Author's note: Here's another update! Pleases read and review!

Hermione had just gotten Serena to sleep in the crib she had transfigured when the patronus came. At first she didn't think it was Severus's. She saw the memories, she knew his patronus was a doe. But here it was, a small thestral, speaking in his voice.

"I apologize for my haste in dismissing you. If you are available, meet me tomorrow at noon at my flat." It was a simple message, but Hermione was so relieved. Even his voice sounded less hostile, almost gentle.

She pondered the change in patronus. Had he stopped loving Lily? Or had he felt his debt to her was repaid?

Hermione had to admit, the thestrals fit him much better than the doe; thestrals were clever, hidden, misunderstood. Everything Severus was.

…

Hermione knocked on Severus's door at 12 sharp. When he opened the door, Hermione realized he was wearing muggle clothes. She supposed he was wearing them last time, too, but it was all so much that she hadn't noticed.

"Miss Granger, please, come in," he said, ushering her inside. He tried not to notice Serena's smiling eyes looking up at him.

"Please, just Hermione," she said, hoping it wasn't too forward.

"Alright," he said awkwardly. "Hermione."

They sat down across from each other at the kitchen table. There was a moment of silence as both waited for the other to talk first. It was interrupted by Serena making nonsensical noises, trying to get Severus's attention.

Hermione gave a small smile, "Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine," he allowed himself to look at Serena for the first time. He couldn't argue that she was quite extraordinary. While he loathed his own features, he found the parts of him he saw in her to be quite lovely. "How old is she?"

"About two months," Hermione said, "she spent about a month in the other reality and then Poppy took care of her for a month. Apparently the time travel was hard on her. But she's in full health now."

"Good," Severus nodded. "And Scorpius contacted you how? You didn't mention yesterday."

"Oh, um, I'm actually a professor at Hogwarts now. I teach transfiguration, since Minerva stayed as Headmistress." Headmaster. His old job. Hermione looked down, unsure how he would react to discussing Hogwarts.

"I see," Severus wanted to remain civil. He didn't know where they were going from here, but he knew he had to start off on the right foot. "And you enjoy teaching?"

Hermione looked at him, surprised, "Yes," she gave a small smile, "I've certainly learned a lot. I feel bad, too, I can see now how annoying I was as a student, myself. I can't imagine having to grade my own papers."

"You weren't all bad," Severus said, "I would take your writing any day over Longbottom's." It was weird, discussing the people from his past again.

"Neville is actually the Herbology professor now, Pomona put in a good word for him when she retired." Hermione said. There was another silence before she asked, "What about you? How do you like Australia?"

"It's not bad," Severus said, "I've been laying low. I've taken a few classes in psychology at the university here."

"I didn't know you had an interest in muggle studies," Hermione noted.

Severus nodded, "Yes, well I'm trying to apply it to Potions, actually. I'm doing some research on the effects of the Cruciatus Curse and how a potion might work with the brain to alleviate some of the after-effects, undo some of the memory damage." He wasn't sure how much he should share, but he found it easy to tell Hermione. He knew she would be able to keep up.

"That sounds remarkable," Hermione answered, "Have you made much progress?"

"A fair amount," Severus said, "I'm planning to send my research to St. Mungo's eventually, once I know for sure I have something concrete. I just haven't figured out how to do it anonymously without raising suspicion."

"I know a few of the healers there, if you'd like me to put you in contact with them at some point, I can make sure everything remains anonymous and confidential." Hermione wasn't sure if she was stepping out of bounds with him.

"That would be… much appreciated," he said quietly.

"So…" Hermione said slowly, "I suppose you viewed the memory? Was that why you asked me back here?"

Severus cleared his throat, "Yes, I viewed it. Then, I noticed you left Serena's blanket here, and when I went to pick it up, a note fell out." He handed her the blanket with the note on top, "I figured I should return it- and I wasn't sure if you had seen the note already."

Hermione picked it up curiously, "I can't say that I have. This was the blanket Scorpius brought Serena back in. We haven't really used it since Poppy gave it to me, I just brought it here because it fit in my bag," Hermione rambled. She opened the letter and read through it.

Severus looked at Serena, then down at his hands, as he waited for her to finish the letter.

"Huh," she said as she finished it. Hermione seemed to be at a loss for words.

"That was my reaction as well," Severus agreed. He paused, "Look, Hermione, I don't know why you came here, if it was out of duty to that version of myself, or because you wanted Serena to know her father, or…." He trailed off, shaking his head, "I don't know, myself, where to go from here. I would like to know Serena, if that's ok with you. At least figure out if I really should be in her life. But beyond that, I don't know what's next."

Hermione admired his honesty in that moment. He was treating her as an equal, acknowledging that this was a very new situation for the both of them. "That's what I wanted, as well. I wanted you to meet her, and be in her life, if that's what you wanted." Hermione looked at Serena, who was still gazing at Severus. "Would you care to hold her?"

Severus felt a flash of fear run through him. He nodded his head forward a fraction. Hermione moved over to the chair next to him and placed Serena in his arms. "Just, make sure to support her head," she said, positioning his arm to support her best. After Hermione removed her hands, Severus didn't dare move, he didn't want to do something wrong.

Serena, however, had other plans. She turned in his arms and reached up, her hands reaching for his face. Severus brought his other hand up to hers, marveling as her tiny hand wrapped around just one of his fingers.

Hermione watched the two interact, grinning. She knew Severus felt awkward, unsure of himself. But she had to admit, he was doing well. It helped, of course, that Serena recognized him.

After a few minutes, Severus looked at Hermione, "You should probably take her back now…" He seemed reluctant, but at the same time still quite nervous about holding her. Hermione nodded, reaching for Serena, but Serena started crying.

"Seems she wants to stay with you for a bit, is that alright?" Hermione laughed.

"Yes," Severus breathed, surprised.

Hermione could hear it in his voice, "She recognizes you."

The two exchanged a long look. Unsure of what emotions the other was feeling. Severus could see the tears forming in Hermione's eyes. He was pretty sure they were tears of joy.

Eventually, Serena fell asleep. Hermione didn't want to overstay their welcome, "I can take her back to the hotel, if you'd like. It's been a lot for her and I'm sure you have other things you need to do."

Severus shook his head, "No, it's alright. Would you transfigure that chair into a crib? We can talk for a bit while she sleeps."

Hermione nodded, quite surprised. She transfigured the chair, then Severus carefully handed Serena to Hermione to place her in the crib.

"So…" Hermione said, unsure. They had to face each other now, without Serena as a buffer.

"So," he repeated. Then he remembered his question from yesterday, "Who's Scorpius's mother?"

"Astoria Greengrass," Hermione answered, grateful for something other than them to talk about, "She was Daphne's sister."

"Was?"

"Yes," Hermione said, "She died of a blood curse. I had only met her a few times, but she really was a lovely witch. She was a great mother to Scorpius, and she balanced out Draco quite well."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I remember her." Severus said quietly.

"Also," Hermione said after another silence, "I made Poppy Serena's godmother, since she adores the child and she'd be a good guardian. Which… leads me to another matter." Hermione hesitated.

"Yes?"

"Well, to come here, I had to get a passport for Serena; we flew here on an airplane because I didn't feel comfortable apparating with her or using any other form of magical transportation given what happened to her when she traveled through time. Minerva took the papers to Kingsley, they have me listed as her only legal guardian, but I was thinking we could change that, if you'd like to be a part of her life. I know it's early, but, I don't want you to have to miss things, you can be there from the start, or as close to the start as possible. And we can figure things out later, I just wanted you to know that's an option…"

Severus stared back at her. She could see the wheels turning in his mind. His eyes had a glassy look, and he nodded slowly, "I'd like that," he whispered.

Hermione smiled widely, "that's wonderful to hear. Serena deserves to have her father around."

Severus didn't answer her again. Where he seemed hopeful a minute ago, his eyes showed fear. Internally, Severus withdrew at the word father. How could he be a father when his own was so terrible?

"I suppose I should be getting back soon, Serena needs to eat soon." Hermione picked Serena up and transfigured the crib back to a chair. "I can come by again, tonight or tomorrow. If you'd like to spend some quality time with Serena. And perhaps we can talk more, catch up. Maybe start to figure things out going forward. Hopefully Serena will start to feel like she has a family again. Sometimes she seems to sense how different things are here, I can tell it upsets her."

"Who are we kidding, Hermione?" Hermione turned back around to see Severus standing next to his chair. "This isn't our life, not our family, we're not a family, we never will be."

"What are you saying?" Hermione asked quietly. She didn't want to wake Serena up.

"Maybe Serena was my daughter in another life, but she's not mine. I can't do this. You need to go back to Hogwarts, raise her yourself." Severus had an unidentifiable edge to his voice. He seemed resigned.

"What?" Hermione felt her voice raising uncontrollably, "Why are you saying this now?"

"Because this is all pretend. I can't have this, Hermione. I don't deserve a family like this. And I don't want one. Not with you. How can we act like we can just become a family that we never were and act as if the past never happened."

"The past is over, we can try and move forward." Hermione tried to reason, hurt.

"Not for me," Severus said quietly.

Hermione let out a sad laugh, "You know, I'm still dealing with what I went through in the war, too. Do you think I don't still feel the after effects of Bellatrix's cruciatus? Do you think I'm not reminded of the injustices that happened every time I see the word "Mudblood" on my arm? The past isn't forgotten, but the point is that we have something that keeps us moving forward. We can work through things together, so that the past doesn't define us." Hermione nodded to Serena, "She's can be our future. She's what defines us."

Severus shook his head, "I can't do this."

Hermione didn't want to argue anymore. She opened the door. Before she left, she turned back to him, "You know, Harry named his son Albus Severus because you were the bravest man he ever knew." She paused, "Where's that bravery now, Professor Snape?" Her voice was cold. She turned away again, closing the door behind her.

I know I could have split this one up into two chapters, but it felt like it worked better as one.