Disclaimer: I own no one but Ellie.

Worries

8:45pm

"What time will you be back?" Harry tries to hide a smile, but I see his reflection in the mirror he's using to help correctly apply eyeliner.

"I'm not sure."

"Make an educated guess."

"I really couldn't say."

"Well you must have an idea! Before or after midnight?"

"Before, probably." I can't help but worry. Harry has always been reckless, and I've heard stories about muggle bars. He can't hold his alcohol either. My more rational side argues that he is almost nineteen and is capable of looking after himself. Even if he gets too inebriated, he'll have about twenty friends, including Granger, to keep him safe.

I notice him watching me and busy myself with feeding Ellie, who's lying in the crook of my arm.

"I'll not go if you don't want me to."

"You don't need to ask my permission. I'm not your mother."

"Obviously, or our relationship would be highly illegal."

"Tsk. Smartarse."

"Shh! Language!" Harry nods towards Ellie and I roll my eyes.

"She's hardly going to know what it means."

"No, but I don't want her first word to be smartarse."

"Shh! Language!"

9:00pm

"Have you got your keys? Money? Wand? Mace?" Harry looks at me with raised eyebrows.

"Why would I need mace?"

"You could get attacked."

"If only we'd thought of that when Voldemort attacked." I frown. "Are you going to be okay with Ellie?"

"I have looked after a baby before." Harry looks dubious.

"When?"

"That time you abandoned me to look after her by myself when we had company."

"I went to the corner shop, I was gone a total of three minutes and the gardener was in no way offended that I left him with you. He didn't even notice I was gone." He's understating.

9:10pm

The house feels too quiet. This is pathetic! He's been gone five minutes and I miss him, despite lasting 37 years without him. Ellie's asleep too, and she hasn't slept soundly since she was born. She and Harry must have a conspiracy to drive me insane. I sit down to read, opening the book and staring fixatedly at the clock on the mantelpiece.

9:30pm

I couldn't read thinking that Harry would probably come home drunk and vomit on the living room floor so I cleaned the kitchen. I don't think it's ever looked whiter. Harry would be grateful if he wasn't out having a fling with someone he picked up in a bar.

9:53pm

He's probably meeting the man he'll run away with at this very moment. They'll flirt across the bar for a while before the home wrecker finds the confidence to come and speak to Harry (Harry won't make the first move, of course. He won't want to seem desperate.)They'll hit it off straight away, talking about interesting things like Quidditch and being famous, rather than everyday tedium like school and babies. He'll be tall and fair-haired with sparkling blue eyes and perfect teeth. He'll make Harry laugh and wonder why he ever wanted me, and Harry will take one look at him and fall instantly in love. He's called something like Damien or Gareth and he's out to ruin my life.

10:00pm

Muggles have these things called mobile phones, which I've heard are useful for keeping in touch with someone when you have no idea where they are or the type of trash they're associating with or what kind of danger they're putting themselves in while their partners' backs are turned. Maybe I'll get Harry one for Christmas. Just in case he needs to get in touch with me, like if he wants something from the shops or to alert me to his imminent demise. Then again, I wouldn't want to interrupt all the fun he's having with Damien.

10:31pm

I decided that the kitchen floor wasn't clean enough so I washed it again. Don't know why I bothered. Harry's just going to stumble home in 1 hour and 29 minutes and bleed on it. Maybe I'll make him something to eat to save him going into the kitchen and cracking his skull on the tiles.

11:00pm

Is that Harry's wand? Oh shit, he's left it here! He's in muggle London at 11 o clock at night, in the dark, all alone, without any way of defending himself. What was he thinking!? I knew I should've made him take the mace. Why didn't I see it, lying in plain view on the coffee table?

Oh wait, that's mine. Of course he's taken his wand with him, he's not stupid.

I almost panicked there.

11:55pm

Thank Merlin, it's nearly 12 o clock. He should be home soon. I'll should just read while I wait, or mark homework. I stare at the door, ready for it to open at any minute.

12:00pm

He isn't home yet, but it's of no great consequence. It's only just gone 12. He's probably on his way home now. He may even be at the end of the garden. Not that I'd mind if he came in late, of course. He can look after himself.

12:03pm

He still isn't home. I'm starting to panic. There are a million things which could've happened to him. He's probably lost, or hurt. What if he's lying in a ditch somewhere, too drunk to drag himself out?

12:11 pm

I checked the garden and he's nowhere in sight. I even looked down the street and he isn't there. I've sent an owl to Weasley asking if Granger's back yet.

12:24 pm

The owl arrived with a message saying that Hermione was still out. Weasley didn't seem too worried. Maybe I'm overreacting. Of course I am, Harry's fine. He's fine. I'm going to clean the kitchen again.

12:33pm

He's dead. I know it. There's no other reason he'd be so late. Great. Bloody brilliant. He would think it amusing to die and leave me to look after the kid. Inconsiderate brat.

'' '' ''

1:08am

I hug Hermione at the door, thanking her for walking me home and asking her to owl me to let me know she's safe. I take my shoes off as soon as I get into the house, expecting Severus to be in bed and not wanting to wake him. I see a light and wander into the living room.

Well, he is asleep, but not in our room. He's lying on the rug in front of the fire, long legs tucked into his chest. I think I may taunt him in the morning about how uncivilised he is. He shivers and I take the throw from the settee to cover him. He stirs and blinks a few times to rid his eyes of the sleep that's gathered there.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." I don't know why I'm whispering, he's already awake.

"You chose me over Damien then?" I feel my eyebrows knit together.

"Who's Damien?" Severus stifles a yawn.

"Just the cute blond you were going to run away with." I think it's safe to say I will never understand Severus Snape.

"If you say so dear." I take my glasses off to rub my eyes, and Severus takes them from me and puts them on the coffee table. I had been planning on going to bed, but I see Severus has different ideas as I find myself lying beside him on the floor, wondering why the fire always looks as though it wants to escape. The last thing I hear before I drift off is Severus whispering 'what do you think of mobile phones?'

'' '' ''

"It's okay to be worried about me. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"For the last time, I was not worried about you."

"Then why can I see my reflection in the kitchen floor?" Sometimes I wish Harry didn't know me quite as well as he does.