger asked her with a smile, and she rumpled the little boy's hair. "This young man was very much on the spot. He found it on the beach. It is very peculiar; I've never seen anything alike."

"Kiener's Delphinula" the brunette witch answered automatically. "It is originated from the Philippines." She's only seen this kind of shell in Severus' collection.

"I wonder how it got here" Jane Granger wondered.

"Where did you guys find it?" Hermione asked with an ill-boding feeling in her heart.

"I don't really know" her mother answered absently. "Toby was building a sand castle that's when he found it. Strange, I believe, suddenly it was just there, lying around.

"It was a gift" the little boy intervened.

"Who gave it to you?" Hermione shot a glance at her mother then looked at her son questioningly.

"I got it from an angel"

"But there was no one" said his grandmother. The two women looked at each other surprised. "What angel?"

"Toby, I don't think that angels go to beach much. Mom, are you sure, you didn't see anyone?"

"Why wouldn't I be sure? I didn't take my eyes off of him the whole time." Jane Granger responsibly tended to her grandparental duties, no one could doubt that.

"But it is true, the angel gave it to me!" the boy stomped sulkily. He couldn't understand how his granny didn't see what he did.

"Is that possible that this angel looked a little like your father?" The throbbing headache of the past couple of days suddenly returned with a vengeance, and Hermione felt like a jackhammer was lumbering in her head.

"Of course, but he was wearing nice clothes, not the ugly black ones" the tiny tot answered, wrinkling his eyebrows. "Can't we ask him to stay with us?" he asked his mother hopingly.

"I don't think so, my dear, I don't think so" she replied while she was shepherding him into the house.

"May your body be roasted over hell-fire, Severus Snape!" she raged inwardly.

She didn't try to follow the man, it wouldn't have made sense. He probably didn't leave his track behind. She would have happily staked him, because he went to see their son without her consent. Though that proved that he was interested in the boy, but she couldn't decide whether she was happy about it. After all he didn't do anything wrong, he didn't even talk to Toby; he only gave him a gift in exchange for the one he got. He didn't do anything wrong, only he intruded her territory without warning. That was bad enough.

5 July 2002

Severus was just over a long and tiring meeting with the managers of his company. He was perpetually distracted. He only listened to the weekly report with one ear. His thoughts were constantly running on his son. If he knew about him, he would have never left the girl. Once again, he severed himself from the very thing he wanted the most, a loving family.

Four years ago he genuinely believed her future would be brighter with somebody else who were the same age, and not a broken old man who could easily be her father. He believed she would forget about him and move on. She would be happier, if she needn't stand up against the whole world and perhaps the law for him, if they were to reveal their relationship. He had no doubts about the sort of welcome they would have had to receive, and there was nothing he hated more than spiteful whisperings. Hermione was the last he wanted to subject to such rumours. He dreaded that she would crack under all that had been waiting for them, and leave him, and he just wouldn't have been able to live with that. He wanted to prevent them from being unhappy, and his decision backfired.

When a few months ago he felt that unappeasable homesickness and he determined to visit the England once again, he didn't calculate upon the life changing event. He knew that Hermione taught in Hogwarts, of course, since he kept tabs on her life as much as it was possible for him. For a while he didn't go near her, because he was afraid he would lose control and reveal himself.

At first, he only visited Diagon Alley and Hogsmead a couple of times, but later guided by some perverted urge, he visited his own grave. Much to his astonishment he found the exact opposite of what he expected. The carefully arranged flowers, the gigantic, protective bushes were both indicated that someone regularly looked after the place, and when Hermione appeared, he was watching her with bated breath, while hiding in the thickness of the hedge. She had changed a lot in the past few years. She was all grown up and womanly, though her figure was unworldly graceful and dark circles adorned her eyes. Wretchedness emitted from her like a suffocating, undiluted perfume.

When she spoke, suddenly he thought that she was talking to him, that somehow she saw her. Then he realized that was only a monologue, conversation with the past. The things she said shook him deeply. And when he discovered he had a child that almost knocked him off of his feet. It upset him so much that he almost unveiled himself. Becoming a father in the moment of time was something incomprehensible for him. At the same time, this was a responsibility he would have happily taken on, if he knew how to do it. He was aware of the delicateness of the situation, and in no way he could believe that Hermione would let him near little Tobias in a short amount of time. He only wanted to see his child who was taught by her mother to love him, even if he never met him. He wanted to make him happy and please him, so he chose a very rare shell from his own collection. It made it easier that the little boy went to the beach accompanied by only his grandmother, for he was afraid that Hermione could have discovered him sneaking around. It wasn't too hard up until the point when he put the shell down into the sand just beside the child. Then the boy who was distracted by his sandcastle looked up at him, straight into his eyes, and smiled at him. He used a very complex spell that surpassed the plain disillusioning charm a multiple times. No one should have sense his presence; still he was sure that Tobias saw him. He immediately felt the special bond between them, and in that very moment he made up his mind. He wanted his family, and he was ready to do whatever it took to get them.

The sharp sound of the phone tore him out of his bemusements.

"What do you want, Heather?" he answered the phone abruptly.

"Mr Weston, I apologize that I have to disturb you but a lady is looking for you, and I'm afraid, I can't make her understand how busy you are. She seems really upset..." Ms Heather learned a long time ago that it was not advisable to disturb her employer with such things, but that woman was so intrepid and almost overbearing that she couldn't handle the situation. "Her name is... Miss Granger. Hermione Granger."

"What are you waiting for?" His voice was harsh like a rasp.

He didn't have much time to pull himself together, for she entered the room in that moment. She seemed incredibly angry; her hair was almost sparkling of supressed fury.

"Hermione" he greeted her calmly.

"How dare you?" she didn't give a damn about formalities, she got down to business. Her voice was shaking of emotions. "What is your intention? Giving my son false hopes?"

"He is our son" he corrected her automatically. "I'm sorry..."

"No" she interrupted him, her voice was cruel and ice cold "he is my son. I carried him, and I gave him life. My parents and I raised him while you were "she added mockingly" 'lying dead' in your grave.

"I know, I made a mistake, but I would like to know my son, and I want to be the part of his life. I would like to give him...I would like to give both of you everything that you need."

"Good God, Severus! Do you seriously believe that I would want your money?"

"That's not what I mean. It's not money I'm offering...everything, anything that you'd take from me. Whatever you ask for..."

"Give me back the past four years, you damned, ignominious bastard!" She tried to keep her cool and her dignity, but the man was dancing on her last nerve.

"For Merlin's sake, Hermione! I can assure you, if I knew you were with a child I would have never left you."

"Really?" she laughed bitterly. "Do you think the thought that our child could have kept you beside me is comforting me? Why, just tell me why? You only had to tell me that you didn't want me anymore. I would have been hurt, but it would have been less cruel than pretending you were dead." Tears were rolling down on her face, and she angrily swept them away. She hated to show weakness in front of him.

"Because, that would have been a Fish Tale. I wanted you, and I still want you. Every single molecule of my body enshrines the memory of yours." With a few steps he closed the distance between them and embraced the girl. She resisted and tried to get out fruitlessly, he only held her tighter. "By my own selfishness, I stripped myself the one thing I ever wanted, my happiness" he was whispering in her hair.

"Let me go, Severus! You disgust me!" He staggered back like he was slapped across the face. Her words wounded his soul deeply.

"Don't lie to me, Hermione! We both know how you feel about me." His voice was weak, and he only tried to beguile himself that their love never died. "We both feel the same way that we felt on the night when our son was conceived."

26 December 1997

The ice cold of the forest sneaked under his clothes and froze him to the bones. After he stowed the sword into the lake, and enticed Potter with the aid of his Patronus, taking a small roundabout, he returned to their tent. He knew that she was left there all alone, and he wanted to make use of the opportunity. He needed to talk to her, to touch her. They didn't see each other since... since he killed Albus. He didn't hope that Hermione would happily fall upon his neck, but he could not stay away from her either, now, that she was so close to him.

He heard low sobbing when he entered the tent. Hermione didn't sense his presence until he pressed his hand over her mouth. Only then she tried to guess in the darkness who her assailant was.

"I let you go, if you promise me to be quiet" he whispered into her ear, and she nodded.

"How did you find this place?" she asked suspiciously when finally she could breathe again. "I used every spell I knew."

"I taught you almost all of them, remember?" he stroke her face.

Hermione cast away her doubts. The joy of unexpected reunion freed their passion, and with their kiss they had to make up for a long time.

"Wait" she pushed him away, panting. "I can't...you did...you killed Dumbledore" she looked at him flustered.

"I understand," sheer bitterness radiated from his eyes, "if you don't desire a murderer. I only hoped that you trusted me."

"Explain it to me, please" she whispered with teary eyes.

"Do you trust me? Do you believe me?" He grabbed her face and forced her to look into his eyes. "I did it, because Albus ordered me to do it" he went on when Hermione nodded wryly. "He wanted to save Draco's soul, mine was already lost anyway." It pained her to hear the self-loathing in his voice. "A dark spell consumed his body; he only had a few days left.

They both knew this was the last time they could be together, and this swept away everything else. They didn't care about danger, death or war. Hurriedly, they kissed each other again impassionedly meanwhile they tried to get rid of their clothes. Hermione didn't bother with his robes, only unbuckled his belt, and yanked his black trousers down, while he unbuttoned her blouse and caressed her breasts with his tongue. He was guiding her hand towards his hot and painfully throbbing manhood. Then he impatiently pulled the jeans and underwear off of his lover, and finally she could straddle him. He entered her sweat hotness with one swift motion. The passion and desire made them lose control, their instincts took the lead. Hermione was raising and falling back again faster and faster, intensifying their pleasure, then finally held on to his shoulders, short of breath still repeating his name endlessly.

They tidied their clothing in a rush, and Severus closed her in his arms one last time. He dusted her face and lips with quick kisses while he was stroking her hair until the noises that came from outside ended their last intimate moments.

"Not a word to Potter!" he warned her and disappeared by the time she could have answered him. Under such circumstances it is no surprise that they forgot about contraceptive charms.

5 July 2002

"Don't you dare come near my son again without me knowing about it" He was thrown back by the sparkle of hatred he presumed to see in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to explain; only you didn't let me. He was not supposed to see me, I didn't want him to. In theory, the spell I used rules out the possibility for anyone to see me, or sense my presence on any level. I was astonished myself when I realized that little Tobias could see me."

"Toby, we call him Toby" she corrected him, slightly softened. "I don't know what to do" she said earnestly. "I need time, but whatever my decision will be, you'll just have to accept it."

"Hermione" the man lifted her hand and pressed a tiny kiss on it.

"I was talking about our son, Severus" she replied coldly, and jerked her hand away. "You and I...whatever we had that doesn't exist anymore.